The Proffitt Podcast
Are you thinking about starting a podcast? Launching a YouTube channel? Repurposing your old blog content into something fresh? Hi, I'm Krystal - host of "The Proffitt Podcast." And I'm happy to say you've come to the right place!
Business owners and content creators dream of building a platform where they can connect deeply with their audience, and marketing feels easy. But I also know what it's like to feel confused and overwhelmed.
Join us weekly as we strip down those processes and remove all the overwhelm with new tips, simple strategies, and great conversations with creators like you. Tune in to hear how I help creators start, launch, and market their content confidently. The motto here is, "We all have to start somewhere."
The Proffitt Podcast
Behind the Scenes of Successful Affiliate Marketing
Have you ever wondered how successful course creators built their empires? It often comes down to strategic affiliate partnerships rather than just clever marketing or hefty ad budgets. Laura Sprinkle, founder of Rootabl and former affiliate manager for industry leaders like Amy Porterfield, emphasizes the importance of affiliate marketing. She explains that the visibility created by affiliates—what she calls the "omnipresence effect"—can generate momentum that traditional advertising struggles to match.
For smaller creators, the good news is that you don’t need a massive audience to see results from affiliate marketing. Laura shares her experience of turning a $15,000 launch into $60,000 by collaborating with just eight friends who believed in her product, leading to a tenfold increase in leads. Authentic human recommendations are becoming increasingly valuable in an era of rising distrust online; as Laura notes, "I don't know that I believe an ad, but I believe you."
Looking ahead, Laura forecasts a shift in affiliate marketing toward more specialized relationships, highlighting the roles of "keystone affiliates" and "pollinator affiliates." Whether you're just starting or aiming to scale, her advice is clear: build authentic connections and focus on mutual benefit. The future of digital marketing relies on these strategic human partnerships that enhance your message while fostering trust with your audience.
Click the "Send Krystal a Text Message" link above to send us your questions, comments, and feedback on the show! (Pssst...we'll do giveaways in upcoming episodes so make sure you leave your name & podcast title.)
Oh my gosh. And I'm just sitting here thinking that you know the transitional pieces of like just being behind the scenes to now like you're helping other people be better behind the scenes or have a bigger impact, have more revenue, like all the, all the different metric pieces. But when I think about you know our audience, like their course creators, are doing all this, they're they're probably asking themselves this question. We're like that's great, laura, but I'm not an Amy Porterfield size creator, right, I am like I've only, you know, had a course for maybe two years and affiliate. Like that sounds like fun, but that sounds like that sounds like a far off, distant dream that only people making six, seven, eight figures can afford to do that or be able to do that. So I'm so curious, like for Rootable specifically like who is your ideal customer or business that?
Speaker 2:you're serving. I love this question and I think about that a lot when people have those questions of like I'm not Amy, I don't, you know, I don't have these heavy hitters, I don't have this big team and I think about, like, the power of affiliates. Yes, is making more sales also bringing more leads in when you do it right, which is the big reason I wanted to build. Rootable was for leads tracking as well, but it's also the brand awareness and the person we know as Amy Porterfield, or the brand we know as Amy Porterfield today would not exist if it weren't for people like you. Field today would not exist if it weren't for people like you, the hundreds of affiliates she's had spreading the word, talking about her, like that omnipresence of oh my gosh, everyone's talking about this person.
Speaker 1:Welcome to the Profit Podcast, where we teach you how to start, launch and market your content with confidence. I'm your host, crystal Prof Prophet, and I'm so excited that you're here. Thanks for hanging out with me today, because if you've been trying to figure out the world of content creation, this is the show that will help be your time-saving shortcut. So let's get right to it, shall we? It's cute, okay. Well, we're just going to get started and just chat. It's recording. Yes, we, we're just going to get started and just chat Is that recording?
Speaker 1:Yes, we're recording. We're good to go. I have a video editor who's an angel, so he'll see this. Thank you so much, jay, for making us look and sound incredible. Okay, so we'll just dive right in. Welcome to the show, laura. How are you?
Speaker 2:I'm so excited. I'm amazing.
Speaker 1:How are you doing? I'm good, I'm good. So we're at Craft and Commerce 2025. And I have to say I'm really upset because, laura, I mean, you're infamous. Are you mad at me For the rafting? Yes, I'm mad at you because I can't go, and I guess I'm mad at American Airlines for not having the exact flight pattern that I needed to attend the rafting this year.
Speaker 2:But tell us about rafting.
Speaker 1:Tell us about rafting. I want everyone to know what we're talking about.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so my first craft and commerce. I don't know, was it your first? Was this their third? This is my third Okay.
Speaker 1:Same.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so the first time I came, something in me was like Idaho, I bet there's rafting there and so I looked it up and it's only like 45 minutes from here, as you know. And I was like I think people, I think we need to do this, I think we should go, and it was too late and I couldn't really rally people. And then last year, you know, I talked to some people ahead of time because you know you meet people, they come back and it's so fun to like walk in and be like.
Speaker 2:I know you, I know you, yes, and so we went with five people on the like thrill ride and it was amazing. And then, talking to you, you and your family did the chill.
Speaker 1:We did the chill, we did the family. The family friendly version where you don't have to wear a helmet. Everyone's still in life jackets, but there's no helmets involved.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I'm, you know I'm I'm afraid of heights. I don't thrill seek in that way. But like anything water, nature yeah, I'm like let's go. Um so, so, yeah, it was just an incredible bonding experience. You know, as entrepreneurs, I feel like we're like looking for challenge, we're looking for for thrill in a lot of ways. Um, yeah, it was awesome. And then this year I rented a 12 passenger van and we're like over subscribed and I'm like I love it it's amazing so make sure we're gonna need like a whole bus.
Speaker 2:Yes, we're gonna need the school bus to be like okay, not like so just for context.
Speaker 1:Like it's whitewater rafting right in Boise, Idaho. I mean it's picturesque. I'm from Houston, y'all. I'm at or below sea level. It is just so flat everywhere and you're driving just the drive to get to where you even start rafting. It looks like it's a movie set, it looks like it's a screensaver. It just does not look real. And to put yourself out there and be like I kind of want to do this, Does anybody want to come along with me? Like what a fun tradition that you've started. So next year, like I'm calling it now, like this is what we'll mark this, We'll timestamp this and say, okay, you set it there, Crystal, and then we'll have to follow up with you on how it goes.
Speaker 2:How many people?
Speaker 1:Well, yeah.
Speaker 2:And I'm like, okay, we better come back Taking 12 people. We need 12 people to come back.
Speaker 1:Yes, exactly Same people. Yes, same 12 people. No stragglers, nobody else. I'm trying to even remember. How many people can you fit in a raft? Is it like six? Okay, okay, so we're two rafts.
Speaker 2:You know, next year we'll aim for at least three.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Three rafts, but it's just like it's so funny because Nathan, the first night was saying something about you know, this is, I think, the seventh. Yes, the conference is the first one they've sold out, and you know, it's like, you know, the first one was smaller and then you have to keep going and you have to keep going, and that's so true in business. And I feel like this rafting thing has really like shown that to me in a way. But I'm like, wow, I don't even know that I've been as persistent. I mean, I have. You know, I've been in business eight years, but it's like I don't know that I've been as persistent as I have been, about this rafting, about this rafting.
Speaker 1:This is what you're known for at the conference. And then later people find out like, oh no, she knows affiliate marketing and she's worked with these huge brands and she's kind of a big deal, but really it's, it's laura the rafting queen. That's what I feel like. That's what I feel like you need a sash next year. That's like rafting queen, or something.
Speaker 2:Well, it's rafting commerce there we go.
Speaker 1:That's incredible, oh my gosh. Well, now we have to get into a little bit of how I know you right, so I came across you first. I have talked for a long time on my platform about affiliate marketing. It's been so lucrative for my business and I think it's something that's still underrated. Or people think it's too complicated. Or they hear affiliate marketing and they think, oh, Amazon affiliates. And I'm like, oh no, it's so much more than that. The first time I ever saw you, you were actually helping Amy Porterfield with her affiliate program. I don't remember if this must've been in 2020 or something like that, because that was the first year I was an affiliate for her. So you were no longer, I don't think, working with her directly, but you had previous.
Speaker 2:You came in to do a training for all of us as affiliates and I knew when we met I was like I know your name.
Speaker 1:Yes, Because I remember all my affiliate flock.
Speaker 2:Exactly, exactly.
Speaker 1:So how did you get into it? Have you always done affiliate marketing? What draws you to that space? Tell us your backstory.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I was her affiliate manager the year before, in 2019. And then I came in because, well, I had set up the program and so offered to do a training, but also trained Allison, who's still you know and like she's elevated I, was just texting with her. Actually, we're coming in here because she's amazing, so but I got started a few years before that. It was sort of like just those dots you can't connect. Looking forward, but looking back, I was working in the launch space and helping Selena Su who is a big connector with her course launch and it was her first seven-figure course launch.
Speaker 2:We had 200 affiliates and I really was just getting started. All I knew about it was still the Amazon stuff. So I was really coming in, coming in cold but hungry of like. I just like want to strategize with everybody. I did 200 strategy calls now I've done thousands, but yeah, 200 strategy calls with every affiliate like how can we map out your promo? And I just fell in love with it. I'm like people getting to share products, program services that they love, trust, care about and making money and the business getting to grow, paying their friends instead of corporations yes, it's like what?
Speaker 2:Yeah, sign me up, yeah All day.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I mean, and that's what I think that where I get so disappointed when someone has like, well, I'm only making 20 cents on Amazon, so it's not worth it, it's not worth it, and I'm like, oh my gosh, they need to meet someone like you that's super enthusiastic about. No, because you have this type of audience or because you have these channels that perform really well, you can actually do this, this and this. And so I would just love to hear because obviously I think the easy interview question would be like well, laura, tell us your secrets, like what are the how-tos? But because you've talked to so many people, what is that like big mistake, or what's the thing that people get wrong so often? Because my audience is a good mix of podcasters, youtubers, but they're also course creators that are looking like one day, I want to have an Amy Porterfield size affiliate program or I want to have the ability to do that. So what? What a piece of advice we give to them like this is what not to do.
Speaker 2:I love it and I can speak to it from the like business side and also from the affiliate side. But I would say, if you one day want to have a big Amy Porterfield size or or even six-figure affiliate launch, I would say, do not wait to create relationships. Start creating connections now. I did this without having my framework Again, it's that whole dots thing but I went into a program and I'm like I'm a launch strategist and I'm going to be booked out soon and I want to meet tech VAs and copywriters and all these people I can refer my clients to, and that's like I planted all these seeds, made all these relationships, and that's like how I got introduced to the world of affiliates. And so I just think, like, build relationships now and pour into them as generous as possible so that way, when it comes back around, you have those people that you can say, hey, let's do this thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh my gosh, and this is actually a fantastic transition to what you do today and the business that you built, because you're not just behind the scenes doing launches for other people. Tell everyone what you've built, and I want to know, I guess, kind of the timeline, because now you have a product in this space. That's really incredible. I've had experience with it and I just, yeah, tell us all about your business.
Speaker 2:Amazing, and you so. You are an affiliate for Amy. Still, is that how you found Rootable?
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, that's when we started using it. It was this transition from she used several different products in the last few years of you know, she has her digital course academy, she has her evergreen courses, and I just kind of saw it behind the scenes. And then, whenever it was actually last year, were you launching your products last year when you came to Crafton? Because I remember I remember you telling me about it or you were like kind of telling a group of everyone and I was just like, oh, like she's not just like drank the affiliate marketing Kool-Aid, like she is making the Kool-Aid behind the scenes and she's like, guys, like this is what I'm serving up. So, yeah, I want to hear more about it.
Speaker 2:I love that you just said Kool-Aid. I was just chatting with Erin, the affiliate manager for Mighty Network, so we were filming something and we had this whole joke about drinking the Kool-Aid.
Speaker 1:So the fact that you just said Kool-Aid is like… it's universally now Just coming back around, exactly.
Speaker 2:I lost my train of thought. So we're talking about Rootable. Yeah, so Rootable. You had all those years of being an affiliate manager using so many platforms and thinking these are not making it easy for affiliates to get what they need and actually promote. And the more we can make it easy for affiliates to promote which is another mistake people make of just thinking, oh, they have a link, they're fine, yes, which is not how it works, but making it easy for them to promote the better they're going to do, the better the business is going to do, the better the world's going to do, because we're all sharing really powerful products and offers. And so, yeah, so I decided to build my own tech platform and it was launching last year and Amy came on board for her big launch and we've had and actually that wasn't even the first like multimillion-dollar launch on Rootable, which was cool to be like, hey, we just did this other one, you should come on board, amy and her team's amazing. And then, yeah, we've just grown from there and, yeah, it's been awesome.
Speaker 1:Okay, so I want to know. So for everyone. They were just like wait, y'all were just talking about affiliate marketing. Now you're talking about a tech platform. Like how was that transition? Do you have a background in tech? Is that something that you like? I'm so curious because I love the idea of creating an app or having something accessible, but I'm like who am I to do that? I don't have this developer background, so I'm so curious how that came to be.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I had a joke for a long time, you know people would ask, like what platform? And I'd be like, oh, they all kind of suck until I build my own. But not thinking I was totally in that boat of like who am I to, I don't code, like I'm not going to do this, and then it just became like looking around, like nobody's building this thing and I need it to exist. It would just be so helpful if this existed for folks. And it's been a journey I remember. So it was my first craft and commerce. My first night I sat down. Nathan Berry was like this thing, all of a sudden he's there. And you know, founder of Kit was a creator, creator led SaaS. He talks about that. And I was like Nathan I'm I've been teaching affiliates for eight years, or whatever it was at the time.
Speaker 1:For eight years and I'm going to build a platform, and he goes are you sure? You want to do that, that's not where I thought that was going to go. Okay, yeah, I'm all excited and he's like that sounds like a terrible idea.
Speaker 2:Oh, no, and I was like, oh okay, and it's funny, now I know what he meant by that and I am like even more committed than I was then.
Speaker 2:But like it is a process and it's a learning curve to be able to like work with developers to find somebody that you can trust took me two years, um to to do that and yeah, so it's been a ride for sure and I feel like I'm just getting started. I'm at the starting. So it's been a ride for sure and I feel like I'm just getting started. I'm at the starting line and it's like so much, but it's a lot of fun and I think I'm already seeing the power of that recurring revenue too, like from a business perspective, and also that like that true partnership with our clients, because for a long time it was okay I'm going to come work with Amy and like be all in with her team and her affiliates for like two months and then like nothing, and it was very like wow and then like, and then the wow, and so now to have that like study is really nice.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh. And I'm just sitting here thinking that you know the transitional pieces of like just being behind the scenes to now like you're helping other people be better behind the scenes or have a bigger impact, have more revenue, like all the different metric pieces. But when I think about you know our audience, like they're course creators, they're doing all this. They're probably asking themselves this question. We're like that's great, laura. They're probably asking themselves this question. We're like that's great, laura. But I'm not an Amy Porterfield size creator, right, I am like I've only, you know, had a course for maybe two years and affiliate Like that sounds like fun, but that sounds like that sounds like a far off, distant dream that only people making six, seven, eight figures can afford to do that or be able to do that. So I'm so curious, like for Rootable specifically, like who is your ideal customer or business that you're?
Speaker 2:serving. I love this question and I think about that a lot when people have those questions of, like I'm not Amy, I don't, you know, I don't have these heavy hitters, I don't have this big team and I think about, like, the power of affiliates, yes, is making more sales also bringing more leads in when you do it right, which is like the big reason I wanted to build Rootable was for leads tracking as well, but it's also the brand awareness and the person we know as Amy Porterfield, or the brand we know as Amy Porterfield today, would not exist if it weren't for people like you, the hundreds of affiliates she's had spreading the word, talking about her, like that omnipresence of oh my gosh, everyone's talking about this person. Like Marie Forleo is a great example. She really like pioneered a lot of the like big affiliate course launch we know today Amy Porter excuse me, marie Forleo as it exists like would not exist as a brand if it weren't for the affiliate. So it's like you don't start out as this brand. The affiliates actually help you get there.
Speaker 2:So, that's the first piece, right, and what you were talking about of like, who am I? It's like they had to get over that too. They had to say I'm the person to do this. I am the vision keeper, the vision holder. I'm talking about my hands a lot, but, yeah, and you can start small and I like to use my story. So when I first launched my course it was in 2020, and I first launched it by myself. I think I had like 15 people sign up or no. No, I made $15,000, which was exciting, and I think you know what was that? Maybe like five. Five people had signed up and I think I had 27 people on the webinar. Five people signed up, $15,000. Three months later, I launched with eight affiliates who were my friends. Eight affiliates. We had 297 people on the webinar. So 10x my leads, yeah, yeah. And then we made $60,000 in Forex revenue with eight people.
Speaker 2:It's like you don't need crazy amounts.
Speaker 1:Well, I think that that is. You just hit on such a good point, because I do think that people are like well, I only have this, many people only have this. Like my circle of friends is so small, or I feel awkward asking people in my audience you know, again, I think it the besides Kool-Aid, like the, the theme of today is like who am I to do this? And I think that you're so right in that that's who they are.
Speaker 1:Today, I'm also an affiliate for Marie Forleo, for Amy Porterfield, like all of these really big brands, and the thing that I love so much about their affiliate programs that I think they do super well is by not treating them like you have a link, go do it. They set you up for success, and I think that that's the secret sauce of being able to say like okay, I know my people need the assets, I know they need inspiration for copy or they need, you know, some guiding light of like, well, yeah, we've done this launch in the past, but here's how we're going to do it different this time. Or here's how we're adapting to 2025 standards, because that's when we're recording this, and so I think it's just really cool. Where do you see affiliate marketing heading Like where are we going in the future?
Speaker 2:I love this. And then I have a question for you as well.
Speaker 1:For sure.
Speaker 2:Where I see it going in the future. I keep thinking about this idea of like keystone affiliates, and then your pollinator affiliates. Okay. So I've seen some pretty big programs really like shrinking down to only focusing on their keystone affiliates yes.
Speaker 2:And when you think about keystones, like a keystone species in an ecosystem is like it's making a big impact. It's like the oak trees that bring a lot. So I think about those partners that are like, okay, we're going to go on, we're going to do a joint webinar, we're going to like customize their swipe and they're going to drive a lot of traffic. And then I think about your pollinators. I was like they might bring like one or two people, but they're excited. Yeah, you can have a mass of pollinator affiliate partners.
Speaker 2:And I think the mistake that some not a mistake, but I think that the thinking is okay. Pollinators take up a lot of space and time, but really it's that halo effect, the power of like a lot of people talking about you at once really building a brand. So I think it's going to go into splitting them out a little bit more of like, okay, here are our keystone partners and let's really customize things for folks. And then pollinators like creating materials and creating trainings that help people who maybe this is their first time. Yeah, you know, and I know, for us at Rootable, I'm constantly thinking about how can we help people who this is their first time or whatever people who don't have a lot of time. How can we help them create custom materials quicker? So we're working on some really cool AI things there to just like help them spread the word I don't even know if that's answering your question, but create custom materials quicker. So we're working on some really cool AI things there. So just like help them spread the word.
Speaker 2:I don't even know if that was answering your question, but I also think we're in, especially with AI, we're in this like point of of like a lot of lack of trust in the internet, and so I think that affiliate marketing is going to become even more important because, like we're like I don't know that I believe an ad, but I believe you. I can hold your hand and you know, like know, that you're a person of integrity and I can trust you, and so that branch of trust is going to be really, really important for our offers in the future.
Speaker 1:I totally agree and I think that that's been kind of the theme here, you know, at Kraft and Commerce, like it's just like as AI explodes and we are like what can we? Is that a real person Like?
Speaker 2:is that you know?
Speaker 1:like we don't know like who's talking to us anymore. I think it is going to be those relationships and those connections that you were talking about earlier. It's like you know, get your core group of people right now you probably have, and I always like to tell people. I was talking to someone about their affiliate program earlier this week and they were asking, like well, how do we really, you know, beef up what we're doing and this and that? And like they wanted to add all these bells and whistles and I was like just go to your top performers and see how can you support them better, and that has the potential to 10x what they're already doing, instead of just looking for like well, we need to do this, need to do that. Just go to the people and ask them, like it's such a basic question, but it's just asking how else can I support you? So I love the customized piece of it, but you said you were going to ask me a question, so now I'm like go for it.
Speaker 2:Go for it, laura. I would love to go for it. Go for it, laura. I will have to know, because you are an incredible affiliate. Like what? Has you say yes to promoting something?
Speaker 1:oh, oh this is a good question I would say it's whenever I've gotten results for myself and that's specific for coaches memberships like uh, different kinds of products that are very service-based, or it's a digital product, but then also it's those products that like I mean Asana, canva, buzzsprout, riverside, like I could go through my tech stack list and I'm like I also think of it as like, not only do I love this, but I'm still paying for some of these. So why don't I just get some affiliate revenue to cover these costs? And then my P&L will be so much sexier at the end of the year because, hey, I cut all these expenses down, because I replaced actual revenue from that company and they're actually paying me Like what in the world? So that's what I love about you know, just different programs you can be a part of.
Speaker 1:I think that it's so multifaceted and people just get stuck in like, well, I can only be for one product or I can only promote this one thing, and I'm like I throw all that out the window. If I love a product, my audience knows about it and they will say, well, I trust this, because Crystal said it's good. So back to the trust and the relationship. So that's really what has me saying yes is I have my own experience. I will never promote something if I have never used it or other peers in my industry haven't used it and no one knows about it. Because I have promoted and been a part of affiliate programs that, even if I haven't used it, I know that I have trusted partners in the industry that they love it but it's not for me. But again, it's that trusted relationship.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Okay, Well we're going to wrap up anyways. I was like I was getting a notification. We only have so much time in the studio. I have three rapid fire questions that we ask everybody. Okay, the first one is what piece of advice would you give to a brand new creator?
Speaker 2:Like any type of creator, any creator. Okay, a piece of advice is really, I mean, something I heard from Marie Forleo actually, and I don't know if she coined it, but to really create before you consume. Yeah, so I don't. I'm not always great at following that advice, but that's my number one All right, I love it, I love it.
Speaker 1:The second one is it's a two-part question what's the dream podcast you would love to be on and who's your?
Speaker 2:dream guest you would love to interview. I mean, I'm going to say Amy Porterfield yeah, I'd love to be on her podcast. Jenna Kutcher as well. I think it's likely happening for both, but I'll put that out there. And then, who would I love to interview? I'd love to interview Pat Flynn.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, awesome. Oh, those are so good, those are so good. Okay, my last question is do you consider yourself a perfectionist? Yes and no. Period, the end, period, the end. We're not even going to elaborate on that one. That's it so good, so good.
Speaker 2:Laura, where can everybody connect what you're doing? I would love if you connect with me on Instagram. I'm Laura, sprinkle, it's including the I'm, and then go to rootablecom. Yes, check us out Out. Yes.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for being on the show today. This was awesome.
