James Nardell personally manages affiliate programs for SaaS, software, fintech, e-commerce, and digital product brands. Recruitment, activation, commission strategy, tracking oversight, fraud monitoring, partner communication, and reporting. Handled end to end.
No hard sell. You’ll leave with practical recommendations whether we work together or not.
Most affiliate programs don’t underperform because affiliate marketing doesn’t work. They underperform because no one is actively running them. Being listed on a network is not a strategy. Without structured recruitment, deliberate activation, and consistent partner communication, the channel sits idle. Accumulating coupon traffic while real revenue potential goes untapped. If any of the following sounds familiar, the program doesn’t need a redesign. It needs management.
Your program is listed on a network, but the right affiliates aren’t applying. Top content creators, comparison sites, and niche publishers don’t browse open programs. They get recruited directly with personalized outreach. Without active prospecting, you’re left with whoever found you by accident.
Approved partners sit dormant. Applications get approved, but no one follows up, provides creatives, or answers the question every affiliate asks: “Is this worth my time?” Without structured onboarding and activation, the majority of approved partners never promote once.
The program is technically live, but no one has bandwidth to run it. Affiliate became a fraction of someone’s job description and predictably stalled. Commission structures haven’t been reviewed. Communication is inconsistent. Tracking issues are unresolved. It looks fine on paper but isn’t moving revenue.
Sound like your program? Let’s review it. Free, no obligation.
Founder-led affiliate program management works best for a specific type of brand. These criteria appear here intentionally. Qualifying you publicly saves time on both sides.
Ongoing affiliate program management is not a light-touch advisory role. It covers every operational layer of the channel, from the outreach email to a prospective publisher through to the monthly executive report. Here is what is handled on a continuous basis.
Active, direct outreach to affiliates who fit the brand. Content publishers, comparison and review sites, email newsletter operators, loyalty platforms, and niche influencers. Prospects are identified, vetted, and contacted individually with a personalized pitch. Application quality increases because recruitment is targeted, not broadcast.
Approved affiliates receive a structured onboarding sequence: welcome communication, creative assets, tracking link confirmation, and a response to the implicit question: “Is this worth my time?” Dormant partners are re-engaged with specific prompts. Activation is treated as a primary KPI, not an afterthought.
Commission structure is reviewed against vertical benchmarks, partner tier, and revenue contribution. Tiered levels are recommended where appropriate, rewarding high performers while maintaining margin discipline. Bonuses and accelerators are used selectively to move recruitment and activation.
Network tracking is reviewed regularly for gaps, anomalies, and configuration issues that erode revenue accuracy. Attribution models are examined for correct credit. Reversal rates are monitored and investigated. Where development input is needed, clear diagnostics are provided so your team can resolve them promptly.
Compliance is reviewed on an ongoing basis. Monitoring for prohibited promotional methods (trademark bidding, unauthorized coupon distribution, cookie stuffing), reviewing applications against fraud indicators, and keeping partner agreements current. Compliant programs attract better partners.
Regular, substantive communication keeps active affiliates engaged and dormant partners in the re-engagement funnel: monthly newsletters, one-to-one outreach to top performers, and campaign briefings. Communication is written for the specific program and reviewed before it goes out. Never automated and forgotten.
Weekly summary reports cover revenue, new activations, top performers, and items needing your approval. Monthly executive reports add trend analysis, a recruitment pipeline update, and a forward-looking action list. Written for a marketing director or CEO. Conclusions first, detail on request.
“The person who takes your call is the person managing your program. That doesn’t change at month three, month twelve, or month twenty-four.”
— James Nardell, AffiliateManager.Expert
Not every brand needs the same type of affiliate engagement. The right starting point depends on whether your program exists, how it’s performing, and what the primary constraint is.
Best for: Brands with an active program that needs a competent operator.
The core retainer engagement: recruitment, activation, tracking, compliance, communication, and reporting on a continuous basis. This is the service described in full on this page.
Best for: Brands launching a first affiliate program who want it built correctly from day one.
Network selection, commission structure design, recruitment criteria, tracking configuration, partner agreement review, and initial recruitment. Packaged as a defined launch engagement.
Best for: Brands with a plateaued program that need a strategic diagnosis before committing to ongoing management.
A structured engagement to identify why a program has stalled and deliver a prioritised action plan. A natural precursor to management, or a standalone engagement.
Best for: Brands that want an expert second opinion before committing to any engagement.
A focused diagnostic of your current program: tracking, partner mix, commission structure, compliance, and revenue attribution. Delivered as a written report. The most common entry point for new clients.
Not sure which applies to your situation? Book a free 30-minute program review and we’ll work it out together.
Most affiliate programs rely entirely on inbound applications. A slow trickle of low-quality applicants for most SaaS and e-commerce companies. Active recruitment produces a different result.
Approval is not activation. The majority of affiliates who join and receive no structured follow-up will never promote. Activation is the bridge between “approved” and “earning.”
Ready to see what active management would look like for your program?
Revenue accuracy in affiliate marketing depends on tracking integrity. A commission that fires incorrectly, an attribution model that double-counts, or an unaddressed compliance breach each erode the program’s credibility. With your team and with finance. These require ongoing attention.
Network tracking is reviewed regularly against order data to identify discrepancies, missed fires, or attribution leaks. Misconfigured cookie windows, tracking gaps on specific checkout flows, and cross-device attribution that inflates reversal rates. Where a technical fix is required, a clear brief is provided for your development team.
Reversal rates are monitored and benchmarked against vertical norms. A high reversal rate is sometimes a returns problem. More often it’s a tracking, fraud, or commission-reporting problem that erodes trust with top affiliates. Patterns are investigated before they become disputes.
Compliance is reviewed continuously across three areas: new applications (screened against fraud indicators and prohibited methods), active partner behaviour (trademark bidding, unauthorised coupons, forced clicks), and program terms (reviewed periodically). Compliance directly affects the quality of partners willing to join and remain active.
Affiliate reporting should tell you whether the program is moving in the right direction, what actions are being taken, and what decisions you need to make. Not a raw export that requires interpretation.
Delivered every Monday morning. One page. Skimmable in under two minutes.
Delivered within three business days of month end. Conclusions first, data in appendix.
Ad hoc communication: Time-sensitive items; a significant new partner ready to activate, a compliance issue, a new commission proposal, are communicated as they arise. Not held until the next scheduled report. You always know the status of your program.
The right network depends on your vertical, partner profile, and technical requirements. Not on referral relationships. Recommendations are made based on what fits the brand.
Best for mid-market and enterprise e-commerce and SaaS. Deep publisher relationships across content, loyalty, and comparison verticals. Strong fraud detection and tracking reliability.
Preferred for SaaS and subscription brands. Flexible partnership types, strong API, and robust attribution tooling. Increasingly popular with B2B and fintech.
Strong global publisher base, particularly UK and Europe. Suitable for e-commerce brands with international exposure. Good content and voucher partner coverage.
Specialist SaaS affiliate and partner platform. Supports affiliate, referral, and reseller programs in one interface. Preferred for B2B SaaS with channel ambitions.
Enterprise-tier network with strong publisher relationships in retail, travel, and financial services. Higher minimum spend, premium publisher inventory.
Cost-effective entry point with a broad publisher base. Well-suited for early-stage e-commerce or brands with modest initial budgets.
Relevant for digital products, info products, and high-commission direct-response offers. Specific publisher audience; right for the right product type.
Lightweight tracking platform suited to Shopify-based e-commerce brands early in their affiliate journey. Lower barrier than a full network.
Everflow, LinkTrust, Tapfiliate, FirstPromoter, and custom in-house tracking are also supported. Running a platform not listed here? Ask! The answer is probably yes.
Not sure which network is right? Network selection is part of every Affiliate Program Launch engagement and is reviewed in the Affiliate Program Audit. And a common topic in the free program review call.
Ongoing management is designed to minimise the internal burden on your team. The operational work is handled entirely. What you bring to the engagement:
Affiliate program management is priced as a monthly retainer reflecting the scope of the program, the networks involved, and the level of recruitment required. Engagements are not cookie-cutter.
A fixed monthly fee covering the full scope of ongoing management: recruitment, activation, commission strategy, tracking oversight, compliance, partner communication, and weekly and monthly reporting.
Structured with a minimum initial term (typically three months) to allow meaningful recruitment and activation progress. Month-to-month renewals thereafter.
Pricing guidance: Retainers at this level of hands-on involvement typically range from $2,000–$5,000/month depending on program scope, network complexity, and recruitment intensity. Your specific investment is confirmed during discovery.
If you’d like to understand the investment before a discovery call, the Affiliate Program Audit ($1,000) provides a written diagnostic with specific recommendations. And functions as a natural precursor to a management engagement.
What is an outsourced affiliate program manager (OPM)?
An OPM is an external specialist hired to run a brand’s affiliate program in place of, or in addition to, an internal employee. An OPM handles the full operational scope: recruitment, activation, commission strategy, tracking, compliance, and reporting. Unlike a network’s managed service, an OPM works exclusively in the brand’s interest. At AME, James Nardell operates as a founder-led OPM. The person you brief is the person managing your program.
How is this different from an affiliate network’s managed service?
Network managed-service teams are incentivized to grow the network’s own publisher relationships, not necessarily to optimize your revenue or partner quality. An independent OPM is accountable only to you. Network services are also typically delivered by junior account managers with high client-to-manager ratios. This service is founder-led with a limited roster. Every program receives James’s direct attention.
How long before we see results?
The honest answer is 60–90 days for meaningful revenue movement, and 3–6 months to reach a level of activity that reflects real potential. Affiliate revenue compounds. The first 30 days are typically program review, outreach list building, and activating existing partners; months two and three see the first wave of new active partners. Brands expecting paid-search-style week-one results are consistently disappointed. Worth saying upfront.
Will you work with brands that already have an in-house affiliate manager?
Yes, in some cases. The common version is a brand with a team member responsible for affiliate as one of several channels who needs senior support. There, James operates as the primary operator while the internal person handles approvals and internal communication. If you have a dedicated, full-time affiliate manager, the better fit is likely a consulting or strategy engagement rather than an ongoing retainer.
Do you work with SaaS companies specifically?
Yes. SaaS affiliate program management is a specific area of focus, alongside e-commerce and digital products. SaaS programs have distinct characteristics: subscription commissions vs. one-time CPAs, longer attribution windows, B2B partner profiles on platforms like PartnerStack, that require different recruitment strategies and commission structures than retail e-commerce.
What’s the difference between affiliate program management and affiliate program launch?
Affiliate program launch is a defined engagement for brands that don’t yet have a program, or have one set up incorrectly. It covers network selection, commission structure design, tracking configuration, partner agreement review, and initial recruitment. Ongoing management is a continuous retainer that runs the program after launch. The two can run sequentially or independently.
How many clients do you manage at once?
The roster is deliberately limited so every program receives adequate attention. Founder-led management means quality is directly constrained by capacity. Taking on a new client always means there’s capacity to manage it properly. A new engagement isn’t accepted if it would dilute the quality of work for existing clients.
Which affiliate network should we use?
It depends on your vertical, budget, partner profile, and technical requirements. For SaaS and software, impact and PartnerStack are the most common recommendations. For e-commerce, CJ and Awin offer the broadest publisher access; Rakuten Advertising can be a cost-effective entry point. There isn’t a universal right answer. The recommendation is always based on your specific situation, not referral relationships.
What does “affiliate program management” cost?
Monthly retainers for hands-on management typically range from $2,000–$10,000/month, depending on program scope, network complexity, and recruitment activity. Your specific investment is confirmed after a review of your program. The Affiliate Program Audit at $1,000 is the most common starting point.
Do you offer a free consultation?
Yes. The free 30-minute program review is a working session, not a sales call. You’ll leave with a clear assessment of where your program stands and what the most important priorities are. Whether you proceed with a paid engagement or not.
Can I see case studies or client results?
Client results are discussed in the context of a discovery conversation under confidentiality. Anonymised case studies are available on the case studies page. Client-specific performance data is not published publicly. Standard practice in the affiliate management industry.
More questions? See the full FAQ page or book a free call.
