The concept of affiliate marketing was introduced in 1996 by the founder of Amazon. From then on, the idea became a hit for both businesses and Internet marketers. The concept of a person making money for promoting another company's URL was ingenious because it created free advertising that would last pretty much forever, (or until the company went out of business).



Yet, for affiliates themselves, there is some work involved before they can see success. That's why they must choose their affiliate products carefully. If they promote the wrong type of affiliate product they could be wasting a lot of time and money with their promotion efforts.

This leads to one question wondered by many beginning marketers… is it better to promote virtual affiliate products such as e-books and software, or is it better to promote physical affiliate products, such as televisions, books and other merchandise. Which one will lead to faster, more ‘guaranteed' profits?

Well, the answer really depends on the affiliate product itself. Affiliate products that are virtual tend to be inexpensive vs. their physical counterparts. Why pay $25 for a printed book, when you can pay $5 for an ebook? With the ebook you get your information right now. But with a book, you must wait for it to ship out before you can read its contents.

However, this is not to say that physical affiliate products can't be worthwhile. If you're promoting merchandise from a company that charges significantly lower than retail, especially for more expensive items, you'll end up making more money per sale.

To put it in perspective, say you promote $300 laptops. Compare this to a $5 guide that explains how you can get free laptops, (through survey programs, etc.). And let's further say that the laptop program pays out $50 per sale, while the ebook pays out $2 per sale. Five hundred ebook sales would equal $1,000, while only 20 laptop sales are needed to make the same amount. So, when you look at the numbers, you can see the potential of physical affiliate products.

Yet, you must also keep in mind that currently we're in a very bad economy. And while $300 is still really cheap for a laptop, the appeal of getting one for free is much more powerful, especially for someone who may have lost their job or is facing foreclosure. So, in this case that's when the virtual affiliate product would win.

Of course, no matter what type of affiliate product you decide to promote, you must not forget that what ultimately matters is how you market it. You can't expect an affiliate product to generate thousands of sales just because you put its URLs on your website. You must be willing to promote your affiliate products through article marketing, link exchanges and even buzz marketing. If you do this enough, eventually, you'll bring in a ton of sales. It won't even matter whether or not your affiliate products are virtual or physical. So, just remember that the next time you ponder which affiliate products you're going to promote.