Affiliate Programs vs. Your Product

max · #1 (**permalink**) 04-17-2007, 06:26 PM

I was having this discussion with my brother the other day. I was telling him about affiliate marketing and what I was planning to do. He asked me why not just sell my own product. With affiliate marketing you are always at the mercy of the merchant. When you have your own product at least you have more control.

Just wondering what you guys think? Does anyone here have their own product or thinking of creating one?

Seclinix · #2 (**permalink**) 04-17-2007, 07:01 PM

why not do both? you can sell products yourself and if you don't have what the person is after then try and refer your customer to another site to try their luck thus giving you more profit if they buy

amybiddle · #3 (**permalink**) 04-17-2007, 08:07 PM

Hi Max -
I do both at my site.

One of the benefits of being an affiliate is that the products are already made. If you are linking to good, high quality products or services that you're familiar with you'll be able to have good content about these and provide value to your readers.

There is some loss of control. I had a product I was offering and the seller pulled the program. Fortunately I was not hurt by her action, but if this had been a good producer for me, I'd be mad!

I agree, there are many benefits to having your own products to your site, and having affiliates of your own (through ClickBank for example). Doing this, others sell your products (you'll share in the profits - but hey - it's like free money right? They do all the work, you supply the product...) There nothing like owning rights to something. Plus you can create spin-off products as well: ebook becomes teleclasses becomes live seminars becomes 1-1 coaching program.

With a growing content site, it can't hurt to have lots of things to offer your readers. Something for everyone. They're going to leave eventually - why not click to an affiliate on the way out, if they won't buy your proprietary work?

lisa · #4 (**permalink**) 04-17-2007, 09:26 PM

I remember reading a book and the author suggested you should always have your own product (with or without affiliate programs). I don't think it's an absolute necessity (especially with the numerous monetization models these days). But like the others have said...why not go for both and get the best of both worlds.

Seclinix · #5 (**permalink**) 04-18-2007, 02:42 PM

yer so if one way fails you have the backup ya

ssmorgan · #6 (**permalink**) 06-12-2007, 10:24 PM

I think if you have your own product/can create your own product, then definitely sell your product.

The nice thing, as was mentioned earlier, is that with affiliate programs, the products are already made, you do not have to assemble anything, you don't have to ship anything, or refund returns, etc. You just have to focus on promoting the offer.

As an affiliate, you can review multiple products, and since you will show in your review that you have no loyalty to one product in particular, the reader will view you as an unbiased perspective, and they would be more willing to purchase. In addition, do not hold back to point out the negatives in a product... it only increases your credibility... but that's a different topic, altogether.

I am currently only promoting affiliate offers, but will probably eventually create my own product, and I will probably promote it through my website directly, as well as by offering an affiliate opportunity.

I hope this helps.

webdev · #7 (**permalink**) 06-13-2007, 07:57 PM

so you buy the products, test them and write a review on it? I see you're referring blockbuster movies. So, do you always buy the product and then promote it by offering reviews? How much does that help comparing to just advertising regularly?

ssmorgan · #8 (**permalink**) 06-13-2007, 09:13 PM

Comparing/Reviewing products was just an example... the point I wanted to make is that when a web surfer reads content, articles, reviews that are not blatantly promoting one particular product, they tend to open up a little more than viewing an ad.

As you well know, nowadays every thing is flooded with advertising, so people generally respond less to advertisement and more to content. Of course, they will have to trust your opinion first before they act on your recommendation... but trust is developed when they feel that you are providing good, honest, unbiased content.

That does not mean that advertising regularly is dead, I am sure it still works. Especially if it is targeted. For example, if you have ads relevant to PHP on your site, people may still click and buy even though your content was directly promoting the ad.

webdev, I hope I do not confuse your plans... I am still new at web marketing and I am still trying to figure what works. The most important lesson that I have learned so far is that I want, from my website or blog, to be a credible source of information and have a reader/customer base... Having understood this, I feel that the one thing I need to focus on to become successful in the long run is to create good content about a specific niche, and this is precisely why I subscribed to SBI.

I still do PPC campaigns, advertise for offers (such as the Blockbuster link you are referring to), etc... but the clicks/conversions of PPC offers stop once I stop bidding on keywords.

My goal is long term success!

I hope this helps.

Sherif

webber · #9 (**permalink**) 06-13-2007, 09:13 PM

Sherif, you are so right about the reviews. It's so obvious when I go to a site and the author recommends everything. Usually I know they haven't bought anything and they only want the commission. But when I see a site that actually has negative things about a product and doesn't recommend everything then their credibility goes up in my book.

Allan Gardyne is a great example. Yes he pushes a lot of products with his affiliate link but he's not afraid to say when he doesn't like a product.

And the more specific the review the better. You can't just say "I didn't like the product" or "I loved the product" It's important to explain why and it's always obvious at who really bought it and who didn't.

Excellent points.

ssmorgan · #10 (**permalink**) 06-13-2007, 11:27 PM

Hi Webber.

Thank You.

I highly recommend Allan Gardyne's website (www.associateprograms.com) to anyone considering/working with affiliate marketing.

Sherif

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