Lee McIntyre went from overworked high school teacher to full time marketer in just 56 days. He is the founder of Aim Higher Marketing where he shows others how to use honest marketing to build profitable Internet businesses in record time.
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Physical or Digital?
By Lee McIntyre | September 20, 2008
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Here’s a quick scenerio for you…
Let’s say you found a really cool information product and you believed that this would solve one or more of your marketing problems.
The sales page convinced you to buy for $47 and then you notice that it’s a physical product that’s shipped on Interactive CD-Rom.
One the one hand you’ll now have a pretty cool product that you can touch and feel, but on the other side of the coin it might take upto a week for the item to arrive.
What do you do?
Does the fact you’ll have a physical product shipped to your door make you more likely to buy, or does the delay in being able to consume the information put you off?
I’d leave to hear your thoughts on this. Please leave your comments and answers below and I’ll reply to every single person.
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Topics: Random |
September 20th, 2008 at 11:16 am
With ebooks - I’ll definitely go for digital products.
If something is so good that I want a physical version, I’ll take it to the local print shop and get it printed for a few euros.
I’d like to assume that for most products I’ll keep them as ebooks and only have hardcopies of the things I’ll use day in day out.
Having the ability to search files is another reason to start with the digital copy.
You mentioned an interactive cd-rom. I can’t see any benefit to having a physical copy of something like that, it’s a digital product, probably unprintable and should be sent as a digital download.
September 20th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Hi Lee,
Have had this very same quandry myself in the past when I was in the business of selling large quantities of physical multimedia products on Ebay and Amazon.
Despite shipping on the same day of ordering, the product usually took at least two days to arrive or more and a percentage of my customers would email me to check that it had been sent.
What I did was to send an email notification as soon as the order came in saying the item was on its way and then redirect them to a webpage where they could get free ebooks on the subject they were interested in.
This gave them confidence that the item was really on its way to them and gave them the patience to look forward to its arrival by keeping them busy with more great content.
That’s your philosophy of over delivering on quality in action!
What do you think of that?
Sam Winport
September 20th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Hi Lee,
For me, personally, I tend to shy away from physical products - purely due to delivery time. Mike Filaime’s free 7 Figure Package took in the region of a month to get to me :o(
On the other hand… I used an e-cheque to pay for a Tony Shepherd product recently, which caused delivery to be delayed around 2 weeks - totally gutted!
(I fired off an e-mail to Tony to see if he’d consider sending the product early. He very kindly obliged, giving me instant access.)
So… For me, delivery time is very important. I often make impulse purchases online, fueled by the expectancy of instant delivery.
I’m not convinced that a physical product has a greater perceived value, for me personally.
Hope you’re well! ;o)
September 20th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
You bring up a very interesting point Lee, and there is going to be some mixed comments I would think! I mean, if it was one of your products for example, then I wouldn’t mind waiting. (There are others who I wouldn’t mind waiting for aswell!)
With a physical product, you should know that it can’t be delivered straight away. At least I’d hope people knew that!
I don’t mind waiting if it’s something I really want, it’d be interesting to see what others thought too though!
Thanks
Mark
September 20th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
If the product makes it through my all of my personal filters (and therefore I purchase), then I want it no matter how long it takes to get delivered.
Then again, I’d love you to put an age range on this question. My guess would be that the under 30 crowd would want immediate delivery, and the 40+ crowd would be less concerned with instant gratification and more concerned with longterm value. It’s just the way we were raised. Can you guess which age category I fit into?
September 20th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
I do hate waiting, but if it’s a good product, I’m willing to wait for it to arrive.
I think the ideal thing would be to have a small digital bonus that you could send right away for them to look at while they are waiting for the package. Maybe a transcript, study guide, etc.
September 20th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Hi Lee,
Glad you asked, frankly. The honest truth, for my part, is that unless the product takes up hours of video, I would rather get it digitally.
If the reason you or I put videos onto a DVD is just for perceived value, then I think we need to reassess. DVDs wouldn’t be my choice in most cases, even outside the IM niche. We have iPods and other ways to store and play digital media, so why cause a customer to wait?
The whole point of the Internet is that it is an information clearing house. A place for people to satisfy an itch - now! We have kind of gotten used to instant gratification and when we have to wait well, I for one may just push the red X.
I would rather have received your 24 Hour Product Creation digitally, for example. Would have saved time and the cost of shipping.
On the other hand, something far more involved like Terry Dean’s Internet Lifestyle Retirement system would have been prohibitive to use digital downloads. DVDs were appropriate.
Anyway, just my 2 cents…
Thanks for asking,
Cheryl
September 20th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
[…] products as opposed to digital. I have a decided opinion on that that I left a comment there. See http://www.lee-mcintyre.com/blog/physical-or-digital#comment-11585 for my take on the […]
September 20th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Hey Lee,
personally, i’m actually coming round to liking a physical product more now, i bought automatic traffic blast (which by the way is superb) and i like the way i can just pull it off the shelf ready to use without having to search through the countless files i have on my hard drive, but maybe thats me just being unorganised!
It would be great to have the option of both but 90% of the time i will be prepared to wait that bit longer and go for the physical product!
Cheers
Jonny
September 20th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Lee,
I was around when only physical products were available - before the internet - via direct mail.
When high bandwidth connections on the Internet made it possible to send/receive large files ie digital products the biggest appeal was “immediate delivery”.
Since most purchases on the internet are “impulse” purchases the appeal of physical delivered products should be less - a lot less.
I definately prefer immediate delivered products versus physical delivered products and have reduced my Ebay purchases accordingly.
Jim The Writer
September 20th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
Lee
Intruiging post…
Having first hand experience and a Physical Product creation membership site - I have the answer.
Basically - the prospect/customer should initially know EXACTLY what they are receiving, should they hit the salespage (or you’ll be leaving lots of money on the table)
BUT secondly you could offer a digital download option WITH DISCOUNT on the physical products order page - AS WELL AS SENDING the physical product via Kunyaki, as you are not losing anything as the seller…
Purely because the digital product costs ZERO to fulfil, the customer would receive the instant gratification of digital delivery - alongside the low shipping and fulfilment cost.
The reason I would do this is:
*Added value to the customer
*A further chance of lead capture
*Customer is happy as they have the info they want instantly PLUS a DVD
*Further additional promotions on the DVD (which they are more likely to buy/optin to
Just my two cents!
Regards
Ray
September 21st, 2008 at 1:38 am
Hi Lee
To be honest with you, 80% of the time, if I have purchased an ebook or something like this, I do like to download it so it can be read right away. There is a company that I have purchased from in the past that gives a download with a physical product of the download, so that gives the best of both worlds in my opinion.
As for video’s I would much rather wait for them to arrive in the post as I feel there is more value to the product.
regards, Paul D.
September 21st, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Hi Lee,
Yes the shipping time will make me more likely not to buy because I want to apply the information now.
But on the other, a physical product will make me value it more. As I buy less physical product, It will not be loss among my many IM products.
Hope this comment helps!
John Tan
September 21st, 2008 at 6:19 pm
I would like to have both options, to download, or to have the item shipped. My personal opinion is there would need to be something extra on the DVD for me to wait for it. That’s just me though, I’m kind of impatient that way.
September 21st, 2008 at 6:19 pm
For me, if the product is just in the form of text or 1 or 2 videos, I’d rather have it as a downloadable as I can consume them right away.
If it’s a kit where there are lots of videos, audios, and text, I’d wait for them to arrive in the mail
September 21st, 2008 at 11:32 pm
Hey Lee!
Great question! In general, I usually MUCH prefer physical products to digital products.
I don’t mind waiting a week or two to receive a physical product in the mail, but what does factor into my buying decision is how reasonable the shipping and handling charges are.
For example, since I live in Canada sometimes there will be a reasonable shipping charge within the US, but a MUCH more expensive charge for shipping to Canada. In cases like that, I usually won’t purchase the physical product, unless it is an item that I REALLY want.
Jit
September 22nd, 2008 at 2:42 am
Hi Lee,
Interesting Question.. Personally, I like digital products way more than physical ones not just because of instant access (which is very important) but also because they are so much easier to access and maintain.
As someone who carries their laptop everywhere… all I have to do is carry a small laptop to access 100’s of books, videos and such from anywhere and everywhere..That sounds a lot better than grabbing a book to somewhere only to realize that wasn’t the one you wanted to read.
But that’s just me…I rarely buy physical info products unless it’s a textbook or I can’t find it in the library.
Rigdha
P.S. The new design is very cool btw.
September 22nd, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Wowzers!
I make a quick post using the good old Wordpress timestamp, take the weekend off, and then I return to 17 replies.
Blimey!
I’m just reading through them now before I reply and THANK YOU to everyone who has taken the time to comment. It’s hugely appreciated!
Lee McIntyre
September 23rd, 2008 at 11:46 pm
Cool, I look forward to all the ‘answers’ to questions that the other people brought up. It’s definately an interesting question, and that’s probably the main reason you received 17 replies! HEHE
…If only I could receive 17 reples to a short post like that! Off to the content creation board I think!
Thanks
Mark
October 16th, 2008 at 1:01 am
Hi, I really like digital products. Since I have been in the it field for approx 20 years. Physical products have their place, it may be the perfect solution. Give someone a choice between the electronic download and the physical cd or dvd to be posted to their door.
I am really interested in doing a joint venture with someone who is not interested in ripping me off. Since my products are electronic, they make it easy.
I wrote an ebook called The Revolutionary Internet Marketing System - which automatically markets your products to people based on the links they click on. This converts them to buyers quickly.
Electornic products are great for easy downloads, physical products work great for the older generation.
Thanks
Brian
November 6th, 2008 at 8:10 pm
Digital products work well for their obvious conveniences and instant attainability.
One advantage physical products offer (a truly vital advantage in my opinion) is, they allow you to take your customer “off-line” and market to them independent from the Internet.
The advantage? You get a physical address and contact information, and you can market directly to them via mail, or send them a surprise gift, and that adds an element of intimacy that you can’t get with strictly digital products.
Lastly, adding a companion physical product to a digital product (like a cool laminated chart to calculate something you discuss in your digital product, etc.) can help you build a real presence to a customer, and build relationships.
I personally prefer combining digital with physical, if it makes sense to do that.
Cheers.
John