What's the better business model downloadable products or affiliate marketing?

6 replies
What do you believe to be the better business model: affiliate product marketing or downloadable products(ebooks, audio, video etc). I have tried both and I feel that downloadable products is the most sustainable and most profitable. The key is to offer fresh and good quality downloadable products, trying to sell older poor quality products is a waste of time.

What do you believe is the most profitable and is the least competitive? Where would you direct most of your efforts.
#affiliate #downloadable #marketing #model #products
  • Profile picture of the author dvduval
    I think both can be sustainable and profitable. They are just different. Personally, I chose downloadable products because I enjoy making products, but getting into the right niche at the right time is going to bring profits regardless.
    Signature
    It is okay to contact me! I have been developing software since 1999, creating many popular products like phpLD.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2725239].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author leclaims
      I agree that both are sustainable and profitable. The critical piece is getting traffic to them to even get a chance at making money on them.
      No traffic = No Income
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2725251].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Jesus Carrera
      I think this depends on your personal situation. Are you a programmer/product creator? I guess you can go for downloadable products. Are you a marketer? promote affiliate products. I'm more inclined to affiliate marketing, but downloadable products can be very profitable as well.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2725274].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author madison_avenue
    Thanks for the great replies.

    I am a marketer and I have concentrated on MMR products a lot, but I am finding that after an initial surge of sales there is a big dropping off as other people start marketing the same product, only the new products sell well.

    If you are creating your own products you definitely have an advantage as your products will be unique and you sales should be more constistent. This is something I will definitely attempt to do.

    Traffic is also easier to get the more unique your product, as there is less competition for the product name.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2725567].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author phpnetpro
    I think both have their advantages and disadvantages. Both can require a lot of work, especially to get started. Selling your own product can be more profitable, but that's really only the case if you can create a unique product that can stand out from the crowd. A lot of the easier to create products like a simple ebook are getting drowned out on clickbank because of the big packages with upsells, downsells and recurring commissions. Even a good product can get lost in the weeds, so to speak.

    It can be equally has hard from the affiliate end too. I think a lot of the big names can make some good money on the big products, but a lot of the smaller marketers will usually do best going after niche products.

    Regardless of my points, I still do both. At one time or another, each of them held a spot as my top revenue source.
    Signature
    Need more organic search traffic? SideBacon SEO Agency is a leading provider of Fort Myers SEO services to local businesses.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2725594].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Coby
    I use both but focus mainly on my own products and products with plr and mrr.
    Creating/promoting your own products can take time to get rolling but will keep rolling for a long time. Whereas I view affilate promotion as a means of 'quick cash' and can be a good source of income but for what I do it's not nearly as recurring. I like to find affilate products that pay monthly and is related (like aweber) to get past that and make the affilate sales more of a 'passive' income.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2725768].message }}

Trending Topics