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Third, don't underestimate
difficulties both novice and experienced computer users may have in downloading files and accessing that information. Nancy Hendrickson, co-author of a genealogy e-book, had to stop offering her e-book as a PDF file because customers had a multitude of difficulties:
* The buyer couldn't figure out where saved file was on their computer.
* The buyer couldn't figure out how to open PDF file (even if they already had Adobe Reader installed on their system).
* Those without Adobe Reader couldn't figure how to download and install it.
Even after including in "thank you for your purchase" message a detailed "here's how to download and run file" note, Hendrickson continued to get complaints from almost 25% of her customers. She and her coauthor then converted e-book to a self-executing .exe file and complaints fell off to almost nothing. However, her e-book is now not available at all to customers with Mac computers.
If you're tempted to dismiss her experience because your customers are technically sophisticated, more knowledgeable or adept computer users, consider my experience: I've been online since 1994, have purchased and downloaded several e-books or special reports and have never been able to figure out why hyperlinks that are supposed to be able to transport me from a page in a PDF file to corresponding Web page don't do anything when I click on them. I've also downloaded a few PDF files that were practically unreadable because I didn't have font in which they were created.
I don't say this to dismiss potential of downloaded content. On contrary, I love getting an e-mail notifying me that someone has bought one of my digital products without any intervention on my part. Just realize: This is not a trouble-free medium, and be prepared for technical problems and complaints.
In this light, perhaps best option is to offer both print and digital versions, so that people can select medium that fits their needs and capabilities. When one of my colleagues offered print, PDF and both print and PDF versions, about 15 percent chose "both"!
The above is excerpted from "Profiting from Booklets and Special Reports" by Marcia Yudkin, which is available from http://www.yudkin.com/bookletsreports.htm. Marcia Yudkin is the author of 11 books, including Internet Marketing for Less than $500/Year and Poor Richard's Web Site Marketing Makeover.
