I’ve been selling information products now for a couple of years and one thing that I always wanted to explore was the “shipped version” option.  There are a few benefits of offering this, too:

• Physical, tangible items = higher potential value (versus downloads)
• Some people prefer a hard version
• Some people may not have a fast internet connection for streaming audio or video
• Some people may prefer learning off-line altogether
• Some may want the option of watching on a TV (like a DVD video)
• Generally, the profit-margin of a physical add-on can be high

That being said, what is the value and time it takes to add a physical version of your product?

In this case, I am going to focus in on DVD’s and CD-ROMs specifically.  These can carry information such as video, audios, documents, applications or other types of software.  These can also be made to play in computers, DVD players and CD players (depending on how the data is formatted).

My biggest concern about implementing this has been cost and time.

COST and VOLUME

There are two ways to get a DVD/CDROM burned:  Replication or Duplication.

With replication, your disk image is made into a master and your disks are printed or pressed (at a physical level).  For large volume (usually over 1000 disks), this can be very affordable:  Usually much less than $1 per disk.  Still, I need to order over a 1000 disks!  (And I don’t do that type of volume…yet!)

With DVD/CDROM duplication, it is similar to what you would do on your own computer.  A blank disk is inserted into a duplication machine and the image is then burned onto the disk.  The process is much slower, but can be done at lower quantities.  Because of this, you generally pay considerably more per disk.

TIME and SPACE

The other issue to worry about is time and space.  How much time do you want to spend ordering, packaging and delivering CD-ROMs or DVDs?  Most information product sellers are in the business to AVOID physical product fulfillment.  Plus, you usually need to house and store the products.

BUT THERE IS A SOLUTION

I discovered Kunaki.com from a friend earlier in the year.  Since then, I have yet to find a competitor that can perform to the satisfaction level that they provide.  Also, the cost is ridiculously low.   Their service is simple:

• You send them a disk image (using their proprietary software)
• You create a package (using your own images, or their stock images) to create a case cover and disk print

From this point, they are your drop shipper!  You pay $1.75 per packaged disk (includes the case, with printing, internal insert, printed disk, wrapped and individually sealed).  Order as many as you like to yourself (and they do offer shipping discounts to a single location) or have them ship the disk anywhere for a flat $4 fee.  That is it.  They even have an API that you can tap into to automate the whole process.

Plus, you can even have Kunaki merchant your product for free, if you wish.  They provide you with a simple order page that you can directly send your buyers to.

Now the process and options are a bit restrictive here, but this is what makes their cost so low.  For me, being an information marketer, it is by far the best solution I have found to test out new physical products without the time and the investment normally required.

And in part 2, I’ll tell you more about ways of using this Kunaki system other offers such as lead generation.

cheers…matt

P.S. no, I am not an affiliate for Kunaki nor do I get anything from them…I just think this service is kick-ass!

*UPDATE:  KUNAKI HAS DROPPED THE PRICE TO $1 EACH!!!