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Should I market someone else's product - or develop and market my own?

Create my own product - or sell someone elses?Many products are available online today that can be sold by those who had nothing to do with the product's development.

The creators of these products have found that it pays to give up a portion of the profits in exchange for much greater sales.

This arrangement appeals to many business owners because they don't feel they have the expertise or creativity to develop their own products.

They prefer to simply advertise and market other people's products without the laborious task of first building the product.

The question naturally arises: Is there anything wrong with selling others' products, especially if you don't feel you can create your own?

My feeling is this: there is nothing inherently wrong with being a marketing expert and promoting other people's goods, but . . .

Your business will be better off, in the long run, if you promote your own products and services online. Here's why.

By creating your own product, you will be branding your name in your customer's minds. Your business will be known for unique, problem solving products that you develop. In the future, the customer will remember you for other purchases.

If you create your own products, you will be viewed as an expert in the field and prospects will be more likely to come to you when they have problems in the future. Your business will thrive if your prospects associate your name and brand with satisfying their wants.

In today's global marketplace, your product can be offered anywhere in the world. You will have the advantage over those that simply push other's goods. You will enjoy sales in various time zones throughout the world, all throughout the day and even while you're sleeping.

You will be able to keep the majority of the sales profits. Those who market for others will not be as competitive because they will have to share the profit with the product's owner.

One of the great benefits of developing your own product is the flexibility you will have in offering customers varying formats of that same product. You may desire to turn your information product into a book, a home study course, an audio file, a conference call, etc.

With your own product, you have complete control over every aspect of the sales process. That is not the case if you sell for others.

They determine what the product sells for, when you will have access to it, how much commission you will receive per sale, when and if follow-up products are available, etc.

Finally, you have speed on your side if you have your own products. Rather than waiting for others to produce what you will sell, you can control the timing and availability of your offerings. This is a great advantage in online sales which are nearly always very time sensitive.

If your business is built around a subject that you know well and have a passion for, developing your own information products is very easy and cost effective, especially since there are many copywriters who will reasonably do the bulk of the work for you.

Steve Browne, Business Alone author

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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on February 13, 2007 6:24 AM.

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