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Digital Theft Killing Your Dreams and Profits?

by Bayo
12 replies
The amount of digital theft i.e. obtaining and distributing copies of digital products is at a crazy level. Do you create and sell your own digital products? If you do, I can literally guarantee that it's being 'shared' somewhere on the internet.

How Much is This Theft Costing You?

You probably don't have any idea. To have an idea you would need to actually know the full extent of what's going on. The reality could cause you to reconsider even selling digital products.

Recently a fellow Warrior released a solution of sorts (I won't mention the name of the Warrior or the products so it doesn't seem like promotion).

Today I got an email from a well-respected Warrior announcing that they were adjusting their model because, sadly, their products were being shared all over the internet within hours and sometimes minutes of being released.

This is a real problem and closing your eyes won't make it go away.

How Does It Happen?

My digital products have also been abused, and I've no doubt that some of the people involved will read this thread. You just never know, you might be one of those that I've got solid evidence on.

This is carried out by male and female internet marketers. Here's how it can happen:
  1. They ask for review copies and share it boasting that they're sharing pre-release copies
  2. They buy your product, download and ask for a refund but don't share it
  3. They buy your product, download and share to look like a cheap hero in their online communities
  4. They buy your product with the intention to get a refund and share it
  5. They raid your low-protection download page
  6. They exploit your website
And these are just a few of the ways they can get to you. I'm sure there are lots more.

Is There a Long Term Solution?

If the rate at which this problem is developing continues keeps rising, then digital products may become a non-viable option.

I'm not aware of a long-term solution.
  • There's a subscription service that can monitor your products but how reliable is this? I've tried it and wasn't satisfied with the results
  • You can get a VA to monitor your products - Can't reveal how this works because it'll alert the bad guys. This works if done well.
  • Manual delivery doesn't solve the problem...I've tried it.
  • Watermarking? Not really an option since you'll only see your watermark if you see your product
  • Adding hidden symbols? I've used this. It works but can be labor intensive. if you want to use this, you'll need support. Its not scalable.
So, how is this affecting you and your business? Is there a way out? Don't kid yourself that it's not happening to you. All you need to qualify to be a victim is a digital product that you sell. The rest is taken care of for you (in not such a nice way!).

Don't be put off by this truth. It had to be said and I hope you can feel my frustration coming through here guys?

Your thoughts and comments welcome...

Off to collect more evidence against the bad guys 'n' gals!
#digital #digital theft #dreams #internet marketing advice #killing #product theft #profits #theft
  • Profile picture of the author AndyK
    You just have to have a look on BitTorrent and Emule to get an idea of how much digitial stuff are being pirated
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    • Profile picture of the author Intrepreneur
      You can't stop theft unfortunately. Not any form of theft because the thieves always have a way of getting what they want.

      One woman I feel sorry for is the author of "How to teach your dog 100 words".

      The front page of Google was littered with file sharing sites last time I checked. Poor lady.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rob Howard
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    • Profile picture of the author George Wright
      You said it just right.

      Originally Posted by ccmusicman View Post

      Or, here is an idea - DO ignore them and build your business anyway.

      There is enough good people out there to build a business on. I always focus #1 on ease of use for my customers. That's why I don't bother with fancy download protectors, complicated membership scripts, or fancy encryption software. And because of it, I get a LOT less customer service hassles.

      Have I been pirated? Oh yes, I know of 3 solid places you can find all my stuff for free. Do I bother with it? Nope. I'm off making another product for my customers or continue to sell my ones. And I'm doing just fine.

      And selling physical copies doesn't help. They can easily rip those too. I've seen tons of Mass Control, Product Launch Formula, Micro Continuity, and more high end physical products ripped and shared online.

      Solution - focus solely on your customers. Make it an easy, simple, and enjoyable experience for them. To hell worrying about pirates. Not a thing you can do about it.

      Rob
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      "The first chapter sells the book; the last chapter sells the next book." Mickey Spillane
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    • Profile picture of the author kevinfar
      Originally Posted by ccmusicman View Post

      Or, here is an idea - DO ignore them and build your business anyway.

      There is enough good people out there to build a business on. I always focus #1 on ease of use for my customers. That's why I don't bother with fancy download protectors, complicated membership scripts, or fancy encryption software. And because of it, I get a LOT less customer service hassles.

      Have I been pirated? Oh yes, I know of 3 solid places you can find all my stuff for free. Do I bother with it? Nope. I'm off making another product for my customers or continue to sell my ones. And I'm doing just fine.

      And selling physical copies doesn't help. They can easily rip those too. I've seen tons of Mass Control, Product Launch Formula, Micro Continuity, and more high end physical products ripped and shared online.

      Solution - focus solely on your customers. Make it an easy, simple, and enjoyable experience for them. To hell worrying about pirates. Not a thing you can do about it.

      Rob
      Great points there Rob! Keep up the good work and focus on your business.

      It's always better to focus positive energy on creating something which will help more and more people and as a result put more money in your pocket, then to focus time and energy to try and hunt down people who have stolen your work.

      And even if you do, what is there to guarantee that in the next hour, someone doesn't start sharing your stuff online once again? It will be a never ending circle if you try and stop piracy of any product online.
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  • Profile picture of the author SurviveUnemployment
    There are always opportunities to cross-sell if you put out good products and leave people wanting more. A musician can use pirated music to sell guaranteed better quality downloads, ring tones, concert tix, merchandise. An expert in anything can use info products to upsell services.

    Change with the times or get left in the dust.
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    • Profile picture of the author George Wright
      Great points there SurviveUnemployment. Just two for instances, selling coaching from all your great pirated ebooks. Another would be forum membership. These are things you can keep tighter reigns on. The Pirates probably aren't our Target Market anyway.

      George Wright

      Originally Posted by SurviveUnemployment View Post

      There are always opportunities to cross-sell if you put out good products and leave people wanting more. A musician can use pirated music to sell guaranteed better quality downloads, ring tones, concert tix, merchandise. An expert in anything can use info products to upsell services.

      Change with the times or get left in the dust.
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  • Profile picture of the author gareth
    Joe Vitale released his latest book as a free download and had the physical copy as an up sell.

    I am releasing a number of bodybuilding books in 2010 - I will do a similar thing to Joe, I may sell the digital copy and have some give aways and resale rights - but there will be an up sell to hard copy.
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  • Profile picture of the author Steven Fullman
    "They wouldn't have bought anyway"...

    Whiskey Foxtrot Tango?

    How do you know? If folks are searching for your stuff and find it for free...well, that's a little moral dilemma for them, isn't it?

    They were SEARCHING for your stuff, after all.

    Is it reasonable to suggest they might've BOUGHT it, if they hadn't been given the "opportunity" to get it free?

    And the fact that the thieves have a better handle on how to get YOUR product to the top of the SERPS than you do...well, that speaks wonders.

    "Oh, it's the cost of doing business online..."

    Rubbish.

    Would you let someone into your house (or store)...and let them take your personal stuff?

    Would you call that the cost of living offline?

    Or would you punch first and ask questions later?

    I know what I'd do.

    "Hey, Be Clever And Upsell Inside Your Report!!"

    D'uh. I thought you said these people don't buy...

    I'm not saying you shouldn't upsell...but to say you're doing it as a two-finger salute to the pirates?

    Don't make me laugh, and don't devalue your honest customers either.

    Upsells should add VALUE for the folks who are seeking it...NOT a last ditch attempt to convert thieves.

    Which brings me to...


    "Blah blah...DRM..."

    DRM has very little to do with piracy. It has almost everything to do with rights management, aka control.

    It's the "proprietary" model which Sony are somehow still desperate to use, and Apple are desperately trying to move away from...they know it's stupid.

    Give people the freedom to listen to the music (watch video, play games, use apps) THEY PAID FOR wherever they want.

    That's an entirely different thing from saying, "Let anyone steal our music".

    And if you want to see a company who knows how to protect their brand...look at Apple.

    They won't whinge, whine, or IGNORE. They'll sue you out of existence instead.

    (For the record, I'm a Windows user...)

    Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author Jay Sullivan
    At the end of the day, there isn't a lot we can do about digital theft is there? We can create exe's instead of pdf's (yeah right..) that will most likely cost us sales...nobody wants to download an exe file these days, we can password protect our pdf's and change the passwords every so often...pain in the ass that would be...

    If your product is going to be popular, it's going to be stolen somewhere along the lines and distributed for free, but all in all, you're still going to make sales, it's just that the shelf life of your product may be a tad bit shorter than expected.

    Hey, the real honest people will still buy off you in the long run...so it's business as usual!
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    • Profile picture of the author Steven Fullman
      Originally Posted by Jay Sullivan View Post

      At the end of the day, there isn't a lot we can do about digital theft is there?
      Heck, yeah!

      You just need to think outside the box


      Originally Posted by Jay Sullivan View Post

      If your product is going to be popular, it's going to be stolen somewhere along the lines and distributed for free, but all in all, you're still going to make sales, it's just that the shelf life of your product may be a tad bit shorter than expected.

      Hey, the real honest people will still buy off you in the long run...so it's business as usual!
      True...99% of people are honest. But the other 1% do an disproportionate amount of damage.

      Steve
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