What Kind of Website Investor Are You? by Jeanette Cates

In some ways doing business on the Internet is like real estate investing: There are different business models that are successful. For example, in real estate there are three different models of involvement:
- The pure investor. This person puts money into a deal, but has no direct involvement in it. They don't visit the property, they don't collect the rent. They did their research and made their decision. Now it's strictly hands- off.
- The flipper. This person buys houses, may or may not fix them up, then resells them for a profit. They don't collect the rent, they don't have a long-term involvement. They are in and out quickly.
- The landlord. This person buys a property so that they can own it and collect rent over a period of time. They know the property well. They are very involved with the property.
Now let's look at Website Owners. There are also three comparable models:
- The pure affiliate marketer. This person may or may not have a website of their own. Their primary involvement comes from referring their clients and visitors to others' sites - and collecting affiliate fees for doing so. They don't need to maintain a site, set up payment collection, deliver a product or support a product. They merely put the deal together and are finished with it.
- The reseller. This is the next stage of involvement. The person who resells a product must choose the product, set up a website, take the money, deliver the product, and support the sale. It's a great training ground for having your own product. You have to do everything except create the product, so you get plenty of hands-on experience. But you often have the advantage of ready-to-use sales copy and graphics, so it's much faster to set up.
- The product creator. This is full involvement. Not only do you have to research the market and determine what they want, but you also have to create it. Then you have to develop a means to market it - and close the sale. Finally you have to do everything a reseller does - set up the site, take the money, deliver the product and support the product.
So given those three models, where should you start? I believe they are best taken in order. If you're brand new to the web, find some affiliate products you like and get in the habit of recommending them.
When you're ready to get your own site, set up a resale site for a product you recommend. Often this may be one of the same products you have been recommending as an affiliate. But now, with resale rights, you're able to keep all the money. Plus you gain valuable experience as a website owner and marketer.
Finally, make the ultimate commitment to create and market your own products when you know your market well and know what they want. It's a large time and effort investment to create a product, so you want to be sure you know there's a market. The experience you got as an affiliate and as a reseller of others' products will go a long way toward your success in marketing your own products.