If you are wondering whether you should be an affiliate marketer or a product owner, then you are not alone.
This is a very common choice to mull over when you are starting an online business.
When you learn how to be an affiliate marketer, you’ll quickly see how lucrative it can be to promote other people’s products and services.
What’s even better is that you don’t have to get involved in creating any of the products or get involved in customer service.
Many online marketers are earning a lot of money strictly selling other people’s products as an affiliate.
They never have to own their own information product or anything like that…
No, an affiliate just drives targeted traffic to a site and earns a commission for each sale.
So what are the pros and cons of launching an Internet marketing career as an affiliate versus a product owner?
As an affiliate, you don’t have to worry about the product creation phase or the expenses involved in setting up your systems for shopping cart technology, list-building, and other aspects of Internet marketing.
However, one of the major drawbacks is that you aren’t in control of the product itself
You have to scour the internet to see if there’s a product you feel confident promoting.
You also want to feel good about promoting it because it’s your reputation at stake when you recommend things to people.
Your visitors are counting on you to steer them to the absolute best product or service that solves whatever their problem or need is and you don’t want to let them down.
How can you find products to promote?
You can do this through ClickBank and other third party affiliate networks.
There are large companies with affiliate programs such as: Amazon, Walmart, Target, etc.
There are small and mid-size companies that also have affiliate programs.
There are thousands of options.
As an affiliate marketer, you’re always going head to head with competing affiliates for a piece of the internet marketing pie, but since spending on the internet is only increasing each year …there is room for competition.
Don’t focus so much on other affiliates and what they are doing.
Just work to be the best affiliate you can be, so that people trust your recommendations and will come back to you for more recommendations or even refer others to you.
Another drawback of being an affiliate is that you can’t control the sales copy or bonus items for the product you are promoting.
Also, if the product owner fails to provide good customer service, it could damage your reputation as the one who referred the visitor to the site in the first place.
So, this is why you should really look over and review a product thoroughly and also get a feel of how the vendor conducts business before you start promoting.
You only have so much control as an affiliate, but choosing what product to promote is completely under your control.
It’s ultimately your choice on how you run your online affiliate marketing business.
So, does this mean that being a product owner yourself is much less hassle than being an affiliate?
Well, not necessarily.
As a product owner, you’re chained to the entire process of product creation from start to finish.
You have to develop a unique idea, create a product or pay to have it created using an outsourcing service, and then get everything up and running if you want your internet marketing venture to be a success.
You also have to recruit an army of affiliates and provide them an ample toolbox filled with strategies that they can use to help promote your product.
One benefit from being the product owner, is that you retain control over the details of your website and can test and tweak sales copy for higher conversions and deliver any sort of product or bonus that you feel is worthy to your customers.
So, is one particular choice better than the other for the internet marketer who is considering all of their options?
They each have their attractive qualities and their drawbacks.
In fact, most online marketers do a combination of both.
They’ll create their own information product in the form of an eBook and then hyperlink recommendations back to products that they promote as an affiliate.
This increases the profitability of each product they create and generates even more passive income each time the eBook is promoted by an affiliate for the product they own.
There is not as much required from you as an affiliate marketer and the barrier to entry is non-existent.
Just about anyone can become an affiliate for other people’s products.
You can also decide to create your own product, but this will take much more knowledge, work, money and time to get started.
So, if you are wanting to start an online business today, then start with affiliate marketing and if you are interested in product creation …you can also learn what you need to know over time.
It’s completely up to you.
The beauty of having your own online business is that you are not restricted.
You are not forced to choose one online business model over another.
When you work for yourself, you call the shots.
You can choose your own way.
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day 🙂
To Your Success,
P.S.- Grab your free gifts below as a “Thank You” for visiting my website 🙂
About
Nicole Lynn
from
Resources for Online Success
My Online Journey
You don’t know me.
I’m not some flashy internet marketing “guru” with my name and face all over the internet.
I’m just an ordinary person that had to figure out a way to make money online when I lost my job in 2008, due to health issues.
In the offline world, I gained several years experience in Customer Service, Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable and various other clerical type positions.
Much of it was drudgery, especially working in call centers.
I was good at my various jobs, but I did not enjoy being hostage to a cubicle and headset..lol 🙂
But, you do what soul sucking jobs you have to do, in order to make money to pay the bills.
As a free spirit, I always had the deep desire to break free from the cubicle-zombie-robot rat race world and have full control over my time, income and life, without having to have permission from a boss.
I was tired of being just another “number” that was expendable, no matter how dependable I was or how hard I worked (just to help build someone else’s wealth and make their dreams come true).
I wanted to create MY freedom…not just build it for someone else.
Unexpectedly in 2008, severe neck issues forced me out of the 9 to 5 corporate world rat race (before I was actually ready financially, which really sucked a lot and was pretty scary).
My neck issues got worse after years of being trapped at a computer, with little to no permission to get up and move around and stretch.
This is not good when you are suffering from old car accident injuries.
This was especially the case in call center jobs with low cubicle walls. They didn’t want you standing up, due to the noise while on calls.
And although losing my job and the paycheck was a less than pleasant experience, my goal was to be an online entrepreneur anyway.
But, I was forced to make it happen at that point…which was not ideal.
Wasted Time Dabbling
It’s better to have a 2nd income already coming in regularly before losing your main source of income, but I had no control over what happened.
I had already been “dabbling” in internet marketing, on the side, since 2004…basically wasting time.
I treated it as a hobby, instead of an online business.
I actually made a little bit of money with affiliate commissions and some advertising revenue, but it was nothing to write home about because I did not build it up.
If I had realized that my health was going to go sideways so badly in 2008, then I would’ve taken my online business “side gig” much more seriously.
I would’ve hustled, even while still working a full-time job, because 4 years would’ve been more than enough time to have built that online business into a full-time income.
Just an extra 1 hour per day consistently over that 4 year period…would have made all the difference.
So, after I lost my job in 2008, I was in a real bind for more than one reason.
I needed to get serious and stop dabbling and start hustling to make money online, but it takes time to build an online business that brings in consistent income.
I was out of time. My household went from two incomes to one and I needed to get moving.
The problem was my severe neck issues and the accompanying dizziness from nerve damage in my C1 Vertebrae, the Atlas.
So, this meant that I couldn’t exactly hustle like I needed to because being on a computer for hours each day at home is no different than doing it at a job.
I was no longer able to do this, if I wanted to not end up completely disabled or bed-ridden.
The years 2008-2011 were extremely tough in trying to heal, but with proper therapy, the worst of it got better, but it’s not 100%.
Even now in 2022, I still can only be on a computer so much each day, without causing flare-ups.
So again, if I had taken it all more seriously, then I wouldn’t have ended up with so many financial worries, when I lost my job.
I would’ve had something more substantial to fall back on during times that were difficult money-wise and health-wise.
Then, add in beating my head against the wall, jumping from one “program” to another and basically flushing more time and money down the toilet.
Losing my job made me act in desperation because I wanted to make something happen right now.
So, I ended up doing what a lot of people do, which is looking for a shortcut and something “quick” or “push button”…which is not realistic because it doesn’t really exist.
Then in 2012, I joined Wealthy Affiliate because it had the tools and resources I needed all in one place, to help me build an online business.
Fast forward to 2020, I joined The Home Business Academy to add even more great tools and resources to my online business arsenal.
I now use both of these resources to build my online business.
I talk more about this over on my Recommended Resources page listed under Resources #1 and #2.
I enjoy making money online because I can work from anywhere and on my own schedule, while still being able to take care of my health.
You Can Do It Too
So, why do I tell you all of this?
I share all of this with you, so you’ll know it’s possible to make money online and have total freedom from the 9-5 grind.
It takes time to build an online business, but it’s worth it to build either a side-income to supplement your full-time job or replace your job.
If you have found yourself in a similar situation to me or you simply want to get ahead of things and plan for the future, your goal going forward should be to not waste any more time.
Whether you love your job or hate your job, it’s always a good idea to have a Plan B to supplement your income or replace your income.
You never know what can happen with your job or even with your health.
Don’t waste time, like I did.
Just get started and keep going.
Do not dabble.
Take action now.
And most importantly, believe in yourself.
You can do it!
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