Affiliate Marketing vs Digital Products: The Best First Step for Beginners

You’ve decided to start an online business — exciting!

But now you’re stuck.
Should you start with affiliate marketing and promote someone else’s products?
Or should you create a digital product and build something that’s 100% yours?

Both sound appealing. Both have success stories.
But which is right for you right now?

By the end of this post, you’ll know exactly which path to take first — and how they can work together so you can grow faster.

Quick Definitions

Affiliate Marketing:
You earn a commission for promoting someone else’s product or service. No product creation, but you need an audience.

Digital Products:
You create something once (eBook, course, template, workshop) and sell it over and over again—more work upfront, but more control long term.

The Pros & Cons

Affiliate Marketing

Pros:

• Quick to start — no product to create.
  
  

• Low cost — often just a domain, hosting, and time.
  
  

• Endless niches to choose from.
  
  

Cons:

• You don’t control pricing, branding, or updates.
  
  

• Payouts can be small unless you sell high-ticket items.
  
  

• You rely on someone else’s business staying alive.
  

Digital Products

Pros:

• 100% yours — control the price, branding, and updates.
  
  

• Higher profit margins.
  
  

• Potential to scale with affiliates of your own.
  
  

Cons:

• More time & effort upfront.
  
  

• Need to handle delivery, support, and updates.
  
  

• Requires more marketing skills from the start.

Which Should You Start First?

If you’re brand new, affiliate marketing can be a fast way to learn online marketing basics without getting stuck in creation mode.

If you’re already comfortable with your niche or have skills to share, digital products could give you more profit potential from day one.

💡 Here’s the truth:

You don’t have to choose forever. Many successful entrepreneurs start with affiliate marketing to learn, then launch their own digital products for bigger profits.

How to Combine Them for Faster Results

• Start promoting affiliate products that immediately solve your audience’s problems.
  
  

• While building your audience, create a simple digital product (like a mini-guide or template).
  
  

• Use your affiliate earnings to reinvest in growing your own product line.
  

Your Next Step

If you want to shortcut the digital product learning curve, check out The Internet Millionaire. It walks you through the exact process to create, market, and sell your first digital product — even if you’ve never built one before.

👉 Learn more about The Internet Millionaire here

Encourage Action

Whether you start with affiliate marketing, digital products, or both, the most important step is… starting.

Pick your path, commit for 30 days, and watch how much momentum you build.