How to stop people from stealing your ebook...

I like it, Kevin!

It only takes a few moments to write a notice like that, but gets others to help you track down pirates.

Simple. Clever. Win!

All the best,
Michael

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LB

14 years ago

What reward do you pay?

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mr2monster

14 years ago

Have you ever run into a problem with several people reporting the same source and all expecting rewards?

What is the reward you give? Is it actual payment?

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Dennis Gaskill

14 years ago

Originally Posted by mr2monster

Have you ever run into a problem with several people reporting the same source and all expecting rewards?

What is the reward you give? Is it actual payment?

I've used a similar statement a couple times. I worded it so that the reward is based in product rather than cash, and add a note that I must be able to confirm the source. I was concerned about people just making stuff up for a freebie.

Great tip, Kevin!

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E-supreme 14 years ago

Yeah this is a great tip! 99% of the time the person probably would'nt remove it.
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Kevin-VirtualProfitCenter

14 years ago

Originally Posted by mr2monster

Have you ever run into a problem with several people reporting the same source and all expecting rewards?

What is the reward you give? Is it actual payment?

The reward is $20 via PayPal. I've never had multiple reports, but if I did I would simply let the person know we had already been notified.

I also tell them they can keep the digital book they got with a clear conscience.

Originally Posted by Dennis Gaskill

I've used a similar statement a couple times. I worded it so that the reward is based in product rather than cash, and add a note that I must be able to confirm the source. I was concerned about people just making stuff up for a freebie.

Great tip, Kevin!

Well I only pay once we have confirmed someone is stealing/pirating--after selling over 18,000 ebooks I've never run into a problem with someone trying to "fake" it.

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chandan_dutta

14 years ago

This is a great idea. Thank you for sharing. But could you please explain what you have done when you caught the thief?

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1 reply

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Mohammad Afaq 14 years ago

Originally Posted by chandan_dutta

This is a great idea. Thank you for sharing. But could you please explain what you have done when you caught the thief?

I have the same question.

I know who is giving my product away, now how do i stop him???
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- Kevin-VirtualProfitCenter 14 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by chandan_dutta
  
  This is a great idea. Thank you for sharing. But could you please explain what you have done when you caught the thief?
  
  Originally Posted by mohammad111
  
  I have the same question.
  
  I know who is giving my product away, now how do i stop him???
  
  I have had very few times where someone was pirating my ebooks over the last 10 years, but when I did have a report I would:
  
  Verify the report was true
  
  Contact the offender and politely ask them to take down the download
  
  If they refused, I would contact the hosting company with proof of the infraction, asking the web host to take down the link (normally they disable the entire site)
  
  In one instance I didn't get any response from the hosting company so I sent a snail mail certified letter from my attorney to both the domain owner listed on the WHOIS as well as the hosting company. The site was down in a day.
  
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chandan_dutta

14 years ago

Thank you for your fast reply. I really appreciate that.

Thanks

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Nick Brighton

14 years ago

Yeah, this is something I started doing a long time ago - forgot about it recently though!

Also, why not take it one step further...because after all, theft will happen, with or without that text, so why not turn thieves into santa's little helpers? How? Well...

1. Use Nitro PDF Software — Create & Edit PDF Files

(added security for your pdfs)

2. Tie major parts of your training and resources into your website via links from the report

(this will ensure that your reader knows who the real owner is, and whether they have a pirate copy or not, and also encourages them to come to your site, where you can capture their details and even if they don't pay for the stolen copy, you've still got your lead back)

3. Add a teaser

(same effect as #2, where you simply leave something out of the pdf which the reader will have to visit your site to use/download or read)

There's nothing wrong with doing this, because you are still delivering the content. Furthermore, it gives you the chance to deliver multimedia and other tools/features that aren't usually done in PDFs.

Suddenly, you've turned a potential loss or damage/thorn in your side/ into a lead generating, branding and free traffic tool.

Sure, it's costing you some sales, but it always will. At least this way, you're still coming out the winner and growing your business and brand.

[ 2 ] Thanks
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Kevin-VirtualProfitCenter

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Nick Brighton

<snip>

2. Tie major parts of your training and resources into your website via links from the report

<snip>

3. Add a teaser

One of my best selling ebooks had over 20 different links back to my site for various tools/resources. When someone purchased they were given a cookie on their machine. When someone went to visit the resource the page checked for the cookie. If it wasn't there they were redirected.

Worked pretty well--over 6,000 people joined my list as a result.

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LB

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Kevin-VirtualProfitCenter

One of my best selling ebooks had over 20 different links back to my site for various tools/resources. When someone purchased they were given a cookie on their machine. When someone went to visit the resource the page checked for the cookie. If it wasn't there they were redirected.

Worked pretty well--over 6,000 people joined my list as a result.

You're sitting on a WSO there.

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Kevin-VirtualProfitCenter

14 years ago

Originally Posted by LB

You're sitting on a WSO there.

LOL.

If I took all the little ideas I've had to come up with over the years to succeed in online business I'd have so many WSO's there wouldn't be room for anyone else!

It worked pretty much the same as the squeeze page skipper I have here:

Squeeze Page Skipper - A Script to Allow Subscribers to Skip Your Squeeze Page

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Nick Brighton

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Kevin-VirtualProfitCenter

One of my best selling ebooks had over 20 different links back to my site for various tools/resources. When someone purchased they were given a cookie on their machine. When someone went to visit the resource the page checked for the cookie. If it wasn't there they were redirected.

Worked pretty well--over 6,000 people joined my list as a result.

Kevin, I think YOU are the cookie. The smart little cookie of course :-)

Here's another thing you could do with cookies...

If they don't have the cookie, you could say "It appears you are not registered on our system as an authorized buyer of this product. Please register today, or contact support to verify your receipt"

I guess the only thing you'd need to watch out for, is when people delete cookies manually. Could do more harm than good if they turn out being a genuine customer.

Or you could just solve the problem altogether and turn your eBook into a membership site

Thanks
1 reply

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Kevin-VirtualProfitCenter

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Nick Brighton

Kevin, I think YOU are the cookie. The smart little cookie of course :-)

Here's another thing you could do with cookies...

If they don't have the cookie, you could say "It appears you are not registered on our system as an authorized buyer of this product. Please register today, or contact support to verify your receipt"

I guess the only thing you'd need to watch out for, is when people delete cookies manually. Could do more harm than good if they turn out being a genuine customer.

Or you could just solve the problem altogether and turn your eBook into a membership site

That's pretty much what I (we) did. We didn't do a membership site, however, but I am about to launch one (hint, hint...)

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Rezbi 14 years ago

Originally Posted by Kevin-VirtualProfitCenter

That's pretty much what I (we) did. We didn't do a membership site, however, but I am about to launch one (hint, hint...)

I'd suggest everyone look out for this one.

Kevin ALWAYS over-delivers.
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Zeus66

14 years ago

How about a more direct approach?

If you give this material away I'll send Guido over to remove your ability to pass on your genes to future thieving generations. Don't test me on this. Enjoy the ebook!

I don't know. I guess I prefer brutal honesty at all times.

John

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1 reply

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ContentArticleWriter

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Zeus66

How about a more direct approach?

I don't know. I guess I prefer brutal honesty at all times.

John

LOL... What you quoted is quite funny John, sounds like something my husband would say!!!

I think that we can try to do many things, or even everything there is to help diminish the number of thieves committing Plagiarism. BUT it will always happen. Unfortunately it will never be completely eradicated!!! :rolleyes:

Thanks
1 reply

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Dennis Gaskill

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Kevin-VirtualProfitCenter

Well I only pay once we have confirmed someone is stealing/pirating--after selling over 18,000 ebooks I've never run into a problem with someone trying to "fake" it.

That's cool for you, Kevin. I haven't been as fortunate. I have had people try to con me into giving them my products for free many times. They'll pretend their computer crashed and they didn't have a backup, or say they accidentally deleted it, or come up with some story.

For example, one guy tried buying a product with an invalid credit card. It was declined by his bank. The next day he emails me saying he bought the product the day before but his computer crashed during the download, and asked me to resend the download info. Yeah, right.

I don't get that as much of this as I used to, but for a while I was getting 2-3 people a month trying to trick me like that or in other ways.

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se7en

14 years ago

Don`t think about people stealing your ebook

Think about people buying your ebook and how you can get more to buy it.

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Rob Howard

14 years ago

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Kevin-VirtualProfitCenter

14 years ago

ccmusician,

EXACTLY! When I started selling ebooks one of the first responses was to make them password protected. When that didn't work the response was to use DRM that verified them every time they were accessed.

Customers didn't like either one of those options and they increased customer service.

This is the "balance" I found in my own business--PDF's that are easy to access with this "warning."

Thanks for the input.

Kevin [at] VirtualProfitCenter.com

Originally Posted by ccmusicman

This tends to be my philosophy when it comes to my material.

People will pirate. It's almost impossible to stop, so I instead focus on customers and getting more.

Normally people post outrageous things about stopping it (like software blocking access, etc.) but I know that when it comes to gaming (which is a huge pirated niche), I get annoyed as a legit buyer with all the copy protection and crap that tends to cause the game to not work or screw up my computer. Thus, my philosophy has carried over. I would rather not annoy my customers.

However, this method is simple and effective, doesn't disrupt normal buyers and still gets the job done.

I may start using it.

Rob

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JonMills

14 years ago

I could see people, distributing through torrent and then emailing you under various email disgusies pretending to be different people and sham boomm.. instant pay day over and over again. Each time refereencing a different place online they got it from.

Its a good deterent but anyone with a brain would just remove it, most if they go to the trouble of stealing, will take the time to cover their tracks by removing stuff like that.

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Kevin-VirtualProfitCenter

14 years ago

Originally Posted by JonMills

I could see people, distributing through torrent and then emailing you under various email disgusies pretending to be different people and sham boomm.. instant pay day over and over again. Each time refereencing a different place online they got it from.

Its a good deterent but anyone with a brain would just remove it, most if they go to the trouble of stealing, will take the time to cover their tracks by removing stuff like that.

Hey Jon,

I appreciate your comment, but after selling tens of thousands of ebooks I have had very little piracy. Maybe I'm just lucky. There isn't a good way to tell.

How much "fear" does it take to keep someone from giving something away free? Not much. They don't get enough out of it to make it worth the risk.

Kevin [at] VirtualProfitCenter.com

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lacraiger

14 years ago

it might also discorage some people from buying.

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Mrs S 14 years ago

Originally Posted by lacraiger

it might also discorage some people from buying.

I'm not sure how since the statement is inside the product?

I second the "create a membership site instead" strategy. Then you don't need to worry about your ebook being distributed by other people.
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System Wide Solutions

14 years ago

thanks man. great share.

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