The Dabbler
Posts 3x/week for 2 months, disappears for 4. Rollercoaster traffic.
1Section 1
The Creator Qualification Scorecard
1
Traffic Volume
>200K: 3 | >50K: 2 | >5K: 1 | <5K: 0
2
Active Monetization
Already sells something? Course, membership, product?
3
The Link Gap
Raw checkout link with no email capture = 3. Sophisticated funnel = 0. THE BIG ONE.
4
Content Consistency
Weekly+: 3 | Biweekly: 2 | Monthly: 1 | Sporadic: 0
5
Niche Clarity
"Personal finance for millennials": 3. "Lifestyle": 0.
6
Engagement Quality
Genuine comments vs bots. Click behavior vs passive views.
7
Price Point Potential
$200+: 3 | $50-200: 2 | $20-50: 1 | <$20: 0
8
Niche Depth
Multiple products to sell? Deep niches compound better.
9
Creator Receptivity
Responds to outreach? Mentions wanting to improve funnel?
10
Technical Simplicity
One URL change to deploy? Or complex multi-page integration?
11
Structural Irreplaceability
No tech team: 3 | VA who's "good with tech": 1 | Developer on staff: 0
2Section 2
Terrible First Partner Signals
The Controller
Wants to approve every email, every experiment. Kills your optimization loop.
The Everything-Is-Fine
Insists their funnel is great. Hasn't felt the dead-clicks pain yet.
The Free-Everything
No paid product. No product plans. Nothing to monetize against.
The Low-Trust
Bad reviews, audience complaints. Don't attach your infrastructure to declining trust.
3Section 3
The Pitch
Specific Homework
You have 180,000 subscribers. Your latest video: 22,000 views. Description link to $197 course on Teachable. ~220 clicks last week, ~4-5 sales.
What You Build
Landing page between their link and checkout. Captures email first, delivers persuasion sequence, forwards to course. They change one URL.
The Small Ask
"Can I show you a 90-second demo?" Build the demo BEFORE outreach. Close rate with demo: 25-40%. Without: 5-15%.
4Section 4
Three Deal Shapes
Pure Rev-Share
% of revenue lift. No base fee. Partner pays nothing if no lift. Start here.
Rev-Share + List
Same as Shape 1 + you own the email list. Harder sell on day 1. Evolves naturally by month 6.
Tiered Rev-Share
Split adjusts as revenue grows. 40% → 35% → 30%. Partner's dollars always increase.
5Section 5
The Autonomy Conversation
"I handle everything on my side - copy, tech, campaigns. I'll send reports, but I don't need you involved daily. If you need to approve every piece of copy, this will create friction for both of us. Can we talk honestly about how much involvement you'd want?"
Green"Sounds perfect - I'm too busy anyway."
Amber"I'd want to see things initially, then let you run."
Red"I need to approve everything." This partner will become your boss.