Summary
CHALLENGE
- Wanted to turn its established window cleaning community into an affiliate sales engine.
- Set an ambitious goal of $1M in affiliate sales in a year.
- Needed affiliates who could genuinely discuss the tools in a niche trade.
SOLUTION
- Recruited affiliates from within: employees, sales reps, and active content creators.
- Segmented affiliates into Pro, Basic, and International programs with different commissions.
- Sent welcome swag bags and reward top performers
RESULTS
- Reached $800K in affiliate sales in 6 months — 80% of the $1M annual goal.
- Grew to 250+ affiliates across 3 programs.
- Top affiliate group drove 20,000–23,000 referral sales.
LESSONS
- Recruit affiliates from your existing community who can speak to the product.
- Segment affiliates by performance and geography to reward them fairly.
- Welcome new affiliates with branded swag to turn them into walking billboards.
- Start simple and add features gradually to stay organized.
Founded in 1999, Window Cleaning Resource (WCR) built their business around one idea: community. For years it ran the busiest online forum for professional window cleaners, alongside a YouTube channel featuring every product in their shop.
That community-first approach centers on expert recommendations from experienced window cleaning business owners. It made WCR a familiar name across a small, specialized trade.
For a niche like this, affiliate marketing through professional referrals was a natural fit — pay per sale, powered by an established community. WCR chose UpPromote and set a $1M affiliate sales goal.
How did Window Cleaning Resource turn their community into a sales business?
At WCR, everything orbits one word: resource. The brand runs their own platform like a television network, with content, video, podcasts, and a media team all feeding the window cleaning scene.
The model rests on a simple motto: give people something for free, and they’ll come to you when it’s time to buy. WCR backs that up with free downloads like waivers, contracts, and guides for growing a cleaning business.
That generosity made WCR a top name in their field, saturating the niche with brand presence across their forum, Instagram, and TikTok. Converting that audience into sales through affiliates became the natural next step.
How did WCR recruit affiliates from inside their own community?
As a supply provider serving window cleaning professionals, WCR found their first affiliates close to home, then opened the door wider on their own terms.
Start with employees and top sales reps
Most of WCR’s affiliates are their own employees and remote sales representatives. The biggest are SteveO The Window Cleaner and Josh Cronin, known as Jersey, who produce content, videos, and podcasts for the trade.
They’re the closest thing to a celebrity that we have in window cleaning
Hana Howell, Brand Manager at Window Cleaning Resource
Many other affiliates work under SteveO and Jersey as their sales reps, so they already know why to buy the tools, how to use them, and how to market them. That shared expertise gave the program a knowledgeable core from day one.
Open the door to active content creators
Beyond their inner circle, WCR welcomes other window cleaning professionals on one condition: they have to make content actively. The brand checks each applicant’s social media, but sets no follower minimum.
We make sure that they’re window cleaners… We don’t require any number of followers, just that they’re posting, because we’ve noticed that if you don’t post, nothing happens
Hana Howell, Brand Manager at Window Cleaning Resource
That posting-first filter keeps the program full of affiliates who are genuinely active in the trade, rather than chasing follower counts.
How did WCR tailor programs and commissions to different affiliates?
WCR’s team credits segmentation as the engine of their program, splitting affiliates into clear groups and backing each with the right tracking.
Three programs — Pro, Basic, and International
WCR runs three affiliate groups: a Pro team, a Basic team, and an International team. The Pro team is made up of sales reps and best-performing affiliates, while the Basic team is inspired window cleaning professionals.
The split comes down to logistics, convenience, and fair compensation. WCR can quickly send mainland members a drop-off freebie, whereas international shipping can be trickier.
The Pro group, which drives 20,000–23,000 referrals, earns a higher rate than the basic 8% of order value. UpPromote’s multiple affiliate programs sort each affiliate into the right group and matching benefits.
Spot and reward top performers through live analytics
To keep the right people motivated, WCR uses UpPromote’s live analytics to surface their most active and top-performing affiliates in one click. That tells the team exactly who to reward with extra incentives.
Right now, when I’m looking at my dashboard, here are the affiliates. I can see registration time, full name, email, program, login count, and last login. And then there’s total referrals, the amount of clicks… that’s super helpful
Hana Howell, Brand Manager at Window Cleaning Resource
Clear performance data turned recognition into a routine, not a guess.
How does WCR build lasting rapport with their affiliates?
WCR says their dedication to affiliate relationships is what sets it apart from most businesses. That commitment starts the moment an affiliate joins and never really stops.
Welcome every affiliate with a swag bag
As soon as affiliates are vetted and accepted, they receive a swag bag filled with WCR merch and some of their products. It’s a generous welcome by design.
UpPromote’s gift for affiliate feature lets WCR send and track these customized freebies. The merch says thank-you, while the gear shows the supply in action, turning affiliates into “walking billboards” for the brand.
Stay personally in touch
WCR keeps in contact with affiliates even though only 20% reach out first. Brand manager Hana Howell handles them all herself.
I deal with all of our affiliates directly. Whenever they need anything, they come to me… I’m personally on a first-name basis with [top affiliates], who consistently post
Hana Howell, Brand Manager at Window Cleaning Resource
That hands-on contact keeps the win-win agreement growing on genuine rapport between both sides.
What results has WCR achieved with their affiliate program?
The combination of inside-out recruiting, segmented programs, and close relationships produced standout numbers in a short window.
WCR set a goal of $1M in affiliate sales for the year — and reached $800K in just 6 months, or 80% of the target.
The program now spans 250+ affiliates across 3 programs, with the top group alone driving 20,000–23,000 referral sales. Even after subtracting their sales representatives, WCR is on track to clear their affiliate goal this year.
I would definitely recommend anybody starting this program to… lay out how they want it to run and then slowly add features, not everything all at once… so that they can keep it better organized
Hana Howell, Brand Manager at Window Cleaning Resource
For WCR, an ambitious goal turned out to be reachable once the community it had built for years was given a way to sell.
