I used to spend a crazy amount of time onboarding new partners.
I’d send them our assets, jump on calls, and show them the ropes. But when it came time to actually promote and drive customers, they'd disappear.
I was building a partner program for tourists.
People who wanted to get on the yacht, grab a free drink, and then hop off without contributing to the party.
The worst ones were the "system abusers."
They’d sign up just to get a special discount link for themselves, run paid ads and try and find loopholes in your program for short transactional gain.
You don't want these people in your partner ecosystem.
They waste time, energy, and resources.
So how do you fix it? You build a tourist-proof filter.
For beehiiv, as a SaaS, we essentially auto-approved everyone. This worked but I don’t recommend it for everyone.
For Ship 30, I'm doing the opposite. I'm curating and approving partners via an application process. We'll have less partners overall, but they will be much higher quality.
And the application is simple. Before you invest any significant time, ask them:
"What's your plan to promote?"
"Can you share an example of a similar partnership you've run?"
“Who is your audience"?”
"What does an 11/10 partnership relationship look like to you in the first 90 days?"
Their answer will tell you everything.
A true partner has a plan.
A tourist is just window shopping.
Filter for the ones with a clear plan and the willingness to put in the work. These are the partners who will help you build a flywheel, not just a single deal.
Keep stacking 🧱
TG