How an affiliate partnership works
An affiliate applies to your program, accepts your terms and receives a unique link or promo code. They publish it in reviews, tutorials, newsletters, videos or comparison pages. When a reader clicks the link, a cookie records the visit. If that visitor signs up or pays within the cookie window, often 30 to 90 days, the affiliate gets the credit.
The commission is usually a percentage of revenue, paid for a fixed period or for as long as the customer stays. Most programs hold each payment for a period that covers your refund window, and reverse it through a clawback if the customer cancels early.
When affiliates fit
Affiliate partners work best when customers can buy without speaking to sales: a free trial, a published price and a checkout page. The affiliate's job ends at the click, so the product has to carry the rest. For a deal that needs several demos and a security review, the link that started the journey is long forgotten by the time the contract is signed, and a referral partner or reseller usually fits better.
Affiliate programs are also mostly self-serve. You might have hundreds of affiliates and speak to a handful, which makes clear terms and reliable partner attribution more important than relationship management.
Example
Fjord Analytics runs an affiliate program that pays 20% of revenue for 12 months, with a 60-day cookie window. A data blogger publishes a tutorial that uses Fjord's product and includes her affiliate link.
A reader at Kestrel Foods clicks the link, starts a trial and upgrades 18 days later to a $300 monthly plan. The click is inside the window, so the blogger earns $60 a month. Each payment is released 60 days after Kestrel pays, so a refund can still be caught before any money goes out. If Kestrel stays all year, the blogger earns $720 without Fjord's sales team doing any work.