Have I been doing it wrong?

The method I have been using was to use nifscope to edit the nonstatic then save it in meshes. Then duplicate some static, rename it and edit the mesh to point to my new nif.

In a tutorial it said instead of making a new nif to just copy the path on the model box of the non static then paste it into the model box of your duplicated static.

That would save having to have your edited nifs in your mod bsa. Which method is better?