That has been a question I see being asked from time to time be it forums or Facebook groups.
I can only say there is no right or wrong answer as both ways have their pros and cons.
1. Affiliate Marketing
Which by now you should have known since that is why you are here reading – is whereby you promote other merchants’ products for a share of commissions.
They can be digital products like e-books, video courses and software on marketplaces like Clickbank, JVZoo and Warrior Plus.
They can also be physical products like consumer goods people like you and me buy everyday on networks like Ali Express, Amazon and Ebay.
There are basically 2 ways you can get paid as an affiliate.
They are Pay Per Lead and Pay Per Sale.
The advantages of being an affiliate is that you don’t have to create your own products, take charge of inventory or having to deal with customers from time to time as compared to traditional offline sales and marketing personal.
However your commissions could be lower since you are only paid on the low-to-middle priced items such as front end and back end products.
2. Selling Your Own Products
There are 2 ways you can sell your products.
One is digital products through Clickbank and other 2 marketplaces I mentioned above while the other is physical products through Amazon and Shopify.
While you can earn much money and build an army of affiliates building your customer list and driving targeted traffic to your offers, you will be responsible for paying your affiliates on time, attending to prospects queries and customers’ concerns.
If you are dealing with physical products, you also have to take charge of inventory and dealing with suppliers.
In my personal view, I feel it is best to start off as an affiliate and make as much money as possible.
Then once you achieved your financial goals, you can then decide if you should continue to earn through affiliate marketing or take your online business to the next level by creating your own products as merchant and getting others to market for you as affiliates.