Recently, James Brausch who is a well known internet business marketer and a mentor of mine released a physical product to his large collection of internet marketing products. This was a change for him considering it was the first physical product he has released at his site. It was also a rather odd change. If you know James, he’s all about teaching ways to reach freedom using freedom business systems. These are systems which will require little or no effort to keep running, therefore, allowing the owner to have freedom.So, why in the world did he decide to create a physical product?A physical product has the following disadvantages that James discussed
at his blog:

1. Development time (takes longer to develop)
2. Manufacturer hassles.
3. Shipping hassles. (Physically dealing with the postal service or dealing with domestic shipping)
4. Returns. (Customer must send the product back, to who? Who pays for returning? Restocking issues)
5. Chargebacks.

Well, there are now ways to avoid the majority of these issues.
You can read the wrest of James advice here: Why A CD Product?

I decided to do a little bit of research by searching a number of other blogs to see what some other top marketers have said about physical products.

Here are a few excerpts from a few blog posts I’ve found.

Willie Crawford:

” Confirm that they are willing
to pay money to solve that problem (they should already
be spending money on solving that problem). Then create
your own, high-quality product to also solve that problem.
Creating that product can be as simple as interviewing
one or several experts on the topic and recording those
interviews. You now have an audio product. Have those
interviews transcribed and you now have an ebook or a
physical product. ”

So in reality, any digital product can very quickly become a physical product.
It only takes a few minutes to send your digital files to a manufacturer who can create as many CD’s as you need on the fly and they’ll take care of all the shipping and most of the other issues with physical products.

I have a feeling most people quickly picture themselves taking hours out of their day to:

• Make a cover picture
• Burn a CD
• Package the Product
• Drive to post office

However, all of that can very easily become a completely automated business system.

Here’s what Alex Mondossian had to say about physical products:

” It’s no surprise that ebooks are the “staple” information
products on the Net. It doesn’t matter if you utilize Adobe
PDF or http://www.EbookGenerator.com from my partner,
Armand Morin. What’s important is that you offer your
readers (and listeners) some type of ebook. And if you’re
going to charge for that ebook, I highly recommend you
offer a “PHYSICAL CD” version for just $10 or $15 more.
Even at $5 more, it’s worth it. Your refund requests will
instantly be lower and you’ll have fewer and fewer “tire
kickers” who order your information products. ”

” I recommend getting “PHYSICAL” with your software products
as well. If you offer downloadable software online, offer
a CD “back-up” version for $5 more. Remember, you can
always put a package insert into your mail piece and
capture more sales OFFLINE. I do this all the time and the
fulfillment house I recommend is run by Bret Ridgway in
Terre Haute, IN. It’s called
http://www.SpeakerFulfillmentServices.com and he’s always
done right by me. ”

Wow, that’s some great advice right there! So, really, it sounds like physical products aren’t so bad. There are some benefits that strictly digital products won’t have. Often, you won’t capture any mailing address for digital products, mainly because it isn’t a requirement of the seller. There’s nothing being sent to the customer physically.

Another benefit is that a physical CD version of a product you can charge $10 or $15 dollars more. I guess a physical product may contain more perceived value to a customer assuming Alex has tested this. Also, some people just like having a physical CD for their bookshelf so they won’t forget about it.

And, one more benefit is the refund requests. More often then not, a physical product will prevent “tire-kickers” or more often than that, you’ll have scam artists. The one’s who scam you are always the customers that will buy a digital product and get a refund immediately after purchasing just to end up receiving your product free.

Yet another internet marketer has posted an entry about offering both types of products. a href=http://www.michelfortin.com/>Michel Fortin, who’s known for his amazing copywriting abilities, talks about hybrid products:

” selling a package that includes both digital and physical components — i.e., immediate delivery online of the digital component, and a physical product sent by mail or courier. ”

Ok, that’s one great technique that anyone who has a physical product should include. Some have said a downside about the physical product is the wait time to receive it. However, giving some part of the product to the customer immediately using a digital file will help prevent more refunds, or, I should say fraudulent refunds.

So, my few minutes of research has provided me with an answer for my entry title: No, physical products are not a hassle.

I’ll talk more about physical products and how you can easily fit them into a business system in another post.

This is the perfect time for you to start thinking about what you would like to accomplish in 2007. It might be something that you wanted to do last year, but just never had the time. Right now, take a minute…or a few, and think about it.

There were more things that I can remember that I wanted to accomplish in 2006, but several things in life came up and took up a bunch of time I wanted to set aside to accomplish a few projects.

Here’s a tip, you can set a goal, but I wouldn’t recommend setting a specific date. Why? Because if you do not finish by the set date, you could end up feeling a sense of failure. This can be very damaging to anyone. Instead, get out a notepad, write down five to ten things you want to accomplish within this year. Then just tack it on the wall next to where you work. Check that list every day to make sure you’re staying on track. And, last but not least, don’t lose your motivation. Take small steps at a time!

Here are a few items on my list:

• Create at least five products
• Create at least five content websites
• Sell at least one website
• Develop a workout routine for the gym
• Leave television off (occasional movie is ok)

What will you accomplish in 2007? Feel free to post it as a comment.

Let me first apologize for the lack of updates. I’ve been very busy working on various projects and haven’t had time to update the blog. Ok, that’s a big lie. I’m sure I’ve had time up update the blog, but I’ve been pretty lazy.

Anyway, Happy New Year. I’m hoping you’ve taken the time to make a few resolutions. I also hope you’re starting new projects right now which will make you more money than you’ve asked for by the end of 2007.

There are going to be more opportunities this year than in 2006, and I’m starting to dig into them. I will post about these opportunities in future posts, and will give even more information to those who are on my announcement list. Incidentally, if you want to join my list, use the name and email form field at the top right there. Information on the list will somewhat differ from public posted blog entries.

It’s a bit late, so I’ve got to get off for the night. Check back regularly to see what’s going on here. More to come, really soon.
- Aaron