Affiliate Nerd Out

Dustin Howes
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Marketing
  • Updated Weekly

Partnership marketing enthusiasts and affiliate marketing gurus are sharing their best strategies for affiliate program growth. New guests every week will come to discuss hot topics in the industry and what latest growth hacks working right now.

  1. Embracing AI and Mind Resets: A Real Talk Friday Special

    Jun 2

    Embracing AI and Mind Resets: A Real Talk Friday Special

    Can AI really save affiliate marketers hours every week? 🚀 In this episode of Affiliate Nerd Out, Dustin Howes and Cristen Evans dive into how Claude AI, ClickUp, and automation tools are transforming affiliate marketing workflows. From speeding up complex commission reporting and automating documentation to building ICP decks and streamlining daily operations, they share practical ways AI is helping marketers work smarter and scale faster. They also discuss AI usage limits, productivity hacks, sales mindset shifts, stress management, and how tools like Alfie are changing the future of affiliate program management. 00:00 Usage Credits Panic 00:49 Show Intro and Catch Up 01:05 Busy Week and Mind Reset 03:02 AI Workflows with Claude 05:32 Reporting Automation Wins 07:47 Credits and Sleep Talk 10:57 Mindset Shift for Sales 14:12 Quick Calls of the Week 15:11 AI for Workflows Not Content 16:22 Wrap Up and Alfie Plug Subscribe to this channel for more affiliate program growth tactics. Start your 7-day free trial and see how Alfie can transform your affiliate recruitment process today! https://www.alfie.io/ Want to recruit more affiliates? https://affistash.com Connect with Dustin Howes on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dustinhowes #AffiliateMarketing #ClaudeAI #AIAutomation #AffiliateMarketingTips #ClickUp #MarketingAutomation #AIWorkflows #DigitalMarketing #BusinessAutomation #AffiliateManager #ProductivityHacks #Alfie #MarketingStrategy #Entrepreneurship #AIForBusiness Have you heard about Inflektion yet? They are changing the game in Affiliate marketing.The only platform with personalized funnels to scale partnership marketing for brands, agencies, influencers, and affiliates. Catering to the health and wellness space, this tracking soluition is helping build landing pages for partners in a manner of minutes instaead of weeks. They have social listening to capture all the content your brand is creating so that you can find more partners talking about y For more tips on how to scale your affiliate program, check out https://performancemarketingmanager.com

    16 min
  2. Finding the Right Work-Life Balance in a Remote World

    May 30

    Finding the Right Work-Life Balance in a Remote World

    Dustin Howes and Christen Evans dive into the realities of remote team collaboration, leadership, and communication in the affiliate marketing industry. From managing virtual teams and startup culture to navigating misunderstandings in Slack messages, they share practical tips for building stronger relationships while working remotely. The conversation covers virtual happy hours, team-building activities like Jackbox games and trivia, communication strategies, flexible workflows, and adapting to different working styles. They also discuss affiliate marketing, startup growth, balancing work and life, and the importance of creating a positive remote work culture. If you work in affiliate marketing, remote teams, digital marketing, or startups, this episode is packed with relatable experiences and actionable insights to improve collaboration and productivity. 00:00 Finding Team Flow 00:32 Show Intro And Weekend Plans 01:18 Cristen Updates Work And School 02:54 Alfie Beta And Dog Update 04:00 Relearning Collaboration At Work 05:11 Remote Team Bonding Ideas 06:54 Clear Communication Over Text 09:19 Flexible Processes And Templates 11:27 Building Relationships Remotely 13:00 Meetups Alfie Plug And Wrap Subscribe to this channel for more affiliate program growth tactics. Start your 7-day free trial and see how Alfie can transform your affiliate recruitment process today! https://www.alfie.io/ Want to recruit more affiliates? https://affistash.com Connect with Dustin Howes on Linkedin:   / dustinhowes  #AffiliateNerdOut #Alfie #RealTalkFriday #MarketingPodcast #WorkplaceCommunication #StartupCulture #AgencyLife #TeamCollaboration #RemoteWork #PerformanceMarketing #AffiliateManagement #AffiliateManagers #ChristenEvans Have you heard about Inflektion yet? They are changing the game in Affiliate marketing.The only platform with personalized funnels to scale partnership marketing for brands, agencies, influencers, and affiliates. Catering to the health and wellness space, this tracking soluition is helping build landing pages for partners in a manner of minutes instaead of weeks. They have social listening to capture all the content your brand is creating so that you can find more partners talking about y For more tips on how to scale your affiliate program, check out https://performancemarketingmanager.com

    15 min
  3. Rakuten and Impact Shakeup: What This Means for Your Affiliate Program

    May 30

    Rakuten and Impact Shakeup: What This Means for Your Affiliate Program

    Dustin Howes and co-host Cristen Evans recap Dustin’s experience at Optimism, praising it as a selective, high-quality networking event with strong meeting scheduling, useful gifts, and standout activities, but criticizing the lack of concrete information about Rakuten’s new integration and strategic alliance with Impact. Dustin describes the CEO keynote as offering only vague, high-level remarks, frustrating attendees who came seeking clarity, and notes backlash over a private brands-only meeting that excluded agencies. They compare the situation to the ShareASale/AWIN acquisition timeline and discuss concerns about moving brands quickly without clear communication. Cristen shares updates from her week negotiating aggressive CPA placements for a pet food brand focused on LLM visibility, including challenges with newer partners demanding high rates. 00:00 Nothing Burger Tease 00:47 Show Intro and Welcome 01:01 Optimism Conference Highlights 02:35 Gifts and Engagement 03:07 Impact Integration Disappointment 05:03 Brands Only Meeting Backlash 05:51 Tight Lipped Industry Speculation 08:08 Optimism Next Year and Logistics 09:34 Cristen Week Pet Food Wars 10:34 Negotiating CPAs and Visibility 13:07 Conference Buddy Networking 14:06 Wrap Up and Sign Off Subscribe to this channel for more affiliate program growth tactics. Want to recruit more affiliates? https://affistash.com Connect with Dustin Howes on Linkedin:   / dustinhowes  #AffiliateMarketing #Rakuten #Impact #AffiliateNerdOut #DigitalMarketing #AffiliateConference #PerformanceMarketing #MarketingNews #AgencyLife #AffiliateManagers #RakutenOptimism #MarketingStrategy Have you heard about Inflektion yet? They are changing the game in Affiliate marketing.The only platform with personalized funnels to scale partnership marketing for brands, agencies, influencers, and affiliates. Catering to the health and wellness space, this tracking soluition is helping build landing pages for partners in a manner of minutes instaead of weeks. They have social listening to capture all the content your brand is creating so that you can find more partners talking about y For more tips on how to scale your affiliate program, check out https://performancemarketingmanager.com

    24 min
  4. Rakuten Optimism: The Inside Scoop

    May 22

    Rakuten Optimism: The Inside Scoop

    Rakuten Optimism Review + What We Learned (and Didn’t) About the Rakuten Impact Strategic Alliance Dustin Howes and Amanda Karr recap their experience at Rakuten Optimism, highlighting the event’s strong networking, centralized venue, smooth meeting scheduling, great hospitality, and standout social events like the 1920s party and pickleball tournament. They also discuss frustrations around the Rakuten–Impact Strategic Alliance, including vague keynote messaging, conflicting transition timelines, and agencies being excluded from the brand-only meeting, while sharing insights on what the changes could mean for the affiliate industry. The hottest affiliate recruitment tool of 2026 is Alfie. There is a 7-day free trial and a no-risk 30-day money-back gaurantee Go to Dustinhowes.com/trial to sign up Have you heard about Inflektion yet? They are changing the game in Affiliate marketing.The only platform with personalized funnels to scale partnership marketing for brands, agencies, influencers, and affiliates. Catering to the health and wellness space, this tracking soluition is helping build landing pages for partners in a manner of minutes instaead of weeks. They have social listening to capture all the content your brand is creating so that you can find more partners talking about y For more tips on how to scale your affiliate program, check out https://performancemarketingmanager.com

    26 min
  5. Navigating the Impact-Rakuten Merger: Insights and Concerns

    May 7

    Navigating the Impact-Rakuten Merger: Insights and Concerns

    Affiliate Marketing Shakeup: Rakuten & Impact Merger Insights for Agencies & Brands Dustin Howes and co-host Cristen Evans discuss Rakuten joining forces with Impact and the resulting migration of Rakuten merchants to Impact, calling it a major industry consolidation with an aggressive, wave-based timeline complicated by contracts and unresolved pricing details.  They explore what this means for agencies and consultants, including fears that Impact’s referrals to agency partners could shrink and concerns about conflicts of interest as Rakuten’s managed-services arm gets “first crack” at accounts and may try to poach agency-of-record relationships. They note potential operational hiccups seen in past consolidations , possible publisher friction with Impact, and opportunities for agencies to support large-scale migrations.  They also preview “Alfie Bridge,” a planned migration tool to help brands and agencies automate partner transitions. 00:00 Agency Migration Opportunity 00:35 Welcome and Introductions 00:53 Disneyland Week Recap 01:48 Rakuten and Impact News 04:21 Agency Referral Concerns 07:38 Platform Shift and AOR Risks 11:05 Poaching and Ethics Talk 13:29 Pricing and Migration Waves 15:33 Alfie Bridge Migration Tool 19:08 Events and Closing Thoughts Subscribe to this channel for more affiliate program growth tactics. Want to recruit more affiliates? https://affistash.com Connect with Dustin Howes on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dustinhowes #AffiliateMarketing #AffiliateNews #MarketingStrategy #DigitalMarketing #AffiliateTools #PerformanceMarketing #MarketingInsights #IndustryUpdate #MarketingPodcast #OnlineBusiness #AffiliateManagers #MarketingTrends #BusinessGrowth #ContentMarketing #EntrepreneurLife Have you heard about Inflektion yet? They are changing the game in Affiliate marketing.The only platform with personalized funnels to scale partnership marketing for brands, agencies, influencers, and affiliates. Catering to the health and wellness space, this tracking soluition is helping build landing pages for partners in a manner of minutes instaead of weeks. They have social listening to capture all the content your brand is creating so that you can find more partners talking about y For more tips on how to scale your affiliate program, check out https://performancemarketingmanager.com

    24 min
  6. Dustin goes back to the work force with Matt Frary and Alfie

    May 1

    Dustin goes back to the work force with Matt Frary and Alfie

    Are you still manually hunting for partners like it's 2010? If you aren't using artificial intelligence to handle the heavy lifting, you aren't just working too hard; you're actively falling behind. In this episode of Affiliate Nerd Out, I'm sitting down with a true legend in the performance marketing world, Matt Frary. He's built and exited six companies, and now, he's officially my new boss. We're pulling back the curtain on Alfie, our new recruitment super tool that's designed to give affiliate managers their lives back. We're talking about saving ten hours of grunt work every single week. Imagine what you could do with an extra ten hours. You could spend more time with your family, focus on high-level strategy, or finally stop staring at spreadsheets until your eyes bleed. Matt breaks down how we're using Claude and autonomous agents to index everything in our universe (emails, Slack, Google Drive) to make recruitment smarter and faster. If you're wondering how to recruit affiliates without losing your mind, this is the blueprint. We aren't looking to replace the human element because robots talking to robots isn't how business happens. Instead, we're building an assistant that handles the data analysis and outreach so you can focus on the real human connections that actually drive revenue. We also get into some personal wins, including Matt's son choosing Baylor and a wild last-minute trip to the Final Four. Whether you're a director of marketing or a solo affiliate manager, you can't sleep on these tools. Check out what we're building over at https://www.xpflow.app/ and see how we're changing the game for operators. 00:00 AI Or Get Left Behind 00:33 Meet Matt Frary 01:57 Alfie And The Acquisition 03:33 Building For Family Time 05:50 Final Four Weekend 08:13 Matt's Entrepreneur Journey 09:58 Autonomous Agents In Practice 13:16 Upskilling With Notion AI 14:22 Wrap Up And Goodbye Subscribe to the channel for more affiliate program growth tactics. Want to recruit more affiliates? Get started at https://affistash.com Connect with me on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/dustinhowes #AffiliateMarketing #AIinMarketing #DigitalMarketing #AffiliateNerdOut #MarketingStrategy #AItools #ChatGPT #NotionAI #AIAutomation #WorkSmarter #TechInMarketing #alfie Have you heard about Inflektion yet? They are changing the game in Affiliate marketing.The only platform with personalized funnels to scale partnership marketing for brands, agencies, influencers, and affiliates. Catering to the health and wellness space, this tracking soluition is helping build landing pages for partners in a manner of minutes instaead of weeks. They have social listening to capture all the content your brand is creating so that you can find more partners talking about y For more tips on how to scale your affiliate program, check out https://performancemarketingmanager.com

    16 min
  7. Post Vacation Blues and the Shock of a Steady Paycheck

    Apr 29

    Post Vacation Blues and the Shock of a Steady Paycheck

    Moving from consulting to a steady job is a big change. In this recent episode of Affiliate Nerd Out #RealTalkFriday, Christen Evans (she/her) and I talked about the realities of that transition—from the relief of a stable paycheck to the risks of poor tracking and why some businesses should wait before launching an affiliate program. Topics we covered: 1. Consulting vs. in-house stability 2. Tracking mistakes that waste budget 3. Attribution gaps and reporting issues 4. Why some brands should wait to launch Consulting can feel like constant pressure to generate revenue from the next client. A structured organization can offer stability many independent professionals miss. One big takeaway: integrity means helping brands avoid bad investments, even when it means turning down business. What do you miss most about being an employee when you work for yourself? 🔻 Check the full article: https://lnkd.in/gj9duebS #AffiliateMarketing #PerformanceMarketing #ConsultingLife  #InHouseMarketin g #PartnershipMarketing #MarketingStrategy #Attribution #Entrepreneurship #AgencyLife #RealTalkFriday Have you heard about Inflektion yet? They are changing the game in Affiliate marketing.The only platform with personalized funnels to scale partnership marketing for brands, agencies, influencers, and affiliates. Catering to the health and wellness space, this tracking soluition is helping build landing pages for partners in a manner of minutes instaead of weeks. They have social listening to capture all the content your brand is creating so that you can find more partners talking about y For more tips on how to scale your affiliate program, check out https://performancemarketingmanager.com

    16 min
  8. Affiliate Conversion Tracking: How Publishers Track Real Revenue with WeCanTrack

    Apr 27

    Affiliate Conversion Tracking: How Publishers Track Real Revenue with WeCanTrack

    In this Affiliate Nerd Out episode, Nedarator Dustin Howes interviews Jorge Barbosa from WeCanTrack about common publisher pain points with Affiliate Conversion Tracking, including lacking aggregation, logging into multiple networks, relying on manual sub IDs, and struggling to attribute transactions to sessions, landing pages, and traffic sources. Jorge explains how WeCanTrack pulls transaction data from networks like CJ, Awin, and Impact into one dashboard with hourly updates, compares performance periods, matches conversions to clicks and traffic sources, and pushes commission and conversion data into tools like GA4, ads platforms, and BigQuery to optimize paid campaigns for real sales, CPA, and ROAS. The episode also covers setup steps for WordPress and non-WordPress sites, performance alerts, benefits for affiliate manager relationships, and advanced features like link testing, link building, and link monetization, plus a 15-day trial link. Simplify your affiliate tracking—get started with WeCanTrack using the link below! https://wecantrack.com/affiliate-dash... 00:00 Affiliate Tracking Pain 00:44 Show Intro Guests 04:45 Publisher Blind Spots 07:12 Attribution By Channel 10:53 One Dashboard View 12:44 Quick Setup Tutorial 15:19 GA4 And BigQuery 17:08 Future AI Alerts 24:14 Getting Started Steps 25:46 Advanced Publisher Tools 27:49 Trial And Wrap Up Subscribe to this channel for more affiliate program growth tactics. Connect with Dustin Howes on Linkedin:   / dustinhowes  #AffiliateMarketing #AffiliateTracking #ConversionTracking #AffiliateTips #DigitalMarketing #AffiliatePerformance #MarketingStrategy #SaaSTools #AffiliateGrowth #wecantrack The hottest affiliate recruitment tool of 2026 is Alfie. There is a 7-day free trial and a no-risk 30-day money-back gaurantee Go to Dustinhowes.com/trial to sign up Have you heard about Inflektion yet? They are changing the game in Affiliate marketing.The only platform with personalized funnels to scale partnership marketing for brands, agencies, influencers, and affiliates. Catering to the health and wellness space, this tracking soluition is helping build landing pages for partners in a manner of minutes instaead of weeks. They have social listening to capture all the content your brand is creating so that you can find more partners talking about y For more tips on how to scale your affiliate program, check out https://performancemarketingmanager.com

    27 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Partnership marketing enthusiasts and affiliate marketing gurus are sharing their best strategies for affiliate program growth. New guests every week will come to discuss hot topics in the industry and what latest growth hacks working right now.

Information

  • Creator
    Dustin Howes
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    169
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Affiliate Nerd Out
  • Show Website
    Affiliate Nerd Out