Does partnerships & affiliates work for Info products / courses founders? 39 real examples

Yes. 39 partnerships & affiliates tactics that worked for Info products / courses founders are documented here, each with the exact steps a founder ran and a link to the source.

Partnerships & affiliates tactics for Info products / courses compared: best fit, effort, and speed
TacticBest forEffortSpeedSource
Befriend Competing Newsletters Before You Ask for AnythingNewsletters, creators, niche communitiesMediumSlowindiehackers.com
Borrow Credibility With Big-Name Guest Speakerscohort courses, paid communities, eventsMediumMediumindiehackers.com
Build Their Product For Them, Then Pitchcontent tools, done-for-you servicesHighSlowindiehackers.com
Build a Members-Only Discounts Section as a Sponsor On-RampPaid or niche communitiesMediumSlowindiehackers.com
Build a Proof Library From Happy CustomersB2B SaaS, services, anyMediumSlowyoutube.com
Buy Onto an Exchange's News Feed via a PR DistributorCrypto / web3 projects needing exchange-level credibilityLowFastindiehackers.com
Co-Host a Webinar with Someone Who Owns Your Audiencecourses, communities, info productsMediumFastindiehackers.com
Engineer Word-of-Mouth by Making Customers the Heroservice businesses, agencies, marketplaces, anyLowSlowyoutube.com
Enlist Adjacent Projects to Amplify Your Launchniche products with peer projects nearbyMediumMediumindiehackers.com
Feature Other Founders, Then Ask Them to Amplifyinfo products, roundups, directoriesMediumMediumindiehackers.com
Fund Prizes and Distribution Through Partners, Not Budgetbootstrapped founders running eventsMediumMediumindiehackers.com
Get Listed in Niche Ecosystem DirectoriesTools built on top of a popular platform (Notion, Slack, etc.)LowMediumindiehackers.com
Gift Group Admins Free Accounts to Shill Your Dealproducts near existing communities of buyersMediumFastindiehackers.com
Insert Your Brand Into Realtors' Automated MLS Alert Emailsproducts tied to moving/real estateMediumMediumindiehackers.com
Jump on 'Who Wants to Be Featured' Calls for Free BacklinksAny product seeking backlinks/exposureLowFastindiehackers.com
Land a Lifetime Deal Through a Community PartnershipProducts that can offer a one-time lifetime price to a partner's audienceMediumFastindiehackers.com
Land a Sponsor Perk Deal to Sweeten the Offercourses, communities, bootcamps with a clear tool stackMediumMediumindiehackers.com
Launch an Affiliate Program From Day Oneproducts with a clear payout marginMediumMediumindiehackers.com
Mail Free Custom Products to Unboxing YouTubersPhysical, giftable, or visually striking productsMediumFastindiehackers.com
Make Your Referral Program Effortless to PromoteB2B SaaS, info products, newslettersMediumSlowyoutube.com
Offer Influencers A Cut, Not EquityB2B SaaS, dev tools, info productsLowFastyoutube.com
Offer to Teach Their Users for a 50% Cuteducation, courses, and onboarding-heavy productsHighMediumindiehackers.com
Pitch Listicle Owners and Soft-Promote in Growth Groupstools in a searchable categoryMediumMediumindiehackers.com
Recruit Campus Ambassadors Paid in Resume Perks, Not CashProducts with a clear campus or niche-community fitMediumMediumindiehackers.com
Recruit Expert Evangelists and Creators to Demo Youdev tools, B2B SaaS, learning products, appsMediumMediumyoutube.com

All Partnerships & affiliates tactics for Info products / courses

Partnerships & affiliatesMedium effort· Slow

Befriend Competing Newsletters Before You Ask for Anything

Grew subscribers by building genuine relationships with other newsletter creators in the same space, who then became advocates and cross-promoters, by leading with value first, including buying their ads and taking their courses.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesMedium effort· Medium

Borrow Credibility With Big-Name Guest Speakers

With no audience of his own, the founder onboarded guest speakers from companies like Google, PayPal and GoJek into his paid cohort course, lending instant credibility that helped fill 20 paid seats.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesHigh effort· Slow

Build Their Product For Them, Then Pitch

Use your own software to create a finished version of the product for big-audience targets without asking first, then show them the ready-to-go result to win them over.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesMedium effort· Slow

Build a Members-Only Discounts Section as a Sponsor On-Ramp

Curate a list of vendor discounts for your members, which both increases the reason to join and creates warm vendor relationships that naturally convert into paid sponsorships.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesMedium effort· Slow

Build a Proof Library From Happy Customers

A deliberate stockpile of customer testimonials and case studies you collect early, so prospects who have never heard of you can see proof that the product delivers results.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesLow effort· Fast

Buy Onto an Exchange's News Feed via a PR Distributor

Instead of cold-pitching crypto exchange contacts, the founder paid a PR service that already has an accepted publishing pipeline into MEXC, so the announcement actually got published in days instead of being ignored for months.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesMedium effort· Fast

Co-Host a Webinar with Someone Who Owns Your Audience

Partner with a creator or product that already has your exact audience, like a ChatGPT-plugin developer with 250k users, and run a joint live webinar that doubles as your launch.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesLow effort· Slow

Engineer Word-of-Mouth by Making Customers the Hero

Generate referrals not through mechanics but by over-delivering results so customers look good recommending you, then make sharing effortless.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesMedium effort· Medium

Enlist Adjacent Projects to Amplify Your Launch

Line up other projects and communities in your space to back and share your articles, multiplying reach beyond your own audience.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesMedium effort· Medium

Feature Other Founders, Then Ask Them to Amplify

Build well-known founders and their products into your content, then reach out asking for their feedback so they feel invested and promote your launch.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesMedium effort· Medium

Fund Prizes and Distribution Through Partners, Not Budget

Cover the cost and reach of an event entirely through partners so a tiny budget isn't a blocker.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesLow effort· Medium

Get Listed in Niche Ecosystem Directories

Get your product added to community-run directories for the platform or ecosystem you serve, and cross-promote with the directory owner.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesMedium effort· Fast

Gift Group Admins Free Accounts to Shill Your Deal

To drive LTD traffic without paying commissions, they found Facebook groups full of their target buyers, contacted the admins, and handed select admins free lifetime accounts in exchange for promoting the deal to their members.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesMedium effort· Medium

Insert Your Brand Into Realtors' Automated MLS Alert Emails

Realtors using automated MLS systems blast clients up to ~100 property emails a day; partner to get your logo or link into those high-frequency notifications.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesLow effort· Fast

Jump on 'Who Wants to Be Featured' Calls for Free Backlinks

Monitor founder communities for roundup and feature solicitations, then pitch your product fast to win free placement, a backlink, and exposure to the author's audience.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesMedium effort· Fast

Land a Lifetime Deal Through a Community Partnership

Partner with an existing community to run a one-off lifetime-deal promotion to its members for a fast cash injection.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesMedium effort· Medium

Land a Sponsor Perk Deal to Sweeten the Offer

The founder negotiated a deal with DigitalOcean, bundling a partner perk into the cohort to add value for learners and offset cost.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesMedium effort· Medium

Launch an Affiliate Program From Day One

Stand up an affiliate/referral program at launch using an off-the-shelf tool so other people are incentivized to sell your product from the very start.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesMedium effort· Fast

Mail Free Custom Products to Unboxing YouTubers

Ship free, one-of-a-kind versions of your product to YouTubers who regularly film mail/unboxing videos so it gets revealed on camera to their audiences.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesMedium effort· Slow

Make Your Referral Program Effortless to Promote

A referral and affiliate engine where partners barely have to lift a finger because you hand them ready-made assets and fair upside.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesLow effort· Fast

Offer Influencers A Cut, Not Equity

When a notable creator wants in, structuring the deal as a performance-based revenue share rather than handing over ownership, with an option to convert earnings to equity later.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesHigh effort· Medium

Offer to Teach Their Users for a 50% Cut

They pitched GPT and plugin builders a simple deal: we'll teach your users whatever you want, let us promote our offer at the end, and you keep 50% of resulting sales.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesMedium effort· Medium

Pitch Listicle Owners and Soft-Promote in Growth Groups

Email the owners of every article that curates 'best growth tools' lists to ask for inclusion, and join many niche growth groups (3k-10k members) while keeping self-promotion low.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesMedium effort· Medium

Recruit Campus Ambassadors Paid in Resume Perks, Not Cash

Knowing students were a perfect fit but being years removed from campus, the founders openly recruited six student ambassadors and paid them with networking, mentorship, a LinkedIn credential and a reference letter instead of money.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesMedium effort· Medium

Recruit Expert Evangelists and Creators to Demo You

You get recognized specialists and creators in your space to build demos, courses, and videos around your product, putting it in front of their highly targeted, trusting followings.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesLow effort· Fast

Recruit High-Follower Investors and Early Users to Amplify

Mobilized everyone with a stake (early-access users and especially investors with large followings) to share the launch; their lead VC's huge LinkedIn audience drove outsized reach.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesMedium effort· Slow

Recruit Your Affiliate Army From Founder Forums

Used an Indie Hackers partner-up post to find growth hackers and gaming affiliates willing to run the bounty program, asking each to pitch a plan.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesMedium effort· Slow

Run Affiliates Like A Managed Portfolio

Treating affiliates as a segmented, data-driven program: sort partners by type, measure who drives real conversions, and arm everyone with assets that make promoting you easy.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesLow effort· Medium

Run a 50% Lifetime Affiliate Cut Through Gumroad

Sell through a reseller that ships native affiliate tooling, then set an aggressive 50% commission so fans become motivated salespeople; the author says affiliates drive ~30% of total sales.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesMedium effort· Medium

Sell Partnerships With a Footer 'Partner With Us' Page

Create a page detailing partnership packages and benefits, leave it in the footer, and partner with the no-code platforms that are already members of your community, closing ~80% of interested inbound for $13k with no outreach.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesMedium effort· Slow

Start With 10 Hand-Picked Partners, Not a Public Sign-Up Page

Recruit a small founding cohort of partners through warm, personalized outreach before ever opening a public program, and tailor your pitch to each partner type.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesMedium effort· Slow

Swarm the Small Accounts, Not One Big Name

Instead of spending your whole budget on a single big creator, distribute it across dozens of small, tightly-niched voices whose audience is your exact buyer.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesMedium effort· Fast

Teach a Masterclass to Borrow an Audience

Offer to host a free webinar or workshop for an influencer's audience where you teach something genuinely useful and quietly use your own product to do it.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesHigh effort· Slow

Trade Free Sites or Maps for Ad Placement With Local Hosts

A guerrilla travel-tech move: offer adjacent local businesses a free website or branded map served from your domain, and in exchange place your branding/display ads in front of their customers.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesLow effort· Fast

Turn the Customers Who Already Recommend You Into Tracked Affiliates

Build the affiliate program around your existing happy users, who are usually your highest-converting partners, so their informal recommendations become trackable and rewarded.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesMedium effort· Medium

Establish an Affiliate Program

An affiliate program that incentivizes referrals

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesHigh effort· Slow

Affiliate Partners

Partnering with affiliates to promote the platform

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesMedium effort· Medium

Utilize Affiliate Program for Customer Acquisition

Implementing an affiliate program to incentivize customers to refer new business

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesHigh effort· Slow

Partner with Agencies and Influencers

Partnering with agencies and influencers to expand reach and credibility

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliates for other products

Frequently asked

Does partnerships & affiliates work for Info products / courses?
Yes. 39 partnerships & affiliates tactics that worked for Info products / courses founders are documented here, each with the steps and a source.
How many Partnerships & affiliates tactics are there for Info products / courses?
39, each linked to the original source.

Get all 3,000+ tactics in one place

Filter by your product and channel, follow the exact steps, and get the new tactics we add every week. One payment, yours for good.