Having a digital business is an excellent way of working with what you love the most, besides, of course, having the possibility of achieving outstanding results.

If you want to start an online business, but you don’t know what the best path to take is, you have come to the right place. As Hotmart is a specialist in the subject and has encountered many people who had the same doubt, we have written a post to talk a little bit about the two main professionals in a digital business: Producer and Affiliate.

Here you will learn what each one does and, therefore, will be able to define which one is the most interesting for your profile. Let’s see:

Digital Producers

A Digital Producer is a person who is responsible for creating an online course or any other type of digital material that can be sold online. There are many formats that can be explored, and each of them with their own particular characteristics. And as the Producer is the creator, she has specific attributions that have to be taken into consideration when the time comes to decide which the best path to start a digital business is. In general, digital producers:

Possess the ability to teach: a digital Producer is a person who, naturally, has the ability to teach. Often, this person already does this in her daily life, as a profession or a hobby. If you are not one of these people, but you have a strong will to pass on knowledge, you can acquire this skill. Many Producers who are very resourceful in their communication skills today, started from scratch, with no innate talent. But remember that, if this is the case, you will have to put in a lot of effort to make your business take off.

Are specialists: it’s common to find Producers who were specialists in their niche before they started doing business online, and this is a great advantage for those who want to start a digital business. The deeper the knowledge about a specific knowledge, the easier it will be for the producer to share it with other people.

Of course, there’s always the possibility of studying and carrying out extensive research on a specific subject, to the point of being able to teach it to other people. If this is your case, make sure you go to different sources about the subject, interview people who know a lot about it, in other to become a specialist. Although the process will be slower, the results you may achieve in the future make it worth it!

For those who aren’t specialists, there’s also the option of becoming a co-producer, inviting someone with an extensive knowledge of a certain subject to be the teacher in the online course. This kind of partnership works really well when a Digital Marketing professional gets together with a specialist, since having knowledge about the digital world is essential! In this case, there must be an agreement between co-Producers about the division of tasks and remuneration.

If your product is hosted at Hotmart, you can inform the percentage of the commission for each co-producer to the platform itself and it will automatically share the bonus as you make the sales.

Develop a brand: not only does a Producer have a digital product in the market, but she also can develop a brand that will make the business even more professional. Building online authority is one of the most important factors to establish credibility in the market and make the results take off.

Are truly committed: if the Producer is responsible for making a digital business viable, you can image that it is also her responsibility to be totally committed to each and every action taken in her new entrepreneurial venture. From the creation of the product to the first sale, she must perform or supervise all the efforts made with the objective of making the course go online.

Exercise great control over the business: besides being committed, the digital will have more control over her business. She will determine the commission that will be shared with the Affiliate, will have access to the leads who did complete the sale – which can be dealt with in an email marketing strategy, for example – and will be able to monitor all the sales process.

Must be very attentive to the support provided: as the number of sales increases, the demand for support also goes up. And this is an essential factor to ensure the satisfaction of those who purchase the digital product. And not only to the final buyer, the support must also be available for the Affiliates, whenever necessary.

May have affiliates promoting the product:  Affiliates may be the key for a digital product to take off, after all, the producer will have many partners promoting her product at the same time, and this will lead to a greater scalability to the business.

Will have the possibility of putting together a team: most of the producers who invest in their business end up having to hire professionals to put together a team. This happens when the sales volume increases and, consequently, there is more demand for the business.

Affiliates

Affiliates are people who promote products from others, they are the bridge that connects the product to the final consumer. This practice is known since the beginning of the internet, and professionals like these have become more and more specialized. Besides physical products, today Affiliates promote courses and digital materials, a market that has been growing steadily for some time now. (Read our blog post on affiliate programs and learn more.)

Affiliates are professional that:

Are curious: an Affiliate has to be a complete specialist in Digital Marketing strategies. With this in mind, the Affiliate always keeps up with the latest trends in this market that is constantly changing. That’s why being curious is such an important trait, since the more the Affiliates study the best techniques, more results will be achieved from their actions.

Have the skills of an excellent salesperson: Affiliates have to be excellent in online sales strategies, be it through organic attraction or with paid campaigns in channels such as Google, social networking sites, and advertising websites. They should also go beyond and study persuasion tactics, metric analysis, A/B testing and many other ways of making their business more and more professional.

Have more diversity to promote products: unlike the Producer, who will start with only one product – with the possibility of expanding the business in time with other courses -, the Affiliate has the chance of choosing different interesting niches and promote many products at the same time.

However, having focus is extremely important. To begin with, choose a niche that you have more affinity with and select the ideal products to start promoting. When you acquire more experience, you may explore different niches, and remember to analyze which subjects lead to more results.

Don’t have to worry about logistics: the Affiliate is only responsible for promoting the product. Once the purchase is made, it is up to the Producer or platform to deliver the product to the client. The Affiliate will then receive the commission after the sale is completed and is free of any other obligations concerning the transaction.

Are not involved with the final consumer: although the Affiliate is responsible for the purchase made, she is not, in any way, involved with the consumer and this means she won’t have the email address from that client to use upsell or cross-sell techniques, for instance. But she can have her own email list by delivering rich materials and other content offers and work it to generate sales. It is up to the professional to define which is the best technique to use in the business.

Skills Producers and Affiliates have in common

Even though we have highlighted the most striking characteristics from each professional, it is important to clarify that they will always have characteristics in common, for example, being curious and always searching for knowledge.

Moreover, both have the opportunity to work with topics they have the affinity with – in other words, to make a living out of their passions like we say here at Hotmart.

Both professionals need a deep knowledge of paid media. Be it with ads on social media, Adwords or native ads, the beginning of the work requires an investment since there is no audience for an organic attraction. Think about this media and investment with a potential return to your business, especially if you know what you are doing.

Affiliates and Producers should attend to events, use networking and learn about the new trends in the market. If you attend the main events, you will certainly take your business to the next level, from insights and partnerships.

Conclusion

The answer to ‘What is the best path to take?’ is directly connected to your personality and objective. Reread our list and identify which of the two professionals suits the moment you are living.

If there are still doubts, the best option is to have an experience as an Affiliate and then define if it’s time to create your own product or to specialize even more as a promoter.

If we managed to help you, or if there are other doubts, please leave a comment in the section below!