Affiliate Marketing vs Product Owner

23 replies
stuck between the 2.

i figured owning a product that has a high gravity score on clickbank (lots of affiliates selling) is the best way to automate income without too much management.

so i'm working on that.

but they say money's in the list. and that's affiliate marketing.

right now, i'm working on my info product on clickbank and prospecting for affiliates. given i make $10/sale after affiliates payout, it's a good concept.

i have limited funds and just want to focus.

which do you recommend?

this has been stressing me out and delaying action for months...

any opinion/advice is appreciated.

lennox
#affiliate #marketing #owner #product
  • My opinion - you should do both.

    However, you need some way to get people onto your list first - so that you can sell them affiliate products. The best way to do that is to have your own product line.

    Thom
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    • Profile picture of the author madaffiliatemoney
      Originally Posted by impact-productions View Post

      My opinion - you should do both.
      .
      Thom

      Yeah eventually you should do both and more. But if you are just getting started and have limited funds, my advice is to just focus on one thing until you master it and make it profitable. If you start jumping all over the place now it may be difficult to get focused and on track in the long run.

      Best of luck,
      Justin
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  • Profile picture of the author RussRuffino
    Agreed. Having your own product is a million times easier than being an affiliate. Just don't overthink product creation - identify your market, grab a PLR product, re-write it and add some audio/video and have a graphic designer build you a nice site, or just use Optimize Press and build it yourself.

    Sell the low-priced version for $17 at a 100% affiliate commission, then get e-mail addresses when people buy. There, now you have your list of buyers (not browsers, buyers!). When those people buy, hit them with an OTO for the premium version of your product with audio and video for $37 - this money you keep.

    That and Microcontinuity are the simplest ways to do it. You should be able to crank out a new product every 3-4 weeks at the absolute longest.

    R
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    • Profile picture of the author BradBergeron
      Originally Posted by RussRuffino View Post

      Agreed. Having your own product is a million times easier than being an affiliate. Just don't overthink product creation - identify your market, grab a PLR product, re-write it and add some audio/video and have a graphic designer build you a nice site, or just use Optimize Press and build it yourself.

      Sell the low-priced version for $17 at a 100% affiliate commission, then get e-mail addresses when people buy. There, now you have your list of buyers (not browsers, buyers!). When those people buy, hit them with an OTO for the premium version of your product with audio and video for $37 - this money you keep.

      That and Microcontinuity are the simplest ways to do it. You should be able to crank out a new product every 3-4 weeks at the absolute longest.

      R
      I hate to say it, but this is terrible advice. You can't expect to grab a PLR product, add some audio/video, and get the highest gravity of all Clickbank products. It simply doesn't work that way. You need HIGH quality stuff in order to get a high gravity.
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      • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
        Banned
        Originally Posted by BradBergeron View Post

        You need HIGH quality stuff in order to get a high gravity.
        On the contrary, many high gravity products are crap (I have a whole stock of them), with a huge affiliate turnover, abysmal conversion rate and comparatively few sales (typically, large numbers of affiliates struggling and eventually making 1 or 2 sales each, all of which are added to the gravity score as they're different affiliates, and the resulting high gravity then attracting increasing numbers of affiliates all struggling in turn and eventually making a sale or two which inflate the gravity still further as more gullible affiliates see the rising gravity and "join in").

        There are products with gravities in single figures vastly outselling products with gravities in three figures. I'm promoting some of them.

        High gravities are self-perpetuating, without reference to the product quality at all.

        Gravity doesn't measure the number of sales.

        Originally Posted by lennoxtran View Post

        i figured owning a product that has a high gravity score on clickbank (lots of affiliates selling) is the best way to automate income without too much management.
        Don't imagine that a product with "lots of affiliates selling" one or two copies each necessarily produces more income for the vendor than a product with one or two superaffiliates and a slightly bigger group of serious, professional affiliates each selling it by the hundred/thousand: surprisingly often exactly the opposite is true. And these groups are likely to be attracted to very different products and sales pages from those attracting the affiliate crowds.
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        • Profile picture of the author madaffiliatemoney
          Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

          Gravity doesn't measure the number of sales.

          You should post the link to your thread about gravity. It is the best explanation I have ever read.


          Best of luck,
          Justin
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      • Profile picture of the author RussRuffino
        Originally Posted by BradBergeron View Post

        I hate to say it, but this is terrible advice. You can't expect to grab a PLR product, add some audio/video, and get the highest gravity of all Clickbank products. It simply doesn't work that way. You need HIGH quality stuff in order to get a high gravity.
        First of all, I said REWRITE it, not just add audio and video. The idea of starting with a PLR product is that it removes some of the fear that newbies have when creating a product from scratch. You take so-so PLR and make it great by adding more value.

        Second, why would you want the highest gravity in the marketplace? I just want any individual product of mine to keep doing mid-4 figures a week, which is what my products do, week after week...

        R
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      • Profile picture of the author BrandonLee
        Originally Posted by BradBergeron View Post

        You need HIGH quality stuff in order to get a high gravity.
        No you don't. You need a high quality marketing program to get affiliates, and the conversions to keep them, but you certainly don't need a good product. Also a lot of times once you get your gravity over a certain point affiliates think that the product is converting well and just start to pile in.
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        • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
          Originally Posted by RussRuffino View Post

          First of all, I said REWRITE it, not just add audio and video. The idea of starting with a PLR product is that it removes some of the fear that newbies have when creating a product from scratch. You take so-so PLR and make it great by adding more value.
          Russ, I don't necessarily disagree here, but there's more to it than simply correcting the spelling and grammar, or punching up the prose. (I know you know this, but please indulge me for those that may not...)

          One of the biggest value-adds you can make is checking the accuracy of the product as you rewrite. I've acquired PLR products on subjects I'm an authority in and found them to be surprisingly well-written piles of horse apples. The logic was fairly clear, and totally factually challenged.

          Originally Posted by RussRuffino View Post

          Second, why would you want the highest gravity in the marketplace? I just want any individual product of mine to keep doing mid-4 figures a week, which is what my products do, week after week...

          R
          Amen...

          I tell the SEO folks that a spider or search ranking never paid any of my bills, and I can say the same thing about a made-up statistic like CB gravity.

          I often see claims on CB that such-and-such product is converting at xx%, so grab a hoplink and get rich. They never say what the source of traffic was, what the pre-sell was, what the stick rate is, etc.

          I'm far more concerned with the quality of the product and how well it fits MY audience. If it fits my market and converts for me, I don't care what the overall conversions are.
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  • Profile picture of the author JoshuaZamora
    I suggest doing both definitely! I wrote an extensive pros and cons on both on my blog
    http://howtobuildyouronlineempire.co...duct-creation/

    hope it helps

    JZ
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  • Profile picture of the author masterjani
    If you have product,Try concentrating on that,Because Instead of getting some small comssion,Here you are also stand a chance to get big dollars
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  • Profile picture of the author KevinTorrence
    Sure... you can do both. A great way to go is create a couple of really good products of your own and price them in the no-brainer range (for your particular market). Get a bunch of proven, credit-card carrying, paypal signed-up, buyers on your list ... and then throw in a mix of affiliate & your other product promotions for your list. The best of both worlds... and a list of proven buyers which is GOLD.

    As far as saying having a list just means affiliate marketing... that's not necessarily true. You can run promotions for just your own products no problem.

    One of the really good email marketers I can think of that rarely promotes other people's products is Matt Furey. He gets people onto his list both online and offline selling his lower prices workout books in the $29 range. Then he cross promotes his other products several times a week. Many of them in the $97 - $297 range.

    He does REALLY well for himself (and he's a good story-telling, email copywriter too... I study what he does all the time)
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  • Profile picture of the author Willie Crawford
    As a product owner, you have others build you list, drive
    your traffic, and even grow your affiliate program.

    Just offer a great product that actually takes care of
    your affiliates' customers and they will happily promote.
    If you set you affiliate program up to offer life-time
    commissions, affiliates won't mind building your list
    because your follow-up will make them money.

    Just make it a win, win, win. Don't forget that that
    third win is the customer (the end consumer).


    Willie
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    • Profile picture of the author Phillip King
      Originally Posted by Willie Crawford View Post

      As a product owner, you have others build you list, drive
      your traffic, and even grow your affiliate program.

      Just offer a great product that actually takes care of
      your affiliates' customers and they will happily promote.
      If you set you affiliate program up to offer life-time
      commissions, affiliates won't mind building your list
      because your follow-up will make them money.

      Just make it a win, win, win. Don't forget that that
      third win is the customer (the end consumer).


      Willie
      Spoken like the true Master he is.
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  • Profile picture of the author randoggle
    I don't know idf you have heard of Ben steins book called Bunk House logic. Its a great book based on horse trading cowboy logic. Eesentiallly. Meaning do whatever needs doing when it needs done if you hae a product to sell, sell it, if you have a product to automate, automate it, IF you. Have a list to build build it........but by all means don't be the one waiting for the most perfect time to do something becuase it will never get done. You will be successful in life! Just do it.
    .
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  • Profile picture of the author HaRrY84
    You should start as an affiliate and then when you have a lot of respect and confidence from your subscribers, launch your product. Do not forget always the money is in the list!
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    • Profile picture of the author VanessaB
      Allen has a really good thread on this very topic in the War Room. Join and read. It will do you no end of good.

      -Dani
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  • Profile picture of the author AndrewStark
    It all depends if you want to put in the effort to create a product, and provide support.

    If that's not your bag then stick to traffic generation and affiliate marketing.
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  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by lennoxtran View Post

    they say money's in the list. and that's affiliate marketing.
    I don't altogether see why. I'm an affiliate only, but I don't see why product owners shouldn't also be list-builders (and I know many who are).

    For me, just off the top of my head, the ten main advantages of being an affiliate - in no particular order - are:-

    (i) I can build a solid business based on real, appreciating assets (my niche websites and my lists), which to a large degree develop some real residual income (I can "walk away" for extended periods, and have done, just by loading up my autoresponders in advance, and it barely affects my income)

    (ii) I have complete flexibility about what I sell/promote, without being tied to "stuff I've produced myself"

    (iii) The bookkeeping/management are a little easier (Clickbank handles the money for me reliably, right up to the point of paying my pre-tax earnings into the bank)

    (iv) It's much easier for me to be able to offer my customers and potential customers a wide range of products at different prices (very helpful)

    (v) It's much easier for me be able to offer my customers and potential customers a wide range of different types/formats/styles of products without having to produce them myself - just "bigger choice", in short

    (vi) My business isn't dependent on the success/failure of an individual product: if something disappears on me, or flops, I can quickly and easily replace it with something else from stuff that's already available

    (viii) I don't really have to provide support (this is a big one!)

    (ix) For me, there's a lot less outsourcing involved in being an affiliate than there would be in being a vendor (that's partly because of my own limited skill-set, of course)

    (x) I suspect it's easier to attract customers than it is to attract affiliates.

    In many former, similar, threads here on these compare/contrast lines, it's always struck me that most of the things vendors habitually mention as "advantages of being a vendor" are actually similarly advantages of being an affiliate, too!

    You can, of course, do both, but it's better just to choose one and run with it than it is to be indecisive: both are perfectly viable business models in their own right.
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  • Profile picture of the author paulie888
    Originally Posted by lennoxtran View Post


    but they say money's in the list. and that's affiliate marketing.
    It's definitely not as black and white as what you're saying. You can build a great buyers list as a product owner, and that list is going to be far more responsive than people who just opt in for a free report or gift.

    Also, if your product is in the IM niche, be forewarned that it's not exactly going to be easy to acquire affiliates, especially if you're new to the marketplace and don't have many established contacts.

    If your product is in the IM niche, you can do one of two things. You can either sell it in a less competitive marketplace first with built-in traffic (such as in this forum as a WSO) to test it and build up a reputation and relationships with prospective affiliates. The huge launches you see on Clickbank are all a result of extensive relationship building and massive JVs with the power players in the market. That's where the majority of the traffic comes from, and without that you're probably not going to get very far with your product.

    Your second choice is to just start with affiliate marketing for now, with a focus on building your list and also establishing relationships with the major players in your niche.
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  • Profile picture of the author jwhitebiz
    Focus on what you are best in because it will happen naturally. I do both, and they are completely different animals.

    If you still aren't sure, go with product. As an affiliate, if you are good, you learn to market like no other, but your margins are less, you don't have access to the back end data to remarket, and you don't really have much if any leverage. You have to make something that converts though.
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  • Profile picture of the author schttrj
    Originally Posted by lennoxtran View Post

    stuck between the 2.

    i figured owning a product that has a high gravity score on clickbank (lots of affiliates selling) is the best way to automate income without too much management.

    so i'm working on that.

    but they say money's in the list. and that's affiliate marketing.

    right now, i'm working on my info product on clickbank and prospecting for affiliates. given i make $10/sale after affiliates payout, it's a good concept.

    i have limited funds and just want to focus.

    which do you recommend?

    this has been stressing me out and delaying action for months...

    any opinion/advice is appreciated.

    lennox
    Ultimately, it works on the popularity of the brand name. For that, you need your own product.
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  • Profile picture of the author excuzemee
    Originally Posted by lennoxtran View Post

    stuck between the 2.

    i figured owning a product that has a high gravity score on clickbank (lots of affiliates selling) is the best way to automate income without too much management.

    so i'm working on that.

    but they say money's in the list. and that's affiliate marketing.

    right now, i'm working on my info product on clickbank and prospecting for affiliates. given i make $10/sale after affiliates payout, it's a good concept.

    i have limited funds and just want to focus.

    which do you recommend?

    this has been stressing me out and delaying action for months...

    any opinion/advice is appreciated.

    lennox
    go with you own product. it's what you mentioned first, you want to do it, so do it.
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    Ask all the questions you want, but in the end they will all be answered by just doing it!... Get to work!

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