What are influencer partnerships? Types, examples and how to build them

What are influencer partnerships?

Influencer partnerships are ongoing business relationships between you and a creator, where they promote what you offer to their audience and you both benefit, over months or years.

The creator actually believes in what you're doing. Their audience can feel the difference between that and someone reading an ad they were paid for once. That trust is what makes partnerships so powerful.

Influencer partnership vs sponsored post

Types of influencer partnerships

These are the partnerships I've used most as a creator, with real examples from my business.

Affiliate partnerships 💸

A creator promotes your product and earns a commission on every sale.

I've been on this side many times. In January 2015, right after my first summit, I became the #1 affiliate for Ramit Sethi's Zero to Launch course and made around $40,000 in a month. In 2017, I promoted Ryan Levesque's ASK Method Masterclass and finished 6th on the leaderboard for one of the most competitive launches of the year:

Summit speaker partnerships 🎤

A creator speaks at your virtual summit and shares it with their audience. They get exposure and often a commission on pass sales. You get their audience's trust.

This is how my summits grew. Selena Soo and Regina Anaejionu both emailed their lists about my summits:

Joint webinars and workshops 🧑‍🏫

You teach a live workshop to a partner's audience, often with an offer at the end and a revenue split.

In December 2015, I ran workshops with Chandler Bolt and Regina Anaejionu. They grew my list by close to 2,000 subscribers in a few days.

Summit and launch partnerships 🚀

Sometimes a partnership is building something together. In 2015, Chandler Bolt, founder of Self-Publishing School, hired me to help him with the Self-Publishing Success Summit. It was my first big summit consulting partnership, and it brought in 30,000 opt-ins and $370k+.

Chandler Bolt

Founder & CEO, Selfpublishing.com

Navid helped me earn $370k+ and 30,000 email subscribers in less than 2 months… it completely transformed our business to a multi million dollar online education company (the summit we did in 2016 was even bigger with almost 40,000 opt-ins!).

It all started with the proven business and marketing strategies Navid shared.. go sign up to his email newsletter now!

Podcast and content swaps 🎙️

You appear on their podcast, they appear on yours, or you create content together. No money changes hands, and both audiences grow. Being a guest on John Lee Dumas's Entrepreneurs on Fire in 2016 was a big personal goal of mine.

Sponsorships 🏷️

A company pays to be part of your event, newsletter or content. Brian Appleton, one of my students, brought in $20,000 in sponsorships for his Insurance Agent Summit.

Brand ambassador partnerships 🌟

A creator represents a brand over a long period, often with a mix of fees, commissions and free products. It's the long-term version of a sponsored post, and it works best when the creator already uses the product.

Benefits of influencer partnerships

• Reach you couldn't get alone. You're introduced to an audience that took years to build.
• Instant credibility. When someone they trust recommends you, people take you seriously right away.
• Better leads. People who come through a partner already have context and trust.
• Lower cost than ads. Commission-based partnerships only cost you when they work.
• Compounding results. One successful partnership makes the next one easier to land.
• Relationships that last. The best partners become friends, speakers and promoters for years.

For the downsides too, see influencer marketing benefits and disadvantages.

How to create influencer partnerships in 5 steps

1. Pick the right partners

Start by looking at who already works with businesses like yours. Check who your peers have as speakers, affiliates and podcast guests.

Then check fit: their audience matches your ideal customer, their content is something you'd recommend yourself, and people actually engage with them. I explain exactly how in how to identify influencers.

2. Build a real relationship first

Before you ask for anything, add value for a few weeks. Engage with their content, share it with a note on what you learned, buy their product if it fits, send a testimonial.

When you finally reach out, you're not a stranger anymore. More on this in how to build relationships with influencers.

3. Reach out the right way

Keep your first message short, specific and about their audience. This is the message I've used to open affiliate partnerships:

Partnership outreach message
Hi [first name],

I've noticed you've partnered with some great people recently, and promoted their courses in the last couple of months, including [X, Y and Z].

I was curious if you'd be up for checking out something I've got that I think may be a good fit for your audience. But obviously, you know better than anyone what's a fit for them.

I'd be happy to send more info over if you'd like to take a look.

Just let me know how I can help.

[Your name]

Keep it under 100 words. For the exact emails I use for speakers and podcasts, see how to reach out to influencers.

4. Agree on the deal

When they're interested, suggest a short call instead of negotiating over email. Then put it in writing on one page: what each of you does, when, and how the money works.

Be flexible on your first few partnerships. Momentum matters more than squeezing the best terms out of every deal.

5. Grow the partnership

After the campaign, send them their results, thank them publicly and ask what worked for them.

Then keep the relationship going between campaigns. Promote their launches, invite them to your next event, and ask if they know someone else you should work with. Warm introductions beat cold outreach every time.

How to structure an influencer partnership deal

Whatever the model, give every partner their own tracking link, so you can see what each one brings in.

Influencer partnership mistakes to avoid

• Asking before you've given anything. Value first, always.
• Choosing by follower count. Fit and trust beat size.
• Making it hard to promote. Send ready emails, posts and links.
• Disappearing after the campaign. That's a transaction, not a partnership.
• Skipping disclosure. Paid and affiliate promotions need to be clearly marked.

I cover all of them in 21 influencer marketing mistakes to avoid.

Final thoughts on influencer partnerships

The difference between a sponsored post and a partnership is time and trust.

A sponsored post is a one-time spike. A partnership is a relationship that keeps paying off, for both of you, long after the first campaign.

Pick 3 creators you'd genuinely love to work with. Spend the next few weeks adding value to them. Then reach out with something that's clearly good for their audience.

That's how my best partnerships started.