I just wanted to give a quick update on the status of Project 09-001. Getting the project off the ground has been a bit “interesting”.
First off, I could not brand the ebook. I’m using a system running the x64 version of Vista Home Premium, which may make a difference since I suspect the software was written for 32 bit systems and may not have taken Vista’s added layers of “security” into consideration (I do not consider it to be “security” because Availability is part of computer security, and if an app won’t work due to a security control, then security failed and something needs to be adjusted).
I put in a ticket to John’s help desk and got a response almost right away; however, I did not get the usual email telling me that my ticket had been answered. I’m not sure what happened, but I do know that it’s the first time something like this has happened with John Delavera’s system. Glitches do happen, though, and I’m sure that John and his team will sort it out (and if not, I’ll work with John to figure out what’s going wrong). But I waited a week before I decided to check on the status of the ticket; had I done that right away, I could have had this project much farther along by now. It’s my fault for not checking.
The fix for the branding problem — which consisted of a presumably different version of the ebook and brander — did work. I was able to brand the ebook. I then looked at the rebranded book, figured out what I really wanted the branded parts to say, then rebranded it again…
Then I noticed that the title of the ebook on the first page said, “The Online Copyright Handbook”.
Huh? This is a book on getting free samples; it’s not a book on copywriting.
No problem, I’ll just change it myself — except I don’t have a PDF editor and don’t want to buy one (cheap, cheap, said the chicken!).
So I downloaded and installed Inkscape, opened the first page of the PDF, deleted the title, and added a new one that mirrored the actual title of the ebook. I then had to run my version of the Portable PDF Toolkit (available from PortableApps.com), split the existing PDF into separate pages, rename the title page, then put it all back together again.
The ebook now looks nice. There’s just one little problem: The original ebook’s size was 422k after branding; after performing my edits, the ebook is now 2,877k. While this is still marginally small enough for a dialup user, I don’t like it. I was forced to use a dialup connection for four years (I just got DSL a few months ago) and am extremely sensitive to file download size.
So I’m going to open another ticket with John’s help desk and ask them to change the title on the first page.
Or should I just go ahead and purchase the private label rights for $47? That way I can change whatever I want to change and make it my own.
Decisions, decisions.
I did purchase a domain name for the product, which cost me $8.99. I’ll host the domain on a server that I already own, so there will be no new hosting fees to worry about. If I purchase the private label rights, I’ll have $55.99 invested in this project, which means that my break-even point (assuming a price point of $7, which I think most freebie seekers might pay — but that’s just a guess that will have to be tested) will be 8 copies of the book. I should be able to sell 8 copies…!
The package also came with some articles. I’m going to make video articles out of them (something new!) and post them to some video sites, like YouTube. There’s a tool that makes this easy (including submission to seven video sites) and I might give that a try to see how it goes. If I don’t like it, I’ll just have to do it myself. Again, if the tool can pay for itself, then it’ll be worth it — and I may have found a great business model., i.e. get PLR packages with articles, convert them to videos, post… Or affiliate products with pre-written articles… Or…
So while I wait for my new domain name to get fully registered and for the DNS to be fully propagated, I’ll think a bit about the PLR package. Right now, I’m leaning towards getting it, mainly because it will make it easy to do what I want to do. I can also add some stuff to it and change it around some to make it unique. It would also allow me to make a “useful, but incomplete” version of the ebook to give away (thank Jimmy D. Brown for coining that phrase), which might help.
On a somewhat related note, I need to finish creating a new autoresponder account for this blog. I’m switching my list over to a private label version of aWeber (another Turbo Membership benefit!), which should improve delivery and what-not. Once I do that, I’ll make an announcement here to let you know that I’m accepting sign-ups. And you may want to sign up for the list because the only easy way to learn where I’m selling this ebook is to sign up for my list (the link will be in a password protected post, and the password will be sent out to my list). Another reason to do so is to get a copy of the “useful, but incomplete” version of the ebook, along with the ability to get the full version at a very good price — but only for a limited time. I will need to test the payment system before I fully launch it, and my list members are the ones who get to test the system. The good news is that my test price for this one will probably be $1.
So be sure to sign up once I announce that the new autoresponder is ready. If you sign up to the current list, you’ll receive an email when the new autoresponder is ready.
Time for a walk so I can decide whether to get the PLR package…
…and the decision is “yes”. I’ll also get an audio version of the book that I might be able to use for an upsell. The only issue with that is that it might set back my timetable for getting this thing launched.
But we press forward (and create fewer help desk tickets!)…
And I like the concept that John has used here. Give away free Master Resale Rights to customers with whom you already have a relationship, then sell the private label rights for a reasonable amount and add some extras (in this case, the audio files). Another idea to tuck away for another day. And I also can’t help but wonder if the errors in the rebrandable ebook were intentional, i.e. they were introduced to perhaps drive people towards the PLR package, where the problems could be easily fixed? If it was intentional, it worked for me… 
Comments on this entry are closed.