If you are looking to earn income as an online marketer, you essentially have two core paths: creating and selling your own product, or selling another company’s product through affiliate marketing.
Neither approach is universally “correct.” The best option for you will depend on your specific niche, your capabilities, what you enjoy doing, and a number of other factors. Let’s examine the pros and cons of each strategy.
The Case for Creating Your Own Digital Product When you develop and sell your own digital product, you benefit from retaining 100% of the profits. You also enjoy complete freedom and control over how you market your offering and the ability to edit or modify it whenever you wish. Furthermore, it is much easier to establish a strong brand identity; if a customer enjoys one of your creations, they are highly likely to be interested in buying additional products from you in the future.
However, the major downside is the requirement to actually create the product, which demands a significant investment of time, effort, or capital (if you choose to outsource the work). This means you face the risk of financial loss. If you invest heavily in a product that ultimately fails to sell, you will be out of pocket. While there are methods to “validate” a product idea to ensure there is a market, launching your own product always involves a degree of financial gamble.
The Case for Promoting an Affiliate Product The primary benefit of choosing an affiliate product is certainty. If you select an item that is already achieving substantial sales, you know it is a proven seller. This drastically reduces your risk, and in many cases, the necessary marketing materials are even prepared for you.
In terms of profit potential, affiliate programs often offer extremely high commission rates—sometimes as much as 75%. By promoting expensive items or successfully selling multiple items to a single customer, you can generate just as much revenue as you would by having your own proprietary product.
A Combined Strategy There is no obligation to pick only one path. Many successful marketers start by promoting an affiliate product to generate initial income, which can then be used to fund the creation of their own unique digital product. Even better, you can leverage affiliate marketing to learn what truly resonates with customers and what sales tactics are most effective, using that invaluable intelligence to design and launch the perfect product of your own.