Guide
Affiliate guide: links, codes and payouts
Quick answer: Email aaron@gridirondata.com for a code, then add ?ref=YOURCODE to any GridIron Data link you share. You earn 30% of what each referred customer pays in their first 12 months. A private link shows your clicks, signups and commission. Commission is held 30 days, then paid to your bank automatically through Stripe on the 1st of each month. Full terms are on the affiliate program page.
- Commission
- 30%
- Earned on
- First 12 months
- Referral window
- 60 days
- Hold
- 30 days
- Payouts
- Monthly, $25 minimum
1. Get a code
Email aaron@gridirondata.com with your name, where you'll share the link (a newsletter, a YouTube channel, a course, a blog, a Discord community) and the code you'd like. Codes are 3 to 32 characters of lower-case letters, digits and hyphens, for example sunday-data.
When you're set up you get a welcome email with your code, a private stats link, a Set up payouts link and, if agreed, a Stripe promotion code.
2. Build your links
Add ?ref=YOURCODE to any page on the site. Link to whatever fits what you're writing about:
https://www.gridirondata.com/?ref=yourcode
https://www.gridirondata.com/pages/pricing.html?ref=yourcode
https://www.gridirondata.com/pages/guide-backtest-projections.html?ref=yourcode
https://www.gridirondata.com/pages/docs.html?ref=yourcode#projectionsIf the page already has a query string, add it with &: signup.html?plan=basic&ref=yourcode. Put ?ref= before any #section anchor.
How the referral is kept:
- The code is stored in the visitor's browser (local storage, not a cookie) for 60 days.
- The last referral link clicked wins.
- It carries through signup with email, Google or GitHub, and through Stripe checkout.
- Because it lives in one browser, a visitor who clicks on a phone and signs up later on a laptop isn't tracked. The promotion code covers that case.
3. Use the promotion code
If Aaron gives you one, your promotion code is your code in capitals, such as YOURCODE. Buyers enter it at Stripe checkout for a percentage off their first payment, typically 10%. It works for first-time customers only.
A purchase with your promotion code credits you even if the buyer never clicked your link, so it is the one to read out in a video or podcast. Commission is on the discounted amount: Basic annual at $45 less 10% is $40.50, which earns $12.15.
4. Read your stats
Your private link looks like this:
https://www.gridirondata.com/pages/affiliates.html?code=yourcode&t=TOKENIt opens the affiliate page with your numbers at the top:
| Number | What it counts |
|---|---|
| Clicks | Visits that arrived with your ?ref= code, counted once per browser per day |
| Signups | Accounts created with your code, free or paid |
| Paid customers | Referred accounts that have paid at least once |
| Pending | Commission inside its 30-day hold |
| Owed | Commission past the hold, going out in your next payout |
| Paid | Commission sent to you through Stripe |
| Clawback | Commission that was paid and then refunded; it comes out of your next payout |
The page also shows whether payouts are set up and the date of your next payout. Below the totals, each payment is listed with its date, amount, your commission and its state, followed by your payouts. Customers' email addresses are never shown. Bookmark the link and keep it private.
5. Set up payouts and get paid
Payouts are automatic. Do this once:
- Open the Set up payouts link in your welcome email, or the button on your stats page.
- Stripe asks for your name, date of birth, address, your tax ID (US: an SSN or EIN) and the bank account to pay. Stripe keeps these details, not GridIron Data.
- When Stripe sends you back, your stats page says Payouts: ready. The same button then opens your own Stripe dashboard, where you can see payouts and change your bank account.
After that:
- Rate: 30% of what a referred customer pays in the 365 days from their first payment. Basic annual ($45) earns $13.50, Pro annual ($249) earns $74.70, Basic monthly earns $1.50 a month and Pro monthly $8.70 a month, for up to 12 months.
- Free signups earn nothing until they pay. A referred free account keeps your code, so a later upgrade still counts.
- Hold: each commission is pending for 30 days (the refund window), then owed.
- Payout: on the 1st of each month, everything owed is sent to your bank through Stripe, once it comes to at least $25. Less than that carries over. Stripe usually lands it in your bank within a few business days, and you get an email when it's sent.
- Refunds and charge-backs: the commission on a refunded payment is taken back in proportion to the refund. If it was already paid, it comes out of your next payout. A charge-back decided in GridIron Data's favor gives it back.
- Not set up yet? Commission keeps accruing. If at least $25 is owed, you get one reminder a month, and the balance goes out within a day of finishing.
- Not allowed: self-referrals, spam, misrepresenting GridIron Data or its data, and bidding on "GridIron Data" brand terms in paid search.
Already a subscriber? Use your customer referral link
You don't need to be an affiliate to refer someone. Every Basic or Pro subscriber has a referral link on the dashboard under "Refer a friend". It earns the same 30% of a friend's first 12 months, added automatically as account credit on your GridIron subscription once the friend's payment clears the 30-day hold, and taken off your next invoice. It's credit, not cash. Referring yourself doesn't count.