Mistake: ending a creator deal with no offboarding

Mistake: ending a creator deal with no offboarding

Failure mode: a partnership ends. The creator's old posts still carry live links and a working promo code. Months later you're paying CPA on traffic from content you no longer endorse, for an offer that may have changed terms.

Fix: an offboarding checklist that runs the day the deal closes.

Phase 1 — Links: decide per link, keep earning (extend on revised terms) or retire (301 to a generic page, no creator credit).
Phase 2 — Codes: deactivate or hand the creator a residual-rate agreement in writing.
Phase 3 — Rights: confirm whether you may keep running their content as ads, in writing.

Decision rule: if old content keeps converting, offer a flat residual to keep links live rather than killing free revenue. If not, retire everything cleanly.

Checklist (day deal ends):
— Every link: extend or retire, decided and logged
— Promo code: deactivated or residual-agreed
— Usage rights status confirmed
— Final payout reconciled against validation window

Definition of done: zero open-ended liabilities from an ended partnership.

A deal without an offboarding SOP never really ends, it just stops being tracked.