Hey hey! o/

It’s been a while since I updated you on my progress of moving my affiliate program related products & content to ReferralPie! So, I thought I’d share a hurdle I’ve been hitting lately:

As part of my strategy for growing ReferralPie, I want to focus on reaching three key people:

• digital product creators & online service providers who want to setup and grow affiliate & referral programs so they can spend less time marketing on social media
• fellow affiliate program managers who need an extra hand in managing their client’s/employer’s affiliate program
• SaaS brands & founders who want a streamlined affiliate program running in the background whilst they focus on other marketing channels

The first group is my bread & butter. I’ve been living comfortably in this bullet point for the past 8 years. 🥰

Whilst I’ve worked with people in the second & third groups, I can count them on one hand. And I'd love to be able to count them on two or three. 🙌

I want to take it one step at a time and focus on expanding my circle & connect with my fellow affiliate program managers who could either be potential clients or potential referral partners!

But, now that I’ve made my strategy and need to start taking action, I’ve got to be real about something: I’m genuinely scared about this part.

The reality of networking for me 😴

I know I talk about building meaningful connections and how it’s a key element to People-Led Marketing.

As someone with AuDHD, long covid, and social anxiety, it can be ROUGH to implement a networking plan for myself (despite appreciating the huge impact relationships can have in my business).

• I don’t have the energy to be on multiple video calls per day (and I’d like to be able to make a great first impression for each person I meet)
• I hate being in ‘waiting mode’ for my next appointment, so much so that a call in the middle of my day interrupts my entire flow and I basically get nothing else done 🙈
• I’m prone to cancelling calls due to having low energy or down days and, from personal experience, that’s something that is hard to come back from when you’re meeting someone new for the first time

Just to name a few examples 😅

My energy & health are things I absolutely have to bear in mind as I move forward with making connections.

Imposter syndrome at the ready! 🫡

I’m also having a bit of a wobble in terms of meeting more of my fellow affiliate program managers.

To be honest, it’s making my imposter syndrome spiral! 🌀

Why? Because my ‘affiliate marketing space’ is incredibly different to their ‘affiliate marketing space’.

Over the past 8 years, I’ve been setting up, growing, and managing affiliate programs for online course creators, membership hosts, digital product sellers, and service providers.

I’ve also worked with some eCommerce and SaaS brands, which are areas I’d love to get more experience!

In general, I’ve worked with building affiliate programs on standalone platforms like ThriveCart, Tapfiliate, or Affiliate WP (as examples!) for anywhere from 10 to 1000+ affiliates.

But I’m coming across people who are working with muuuch bigger brands than I’m used to working with, using lingo I barely recognise, and speaking at scales far beyond what I’m used to.

Working through those feelings 🌼

Making connections is within my comfort zone but all of this bundled together feels uncomfy, for sure! 😬

Despite knowing that I’m great at what I do and understanding that we simply have different client bases, it feels like I’m ‘not-good-enough’ to be at the same table as most of the other affiliate managers I come across.

I’m nervous to connect with my peers and then sound like I don’t know what I’m talking about and worrying about ‘what if’s. Does that make sense to you?

I know a big part of the way forward will be pushing through these feelings.

Making those connections.
Learning from each other.
Sharing my experiences.

And, ultimately, filling the gaps in my knowledge (& my referral circle) so I can serve more of my ideal people.

To help with my energy levels & social anxiety, I’m also planning to set up a scheduling page with:

• any clear expectations that I might want to outline before chatting
• booking limits so I don’t have more than 1 call per day
• updated availability so I can evaluate when I want to take my calls and ensure they don’t interrupt my work flow
• a little video of me to invite them to book the call and show how excited I am to meet them! (I love this feature in zcal!)

What are some ways you can connect with more people in your niche today?

Have a magical day,
Zoe 💛

P.S. I know September is usually a busy time for B2E launches! If you have a launch, sale, or promotion coming up and you want to get your affiliates involved, I have a couple of things for ya:

• ​Launch with Affiliates: an on-demand workshop to walk you through 5 emoji-fied pathways to engaging affiliates in your next promotion
• ​Spectacular Swipe: a DIY guide to writing your own affiliate swipe copy so affiliates can share their links without spending hours on content creation
• ​Slice of Swipe: email swipe copy completely done FOR you, written by yours truly, for only $500 USD (excl. VAT)