How to Find Affiliates for Your Product: 15 Sources Beyond Network Directories
Fifteen places to find affiliates that most brands skip, how to search each one, and how to qualify prospects before you send a single email.
Network directories are the obvious place to look for affiliates, and every brand on the same network is looking at the same list. The partners who move the needle are often somewhere else: a reviewer who already ranks for your category, a newsletter your buyers read every week, an agency that recommends tools like yours to its clients. This guide covers 15 sources beyond the directories, how to search each one, and how to qualify what you find before you send a single email.
If you want the full recruitment process, from partner profiles to onboarding, start with our affiliate recruitment playbook. This post goes deeper on one step: building the prospect list.
The short version
- Start with the people already selling your category: competitor affiliates, review sites and comparison pages.
- Then widen out to audiences your buyers trust: newsletters, YouTube, podcasts, creators and communities.
- Do not forget the partners you already have: customers, reviewers, complementary brands and agencies.
- Qualify every prospect on audience fit and real engagement, not follower counts or domain scores.
- Treat sourcing as a weekly routine with a small, researched batch, not a one-off scrape of thousands of names.
Before you search: know who you are looking for
A prospect list is only as good as the brief behind it. Before you open a search bar, write down three things: who buys your product, what they search or read before they buy, and which partner types you want more of. A skincare brand might want ingredient-focused reviewers and beauty newsletters. A B2B software company might want consultants, comparison sites and integration partners. If you have not defined this yet, our recruitment playbook walks through partner profiles.
Then set up a simple tracker: name, URL, partner type, the specific page or post that made you add them, audience notes, contact route and status. The "specific page" column matters most, because it becomes the first line of your outreach.
Sources 1 to 4: people already selling your category
1. Competitor affiliates on "best of" pages
Search the phrases your buyers use: "best [product type]", "[product type] for [use case]", "top [category] brands". Open every result on the first two pages and note which sites link to competitors with tracked links. A site that already earns from your category has the audience and the content format. It needs a reason to include you, which is what recruiting publishers who bring new customers is about.
2. Competitor backlink mining
Run a competitor's domain through a backlink tool. Ahrefs, for example, offers Site Explorer for studying competitors' websites and a free backlink checker. Filter the referring pages for reviews, roundups, tutorials and resource pages. You are looking for editorial links from real content, not directories or link farms.
3. "Alternatives" and "vs" pages
Search "[competitor] alternatives" and "[competitor] vs [competitor]". The sites ranking for these terms reach buyers at the comparison stage, which is exactly where an affiliate link earns its commission. If you are missing from a list that features your competitors, that is the easiest pitch you will write.
4. Sites with affiliate disclosures in your niche
Search your category together with phrases such as "affiliate disclosure", "we may earn a commission" or "this post contains affiliate links". These pages tell you two things at once: the site covers your topic, and it already knows how affiliate tracking works.
Sources 5 to 9: audiences your buyers trust
5. Newsletters
Search "[category] newsletter" and browse the discovery pages newsletter platforms offer, such as Substack's Explore page and its bestseller lists. Read a few back issues before you add anyone. Look for product mentions, sponsor slots or tracked links, which show the operator is open to commercial content. Newsletters are often missing from network directories, so fewer brands pitch them well.
6. YouTube reviewers and tutorial channels
Search "[product type] review", "[product type] setup" and "[competitor] review" on YouTube, then sort by upload date as well as relevance. Check the description of recent videos for affiliate links or discount codes. A channel with a steady stream of comments asking real questions is worth more than one with a large subscriber count and a quiet comment section.
7. Short-form creators on TikTok and Instagram
Use each platform's native search for the problem your product solves, not just your category name. Check who your competitors tag, repost or collaborate with, and who posts honest "I tried it" content in your space. For deal shapes, see our guide to structuring creator commissions, and for codes, platforms and disclosure, our guide to influencer affiliate programs.
8. Shopify Collabs (for Shopify brands)
If you sell on Shopify, Shopify Collabs lets you search "millions of creator profiles" in the app, send direct invitations, add an application page to your store, send gifts and samples, and create affiliate links and codes. Shopify says it is free to install for merchants on the Shopify, Advanced and Shopify Plus plans. It is a useful source alongside a network, not instead of one. If you have not picked that network yet, see how to choose an affiliate network.
9. Podcasts
Search podcast apps for your category and your competitors' names. Show notes are the giveaway: hosts who already read sponsor messages or list promo codes are used to commercial partnerships. Podcasts suit products with a longer consideration period, where a host's repeated recommendation does the persuading.
Sources 10 to 12: communities and your own customers
10. Reddit, forums, Discord and Slack groups
Communities are where enthusiasts recommend products to each other. Do not post a recruitment thread; most communities ban them. Instead, note the members who give the most useful answers in your category and check their profiles. Many run a blog, channel or newsletter on the side, and they can be approached one to one.
11. Customers and reviewers who already love you
Your happiest customers are partners waiting to be asked. Look at who leaves detailed reviews, tags you on social media or replies to your emails. Invite them with a short note and a link to your partner page. Customer partners rarely bring huge volume each, but their recommendations are credible and they tend to reach new buyers rather than people who were already on your site.
12. Your own partner page and site footer
Inbound applications are a source too, if people can find you. Make sure your affiliate or partner page is linked from your footer, explains who you are looking for and what you pay, and has a clear apply button. Review applications weekly so good partners are not left waiting.
Sources 13 to 15: other businesses
13. Complementary brands
Brands that sell to the same buyer without competing with you are natural partners: a coffee grinder and a bean subscription, a project management tool and a time tracker. Many run content, newsletters or customer communities where a recommendation fits naturally. Start with brands your customers already use alongside yours.
14. Agencies, consultants and implementers
For software and services, the people who recommend tools to clients are often the strongest partners you can find. Look at agency directories, consultants who publish tutorials on your category, and the implementation partners listed by platforms you integrate with. Our guide to affiliate marketing for SaaS covers how referral and reseller partners fit in.
15. Sub-networks such as Skimlinks
Sub-networks connect brands to a long tail of content publishers that do not join programs one by one. Skimlinks, for example, says its Growth Merchant option lists you in its network so publishers can link to your brand, and that you need to work with an approved affiliate network to join. It also lists the option to offer exclusive commission rates to individual publishers or groups, available on select networks. Treat sub-network traffic like any other partner group and judge it on new customers and order quality.
How to qualify what you find
A long list is easy to build and expensive to work through. Before a prospect goes into your outreach queue, check:
- Audience fit. Would your buyer read this site, watch this channel or open this newsletter? Recent content matters more than the archive.
- Real engagement. Comments, replies and questions from real people. Large audiences with no conversation are a warning sign.
- Commercial readiness. Existing affiliate links, sponsor slots or disclosures show they understand partnerships.
- Content format. Reviews, comparisons and tutorials tend to send buyers who are ready to purchase. Pure deal content may not bring new customers; we cover that trade-off in our post on recruiting beyond coupon sites.
- Brand safety. Scan recent posts for anything you would not want next to your name.
| Source type | Typical effort | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Competitor affiliates, "best of" and "vs" pages | Medium: research each page | Buyers comparing options |
| Newsletters and podcasts | Medium: read or listen first | Trusted, repeated recommendations |
| YouTube and short-form creators | High: vet content and engagement | Demonstrations and new audiences |
| Communities | High: one-to-one relationships | Enthusiast niches |
| Customers and partner page | Low: invite and review | Credible word of mouth |
| Complementary brands and agencies | Medium: business conversations | Referrals with high intent |
| Sub-networks | Low once set up | Long-tail content publishers |
Turn sourcing into a weekly routine
The programs that grow steadily treat prospecting as a habit. A simple rhythm we recommend:
- Pick two or three sources a week rather than all fifteen at once.
- Add a small batch of researched prospects to your tracker, each with the specific page that made you add them.
- Send personal outreach to that batch. Our affiliate recruitment email templates cover each partner type.
- Follow up twice, then park non-responders and revisit next quarter.
- Each month, check which sources produced partners who actually went live and sold, and shift your time toward them. Our list of affiliate program KPIs covers activation and new-customer share.
Want help finding the right partners?
Partner and publisher recruitment is one of our core services: researched prospect lists, personal outreach and activation for brands that want more of the right affiliates. If you want a list of the partners already selling in your category, get in touch.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I find affiliates for my product?
Is it worth looking for affiliates outside my network's directory?
Can I recruit affiliates on Reddit or in online communities?
How do I check whether a prospect is a good fit?
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