How the affiliate program works

The whole thing, in plain words. Ten minutes from "what is this" to "I've got it," and you can skip straight to whatever you came for.

The big picture

You share a link. Someone buys through it and pays. You earn 20% of what they pay, every month they stay, for a year. The money lands in your PayPal on the 15th.

Everything in your dashboard hangs off that loop. The earnings tiles at the top show where you are. Tools you can promote gives you a link and ready-made copy for every app. Recent activity shows the clicks coming in. Bug Healer quests is the optional path to a permanent raise.

The two ways you get credited

Both work, and you never have to pick one.

• Your share link. Every app in your dashboard has its own link with your code baked in. Someone clicks it, and for the next 60 days any subscription they start is credited to you. They don't have to buy on the first visit, and they don't have to remember anything.
• Your referral code. Anyone who types your code at checkout is credited to you even if they never clicked your link, and even if the 60 days ran out. The code also gives them 10% off their first month, so it's a friendly thing to drop in a caption or a bio.

You can customize your code once, from your account page, so it reads like your handle instead of a random string. Anything you already shared keeps paying you after the change.

What you actually earn

20% of what the customer pays, on every payment they make, for 12 months from their first one. On a monthly plan that's about 12 commissions from one person. On an annual plan it's one bigger commission.

Those are the numbers at 20%. Two things move them up: I raise individual rates by hand when someone's doing real work, and 20 approved quests takes you to 30% permanently, on everything, including sales you make years later.

Every commission has a status

You'll see these in the list under your earnings tiles.

When you get paid

• Payouts run on the 15th of every month, covering everything approved as of the 14th.
• They go to PayPal, to whatever email you saved on your account page. Save it before your first sale, or your commissions queue up with nowhere to go.
• The minimum is $25. Under that, your balance rolls forward instead of being paid, and your dashboard shows a progress bar so you can see how close you are.
• On December 15 the minimum is waived, whatever your balance is. That's so your commissions land in the same tax year you earned them and nothing sits stranded.
• I cover the PayPal fee. What the dashboard says you earned is what arrives.

Once your lifetime approved earnings cross $400 I'll email you asking for a W-9. At $600 I need a valid one on file before I can release any further payout, so it's easiest to send it when I first ask. Payouts run through PayPal Goods and Services, so PayPal handles 1099-K reporting to you and the IRS directly. I don't issue a separate 1099. The program is US-only for now because that's the paperwork I'm set up to handle.

What each part of your dashboard is for

• Your earnings. four tiles: everything you've earned, what's already paid out, what's still pending, and how many sales that came from. Under them, the date of your next payout and how close you are to the $25 minimum.
• Your referral code. the code itself, plus the link to customize it while you still can.
• Coupon callout. one copy-paste line telling your audience the code gets them 10% off. Drop it near every link.
• FTC disclosure templates. a ready-made disclosure line for blog posts, YouTube, TikTok and Reels, Instagram, email, and podcasts. Copy the one that fits where you're posting.
• Your free Pro. the list of apps your free month covers, and the email it's attached to. It covers the five subscription apps; Recipe Column Cards uses a purchased license key, so there's no account to attach Pro to.
• Tools you can promote. one card per app, each with your share link and three pieces of swipe copy you can edit to sound like you.
• Recent activity. your last 25 clicks: when, where they came from, which app they landed on, roughly where in the world, and whether it turned into a sale.

Your first ten minutes

1. Add your PayPal email. It's on your account page and it takes about thirty seconds. Do this one first, because it's the only thing that can silently cost you money.
2. Open one app and actually use it. Your free Pro is already on across the five subscription apps, attached to the email you signed up with. Pick the one your audience would want.
3. Post about that one app. Copy its share link, grab a piece of swipe copy, edit it so it sounds like you, and keep the disclosure line on it.

That's a real start. One app you've used, posted once, with your link on it.

A normal week

1. Post about one app you've actually used, with your link and your disclosure line.
2. Check your click feed. It tells you which platform is sending people, which is usually more useful than the total.
3. If you've got twenty minutes spare, run a quest. It's the only thing that changes your rate permanently.

Nobody's tracking whether you post. There's no quota and no deactivation for going quiet.

Disclosing, and why it isn't optional

US law says you have to tell people when you get paid for a recommendation. That's the FTC, not a house rule, and it applies to a blog post the same as a story or a video caption.

Your dashboard has the exact line to use for each platform, so you don't have to word it yourself. The short version: say it plainly, say it before the link, and put it where people see it without tapping "more."

Skipping it can cost you the commission and your spot in the program. Affiliate Terms sections 3.1 and 4.5 have the full rules.

Bug Healer quests, step by step

I gamify everything I build, and this program is no exception. A quest is a short list of checks on one of my apps. Click this, try to break that, tell me what happened. It's optional, and plenty of affiliates never touch it.

1. Open the quest board from your dashboard. Ten apps have live boards.
2. Claim a quest. Your free Pro is already on, so you can get straight in.
3. Run the trials. Each one asks you to do something specific and tell me what happened. Add anything else that felt off, or anything you wish the app did.
4. Submit it. I read every submission myself.
5. Once I approve it, that app's free Pro stretches from one month to six months.
6. At 20 approved quests, your commission goes to 30% permanently, on every app and every sale from then on. It doesn't expire.

Quick answers

Do I need a certain amount of traffic to get in?

No. There's no minimum. I read every application myself and what I'm looking for is a real audience, not a big one. A blog, a channel, a newsletter, or an account with actual posts on it all count. What gets turned down is empty accounts, link farms, and sites spun out of nothing.

What if someone clicks my link but doesn't buy that day?

You've still got 60 days. If they subscribe any time in that window, it's your sale. And if they use your code later, it's yours regardless of the window.

Can I change my referral code?

Once, from your account page. Links you already shared keep working and keep paying you, so changing it doesn't cost you anything you've already posted.

What happens if a customer cancels?

You keep everything they already paid you commission on. You just stop earning on them going forward. If they get a refund on a specific payment, that one commission reverses.

Does my free Pro run out?

The free month does. Each quest I approve stretches that app to six months. Your commission rate has nothing to do with it either way, so an expired Pro never affects what you earn.

Why isn't Recipe Column Cards in my free Pro?

It unlocks with a purchased license key rather than an account, so there's no email for me to attach Pro to. Your share link, your code, and your 20% on it all work exactly the same as the others.

I'm not in the US. Can I join?

Not yet. The program is US-only right now because of the tax forms involved. Email me anyway and I'll know there's demand for opening it up.

Can I see the walkthrough again?

Yes. The ? button in your dashboard header opens the short version any time, and "Show me around" inside it replays the guided tour from the start.

Where do I ask for something that isn't covered here?

hello@jenbuiltit.com. It's me on the other end. There's no support queue and no ticket number.