Start here: how this course works
Five minutes now saves you hours later. Read this first, then dive into Module 1.
What you'll learn
This course builds you a word-of-mouth machine: a referral or affiliate program that turns happy customers into a volunteer sales force. You'll learn the difference between referrals and affiliates (and which fits your business), how to design an offer people actually share, how to track everything with simple codes and spreadsheets, how to launch to your existing customers, how to recruit affiliates who promote, and how to measure and scale the program.
Six modules, three lessons each, with quizzes and build brief prompts. About 90 minutes total. No software required to start — the course begins with spreadsheets and manual tracking, and only introduces tools when the volume justifies them.
How to use this course
Go in order. Module 1's choice — referrals vs. affiliates — determines everything downstream: the offer, the tracking, the recruitment. The build brief prompts walk you through designing your actual program: the reward, the tracking method, the launch list, the affiliate shortlist. By the end, your brief is a program ready to launch.
Start with who you already have. The biggest mistake is designing a program for strangers while ignoring your happiest customers. Module 4 launches to your existing base first — warm people convert, strangers don't. If you have no customers yet, the course still works, but your first job is getting 20 happy ones.
What you'll have at the end
A complete referral or affiliate program: the offer, the tracking system, launch materials, an affiliate recruitment plan, and a measurement dashboard. Plus a build brief documenting every decision — ready to launch or hand to someone who'll run it for you.
Realistic math: a good referral program produces 10–30% of new customers within a year. It won't replace your other marketing, but it's the cheapest acquisition you'll ever have — you're paying for customers only after they arrive.
What's the first decision this course has you make?