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Best Way To Secure A Digital Product

by Tommyg123
10 replies
Hi all,

I am really at a bit of a loss. I have put together a great online course and video tutorial series for a big market I have extensive experience in. Of course there is no way of knowing for certain if something will be a success but all I can say is I have people asking for this product already through word of mouth and I haven't even finished writing it, plus I know all my competitors products and mine is superior in content, if not the actual "look and feel of it" yet.

However I am very concerned about the fact it is a digital product and can be stolen and sent around the internet on forums etc. I dont feel comfortable just sending a pdf to a stranger who can then just send it to all his friends or put it on a forum. Not to mention sticking the videos on Youtube or something.

My idea was to build a site with a members area where a customer logs in and can watch the videos and read the text. But i have no web design skills and have never launched my own internet marketing campaign.

So, I have met with a team of web designers and gave them the brief and just got the quote back. They wanted about $25,000 alone just for building the site. Not to mention a retainer each month for internet marketing that ran into the thousands!!

I might as well just open up a restaurant or something, i thought the beauty of the internet was you can get the ball rolling on a smallish budget and grow the business organically. I'm not prepared to pay that sort of money. I feel like my business is over before it started

I look at some Shopify stores and they look fantastic and I could build something very good looking on that for a few hundred dollars and some time and effort on my part. But it is the back-end bit securing the best way to deliver the content that I am confused about.

Does anyone have any suggestions please?

Many thanks
#digital #product #secure
  • Profile picture of the author stoltingmediagroup
    Originally Posted by Tommyg123 View Post

    So, I have met with a team of web designers and gave them the brief and just got the quote back. They wanted about $25,000 alone just for building the site. Not to mention a retainer each month for internet marketing that ran into the thousands!!
    I don't know you but I personally forbid you to even entertain the thought of this $25,000+ quote. A membership script $150 - $500 Max. An Amazon S3 account for storage and video streaming. Maybe a bit of customization. I Strongly suggest you look on the forum here for any programming / coding / graphics, maintenance help. (warriors for hire, etc).
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    Arnold Stolting - Stolting Media Group
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnRyserson
    Banned
    There isn't a way to 100% secure a digitally downloadable product.

    If people want it bad enough they will always be able to crack through any security measures you have in place.

    The members area is a good idea and it will cut down on some of the piracy, but almost all digital products get shared in one form or another.

    It's just a part of doing business online.

    The bright side is that the effect of the piracy on the amount of money you make will be negligible.

    People who pirate were never going to become paying customers in the first place, so you won't really be losing money.

    Plus it seems like your product is in a market that isn't internet marketing or make money online related, so the piracy there will be far less pronounced than it is in the IM world.

    Also you don't need $25k to get a membership site put up. You can find some people here in the Warriors For Hire section that will be able to put something like that together for you for a few hundred.

    Or you could do it yourself with something like Wordpress running OptimizePress or WishList Member, which are both really easy to work with.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sarevok
    It can't be done haha...

    Microsoft, the FBI, the Pentagon, Apple, Hollywood... All have tried to secure their digital content with ZERO luck. (Naturally, these are some of the best technological minds and they have the biggest budget on the planet. And they still fail dismally even after their ceaseless research and development).

    My advice?

    Monetize your products, so even if they fall in unscrupulous hands (which, they will) - you can at least profit from that.



    PS: Let me tell you a funny story...

    I'm someone who monitors my traffic like crazy haha.

    I see my content being shared on "pirate" sites all the time via my cpanel tracking.

    Do you know what? I actually like it when they do. I remember the last WSO launch I did, there were a bunch of "blackhats" complimenting my work. (Haha).

    One person even said something along the lines "This guy's actually cool! I'm definitely going to join his list"...

    Stuff like that is funny to me.

    Kind of off topic... But my advice?

    Learn to roll with the punches.

    Stay cool, and good luck.
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    • Profile picture of the author Steven Wagenheim
      You're fighting a losing war. Here is what you do.

      Inside your products you place links and/or other ways to make money even if the products themselves are stolen. The key is to make the offers so good that the person can't possibly pass them up.

      In fact, I made a lot of my money in the early years by practically giving away products that had internal links. Made quite a few sales that way.

      Aside from that, believe it or not, the few people who will steal your stuff don't have the reach to distribute it to enough people so as to make your business non profitable. You will still reach more than your fair share of honest people who wouldn't even know to look in these torrent sites for stuff and will gladly buy from you. Just work on building traffic. The sales you will lose to the scum will minuscule compared to the ones you make from ordinary honest folk.

      Another thing you can do is offer a service on the back end of your product that no one else can offer. Make sure you include your email so the person who got your product for free from one of these sites can contact you if they're really interested in what you have to offer. If they want it badly enough, they'll pay for it.

      In fact, that's what I'm doing now with my royalty free site. Everything on it is being pirated. I mean EVERYTHING. I haven't made one sale yet, though I've had quite a few tracks downloaded. But if somebody wants a custom score, they're going to have to pay for it. There is no way around that.

      In short, don't worry about the thieves. You can't stop them and if you just concentrate on building your business, the sales will come. Trust me on that.
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  • Profile picture of the author Entrecon
    Brand it, Brand it, and Brand it.

    Make it so that even if someone tries to steal it and post it somewhere else, it is obvious that it is yours and people are able to find the source.
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    Visit My website http://kipferguson.com

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  • Profile picture of the author Tommyg123
    Thanks everyone for your responses. I kinda felt pretty beaten up at that quote. I loved Arnold's message "I don't know you but I personally forbid you to even entertain the thought of this $25,000+ quote". Good to know its not me thats being unreasonable. I am prepared to put money into this dont get me wrong, but I believe a business should grow organically. Invest a little, it proves itself then you invest a little more and so on.

    What do you think about me building a shopify site and do all my own branding etc, make the site look nice. Then hire a programmer to work out the members area bit. Does Shopify.com make itself readily available to outside programmers to adapt it how they see fit? Or does it just use its own code that nobody other than a shopify expert knows?

    Thanks everyone again
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  • Profile picture of the author tomcam
    John, Steven, and Entrecon all have sound advice. Love what Arnold said and stand firmly with him. I have PM'd you, and urge you to contact me. Nothing to sell, either products or services. I can tell you how to direct your programmers. Can't stand hearing about ripoff artists doing this to you.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tommyg123
    Tomcam,thank you very much for your message and sentiment. For some reason I couldn't access the PM you sent. I don't know if I need an upgraded membership or something? I'll try and figure out how to get hold of you
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  • Profile picture of the author Entrecon
    You can just use Wordpress and one of the membership plugins. Depending on your needs there are a few different options.

    I am working to set-up a membership site and strongly looking at DAP.
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    Visit My website http://kipferguson.com

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    • Profile picture of the author Lance K
      Take a look at Nanacast.com. The creator (Josh Anderson) is a Warrior Forum member.

      Learn more about Nanacast
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      "You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want."
      ~ Zig Ziglar
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