INSIDE 1:1 MENTORING
Check a Partner’s Reach Before You Sign
You signed three affiliate partners this year and cannot trace a single sale to any of them. Ivanka Menken uses the Reach-First Partner Screen inside 1:1 Mentoring, a 6-month programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, to check each partner’s traffic, recent posting and readers against a written floor before any rate or fee is agreed. You leave with a ranked partner list and one test with a review date before anything is paid.
The Reach-First Partner Screen is a tool inside the programme, not a separate product.
AN EXAMPLE ONLINE HOMEWARES STORE
Three partners signed in a year. Not one sale anyone could trace.
- SIGNEDtwo with launch slots still booked3 partners
- THE FLOORa few thousand visits a month, checked firstWritten
- THE TESTone feature, reviewed before any fee1 partner
THE RULE
“No rate, fee or launch slot is agreed until the partner clears the traffic floor and the readers match.”
Your floor and partners will be your own.
SOUND FAMILIAR?
Partners signed, and no sales to show
- 01You have signed affiliate or referral partners and cannot trace a sale to them.
- 02You agreed the commission before you looked at their audience.
- 03Launch slots are booked with partners you have never checked.
THE PARTNERS, AS THEY STAND
- Partners signed this year: 3
- Sales traced to any of them: none
- Launch slots still booked: 2
- Traffic checked before signing: never
- Written floor for a partner: none
The deal was not the problem. The audience was missing.
THE EXAMPLE CASE
The founder who negotiated the rate first
01
THE MOMENT
A launch slot with nobody behind it
A partner emails to confirm next month’s launch slot. You open the commission report: nothing again. Out of curiosity you finally visit their site. The last post is five months old. A second partner’s newsletter, it turns out, reaches fewer people than your own customer list. You agreed the rate with both before checking either.
02
WHAT THEY HAD TRIED
A commission-only deal
In this case, the founder ran a $1.1m online homewares store with six staff. Three affiliate partners had been signed in a year. The obvious fix was a commission-only deal, so nothing was paid unless a sale came in. It lowered the risk on paper. With no audience on the other side, there was nothing to earn a commission on, and the launch slots still took the team’s time.
03
WHAT IVANKA NOTICED
Nobody had looked at their sites
Ivanka noticed the founder had never looked at the partners’ own sites. Two had not posted in months. One had fewer readers than the founder’s own email list. Every conversation had been about the rate and the structure of the deal, and none about whether anyone was reading.
THE DIAGNOSIS
Reach first, then the rate
The problem was not the rate or the deal structure. Nobody had checked whether these partners had an audience at all. A good commission on no traffic is still nothing.
The reframe: screen reach before you discuss terms. Write a traffic floor down, a few thousand visits a month, then check recent posting and who actually reads. Rank the list, talk only to the names that clear it, and run one test with a review date before any fee is paid.
A good commission on no traffic is still nothing.
THE COST OF STAYING STUCK
Every partner signed without a reach check costs a launch slot, the team’s time on assets and a month of waiting for sales that cannot come.
THE TOOL
The Reach-First Partner Screen, for one homewares store
The Reach-First Partner Screen is how 1:1 Mentoring puts audience before terms. Every partner, signed or proposed, is checked against a written traffic floor, then for recent posting and who reads, and ranked into talk to, parked and dropped before any rate is discussed.
Tap a part. Your partners and your floor will be your own.
Reach-First Partner Screen · a framework by Ivanka Menken
What it is
It is one page. Each partner in a row, with monthly visits drawn as a bar against the traffic floor. Beside it, the other checks: are they still posting, and do their readers buy homewares. Then the ranking: talk to, parked or dropped. Under it, one test with a partner who cleared the floor, and the date it is reviewed.
What it replaces
It replaces rates agreed before anyone looked, commission-only deals with nobody reading, and launch slots booked on a partner’s word.
It sits inside 1:1 Mentoring, next to the monthly scorecard, because a partner either shows up in sales or it does not. There is no separate checkout.
THE SCREEN, AS WRITTEN
- 01The traffic floor: a few thousand visits a month, written down
- 02Posting: something new in the last month
- 03Readers: people who buy homewares
- 04Talk to: two partners that clear every check
- 05Parked: the three signed partners, until they clear it
- 06The test: one feature, reviewed on day 30 before any fee
HOW IVANKA WORKED WITH THEM
From three signed partners to one test
In the session, Ivanka asked the founder to list every partner signed or proposed, then to open each partner’s site while they talked. Together they wrote the traffic floor down, checked when each had last posted and who their readers were, and ranked the list. The founder left with three partners parked, two worth a conversation and one test with a review date.
THE SCREEN, AS WRITTEN
- The floor
- A few thousand visits a month, checked before any call.
- The other checks
- Posting in the last month, and readers who buy what you sell.
- The ranking
- Talk to, parked or dropped, written next to each name.
- The test
- One partner, one feature, reviewed before any fee.
- Review
- On the test review date, at the scorecard
Your floor and partners will be your own.
THE FOUR-STEP LOOP
- 1The one thingPartners signed with no reach check.
- 2The numbersA written floor, three parked, one test.
- 3The storyWhy commission-only did not lower the real cost.
- 4The commitmentOne partner test with a review date before any fee.
THE QUESTIONS
- Who have you signed or been pitched?
- How many visits does each get a month?
- When did each last post?
- Who actually reads them?
- Which one test will you run first, and when is it reviewed?
Before the next session, the founder moved the two booked launch slots, agreed one feature with the partner that cleared the floor, and set the review date in writing.
WHAT CHANGED
Partners chosen for their readers
By month 6, every partner is screened before terms, the floor is written down, launch slots go only to names that clear it, and each test is reviewed on the scorecard before any fee is paid.
BEFORE
- Rates agreed before anyone looked.
- Commission on no traffic.
- Launch slots booked on a promise.
- No sale traced to any partner.
BY MONTH 6
- Reach checked first.
- A written traffic floor.
- Slots only for partners who clear it.
- One test at a time, reviewed.
THE 12 FORTNIGHTS
- 1Call
- 2Call
- 3Call
- 4Call
- 5Call
- 6Month 3
- 7Call
- 8Call
- 9Call
- 10Call
- 11Call
- 12Month 6
The programme is the container: 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions, a monthly scorecard, and reviews at month 3 and month 6.
ILLUSTRATIVE RESULT
In this case, the founder parked three names, set a traffic floor in writing, and ran one test with a partner who cleared it, with a review date before any fee was paid.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU
Check the reach before the rate
Ivanka Menken built 1:1 Mentoring for founders of $500K to $3M businesses. A partner with no readers costs the team time and the founder hope, whatever the commission says.
This fits if you sell online, you work with affiliates, referrers or other partners, and the sales are not showing up. It does not fit if you want someone to find or manage partners for you. The decision in front of you is one list. Write the floor, check each name and test one.
“During our sessions Ivanka isn’t just talking theory. She is sharing her own lived experiences.”
Business owner
WHO IT IS FOR
It fits
- You use affiliate, referral or content partners.
- You cannot trace sales to the partners you have.
- You agreed terms before checking reach.
- You will run one reviewed test at a time.
It does not fit
- You want partners found for you.
- You want an affiliate programme run for you.
- You have no product selling yet.
- You want a marketing agency.
THE INVESTMENT
AUD $1,500
per month ex GST
6 months · 12 fortnightly sessions
The Reach-First Partner Screen is part of 1:1 Mentoring, a 6-month programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST. It is not sold separately.
- 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions
- A monthly one-page scorecard
- Reviews at month 3 and month 6
- The Reach-First Partner Screen for your partner list
Three founding places in total, shared across 1:1 Mentoring and its three focus programmes, are available at A$1,000 a month, in return for honest monthly feedback and a testimonial, which can be anonymous. Claim a founding place.
The Reach-First Partner Screen is part of the programme. It is not sold separately.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
Questions about choosing partners
How do I know if an affiliate partner is worth working with?
Look before you talk terms. Check their monthly traffic against a floor you have written down, whether they have posted recently and who actually reads them. If a partner gets only a few hundred visits, the rate does not matter. Ivanka Menken builds that screen with you inside 1:1 Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.
How much traffic should a partner have before I sign them?
Set the floor yourself and write it down before the first call. One useful rule is a few thousand visits a month; below that, a partner is rarely worth the time for a small online store. Ivanka Menken sets that floor with you inside 1:1 Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, then checks every name against it.
Does a commission-only deal remove the risk of a bad partner?
Not really. You pay nothing until a sale comes in, but launch slots, assets and the team’s time still cost you, and with no audience no sale comes. Ivanka Menken moves the check to reach first inside 1:1 Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, so the deal structure only matters for partners who clear the floor.
What should I do with partners I have already signed?
Run them through the same screen. Those that clear it stay, those that do not are parked until they do, and booked launch slots move to partners with readers. In this case, all three signed partners were parked. Ivanka Menken works through that list with you inside 1:1 Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.
Write the floor first
If you have partners signed and no sales to show for them, start with 1:1 Mentoring. The Reach-First Partner Screen is inside it, and the 20-minute intro call is where you can see whether the programme fits.
Not partner recruitment or an affiliate agency.