Today, I’m going to blog about the classic subject topic of affiliate marketing vs. product creation. Is one really better than the other?

It’s so common these days for many marketers and gurus to advice you in their products, that affiliate marketing is the way to go first as a beginner, since it’s supposed to be ‘easier’. But do you take that advice with a grain of salt, since more often than not, it could be that they might just want YOU to become an affiliate of THEIR products? 

Or would you rather just follow those who claim that creating your own products give you control and leverage?

It really all depends, on you. Yes, you right there! 🙂

If you’re already an experienced marketer, it doesn’t make sense to only stick to affiliate marketing as your primary source of income, as you have the marketing skills to create your own products. 

On the other hand, it could be an uphill task for you in online marketing, if you are trying to create your very own product without any prior experience in marketing. 

So, considering the pros and cons of both sides, here’s a simple comparison chart to help you decide which one to pursue first, depending on your experience in online marketing:

The Pros Of Affiliate Marketing

It’s fast and scalable. You don’t need a lot of money to get started as an affiliate and it’s alright to make mistakes learning along the way, as you gradually build up your campaigns and success promoting for each product.

You don’t need to create the product yourself. You can ride on the resources provided by the product creator to affiliates, and you can capitalize on the countless product launches that are happening daily. You can and should promote as many quality products at the same time.

You will even have time to “reverse engineer”  the strategies and methods on how an online business is set up and ran from the ground up.

The Cons Of Affiliate Marketing

It’s not a long-term business model. Then again, it was never intended to be.

For a one-time or even recurring commission for some products, ultimately you are building up the brand and customer base of the product creator, not your own.

Yes, that’s right, it’s the vendor that gets to build that buyer’s list…

The Pros Of Product Creation

One word: Control.

On the flip side now, you get to launch your own products, host JV contests, build up a buyer’s list, and even build an army of affiliates to promote your product. Done right and scaled up enough, that will be one killer passive income indeed.

The Cons Of Product Creation

If you start with affiliate marketing and can’t get the hang of it, the only thing you’ve lost is time. Even then it’s time well spent because you can learn from the mistakes you’ve made.

Now setting up your own product in reality is a different ball game altogether. You can easily lose hundreds and thousands of dollars quickly, not to mention the time invested. It’s usually enough pressure and pain to cause any beginner to quit, or even to put aside getting started in the first place.

So which side wins the battle, and which side wins the war?

Now, I can’t give you a definite answer, because it all depends on how far you want to grow in your online business. Naturally, you’ll feel a pull towards creating your own products and having more control as you gain more experience and “confidence” in your ability to market, promote, and sell online.

I do agree that it’s easier to start with affiliate marketing as a beginner. That’s how I started too, and it’s still what I’m doing today. I’m just at the stage of venturing into product creation as well to take things to the next level.

So as you make more money over time, you won’t feel like the only path to reaching your goals is as an affiliate marketer promoting other people’s products. And once you start creating products, of course it doesn’t mean that you stop selling other people’s products either. But it does mean you’ll feel the urge to share your experiences with the world to level up! 🙂 

So at the end, start as an affiliate marketer, then become a product creator once you have enough experience, and use that to add further leverage to your affiliate marketing efforts. That’s what leveling up in both is all about! 😉