Some affiliates love creating content, building mega-sites of thousands of information rich pages, and making money off collateral commissions and ads.

But what if you’d really rather be a good old-fashioned shopkeeper, with a storefront that combines plenty of great product choices and a pleasant visitor experience?

It’s a dilemma faced by a huge percentage of online business persons who discover that they are, in fact, in the wrong TYPE of business. Not everyone is cut out to be a content provider, mini-site marketer, portal manager, membership manager, or PPC affiliate.

So how do you switch business models in mid-stream without losing money, time, reputation, and sanity?

#1- Look for ways to re-purpose or re-package components of your existing business.
For example, if you’ve been struggling to provide content but would really rather be doing eBay, can you recycle your content into a viral report that’ll drive traffic to your eBay store? Can you turn it into a hard copy information product, and sell it on eBay?

#2- Sell your existing business or site, and reinvest the money in a more congenial business model.
If you’re really not happy maintaining your storefront, mini -sites, membership site, or content portal, why not sell it to someone who’d love a turnkey business? How much you’ll get will depend on your traffic, search engine rankings, market presence, the size and quality of your customer or opt -in list, and your domain name.

#3- Joint venture with someone who will develop your old business model for a percentage of commissions or sales.
One of the easiest JVs to set up… yet almost no one is doing it. Example: You’ve got a big opt-in list that isn’t making any money because you can’t find time to write a weekly newsletter.

Find a good freelance writer, preferably one who knows your niche inside-out. Then ask if they’ll take over writing and managing your newsletter in exchange for a generous percentage of raw commissions on affiliate products. Since you’re not making a penny off your list right now, it’s a win-win for both of you.

Similar JVs could be set up for all types of business models and sites. Just make sure you have clear-cut agreements, in writing, with your partners, that you maintain ownership and control of passwords and domain names, and that you have some checks and balances set up so your partner can’t hijack commissions or promote without your knowledge.