Hey Folks,
I've recently started a Camtasia video project and have a question for you.

I've heard some marketers say that it's better to create products in web format and sell them online, but then there are others who rave about taking the product off line and producing CD or DVD discs.

I'm at a crossroads here and still trying to decide.

From what I understand, the off-line version usually has a lower refund rate and also has a higher perceived value.

The on-line version is easier for the purchaser to get because of immediate download, thus they get instant gratification.

What do you guys and gals think?

Any IMers out there who would like to give me some help on this? I will love you for life.

Thanks in advance!

Hi Stephen,

I'm a huge fan of physical products. About 90% of what I have created and sell online is physical products.

Here's some of my reasons:

1. Higher perceived value = higher product prices.

A great example of that is John Reese's Traffic Secrets. As good as the content of the course was, I doubt John could have gotten $1K for it if it was available as downloadable content or as content in a membership site. That would have been a much harder sell.

As a physical course, it sold extremely well for several years. People look at the manuals, stacks of CDs and DVDS and gladly pay the asking price.

I don't think it's a coincidence that all of the big name home study courses are all physical products.

2. Lower refund rates.

Your refund vultures won't want to be bothered with waiting for the product to arrive... reading/studying/copying it so they can return it for a refund. That would require them to do WORK, instead of just hitting reply on their email and saying that your ebook didn't have any thing new in it for them.

3. No drop-off in conversion rates.

Three different products of mine started out as digital products. I saw refund vultures hit me for 10-15% refund rate so I turned them into physical products. 2 of the products haven't had a refund request in more than 2 years... the third gets about 5% refund rate.

My conversion rates for all three products didn't drop at all going from digital to physical product.

I use print-on-demand fulfillment companies so I don't have to worry about keeping any inventory somewhere.

Hope that helps,

Mike

Hey Stephen,

Since you mentioned using Camtasia, can I assume your product is something folks will watch to help them do something on their PC? From a consumers point of view, I like the immediacy of being able to download things myself, especially if it is something I'll be using on my pc anyhow.

On the other hand - Mike makes some good arguments as someone who's been there and done that, so I'd definitely take his advice and go with a physical product.

Cheers,

Steve

Mike,
Thanks for taking the time to give me your input on this. Very much appreciated.

And Steve, yes, it is going to be a tutorial that walks you step-by-step through a process A to Z.

Since the newest Camtasia also lets you perform quizzes, I'm also thinking about adding them as well.

I'm planning on making this a professional product and not just something my purchaser will let sit on their shelf to collect dust or if a download, to sit in a folder on their hard drive. There will also be a mindmap and PDF reference manual they can use to learn from and perform specific tasks.

I'm thinking along the lines of the Video Professor as a structure model or Ken Calhoun's Writing Adwords course (great course, by the way Ken).

For online, I really love the way Marlon Sanders lays out the Design Dashboard and the Info-Product Dashboard products as great step-by-step models, too.

My latest thinking is that I can produce both, online and offline formats and sell them separately in a split test and see which has a better ROI.

Maybe even have the CD/DVD as an upsell option or is this a bad idea?

Thanks for your input guys.

I welcome anyone else here to chime in with their opinions or real life experience with this.

Mike,

I'm wondering which fulfillment houses you use and are you happy with them?

Thanks!

Marcia Yudkin

Hi Marcia,

I use primarily Lulu.com. They do top-quality work but they aren't the cheapest, especially for their shipping charges.

But since I'm selling physical products, I also charge my customers a shipping and handling fee which typically covers that expense for me.

Another option which I haven't checked out but has been recommended to me by several sources is kunaki.com (Cd/DVD print on demand).

HTH,

Mike

Mike,
I first learned about Kunaki when I purchased a product from James Brausch last year.

I don't know whether it was an error on the part of James or Kunaki, but only half of his course ended up on the CD.

What really got me frustrated (and a little PO'd) is that James doesn't accept emails, but he did mention to contact Kunaki.com if there were any problems.

Well, I did have a problem and I did submit a ticket, but got no response whatsoever from either James or Kunaki.

To say the least I was very turned off and will probably not do business with them again. Especially for my own product creation.

The problem was never resolved, but fortunately the product was dirt cheap, so I just wrote it off as a loss and another lesson learned in life.

Stephen, here's what I'd do.

First, I'd make the product and have it available as digital download. Of course this is simple and requires no work. There's no point in worrying about replicating, fullfillment houses, etc unless you know your moving a certain amount of units. All you do by doing this is create stress and risk, don't even worry about it or have it on your mind.

I would also create the physical product. And I'd do this by simply making 100 DVD's in house. You could even just make 25, whatever you feel comfortable with. This means I'd buy my own DVD cases, burn them on my own computer, etc. If/when those 100 or 25 you made in house sell, then go to replication if you feel the wheels spinnin' on this deal.

I can give you contact information to my DVD replicator where I get DVD's, shrinkwrapped, ready to go for .56 cents. I've been paying .95 per DVD forever and this company would have saved me thousands of dollars. So to be honest, it's so easy to go physical these days there's simply no excuse not to. They require 1,000 minimum orders but for under $600.00 you'll have $50,000 worth of inventory for next to nothing if you charged 50$ per DVD for example. PM if interested.

I would also ship them from my house at the beginning if I were you and just have the return address to a P.O. Box. It ain't that hard and doesn't take long. And if it does take to long that means you're making a lot of money and someone else can do it anyway so it's a no brainer.

I see so many people (not saying you'd do this) that plan all this stuff and get too involved with the BS that doesn't matter. I'd do it just like I said. It's simple and there's virtually no risk.

I love the DVD information business and plan on expanding into other niches within 5 years once I get our current business where I want them. It's just too easy.

And if you think about it, there's no reason to not be selling anything physical in today's age. You can have a website up and built, be taking payments, and selling your own DVD in ANY niche for under like $400.00. I get excited just talking about it!

Awesome info Ricky. Muchas Gracias!

I'm PMing you right now.

Is your target market accustomed to purchasing downloadable content? Are you finding potential customers already online or are you bringing offline folks to the net to make your pitch?