How to Create a DVD without Spending a Dime

Just about everybody knows about the high margins created by information products. Information products routinely command 10, 25, or even 100 times the cost of the product whether it takes the form of a book, ebook, CD, DVD, or online video course. It should come as no surprise the number of information publishers is growing rapidly. Huge margins like that are attractive.

DVDs are an excellent choice for the delivery of an information product. And despite what many people seem to think, DVDs are not difficult to create, don’t require investing in expensive software, and don’t come with the requisite hassle of carrying inventory, manufacturing, and shipping. Those are just convenient excuses for marketers who won’t put forth a little effort to discover the truth.

The fact is that DVDs are very simple to make and don’t require investing in expensive software. In fact, I create DVDs without spending a nickel. Yes it does require a few software programs but the ones I use are freely available on the Internet and they work incredibly well. In fact, the software I use to convert avi files to DVD files comes with an incredible support forum that answered my questions within 24 hours. That’s better service than a lot of products I’ve actually paid for.

Shipping & manufacturing are easily outsourced saving you much hassle. Kunaki offers a great service that will create and ship your DVDs as they receive orders. At $1.75 per DVD (including cover) plus a nominal $3 handling fee on each order, Kunaki’s rates a very competitive. Kunaki also ships internationally to almost every country as well as to any US address. Expedited shipping is available for customers who want to get their product overnight. Simply use Kunaki’s proprietary software to upload your product to their facility and you’re ready to go. It’s very quick and easy.

DVDs are attractive to information marketers for several reasons. First of all, there’s the high perceived value of DVDs when compared to books or online videos. What’s the price of a book? Anyone can go to a bookstore anywhere in the US and purchase a book for $20 or less. You’re likely to be disappointed if you expect to sell your book for more than $20. By contrast, DVDs are routinely sold for $100 or more…and the cost of the manufacturing the DVD is $1.75 including the cover. That leaves a lot of room for huge profit margins. And there’s no middleman to share the profits with since you’re self-publishing your DVD.

It gets better because Kunaki gives you the choice to add a UPC code to your DVD. If this doesn’t excite you, consider that the UPC code allows you to easily sell your DVD on Amazon. That provides instant credibility. You can show people the DVD you’re selling on Amazon while most information publishers are struggling to sell a few DVDs.

DVDs aren’t restricted to videos either. There are data DVDs on which you can put software programs or many other types of data or information. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. There are too many reasons for creating DVD information products to be covered in a single article.

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“After 9 years in Microsoft’s IT department I assumed the information in this course would be nothing new…but I have learned much more than I expected. I recommend this course to those interested in starting an online business.” - Richard McLaughlin
The Webmaster Basics

Have you ever considered using DVDs as a lead-generator? If you haven’t, there are several reasons you might want to at least test using DVDs as a lead generator. One reason is that you’ll stand out from the crowd…especially online. While others are giving away free reports, you’ll be giving away a physical DVD. Another great reason is that the DVD will introduce potential customers to your products and if the DVD a great product (which it should be), then they’ll be more likely to buy from you in the future.

I offer a DVD for only the shipping and handling fee. To each his or her own, but I consider it a terrible idea to cover the shipping & handling yourself. In my opinion, it’s a much better idea to charge a nominal shipping & handling fee. If you don’t, you might go broke paying to ship a DVD to a bunch of freeloaders who will never buy anything. Yes you want to get your quality DVD information product into as many hands as possible but you want to build a list of buyers not a list of freeloaders.

Charging a nominal fee for shipping & handling is a good way to separate the buyers from the freeloaders. It also gets people in the habit of paying for the information you provide. And if it’s good, useful information they are likely to buy more and at higher prices. Smart marketers use this strategy with other media like television. The “Video Professor” sells information products that teach you how to use computer programs. He sends you a free one (you’ll pay $4.95 shipping & handling) and it’s so good that most people order more. He’s making a fortune giving away DVDs as a lead generator.

Don’t forget that the main point of this exercise is that you’re building a list of people who have raised their hands and indicated enough interest in the topic of your DVD that they’ve parted with their hard-earned money to get it. This makes them great prospects. If all you do is build this list and make offers to them, that could be enough to build a sold six or even seven figure business. Test offers and send an offer to the list every month or so. You’ll probably love the results.

Another potentially profitable strategy is to offer an immediate upsell. Perhaps you have a three volume DVD set on home schooling or another topic. You could give away volume one and then immediately offer the entire three volume set as a discounted price…but only if it’s purchased now. Perhaps the normal price is $97 and the discounted price is $67. You’ll have to test offers and prices to see what works best but there are enormous profits to be made when you find the “sweet” spot.

For a practical example of this, check out CyberCa$hology.