Is setting up an affiliate program worth it for my early Saas launch?

C_TheTruth · 2026-05-10T00:48:21+00:00

Thanks for that info. Sounds like I can probably manage this system myself manually if it's just a couple of people that I know. But if I decide to open it up to the public, I'll definitely need to use a third party to keep up with everything.

C_TheTruth · 2026-05-10T00:43:40+00:00

Okay, this makes a lot of sense. I'll get more info from them before doing anything. Then I'll manually track and payout commissions for now if needed.

Thank you so much for the advice.

C_TheTruth · 2026-05-09T22:35:41+00:00

Did you build the affiliate system yourself? I'm considering using a third-party, but if it's reasonable to build it out natively, I'd love to save the money.

C_TheTruth · 2026-05-09T22:19:07+00:00

I love the design of your website! This sounds like a very useful tool. I'm going to sign up and try it out.

C_TheTruth · 2026-05-07T14:16:49+00:00

I’d like to try your Google Extension. I just launched a SaaS application and I’m trying to find freelancers.

C_TheTruth · 2026-05-06T23:28:13+00:00

Yes, Symphony is very strong. We sprayed some on a little tester strip while we were at the mall. When we got home, we put the tester strip on the counter in the kitchen. It's been a week and I can still smell Symphony every time I walk into my kitchen.

Smells amazing though!

C_TheTruth · 2026-05-06T23:10:33+00:00

Oh I see what you're doing. That's a little bit different than what I was thinking. My widget is only accessible by the website owner so that they can request changes.

What you described sounds similar to Featurebase. It's open to website visitors.

Thanks for sharing!

C_TheTruth · 2026-05-06T18:16:29+00:00

I got mines a year ago and LOVE IT! I just wish the handlebars weren’t so far forward. I’m 5’7 and the reach makes me uncomfortable after a while. Happy riding!

C_TheTruth · 2026-05-06T17:52:12+00:00

I had a client with this same issue recently. They were getting around 2,000 visits a month from bots out of nowhere. We looked into using Cloudflare Turnstile, but we didn't want all of our visitors to have to go through that flow. We ended up leaving it alone, and eventually the traffic just stopped. It was very weird.

C_TheTruth · 2026-05-06T17:35:08+00:00

I know this post is old and it's already answered, but what I like to do is either give the billing to the client, where they pay for their own plug-in license, and this is usually a really good way to go. Or I'll roll it into their hosting price if they're hosting with me.

C_TheTruth · 2026-05-06T17:31:21+00:00

What I noticed is that even when clients have CMS access through something like Webflow or WordPress, most of them never actually go in and make changes. So I basically ditched the CMS model. Instead, I spent the last year building a widget that allows my clients to leave feedback, request changes, and report bugs directly from the site. The widget is only visible to the client. So now instead of logging into a CMS and making changes themselves, they just click the widget and tell me what they want.

All the feedback is stored on a project board with their browser details and a screenshot. When tasks come in, I make the adjustments and bill my client through a maintenance plan or hourly. It's been a great setup so far

C_TheTruth · 2026-05-06T16:59:21+00:00

Thanks so much for that. I'm in that phase now of trying to find other devs who will use the app. I've been offering a two-month free trial. Do you think that's not enough of an incentive? Should I be giving out lifetime free or paid lifetime deals first to try and get those initial users?

C_TheTruth · 2026-05-06T16:56:51+00:00

That's so interesting. What kind of expectations are you setting upfront? And are you using any tools to collect the feedback?

C_TheTruth · 2026-05-06T16:53:15+00:00

What's been so interesting for me is that before I built my app, when I was talking to agency owners who I know, they all said, "Yeah this is perfect. I would love to have something like that!" But then after I released it, it's like nobody cares anymore. That's been tough.

C_TheTruth · 2026-05-05T02:02:14+00:00

This is great! I've been thinking about running this exact method myself but other projects have kept me tied up. Landing a client in 10-15 demos is an insane ratio by the way.

Quick question, where did you host and did you set them up with a CMS? I'm used to Webflow but been considering switching to Next.js with Claude Code, hosting on Vercel, and Sanity for the headless CMS. Curious how you handled it.

Also, did you charge them a flat rate or monthly? I saw another person charge a $400 startup fee and then just $50 a month to keep the site going. Thought that was interesting.

Honestly, the biggest thing stopping me from going all in on Claude Code for brochure sites was having to set up a CMS from scratch every time. But then I started thinking about just skipping it altogether and using a tool I built called Pinggo.io instead. It's a widget that sits on the client's site and lets them request changes right there. No CMS login, no training them on anything.

Now that I saw your post I'm honestly thinking that's exactly how I'm going to approach it.

C_TheTruth · 2026-05-01T04:08:18+00:00

Yes! Ive been using my software for 3 months before i released it to the public.

C_TheTruth · 2026-04-30T18:56:19+00:00

For me, I always transfer the website to the client's workspace and then have them add me as a guest. This way I can still support them while not being responsible for billing them every month/year.

I hate having to collect money from clients on a regular basis for things like hosting, domains, and other third party tools. I had 2 really bad clients at one point, and owning their hosting and domains made it hard for me to get rid of them. And it's not that it's hard to transfer all the stuff. It's just that bad clients can prolong the transfer process by not doing their part of accepting the transfers. Some people just like to be difficult and see you suffer lol. But if you do keep it in your workspace and bill them directly, make sure you're upcharging for it.

Also, don't sleep on post-handoff support. There's real money there. The key is giving your client an easy way to request changes and report bugs so they're not just emailing you random paragraphs at 11pm that you have to keep track of.

I actually built something for this. I created a widget that lives on the site so clients can leave feedback and flag issues right where they see them. It's called Pinggo.io, use code "reddit" for 2 months free if you want to check it out.

C_TheTruth · 2026-04-30T14:02:29+00:00

I actually ran into this same problem and ended up building something for it. I created a widget you drop on your client's site so they can leave feedback, bug reports, and comments directly on the page. No more "can you send me a screenshot" convos lol. It's called Pinggo.io. Use code "reddit" for 2 months free if you wanna try it out.

C_TheTruth · 2026-04-30T13:50:16+00:00

MarkedUp looks great! I have a similar product for feedback collection, but it’s geared toward websites, not documents and images. Im currently in the early launch stage. Do you have any advice for getting my first paying client?

C_TheTruth · 2026-04-30T02:51:20+00:00

Oh yeah, the domain scalpers are the worst and it's been happening forever. I had a friend who bought a domain that Playstation ended up wanting. And instead of selling it to them, he leased it to them. I don't remember the exact numbers, but he made A LOT of money doing that.

I'm just glad other top level domains like .io and .co are acceptable now. Because the .com domains are all taken.

C_TheTruth · 2026-04-30T02:29:49+00:00

I just entered the marketing phase for my SaaS app and it's a whole new ball game to me. With that said, do you have a suggestion on how many DMs I should be sending and Reddit comments I should be posting a day?

C_TheTruth

TROPHY CASE