---
title: Run an affiliate program
description: "Run an AffiliateWP partner program: commissions, referral tracking and payouts."
url: "https://schoolyland.com/docs/run-an-affiliate-program/"
updated: "2026-09-28"
category: "Store & payments"
---

# Run an affiliate program

Your platform includes **AffiliateWP**, a complete affiliate program: partners get personal referral links, the system tracks who sent each sale, and you pay commission only on results.

## Is an affiliate program right for you yet?

An affiliate program multiplies something that already works. If you have a product that converts, and happy customers or peers with audiences, affiliates are near-free distribution. If nothing is selling yet, fix the offer first: a commission won't make a weak offer convert.

## How it works

1. A partner registers as an affiliate on your site and gets a unique referral link.
2. They share it: to their list, in a review, in a community.
3. Someone clicks and buys. The sale is tracked to that affiliate automatically, even if the purchase happens days later (cookie-based tracking).
4. The commission is recorded and waits for your approval and payout.

## Set it up

1. In WordPress admin, go to **Affiliates → Settings**.
2. Set the commission: a percentage of the sale or a flat amount. For digital products, 30-50% is a common and credible range.
3. Decide how affiliates join: open registration, or manual approval (recommended at the start: you know who's promoting you).
4. The affiliate area page (where partners log in to grab links and see their stats) is created for you.

## Paying affiliates

Referrals accumulate under **Affiliates → Referrals**, where you approve or reject each one (reject on refunds: set a payout delay that matches your refund window so you never pay commission on refunded sales). Payouts are typically done via PayPal on a monthly cycle. You stay in control: nothing is paid automatically without you.

## Make it easy to promote you

The programs that work give partners ready material: 2-3 email drafts, a few social posts, banners if relevant. Put them on the affiliate page. Your AI assistant can draft the whole promo kit from your sales page in one conversation.

## Recruit your first partners

Start with people who already love the product: past students, colleagues in adjacent niches, guests you've collaborated with. Five engaged partners beat five hundred sign-ups who never share.

## Turn your existing contacts into affiliates

You don't have to wait for people to apply. Anyone with a user account on your platform can be made an affiliate directly: AffiliateWP → Affiliates → Add New, pick the user, and they immediately get a referral link and dashboard access. If the person isn't a user yet, create the account first (Users → Add New), or simply send them your registration form.

Have a whole list (say, the contacts already in your CRM) that you want onboarded as affiliates in one go? Don't do that by hand: [open a ticket](https://schoolyland.com/contact/) with the list (or the tag/segment name) and we'll bulk-import them for you, including their referral links.