Affiliate Marketing Vs. Product Creation: Who Wins The Battle, Who Wins The War?

Do you follow the guru’s advice who swear up and down that making money as an affiliate is the best option to go for a beginner, or do you take it with a grain of salt because most times they want YOU to be an affiliate for THEIR products? Or do you listen to the guru who says real money and power is in creating products of your own you can control and be proud of?  

It depends, on you. 

If you're an experienced marketer, it doesn't make sense to use affiliate marketing as your primary source of income when you have the marketing skills to make more with products of your own. 

On the other hand, it's "foolish" to get into online marketing with a product of your own if you "don't" have prior experience with the rules of marketing. 

So, I put together a simple comparison chart to help you decide which course of action is best for you below. 

The Pros Of Affiliate Marketing

It's instant, and "in your face". It takes very little money to get started as an affiliate and you are free to make more mistakes, learn along the way, and snowball your successes into homeruns. 

It gives you time to "reverse engineer" 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.  

However, because of all the hype surrounding affiliate marketing it can leave the potential of a super star hanging on the balance of other peoples products and never their own 

The Pros Of Product Creation

One word. Control. 

The Cons Of Product Creation

If you start with affiliate marketing and can't get a feel for 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.  

Setting up your own product can, in reality, cause you to lose hundreds and thousands of dollars quickly as well as time. It's enough pressure and pain to cause any beginner to quit.  

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

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

As you make more money over time you won't feel like the only path to reaching your goals is through other people’s products. Doesn't mean you'll stop selling other products, but it does mean you'll feel the urge to share your experiences with the world and anyone who will listen for a small admission.  

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