Promote ClickFunnels an an affiliate

I first started promoting ClickFunnels as an affiliate back in 2018.

Guess how much I made that year?

A whopping $10k!?!

Just kidding lol. I made only $1 in 2018 from the ClickFunnels affiliate program. 🙁

Well, come January 2019… I had my first breakthrough as an affiliate of ClickFunnels. Making about $500 in one week!

That had been my highest so far online.

It’s been over 3 years promoting ClickFunnels and I’m here to share everything that worked for me about making money from this lucrative affiliate program.

I will share…

  • How I’m close to making $100k with the program (screenshot below)
  • My top 6 ‘secret’ methods I’ve used to increase my commissions
  • Other ways top affiliates are promoting ClickFunnels
  • Strategies and tips

Proof? okay, here’s how far I’ve gone:

new ClickFunnels milestone

It wasn’t easy.

But this is to show you that it is really possible to promote ClickFunnels and making money.

And also show you that I obviously know one or two things. To be able to write this helpful guide.

Here’s my table content:

6 Ways on How I’ve Promoted ClickFunnels (road to $100k)

My sole method of affiliate marketing over the years is through SEO and blogging.

That’s it.

It takes time, effort, and patience.

Especially for anyone who’s new to blogging and SEO to be able to learn all it takes to write posts and rank them organically.

But the results in years to come are incredible!

I wouldn’t advise you to replicate everything I did back in 2018, 2019, and 2020 to promote ClickFunnels – because the competition right now has become fierce.

Unless you already got tight SEO skills. I will tell you which path to go, down this guide if you insist on blogging.

The thing is, it wasn’t as competitive back then as it is now.

In fact, I no longer rank (and not so interested) for some of the keywords that made me tons of commissions.

But still, I will share them with you so you get inspiration on how to promote it from other angles and for your other affiliate campaigns.

Enough of the talks now. Let’s roll.

Method #1. I went after most of the “versus” keywords

This can also be called comparison posts.

Where I had to basically write articles comparing “ClickFunnels vs competitors”. I went crazy about writing ClickFunnels versus its competitors from early January – March  2019.

In less than 3 months, I had written about 15 articles comparing ClickFunnels vs other sales funnel software and marketing tools.

I didn’t go after these keywords blindly.

With the help of Google autosuggest:

ClickFunnels comparison Google

And KeywordTool.io (found 80 unique ‘versus’ keywords!):

ClickFunnels comparison tool

I was able to find tools people are already comparing with ClickFunnels. Using “ClickFunnels vs” query.

This was how I found these keywords and wrote on them.

This strategy worked great for me throughout 2019 (still works!) and I even ended up making thousands of commissions from the products I compared with ClickFunnels without writing separate posts on them.

Here are a few of my comparison posts:

Method #2. I targetted buyer keywords

Lets put it simply:

Buyer keywords are phrases people use in search engines when they’re looking to buy a product or service.

The searcher is actively in the buying cycle and already knows what they want.

They usually consist of 2-5 words.

They are high-intent phrases that are most competitive because they lead to sales or transactions.

I also wrote a few buyer-intent keywords relating to ClickFunnels.

Example of such posts includes:

While these are really competitive, it’s not really a bad idea to write on them – sharing your own view and experience and all.

For example, I also wrote this guide on why I upgraded from the $97 to $297 plan.

This could be difficult if you’re new and have no much experience. So, it’s better to start with the other methods below.

Method #3. Also went crazy on niche-specific keywords

Have you ever heard this:

The Riches are in the Niches?

It’s a pretty famous saying in the online marketing world.

Well, targeting niche-specific keywords has been one of the ways I’ve been able to add more orange bars (now blue bars) to my ClickFunnels dashboard.

I will show you how soon.

You see, narrowing down allows you to target specific demographic, industry, or market looking to use ClickFunnels in their businesses.

It is simple:

All I had to do was use the same keyword research method I used on the ‘versus’ method to find these niche keywords.

Google autosuggest:

ClickFunnels for Google

Using KeywordTool.io (206 keywords!):

ClickFunnels for keywordtool

With this method, I was able to find and record over 100 niche-specific keywords to write on.

Just using the query “ClickFunnels for”.

Unfortunately, there is just a handful of them I could write on. I think I was able to write about 15 or so of these.

If I’m to start today promoting ClickFunnels – I would go crazy on this particular group of keywords.

Trust me. Lesser competition. Low search volume. On point. Specific.

Here are a few examples of these posts:

With a bit of research on YouTube, Facebook groups, and blogs it wasn’t hard writing these posts.

I was able to rank easily for these keywords.

And I know it contributed greatly to my ClickFunnels affiliate marketing success.

Method #4. Wrote a bunch of listicles

My eyes opened to the power of list posts when Google was sending me 30-60 visitors per day to my “Best Sales Funnel Builder” post in the early months of 2019.

If I’m not mistaken, I was among the first bloggers to write (and bank) on this keyword.

It has now become one of the toughest keywords I’m competing for.

You now see huge sites with teams behind them (HubSpot, EmailToolTester, etc) outranking and pushing me downwards haha.

That’s the game for you.

I’ve also written a few similar list posts and included ClickFunnels as one of my recommendations.

Here are few examples:

Method #5. Wrote posts on other ClickFunnels products

Besides making recurring commissions selling the main ClickFunnels software – I’ve been able to also make a lot from other products in the ClickFunnels ecosystem.

The last time I checked there is over a dozen other products. Which is really nice!

And lots more.

Close to half of my earned ClickFunnels commissions came from these non-recurring offers.

You can choose to write individual reviews, pricing, how-to’s, and specific use cases on all of these products.

And the interesting thing is the sticky cookie feature – makes it easy to get commissions from a customer’s future ClickFunnels purchases.

The limitations are endless.

Method #6. I optimized my ClickFunnels posts for more conversions

This is a strategy I started implementing on my sites – mid-2020.

Increasing my affiliate link clicks and commissions without writing extra posts. All I did was optimized all my existing blog posts for conversion.

Here is what I did:

I activated an exit-intent pop-up on all of my ClickFunnels related posts.

To show this:

The first button for visitors to grab the ClickFunnels trial (short sign-up page).

While the second was to learn more about ClickFunnels (longer-form and educating sales page).

I tested a ton of exit intent pop-ups and this really brought more conversions.

Months later I had to change it to an opt-in exit popup. So I’d collect emails and promote ClickFunnel and other products on the back end.

After all, email is ‘life’ :). right?

I gave out my ClickFunnels course in exchange for my visitor’s email.

Like this:

ClickFunnels course opt in (1)

And another one…

On posts such as the One Funnel Away Review, I also activated a timely pop-up:

OFA exit intent

Which has contributed immensely to boost my commissions.

There were several ways I did this on my ClickFunnels-related posts. I just kept testing and testing stuff, split testing and all…

All thanks to ConvertBox software. Everything was seamless without designing. Without coding. Without installing a bloated plugin.

Finally, check out this one I activated when the yearly plan was introduced:

The interesting thing here is – I never wrote new posts or did any extra work – apart from activating these pop-ups on my site to squeeze out extra sales from existing traffic.

With the help of ConvertBox.

You can learn how to activate this (in minutes) on your site right here in my ConvertBox review and tutorial.

What you Should do Today?

Now that you’ve seen how I’ve been promoting ClickFunnels as an affiliate and on my way to $100k as a CF affiliate…

What should you do with the above ‘secrets’?

Well, you can replicate my success on your own (not easy), use the methods in promoting other offers, or learn directly from someone or taking a blogging and SEO course.

It’s all good.

If you really want to use the same method I used – I’d advise you to start from the #3 method.

When you start getting some traffic, activate ConvertBox to maximize affiliate clicks.

Like I mentioned earlier – If I’m starting afresh, I’ll be going all-in on covering all niche-specific keywords.

And some tutorial kinds of posts.

You’d be creating topic/content clusters around ClickFunnels to make Google see you as an authority around CF keywords.

Easier to start getting traction even with a brand-new domain.

Building a ton of ClickFunnels related content boosted my authority and made me rank easily for related keywords.

Without backlinks.

Go deep. Go specific. Leveraging on these niche keywords.

Also, I’d take my time to master ClickFunnels, get myself into niche-specific groups, figure out their problems on using sales funnels, cover all that within your posts.

I’d also take it a step further to build and giveaway free funnels for these niches.

Just think outside the box and see how you can take this to another level.

For a really good SEO and blogging course for beginners – do check out Authority Hacker training here.

There’s really a lot that goes into building, growing, and monetizing a blog.

They might look intimidating if you’re looking at them from the outside. But they’re really really simple tasks you need to perform as you go from one stage of your blogging journey to the other.

The idea is to just get started and watch things unfold along the way.

Little steps make the giant ones 🙂

I’m yet to figure it all out. Nobody has. Especially when it comes to making money online.

Believe it or not, there’s always one more thing to learn about SEO and blogging. And there will always.

Other ways to promote ClickFunnels Affiliate Program

There are many other different ways you can choose to promote ClickFunnels besides blogging and SEO.

I’m going to cover them below.

Other popular methods to promote ClickFunnels as an affiliate include:

  • Using Facebook group and profile
  • Using YouTube SEO
  • Sell or give away share funnels
  • Using solo ads

Let’s dive into them:

Using Facebook Groups and Profile

Although I’ve made a little money here and there leveraging other people’s groups and messenger. But I’m not the best person/expert to talk about how to do this.

However, I’ll give you my own tiny tidbit I think might help you:

Connecting with people and Providing value!

To make money as an affiliate (or marketer) on Facebook organically, you have to be connecting with people every single day.

Especially if you’re starting out and haven’t made any reasonable money online yet.

The few hundreds I’ve made on Facebook came from just reaching out and helping people on my friend list and on similar groups.

No! I’m not talking about sending unsolicited messages, links, and hiding under the green grass with an ulterior motive.

You need to EARN being heard.

I provided a ton of value both in groups (that aren’t mine) and my personal profile that sparked the initial connection and conversation.

I actually did showed genuine interest in their lives, not being pushy and willing to see them succeed.

Then in the process, once you have a conversation up and running, you’ll see how natural they’d become interested in what you’re doing, offering, or selling…

And loved to find out more.

Not just ClickFunnels – I’ve made money promoting other products via Facebook this way.

This isn’t my main strategy – because of the time required to keep up with making new connections and connecting people.

FB organic is instant and faster in terms of results. But requires your full attention and focus to continuing making money.

When you stop connecting with people, it’s likely that you also stop making money.

Unlike blogging which pays passively even without your presence. But takes time.

Using YouTube SEO

Blogging and SEO involve writing content for Google search engines to rank, get traffic and make money.

While on the opposite side – YouTube search is all about ranking and driving traffic to your video content to make money.

Either as an affiliate or non-affiliate.

With the use of YouTube SEO, you can promote ClickFunnels for free by ranking videos on YouTube.

This will allow potential buyers to find and purchase your affiliate product without any cost on their part- so it is a great way to advertise.

Just the way we bloggers produce content related to ClickFunnels – as a YouTuber you can do that too with videos.

Here are some content angles:

  • Promoting ClickFunnels using video reviews

All you need to do is to record a product review video, showing and telling people everything they need to know about ClickFunnels.

Or reviewing other products in its ecosystem.

  • Promote by comparing ClickFunnels with competitors

This is similar to writing “versus” posts.

But here, you shoot a video comparing ClickFunnels and a rival product and then end up promoting ClickFunnels as the better option and give honest reasons why it is better off.

Or worse still, why ClickFunnels is not a better option.

  • “How to” videos

Producing a “how-to” video on YouTube showing a step-by-step process on sales funnel building is another nice content angle to market ClickFunnels as an affiliate.

A tutorial type of thing.

You cover a whole lot here:

funnel building, integrations with third-party tools, building membership tutorials, list building, and automation, etc.

  • A list or “top 10” video

This is like a video format for my best sales funnel builders post.

You could record and explain and list out the top 5, 7, or 10 sales funnel software, automation tools, landing page builders, membership platforms, etc

And upload to your YouTube.

I consider this type of video, the simplest of all.

As you’ll have nothing to teach, all you have to do is talk about the overview of the tools, pricing, and plans. Or share your experiences with them.

Then you give criteria to look out for and your personal recommendation.

I hope that makes sense?

One major advantage that comes with using this strategy is the fact that YouTube receives more than 2 billion logged-in users per month and feeds over 1 billion hours of video each day to users.

This is the second-largest search engine worldwide!

Promote by Selling or Giving away Share Funnels

Every funnel residing in your ClickFunnels account has a unique URL called the share funnel URL.

promote clickfunnels using share funnels

Once you copy that link, it can be shared with others.

The cool thing here is that when someone visits that link you shared, they will be taken to a ClickFunnels page to either login or sign-up for them to have access to the FREE funnel you’ve built for them.

If the person happens to be a ClickFunnels user, the funnel will be downloaded straight to their account.

If they are not yet a user, then they’d have to sign-up for the 14-day all ClickFunnels features trial.

Once they become a paying member, you keep getting the credit for that referral.

For example here is an OFA affiliate funnel you can share right away:

https://app.clickfunnels.com/funnels/10382778/share/w3cewjc89i57l3tu

Here is another VSL (video sales letter) share funnel:

https://app.clickfunnels.com/funnels/10661215/share/3spup372f4r8yvlw

You can download some of my free share funnels and give them out for free, or use them as a content upgrade.

Another way to refine on this is by creating custom funnels for local businesses in your area.

Sell or give it out for free.

There are tons of ways you could get creative with this funnel-sharing thing.

Just think of places and methods where you can apply this.

Promote Using Solo Ads

Unlike most methods on this list – promoting your ClickFunnels affiliate links via a solo ads campaign is a paid route.

Solo Ad is a type of email marketing promotion tactic where your affiliate offers are being sent to an email list owned by someone or a vendor, and you pay per each link click.

There are lots of affiliate marketers who use solo Ads to make front-end and back-end sales depending on how both the offers and email sequences are being crafted.

Without tracking using an affiliate tracking tool like Clickmagick, you’ll find it difficult to measure and track your Solo Ad clicks.

There are lots of Solo Ad marketplaces out there, but the most highly recommended for affiliate marketing is udimi.com.

I tried running solo ads when I first started, but it was a total mess!

I don’t recommend it If you’re new or have no experience with it at all. You’ll end up wasting money.

Frequently Asked Questions on ways to promote ClickFunnels

How much does ClickFunnels pay affiliates?

ClickFunnels used to pay new affiliates 40% commission for the software itself. But they changed it.

Now, every new affiliate of ClickFunnels earns a 20% commission on ClickFunnels subscriptions.

Then once you have earned $1k in commissions in a month you’ll be upgraded to start earning 30% recurring.

Once you have at least 40 active ClickFunnels users for at least 30 days, then you qualify for the 40% recurring earnings.

The condition above only applies to new affiliates. NOT old ClickFunnels affiliates. And it applies to the ClickFunnels software alone.

You still make a one-time 40% per sale on other products.

Is the ClickFunnels affiliate program free?

Yes, to become an affiliate of ClickFunnels is free to join. You just apply and access your links.

How do I sell affiliate products with ClickFunnels?

Once you’ve decided on an affiliate product/offer you wish to promote with ClickFunnels, choose your desired traffic source and create a simple squeeze page for collecting emails or sell it directly without building an email list.

Which then leads to your affiliate offer.

I wrote a guide here on how to use ClickFunnels for affiliate marketing which goes in-depth a bit.

Can you promote ClickFunnels as an affiliate without having an account?

The short answer is yes!

I made over $10k from the program before having an active account. But my results improved after I became a user.

This means if you really want to be a successful CF affiliate – in the long run – it’s advisable to be a ClickFunnels subscriber.

This makes you authentic with your recommendations.

And people can relate more with you when you share your experiences and all that.

Plus, it will enable you to guide and educate your referred affiliates and customers better when they’re in trouble.

My ClickFunnels affiliate center shows “unable to promote currently” why?

This is a popular concern for most new affiliates.

When you get a message like this it means you are not eligible to promote that particular ClickFunnels product or they longer offer such services.

Like this old Dotcom Secrets section:

There’s a new Dotcom Secrets affiliate portal available now.

However, if you’re getting this message on the main ClickFunnels software section.

Then it means you haven’t made up to $1k in a given month to be able to have access to your links.

Part of the recent change is making at least 1000 dollars in any given month by promoting products like the One Funnel Away to reach that milestone.

What is the best way to promote the ClickFunnels affiliate program?

For me the best way so far has been writing ClickFunnels related posts which I already covered above.

Other methods to successfully promote ClickFunnels are:

  • YouTube SEO
  • Facebook Groups and profile
  • Selling and giving out share funnels
  • Solo ads

It all depends on what works best for you.

Just start with the platform you are more comfortable with.

What are the advantages and good reasons to promote ClickFunnels as an affiliate?

  • You get unlimited training and resources on how to easily promote (affiliate Bootcamp)
  • Getting paid for life as long as your referred affiliates remain a user of ClickFunnels
  • The sticky cookie feature allows you to get affiliate credit when a prospect clicked your link last or when he had already opted in for any front-end offer (free or paid)
  • Dream car award when you refer over 100 users
  • A long list of converting marketing products to promote
  • Affiliate community (ClickFunnels Avengers)
  • Payout occurs twice a month
  • You can promote from any part of the world (I’m doing so from Nigeria)

What is the Cheapest method to promote ClickFunnels?

The cheapest way to sell and market ClickFunnels software and other of its complementary products is through the use of an organic or free traffic source.

Such as Facebook organic, Blogging, and YouTube SEO.

However, these cheaper methods (blogging and YouTube precisely) are more of a longer-term approach but more sustainable.

It involves more of building a personal brand, content publishing, and adding value where people get to know and trust you.

I so much prefer those 101%.

When does Clickfunnels pay affiliates?

ClickFunnels usually pays its affiliate on the 1st and 15th of every calendar month.

And you must have accrued a minimum of $100 in affiliate commissions to receive a payout on these days.

Also note that:

You’ll be paid after a 30 day “cooling of” period including the added 14 day trial period (in case of refunds or cancellations).

From the exact time it takes the cooling off period to take place and for the sale to become eligible, it could take anywhere from 31-45 days from date of initial payment to the time it is paid out to the affiliate.

What is ClickFunnels Tipalti?

Tipalti is a third-party platform designed to organize your tax documents and distribute payments to every affiliate of ClickFunnels.

You must create an account with them to receive payouts for your ClickFunnels affiliate commissions.

What are other alternatives to the ClickFunnels affiliate program?

Maybe you want to mix other products with your ClickFunnels affiliate campaigns or looking to make money with other marketing tools?

Here are alternatives to ClickFunnels affiliate programs to promote:

Final Thoughts

My final thoughts on this guide are that no matter the tactics you choose to use in selling any ClickFunnels’ products as an affiliate marketer:

  • Facebook
  • YouTube videos
  • Share funnels
  • Blog posts
  • Solo Ads

The best way to easily sell ClickFunnels and get signups to have them retained at a longer period of time (so you keep earning) is to incentivize them.

By providing support, extra tools, or resources they would need to grow their business and make money online.

To round this up – here are my final tips:

  • Get a nice affiliate friendly email service (GetResponse)
  • Go through the Free Affiliate Bootcamp summit (join here)
  • Start with what you know how to do best
  • For aspiring affiliate SEOs and bloggers check out Authority Hacker (here)
  • Content and value are the currency of the internet. The more you create the more money made
  • Do NOT put all your eggs into one basket. Join other programs to diversify your source

To expand more on that last line:

The ClickFunnels affiliate program is no longer as rewarding as it used to. But it’s a nice MMO opportunity. Story for another day.

Are you using any of these methods I shared in this guide to promote the ClickFunnels affiliate program or other offers?

Let me know in the comments which strategy you plan to start with.

Also, drop your questions below!

5 Comments

  1. Absurdly detailed and jam packed article Khris. Just wow.
    I noticed that the anchor in “Promoting Adwords” doesn’t actually takes over to the promoting adwords section though! 🙂
    Other than that, really epic. Awesome job

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