You’re wondering whether a product or a service would be better for your online marketing efforts. You’re not alone. Many marketers have started out asking themselves this very question. The thing is, the answer isn’t cut and dry. You can’t tell one marketer that a product is better than a service no more than you can tell a marketer that email marketing is more effective than social marketing. It’s all relative and there are tons of variables to consider. Still, you can help your decision making process by thinking about the pros and cons of offering both products and services online. The following points should provide you with the help you require.
Pros Of Selling A Product
There are many benefits to offering a product over the Internet. For one, you can offer your products to anyone, anywhere. No longer are you limited by a store front and no longer do you have to mail out brochures and catalogues so that your prospects and customers know what you’re offering. Instead, people need only log onto your website and they can order any amount of whatever you’re selling and they can have the order shipped conveniently right to their front door.
Cons Of Selling A Product
The drawback of selling products online is that you will be required to keep enough product on hand to keep up with demand. Do you have warehouse space for all your product? Do 
you have a deal set up with a shipping company? These are all things you will need to consider before you start selling your product.
Of course, you could be offering information products like Ebooks. While you won’t have to worry about inventory or shipping information-based products, you will still need to consider the product creation process, the marketing and advertising process, the download process, the payment processor and security so that nobody steals your products without your permission.
Pros Of Selling A Service
Selling a service is much different than selling a product. With a service, you don’t have to ship anything or create anything up front and you can sell as many services as you need to, as long as you have enough personnel on hand to fulfill all of your orders.
Cons Of Selling A Service
The biggest drawback when it comes to selling a service is customer service. With a product, even an information product, you are sending out the same thing to people. If 
someone doesn’t like it, you can usually chalk it up to personal preference and you can refund their money or give them a discount off your next product, or however else you want to handle the situation.
With a service, you might have ten customers with ten unique experiences. You must train your staff to be customer service oriented so that your reputation grows with each service you sell. Otherwise, you could find yourself with a PR nightmare if your customer service is ever lacking with your online service sales.
Conclusion
You see that there is no right or wrong answer when it comes to selling a product or service online. The answer depends on you, your abilities and skills, your connections, your interests and tons of other factors. If you feel that a product would be better suited for you, you had better start thinking about creation, storage, shipping or download services and the payment processor.
If you are thinking about offering a service, you need to think about training your customer service team and getting your personnel in order so that you can fulfill as many orders as possible.
There are both pros and cons to both product and service sales. The one you choose is completely your choice. Make the right one and you could find yourself part of a very lucrative venture like so many online marketers before you.
