You need to create your own product to be an authority? Who disagree?

Not necessarily for authority but rather for increased revenues. It is not that difficult, if you find the right niche, to write a good quality ebook and sell it for say $7, $17, $27 dollars. Promoted properly, they are an excellent source of easy revenue... You write it once and you keep selling it over and over.

I create and promote my own products. Not necessarily to gain authority, but to make money.

What if the product you create isn't any good? Will that not do the opposite to making you an authority figure?

I agree and disagree. Affiliate marketers don't have their own products and can make a killing by selling someone elses. However internet marketer (people who own products) make a lot of money too but with the help of affiliates

Whooops! thought you said must be an authority to create your own product :-)

On the internet I think authority is about the perception of how users view you. Using a product to brand yourself can make people perceive you as an authority, but having a consistent top fold ranking on the first page of Google can do that too if you have a product or not.

I disagree.

I spent years as an affiliate, no need for my own product, in a new niche in minutes. Creating my own product was a choice thing that came as a result of needing a fresh challenge.

I didn't NEED to, I wanted to

You don't need your own products to be an authority. If you
have them it helps your bottom line... because YOU GET TO
KEEP ALL THE MONEY!

Ultimately if you become an expert at a certain area of affiliate
marketing why you would want to settle for just being an
affiliate when you could be a real competitor?

Start where you are though. Creating a good product in some
areas is a lot of work. In others it is not.

What really matters is your selling chops, and, as mentioned
in another thread, your understanding of how to implement
an effective sales process.

I see a lot of people come through here and they've created
some quaint little product and they now are looking around
for a market for it... bad move. Find a market first, then
fit a product to it.

You are an authority as much as the people who read your stuff
perceive you as one. Try not to undermine that impression
in their minds... you would be surprised the picture of YOU as
a marketer your subscribers have in their minds - they may
perceive you as a super-rich internet guru and unless you tell
them you are not super-rich they will put you on a pedestal
as a money-making-teacher... just don't be an idiot.

I disagree....affiliates must establish some sort of authority with your site/blog. Product creation allows you to get the lion's share of the $$$ and more importantly a list of buyers. You can then become a top affiliate if your market has several products to offer.

Tony

Disagree

Lots of authorities out in the real world without a product of their own.