anyone using DLGuard for digital delivery of information products?

[FrozenCanuck]

I'm considering the use of DLGuard. It seems highly respected in the industry and I see the founder of the company is active on forums supporting people. That is a good sign.

What I like is that I can start by offering my product on my own website, with no third party involved for hosting the files. I can start with PayPal for payment processing, and then, ONCE I TEST VARIOUS PRICES I can move onto ClickBank and have a bunch of affiliates helping with sales.

Who has used DLGuard and what do you think? What else are you doing to protect your download links from being found and having your product stolen?

[dvdwlsh]

Though I can't give you feedback on DLGuard (though it looks promising), I can tell you the trouble I ran into with these tools.

I have an audio-based product that is nearly 400mb in total. At first, I was using Payloadz for everything. The trouble with Payloadz is, though their digital download management is good, it's not a comprehensive, robust solution -- or at least does not feel like it. Affiliate management, order management, etc., it just doesn't feel polished.

I moved over to 1ShoppingCart.com. The overall solution, including download protection, is exceptional. The only issue is that they limit your file size to 7mb. This, for my product, poses a problem. I would have to split up my package into over 50 files, which is unacceptable.

So, my temporary resolution -- because I demand to use the exceptional 1SC tool -- is to deliver a link to my Payloadz package after the order is placed via 1SC. It's not ideal and it needs to change, but it's where I stand today.

So, just consider all factors carefully before making a decision -- otherwise you end up with overlap or unnecessary costs for multiple services.

Look forward to your review/feedback on DLGuard.

David

[FrozenCanuck]

David - thanks for your description of what you did. I initially thought I'd want to use a third party solution for delivery of my audio product, but now I'm not so sure that's the way to go anymore.

I read about DLGuard and I like that I can host the files myself. I do not see any issues with file size restriction. My total course will be 3 hours of audio. I just finished the recording and am in final editing now. Average MP3 compression results in about 1 meg per minute, so I figure I'll have about 180 megs of files to "sell".

Initially I do not think my sales volumes will be very high. Maybe a few sales per week at most. I'm with BlueHost right now on a $7 per month hosting plan. Does anyone know if this kind of plan will handle the bandwidth? Will my customers get throttled back download speeds, or crappy results due to this? I know GoDaddy has a horrible reputation on their cheapie plans, but so far Bluehost seems very good.

Just thought I'd ask before I spend my $127 ...

I will also post another thread on graphics (CD cover images for website). If anyone has advice on that topic, please reply.

[acdesigns]

I used DLGuard for a Clickbank product (ebook) I have.

But I've stopped using it now. I wan't getting heaps of sales then, but it seemed like everyone who bought the ebook emailed me to say they couldn't access the file or the number of download limits/time had expired. Maybe you could optimise the settings better, but for me, I had enough of the support emails.

The only protection I use now is a password on the pdf which I know doesn't protect your link. I also occasionally change the link url. If you have a procedure to change it every month or two, then you can protect it a bit. Then just have a message on the previous link to contact you for the new link. Not sure how this would work for your audios though.

At the end of the day, you can put in different types of security but I realize that some people are going to rip you off and would never pay for your product anyway. So you may not be losing any sales there as those people wouldn't have paid for it anyway.

Andrew

[FrozenCanuck]

Ace ... I appreciate your feedback on DL Guard. I understand that you are not saying it's the products fault, and that it may have been your implementation somehow. Got it ... I might have a learning curve! I just don't want to have to go change my URL every few weeks. But I realize that is a good option if I need to use it.

Can I ask you to do something for the group? Can you do a post outlining what steps you took in going from your idea (ebook) to implementation on ClickBank, and what you did to attract affiliates? Maybe tell us what the outcome of all this was, and some learning lessons? I like ClickBank, but I think you make much more as a publisher rather than affiliate !!

[Dubserve]

Ace ... I appreciate your feedback on DL Guard. I understand that you are not saying it's the products fault, and that it may have been your implementation somehow. Got it ... I might have a learning curve! I just don't want to have to go change my URL every few weeks. But I realize that is a good option if I need to use it.

Can I ask you to do something for the group? Can you do a post outlining what steps you took in going from your idea (ebook) to implementation on ClickBank, and what you did to attract affiliates? Maybe tell us what the outcome of all this was, and some learning lessons? I like ClickBank, but I think you make much more as a publisher rather than affiliate !!

I would appreciate that a lot as well :-)
Thank You!

[Stallion]

Make sure you buy it through your clickbank affiliate link. I believe DLguard gives 50% commission, so basically you can get it for half price.

I do plan to get this later, not yet. I don't recall, but can't you only use it on a limited amount of domain names?

I launched a product on clickbank. I'm sort of testing the sales letter out and seeing how things go. I need to find some joint ventures to get some momentum going.

I like ClickBank, but I think you make much more as a publisher rather than affiliate !!
This is true, even though I'm happy with my income from being just an affiliate.

Initially I do not think my sales volumes will be very high. Maybe a few sales per week at most. I'm with BlueHost right now on a $7 per month hosting plan. Does anyone know if this kind of plan will handle the bandwidth? Will my customers get throttled back download speeds, or crappy results due to this? I know GoDaddy has a horrible reputation on their cheapie plans, but so far Bluehost seems very good.
I don't use bluehost because they don't let you curse. I like to curse on my personal blogs. The thing I don't like about bluehost is that it promises you unlimited everything, but in reality, you'll never get that. They'll suspend your account the second you start using any resources.

A few sales per week won't cause any problems.

[acdesigns]

Can I ask you to do something for the group? Can you do a post outlining what steps you took in going from your idea (ebook) to implementation on ClickBank, and what you did to attract affiliates? Maybe tell us what the outcome of all this was, and some learning lessons? I like ClickBank, but I think you make much more as a publisher rather than affiliate !!

I basically bought an information product on creating ebooks and followed the steps there. For some details, see another post on this forum http://fourhourworkweek.com/vBulletin/showthread.php?t=1835

I actually didn't do anything actively to attract affiliates. I started using Adwords to get sales. But for the conversions I was getting, it wasn't profitable and stopped after a couple of months. But once you've sold a product on Clickbank, it becomes available in the marketplace so affiliates can pick it up there. After a few months a number of affiliates picked it up and nearly all my sales are from them now. I guess I could have sped this up by marketing to affiliates. Some affiliates ask for higher commissions so you could consider that to make your offer more attractive. A successful internet marketer suggested I contact all the websites the drive a lot of traffic to my site and then use site specific advertising to target them. I haven't done that yet.

[FrozenCanuck]

Ace ... would you mind outlining the key things you learned about putting a product on clickbank? Any snags, anything we need to know?

Also, what were the key learning points in writing the ebook? My next product is probably an ebook on a very specific topic.

What commission are you offering and how have affiliates responded?