This is a very common question but there is no right or wrong answer.
It will depend on your strengths and preferences
and where you want to go with your business.
There are pros and cons to both product creation and affiliate marketing.
The best affiliates usually do a mix of both.
They not only promote others peoples products
but they also create their own and get others to promote them.
Doing this multiplies their income.
Let’s look at some of the advantages of both systems.
Once you know what is involved, you will be better able to decide.
- Affiliate marketing is simple
This simplicity is the most attractive point about affiliate marketing.
Someone else does all the work creating and delivering the product
but you get a chunk of the sales through commissions.
Of course, you will need to drive traffic that converts,
but that is not half as much work as creating the product. - No customer interaction
Dealing with customers is difficult.
This can be very true when dealing with difficult and unreasonable customers.
As an affiliate you will not need to deal with all the troubles of these people.
That’s the job of the vendor. - Less technical skills are needed
A certain amount of technical skills are required to setup salespages, payment processors and delivery systems.
As an affiliate, all you will need is an affiliate link.
If the visitor buys, you automatically get your commission.
All you need to do is focus on traffic generation.
That’s just one area of expertise
and if you devote most of your time to it,
you will get very good at it.
Now let’s look at why product creation is worth considering despite the disadvantages mentioned above.
- You have a chance to brand yourself
Unlike an affiliate who is a faceless cog in the system, you are a product creator.
You have the ability to brand yourself and your products.
If your products are good, you will gain a loyal group of customers.
Generally, product creators get more respect and recognition
while affiliates are not trusted because they have a vested interest.
The terms even state that affiliates must have an affiliate disclaimer on their site. - You make money no matter what
There are quite a few dodgy affiliate networks
that try to con the affiliates out of their hard earned sales.
They can easily do this by suddenly changing the affiliate program technology.
As a product owner, you will receive all payments.
Nobody can shortchange you. - You’re building your own business
All affiliates help to build the product owners’ lists.
In most cases, this is a buyers list
which is infinitely more valuable than a general list of freebie seekers.
Of course, affiliates too can build a list
by directing their traffic to a squeeze page first.
However, the visitors will then go on to join the product creator’s list
if they buy the product.
So, the product creator is building a valuable buyers list from the efforts of the affiliates. - You can build a backend and residual income
Buyers who have purchased from you will be much more likely to buy again.
As a product creator, you can always create new products that will appeal to your buyers
and you will be able to generate sales over and over.
There is no limit to what you can achieve.
These are some of the pros and cons of both methods.
Do not look at them as mutually exclusive.
You can get started off with affiliate marketing.
Once you are a successful affiliate marketer,
you can see what products are selling well
and then try to create similar products yourself.
You can then direct traffic to your products and keep 100% of the sales.
You’ll also be able to recruit affiliates.
In this way, not only will you have income as an affiliate
but you will also be making money selling your own products.
This is a great way to go.
Give them both a try.