You've built a 7-8 figure health & beauty DTC brand. I will connect you with the top affiliates in the world

Hi - I’m Fred!

For over 16 years, I have been managing and scaling profitable affiliate programs that help DTC brands grow revenue.

Some of the questions I get asked are:

▪️ How do I recruit the top direct-response affiliates who specialize in paid media? 
(Email, Display, Tik Tok, Snap, FB, Google, Push)

▪️ How can I increase revenue with lower acquisition costs?

▪️ How can I reduce risk exposure and reliance on a small number of channels?

▪️ How do I structure commission payouts to ensure my brand's and affiliates' profitability?

▪️ How do I build direct response content to get customers to buy now?

▪️ How do I maintain brand, content, and messaging integrity?

In my experience of building/managing affiliate programs for networks and brands, and as an affiliate myself, I’ve worked in all facets of affiliate marketing, and I consider it my domain of expertise. 

I’ve also helped recruit affiliates for some of the biggest global DTC brands, including Goli, Onnit and FluffCo.

My job is to maximize your investment in affiliate marketing, educate you on the technical strategies, and deliver results that surpass your marketing goals.

👉 WHAT I DO:
- Affiliate Program Strategy, Systems and Process
- Super Affiliate Introductions
- Affiliate Recruitment Strategy
- Affiliate Management Strategy
- Affiliate Program Optimization
- Affiliate Network and Preferred Vendor Recommendations

CORE VALUES FOR SUCCESS: 🙏
1. Prioritize the needs and goals of the client 
2. Strive to be the best version of myself (Mamba Mentality)
3. Never shy away from difficult conversations
5. Be organized
5. Always take accountability for both the wins and losses

When I'm not working away, I love spending time with my wife & 2 kids, training for long-distance races and "attempting" to win my NBA fantasy league. 

If you're interested in learning more about how I can help solve some of your acquisition/affiliate challenges, drop me a message, and let's schedule a free call.

Frederic Jean-Bart

The best part about industry conferences- The relationships you build IRL and the lessons you learn along the way. My 3 days at ASW Vegas proved this once again.

From brands generating 9-figure affiliate revenue to affiliates managing millions in audience reach; the event brought together the biggest names in the space.

Youssef, Samantha, and I spent our time reconnecting with old friends and exploring partnerships with potential collaborators.

(It was chaotic, to say the least. lol!)

The world of affiliate marketing typically stays behind the screen. 

Most of our conversations happen over Slack messages.
Or the occasional Zoom call.

But in-person events like ASW bring us all together...

Where ideas flow more freely.
Where partnerships form naturally.
Where networking happens organically.

P.S. The highlight for me: Finally meeting my team members face-to-face. Shoutout to Youssef Sayed Ahmed , Samantha Maraia, the coolest people to work with.

How was your ASW experience?

Affiliate Partnerships for 8-9 Figure DTC Brands | CEO @ Performance Partners | 17-Year Expert In Affiliate Recruitment

On Day 1 of ASW, I had an interesting discussion with one of our trusted affiliates. This is what he said:

You only get one real shot with big affiliates.

They test once.
They move fast.
They don’t wait for fixes.

No creatives.
No clear offer.
No landing page that converts.
...They’re gone.

Big affiliates don’t need motivation.
They need ammo.

If you want scale, you have to show up ready.

Affiliate marketing as a domain is dynamic. What works now probably won’t work in 6 months. But I strongly feel 3 strategies will NOT work in 2026 and will be obsolete for good.

1. Set-it-and-forget-it affiliate programs

The days of flipping a switch on an affiliate network and waiting for revenue to roll in are over (if they aren’t already).

Brands that still treat affiliates like a passive channel will get left behind.

Media buyers need constant optimization.
Listicle partners require relationship building.
Creators need scripts, angles, and enablement.
And competition for partner attention is at an all-time high.

2026 belongs to brands that treat affiliates like a sales channel.

2. Flat commission structures with no incentives

Straight percentage payouts with no boosts, no CPA tests, no tiered rewards, and no performance incentives won’t survive.

Affiliates now compare offers side by side, the same way media buyers compare CPAs.

If your payout is static and boring, you’ve already lost the deal.

2026 requires tiered incentives, seasonal boosts, performance milestones, and personalized partner offers.

3. Mass influencer campaigns with no data behind them

Brands blasting hundreds of creators with product...
It’s expensive and wildly inefficient. Stop doing that.

CPMs and CPCs are rising.
Creator feeds are more crowded than ever.
Brands need predictable performance.

2026 will favor conversion creators over aesthetic creators.

Creators who know how to sell, tell stories, hook viewers, and drive clicks.
The brands that win will use creator content like ads.

What else would you add?

I'm Fred, founder of Performance Partners. Follow for more content on Affiliate marketing.

The fundamentals still win. Here's what I mean by that:

I have built Performance Partners as a remote-first company. It allowed me to work with the A+ players from 10 countries. But the only drawback is that you don’t meet your team members for months. That’s why industry conferences are so fun for me.

I met Youssef Sayed Ahmed for the first time during ASW in Vegas. After working together for almost two years.

And Samantha Maraia joined me for the 3rd conference in a year.

And hanging out with them for a couple of days felt great. Because we finally got to know each other beyond work and strategy discussions.

We work together every day.
Slack. Zoom. Google Meet.

But something changes in the same room.

You build trust faster.
Communication feels easier.
You start thinking like one unit.

Watching how everyone showed up in meetings and conversations was reassuring.

It confirmed two things:

• We have the right people
• We represent the business the same way

That says a lot about modern teams.

These events are not only about work.
They are about life.
Family. Stories. Real connection.

That part is underrated.

Because on calls, there is no time for that.
In person, there is.
And it changes everything.

I may be putting extra pressure on myself. But still, I want to share my goals for 2026. As a Family man and a founder. Because accountability matters. (At the end, feel free to share your #1 goal in the comments)

A. Building a healthier lifestyle
Investing in my mental health
To be more present with my wife and kids.
Spending time on things that fill me up: travel, friendships & creativity
Taking care of my body so I have the energy to do everything I care about

B. Taking Performance Partners into its strongest year ever. 
Financially. Operationally.

- Building a culture that feels exciting to be part of, where people grow, win, and feel supported.

- Strengthening my leadership team so the company can scale without everything flowing through me.

- I want us to hit clear milestones:
1. Help more brands hit 6 & 7-figure affiliate months
2. Expand our media buyer network even further
3. Build the systems and structure that make us faster and more predictable

And most importantly:

I want to push myself creatively: More content, more speaking, more sharing what I know so the industry grows with us. (And LinkedIn will be at the center of it all, so some high-value content and resources are coming your way in Q1, 2026.)

What are your top 3 goals for the year?

Day 2 at ASW.
Scaling affiliates is a math problem. Here's what I mean by that:

2009: I started as a jr affiliate manager.
2026: Scaling my affiliate marketing company to mid-7-figures.

It's been a 17-year journey in affiliate marketing.

Here are 9 rules for affiliate marketing that you must remember in 2026:

1. Affiliate marketing isn’t passive revenue. Brands that recruit, engage, and optimize will scale.

2. If you are not working with the ‘RIGHT’ affiliate, it doesn’t matter how good your strategies are.  Review sites, influencers, and media buyers that drive high-intent traffic will help you with volume and scale.

3. Ensure that the audiences of those affiliates align with your brand’s audience. A skincare brand likely won’t see results with an affiliate who mainly reviews tech gadgets.

4. A small handful of affiliates (often just 5 to 10) generate the vast majority of revenue. Use data to pinpoint your top 1% and invest in what’s working.

5. Affiliate marketing is highly competitive, with thousands of programs. So, having a good offer with a lucrative deal and structure will attract the best affiliates.

6. To attract and engage the top-performing affiliates, offer exclusive deals, bonuses, and performance-based incentives.

7. Affiliate marketing is not a ‘Set-it-and-forget-it’ model. You need to keep building and nurturing the relationships with the affiliates. Help them by sharing your top-performing ad creatives, content, and funnel to improve their conversions.

8. You can’t scale your program without data-driven adjustments. Keep tracking ad and landing page performance and conversions, and refine your strategy accordingly.

9. Affiliate marketing is just like a sales process. You need to keep adding more affiliates to your sales funnel every week to scale your revenue. Implement an outbound affiliate recruitment strategy.

Bonus: Affiliate programs aren't overnight success stories. They need time. For both affiliates and brands to win, it's a dance. A dance that can take 4-8 months to really get in sync.

That’s it.
I’m Fred, and I help scale 8/9-figure DTC brands through affiliate marketing. 
Subscribe to my weekly newsletter here: www.freddysfastfive.com

As we head into 2026, the affiliate marketing landscape is shifting fast. From media buyers to AI, deal negotiation to CPA networks…I have listed 7 changes that we’ll see happening by Q2 of the year.

Read the article below to know them.

And I also have shared the actionable strategies for both brands and affiliate managers to tackle them…to stay ahead of the competition.

Check out the detailed article here:
https://lnkd.in/gBDAniQ5

In our first team meeting of 2026, I made one thing absolutely clear to everyone on the call. Retention comes first, period. 

A. Before we scale our client roster, before we add more headcount, before we do anything else that might look good on a growth chart, if we can't keep great clients longer and deliver consistent results that make them want to stay, then nothing else actually matters. 

Last year, our churn was around 7%, and this year the goal is under 5%.
Not by working harder.
Not by throwing more hours at accounts.

Rather, by working smarter and focusing on long-term client health rather than short-term activity that looks busy but doesn't move the needle. 

That means:
1. Getting more clients past the critical 12-month mark where relationships either solidify or fall apart.

2. Treating retention as a team responsibility across every role rather than something that falls on account management alone.

B. The second focus is stronger execution and consistency across everything we do.

Tighter systems.
Clear ownership of deliverables.
And a cleaner execution that our clients can actually see and measure. 

We're optimizing our internal operations before we scale because growth without operational excellence just creates expensive chaos. 

C. We're doubling down on building direct relationships with affiliate media buyers, cultivating real relationships with fewer middle layers.

That means more trust, more leverage, and ultimately better deals and performance for our clients. 

D. We're building better internal systems and clarity so that everyone on the team knows exactly what they own, what winning looks like in their role, and how their daily work ties directly to revenue and client outcomes. 

Everything ladders up to one thing: 
Long-term, durable client relationships.
That's the focus for 2026.

Most affiliate programs fail for 3 reasons.
Here’s how you can fix them to scale faster:

After reviewing dozens of e-commerce affiliate programs, I’ve noticed a pattern:

1. You’re partnering with the wrong affiliates.

Most brands accept anyone who applies. And they over-focus on influencers while ignoring high-intent partners.

Instead: Define a clear affiliate profile.

Ask yourself:

- Does their audience match your customers?
- Are they already promoting similar products?
- What affiliate types actually work for your niche?

Your tiers should look like:

Tier 1: Media buyers who run ads on commission
Tier 2: Blogs/review sites ranking for competitor keywords
Tier 3: YouTubers, TikTokers, Instagram creators

Use Google + SEMrush to find competitor review sites and build a hit list.

2️. Your incentive structure is too weak.

10% commissions don’t attract top affiliates anymore. At least not when your competitors are offering 20–30% plus bonuses.

So build flexible, competitive payouts.
Use a tiered structure:

New affiliates → 10%
Consistent performers → 15%
VIPs ($50K+/month) → 20%+

Go beyond money. Offer

Exclusive discount codes
Performance bonuses
Priority access to new product drops

3. You’re not managing the relationship.

Most brands onboard affiliates…and then disappear.
You need to treat affiliates like long-term partners.

Do this consistently:

- Monthly newsletters with promos + insights
- Exclusive access to high-converting content
- Pre-launch updates for new products

For top performers:
a) Run quarterly strategy calls.
b) Help them optimize campaigns so both sides win.

That’s how you scale any affiliate program.

Congratulations Jenny. Our space needs more people like you:)

Affiliate Marketing Veteran with a rare 360° view of the industry + a purpose‑built SaaS platform = your shortcut to profitable, scalable partner programs.

𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗗𝗜𝗗 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘀𝘁
 
𝟭𝟱,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴!
 
 
One year ago, I started creating content for people in affiliate marketing on LinkedIn.
 
I was warned.  Repeatedly.
 
→ Too niche  
→ Wrong platform  
→ Nobody here cares  
→ Keep it more professional  
→ Tone it down
 
I did the opposite.
 
I showed up as myself.  
I spoke like we actually talk.  
I laughed at the chaos of this industry.  
I shared the wins and the mess.  
 refused to pretend affiliate marketing is something it is not.
 
Today, this is 𝟭𝟱,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴.
 
And yes, I am proud.  Shamelessly.
 
Because this is not just an audience.  
This is a 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲.
 
→ Honest  
→ Funny  
→ Irreverent  
→ Collaborative  
→ Zero guru nonsense
 
People who want to win.  
People who help others win.  
People who do not need to step on anyone to get ahead.
 
Thank you to every single person who:  
Commented.  
Shared.  
Argued respectfully.  
Sent DMs.  
Called me out.  
Backed me publicly.  
Built with me instead of competing.
 
This only worked because you showed up too.
 
Different still works.  
Niche still wins.  
And affiliate marketing is very much alive here.
 
We are just getting started.
 
If you are part of this tribe, you already know this is your win too.  
Let them know you are here, promote yourself shamelessly in the comments and let's do some business to celebrate this win! 

_____________________________
✳️ I’m Jenny, sharing affiliate marketing lessons from the real-world work I do running my Performance Marketing Network Rocahead

The healthcare influence study reveals something that should fundamentally change how we think about performance marketing in the wellness space. 

The report demonstrates that healthcare professionals remain the primary influence on medication choices, consistently outperforming even the most sophisticated direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising. 

What strikes me most about this finding, particularly as someone who manages affiliate partnerships for wellness brands, is how cleanly it translates beyond pharma into our world of supplements and consumer health products. 

Marketing and ads can absolutely spark initial interest and awareness, but they fundamentally cannot replace the weight and credibility of genuine authority in the decision-making process.

In the healthcare context, it's the technician's recommendation or the practitioner's guidance that ultimately drives purchasing action.

This dynamic is directly relevant to how we approach partner strategies in the e-commerce wellness ecosystem, where trust has become the ultimate currency. 

Creator content and partner voices that genuinely educate their audiences and resonate on a deeper level will consistently outperform backdrop advertisements.

Affiliates who have built real credibility with their specific audience segments behave remarkably similarly to those healthcare professionals highlighted in this study, influencing purchase choices because they genuinely matter to their communities. 

This reinforces why our agency focuses so intensely on building meaningful, long-term relationships with top-tier affiliates and creators rather than chasing transactional placements. 

If marketing doesn't authentically connect to trust and real influence, it won't move long-term business outcomes.

The Lemme case study hits on something I've been trying to explain to ecom founders for years now. And honestly, it's refreshing to see it validated.

Attention is not enough. I think that's the hardest pill for brands to swallow when they're chasing viral moments and influencer hype. 

Lemme's trajectory from social buzz brand into mass retail like Target and Walmart shows a sequence that so many direct-to-consumer brands completely miss. Because they're too focused on the dopamine hit of engagement metrics...

They started with clear identity and benefit-first messaging, built a repeatable content and creator engine that wasn't dependent on one-off viral posts, and then used distribution expansion as a trust signal rather than just a headline to throw around in pitch decks. 

That shift from chasing attention to building actual coherence is what separates brands that scale sustainably from those that absolutely crash and burn after their 15 minutes of viral fame run out.

In affiliate marketing, this translates into concrete angles we apply with every wellness client we work with. 

First, we shouldn't treat affiliates as nothing more than reach points. They're credibility and proof builders who validate your brand through their endorsement and track record with their audiences. 

Second, systems matter way more than most founders realize, because the best affiliate channels are built on repeatable frameworks that include hooks, assets, and sequencing.

The Lemme example validates what we've been pushing with our wellness brand partners all along. Focus relentlessly on performance assets and trackable conversion systems rather than on influencer noise that looks good in monthly reports.

Btw subscribe to my weekly newsletter here: www.freddysfastfive.com

I know IP-based attribution is common in affiliate marketing, but it's something I'll never recommend to a client. NEVER. Here's why:

Look, I get it. Not every partner has the infrastructure for click attribution. Some rely on IP addresses to track conversions, and plenty of brands accept it without questioning.
But when you actually dig into the data, it falls apart.

Here's what makes IP-based attribution problematic:

Firstly, you can't pinpoint who actually drove the conversion. Attribution in affiliate marketing is already complex. But when you remove click-level tracking, you're essentially guessing. 

‘Was it Partner A's content that converted the customer, or did they just happen to share an IP range?’ The lack of clarity makes it nearly impossible to know which partners are genuinely performing.

Second, less informed brands get comfortable with bad data. If you're not analyzing your numbers deeply, IP-based attribution might look fine on the surface. Revenue comes in, partners get credited, everyone's happy. 

But brands that dig deeper quickly realize the conversions don't match reality. You end up rewarding the wrong partners and scaling the wrong strategies.

Without click attribution, it becomes nearly impossible to pinpoint which partner actually generated a customer or conversion. Most reputable partners do have some form of click attribution.

So here's what I recommend every brand do before onboarding a partner:

1. Ask about their attribution methodology in your first conversation.
2. Require click-level tracking as a non-negotiable standard.
3. Walk away from partners who can't provide transparent attribution.
4. Audit your data regularly to validate conversions match actual behavior.

You can't optimize what you can't measure accurately. 
And you can't scale an affiliate program built on just guesswork.

S Brian Smith 🪜

I free founders from ops, sales, & management | Founder @ Strategy Ladders | Coached 1000s of B2B and Agency owners | Stop struggling, start enjoying business ownership 🏖️

Most founders of 7-figure B2B service companies reach a point where growth plateaus—and freedom remains a mirage.

They’re still in sales calls. Still solving client fires. Still holding the business together.

That’s where we come in.

At Strategy Ladders, we help founder-led B2B service businesses—agencies, development shops, consulting firms, and more—scale from $2M to $30M+ in annual revenue while removing the founder from daily operations.

We don’t do theory. We do results.

Every advisor on our team has built and scaled 8-figure businesses. We’ve been in your seat, broken through the same ceilings, and led teams to the next level.

What We Deliver:
Strategic clarity with a customized roadmap to scale

Execution firepower through world-class experts and operators

Freedom for founders through strong systems, teams, and leadership

We don’t stop at advice. We help you implement.

Whether it’s building out your sales infrastructure, overhauling project management, optimizing financials, or replacing yourself as CEO—our team has done it before and does it with you.

Services We Integrate Into Our Work:
LATAM recruiting (our secret weapon)

Full-stack B2B marketing through our in-house agency, B2B Labs

Project management systems & leadership

Financial management—without a bloated CFO title

HubSpot CRM buildouts & automation

And more—all tailored for service businesses

We’ve helped clients:
✅ Scale from $150k to $4M ARR in under a year
✅ Slash founder hours by over 40%
✅ Grow recurring revenue from 2% to 50%
✅ Land Fortune 100 clients
✅ Build 65-person teams in two years
✅ Exit profitably and on their terms

We're not a coaching business.

We're not your podcast hero.

We're the serious team for founders ready to win.

If you’re running a 7-figure business and ready to scale to 8+—without grinding yourself into the ground—we should talk.


🪜 www.strategyladders.com

Founder & Head of Strategy

The Strategy Ladder Program delivers MASSIVE results to agencies, consultancies, and service businesses.

If your business is 25-85 employees, partially or fully remote, and you're stuck trying to "level-up," I will transform it with you.

The Strategy Ladder System will get you UNSTUCK. You'll develop a bullet-proof strategy that grows with your business, streamlines operations, scales your revenue, and sets your business up to continue to grow without you.

The Strategy Ladder System doesn't just change your business. It will transform YOU. You'll undergo a mental reset that frees you from the anxiety and beliefs that tie you to the day-to-day in your business. You're the leader of your business - if you don't change, your business never will.

The Strategy Ladder System has worked for over 400 entrepreneurs, delivering & implementing strategies that have:

💥 Scaled an agency from $150k to $4mil ARR in 10 months

💥 Increased a digital marketing agency’s productivity levels by over 450%, dramatically increasing profitability

💥 Streamlined a SaaS product’s roadmap, reducing development costs by 45% while increasing execution speed by over 25%.

💥 Developed and executing a repositioning strategy that landed a web development agency a long-term contract with a Fortune 100 company

💥 Repositioned of an app development agency that grew recurring revenue from 2% to over 50% of total revenue within three month

💥 Built a sales organization of 65 sales people in two years

💥 Orchestrated & executed a legal & and business strategy that lead to a sale of key assets of a SaaS platform for a significant premium over the market value of the company

Most founders hit the same wall. (and how to break through it in 90 days  🚀)

Revenue’s up. Team’s bigger.
And somehow… you’re working more.

Every decision runs through you.
Your calendar is a hostage situation.
And that “vacation”? You spent half of it on Slack.

Here’s what I’ve learned after helping 400+ B2B service founders break the cycle:

The problem isn’t your team. It’s your operating system AND decision delegation.

One client had 80+ employees… and the founder was still spending 6–10 hours/week reviewing dashboards, reports, and funneling decisions through himself.

Not leading. Not strategizing.
Just… reviewing.

We rebuilt their operating rhythm & assigned decision ownership.

90 days later: the team runs the reviews.
The founder gets a 15-minute summary every day. That’s it.

Here’s what a real 90-day shift looks like:

✅ Days 1–30: Clarity

- Map every decision that “requires you”
- Install a simple rule: reversible decisions don’t climb to the founder
- Assign ONE owner per function (Sales, Delivery, Ops, Finance)

✅ Days 31–60: Cadence

- Weekly leadership rhythm (same agenda, every week)
- Scoreboard + priorities (no vibes, no rambling)
- Problems get solved by owners… not escalated to you

✅ Days 61–90: Accountability

- Public commitments
- Misses get fixed, not explained
- You stop rescuing — and become the strategic leader again

One client went from a $1M to $4.5M run rate during this transition.

Not because they worked harder.
Because they built a business that didn’t need them in every room.

The real question isn’t “Can my team handle it?”
It’s: “Have I given them the system to win without me?”

What’s one decision you made this week that your team should’ve owned?

But be careful with one-size-fits-all approaches. Every operating business starts with its own unique set of challenges.

If you’re serious about getting out of the middle, DM me “90 DAYS” and I’ll send you a business audit to see where you need to focus first.

✌️🧡🌮

taplio

The Battle

Frederic Jean-Bart

S Brian Smith 🪜

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreFrederic Jean-Bart's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreS Brian Smith 🪜's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Frederic Jean-Bart

S Brian Smith 🪜

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Frederic Jean-Bart's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreS Brian Smith 🪜's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreFrederic Jean-Bart's LinkedIn Performance