The Price of timely information?

CallieO

We are producing a guide aimed at small businesses, helping them make the most of the internet. It is aimed at people who have little of the internet, and we are introducing them to the concepts of Web 2.0 applications, and how to use them for the benefit of their business. We think this is a particularly timely guide, given the economic climate at the moment and the number who will be encouraged to try to start up on their own.


Any thoughts on the pricing of this guide? How much would you be prepared to pay?


Many thanks!

Callie

Lplated

Speaking for myself, i wouldn't pay much as most/all of the info is available free online if you look around for it.

But, as you're aiming for people who don't use the internet much already, i would guess there might be a market for it. If you have a stroll around Borders or Waterstones or some book shop and look at similar kind of guides, you'll get an idea what your competition is.
I would have thought less than €20, unless you can offer something that others can't or aren't.

P.S. - i wonder if you're a bit confused as to who you're market actually is? In the first line you mention being aimed at 'small business', and then later you talk of the economic climate and people who might think of setting up a business - i think these are vastly different groups of people in terms of exposure or use of the internet (just imo, obviously), and a guide aimed at one might be of no use to the later.

Gurgle

CallieO wrote: »

we are introducing them to the concepts of Web 2.0 applications, and how to use them for the benefit of their business. We think this is a particularly timely guide

Are you serious?
Have you been in a coma for 15 years?

Sure, you could have scraped some cash off a computer illiterate landscape artist in the mid '90s but the days of making easy money off anything related to the internet have long gone.

CallieO

Lplated wrote: »

Speaking for myself, i wouldn't pay much as most/all of the info is available free online if you look around for it.

But, as you're aiming for people who don't use the internet much already, i would guess there might be a market for it. If you have a stroll around Borders or Waterstones or some book shop and look at similar kind of guides, you'll get an idea what your competition is.
I would have thought less than €20, unless you can offer something that others can't or aren't.

P.S. - i wonder if you're a bit confused as to who you're market actually is? In the first line you mention being aimed at 'small business', and then later you talk of the economic climate and people who might think of setting up a business - i think these are vastly different groups of people in terms of exposure or use of the internet (just imo, obviously), and a guide aimed at one might be of no use to the later.

We were thinking <6.99 tbh. Obviously the info is all out there but the whole point is that it is a condensed compilation for people who have better uses of their time than spending all day on search. Assuming they know what they are searching for.

The usp to me is that the guide is supported by a wiki online so that a user can view video tutorials and embedded applications if they want to.

With regard to the target market - yes the two are very different, but both in essence could take from the guide if they are 'new' to the internet. The idea is that is a brief overview how to analyse why you want a website, how to structure the pages, analytics and how to get the pages seen and read.

elgransenor

There are many resources available such as tutorials for free which through video and written word will tell you how to set up your own website.

You would do well therefore to be able to charge anything in my opininon.

In fact if you Google 'create your own website' or go on to YouTube you will see that yourself.

Axwell

Someone just needs to simple install wordpress and use the widgets available to have a web 2.0 website for free and without any real knowledge and using a free template. As others have said all this is available online on free tutorials and how to guides, i really dont see the market being there for this or there being much take up for it. Where do you plan to sell his guide from? Also you talk about a wiki online,online tutorials and embedded applications, if the people you are aiming at arent very internet savi how do you expect them to use these tools or appreciate what they are?

patftrears

CallieO wrote: »

We were thinking <6.99 tbh. Obviously the info is all out there but the whole point is that it is a condensed compilation for people who have better uses of their time than spending all day on search. Assuming they know what they are searching for.

The usp to me is that the guide is supported by a wiki online so that a user can view video tutorials and embedded applications if they want to.

With regard to the target market - yes the two are very different, but both in essence could take from the guide if they are 'new' to the internet. The idea is that is a brief overview how to analyse why you want a website, how to structure the pages, analytics and how to get the pages seen and read.

Your target market is people who don't use the internet.
Then you say your usp is an online guide.

For Sale - Guide to show you how to use the guide you just bought.

The people who have little internet knowledge at this stage and who run a business, will pay some one to do it for them or attend a training course, not buy a guide.

Lplated

CallieO wrote: »

We were thinking <6.99 tbh. Obviously the info is all out there but the whole point is that it is a condensed compilation for people who have better uses of their time than spending all day on search. Assuming they know what they are searching for.

The usp to me is that the guide is supported by a wiki online so that a user can view video tutorials and embedded applications if they want to.

With regard to the target market - yes the two are very different, but both in essence could take from the guide if they are 'new' to the internet. The idea is that is a brief overview how to analyse why you want a website, how to structure the pages, analytics and how to get the pages seen and read.

€6.99 would be good value if its a book/guide in print - but thats not to say people would buy it.

The problem i think is that i'm not sure the businesses that exist today that do not make use of the internet would buy a guide - if they're that far behind the loop they're more likely to ignore it completely or buy in expertiese.

The wiki idea is good, but not in this context - if you need a book to get get you going on the internet, then i think a wiki guide will be way beyond them.

My point about them being different markets is this - what an established business needs to know about using the internet as distinct from what someone setting up a business needs to know would be different - if your info is at that basic a level that it could be used by both, then i doubt too many will buy it.

I hate being a naysayer - the most positive thing i can say is that if you can produce and sell a profitable book/guide for 6.99 or so, then i think there may be a market of people who will buy it anyway as kind of a cheap 'idiots guide to the internet for business' or something like that.

GL anyway.

CallieO

I think there is nothing to be lost by trying, self publishing is so easy these days.

The point of the guide is that although all the information is certainly out there, it requires searching and filtering.

I certainly acknowledge the point that people pay for training - that is the mainstay of the business - providing training courses for the LIS.

I suspect the market may well be the likes that start home business as a sideline - like the craft shops on Etsy - who may well want a web presence to sell their full range with easily editable format.

Regarding the comment about Google sites - we have been using then for people since they were called Google wikis lol

Thanks all.

As I said no investment just a small sideline so worth a try!

Callie

jmcc

CallieO wrote: »

We were thinking <6.99 tbh. Obviously the info is all out there but the whole point is that it is a condensed compilation for people who have better uses of their time than spending all day on search. Assuming they know what they are searching for.

Publishing is a lot tougher than you think. You've got to take all sorts of things into consideration such as the shop's mark-up, the distributor's mark-up, the cost of printing and shipping and, of course, advertising.

The usp to me is that the guide is supported by a wiki online so that a user can view video tutorials and embedded applications if they want to.

Can they just use the wiki without having to buy the book. Does your target readership even know what a wiki is?

Go into a large bookshop and look at the number of how-to and beginners guides there are on the computer books shelves. Make a note of them. Go in over the next few months and see which ones are still on the shelves each time you go back. Some of them will have sold but many will never sell and will be returned to the distributor who probably had them in the shop on 'sale or return' terms.

As a publisher there are five questions that have to be asked:
1. Does the author know enough to write the book?
2. Is there a paying readership who will buy the book?
3. Is there competition in the niche?
4. What is the average retail price for a book of this type?
5. Will it make money?

Do some research and try answering those questions.

Regards...jmcc

CallieO

jmcc wrote: »

Publishing is a lot tougher than you think. You've got to take all sorts of things into consideration such as the shop's mark-up, the distributor's mark-up, the cost of printing and shipping and, of course, advertising.

Thanks jmcc but we are cheating and self publishing. http://www.lulu.com/

Can they just use the wiki without having to buy the book. Does your target readership even know what a wiki is?

I am hoping that they don't know - thats the whole point of introducing with a hard copy guide in their hands can walk them through. We explain what a wiki is in detail and show with screenshots and links.

Go into a large bookshop and look at the number of how-to and beginners guides there are on the computer books shelves. Make a note of them. Go in over the next few months and see which ones are still on the shelves each time you go back. Some of them will have sold but many will never sell and will be returned to the distributor who probably had them in the shop on 'sale or return' terms.
As a publisher there are five questions that have to be asked:
1. Does the author know enough to write the book?
2. Is there a paying readership who will buy the book?
3. Is there competition in the niche?
4. What is the average retail price for a book of this type?
5. Will it make money?

Yes that is good advice.

Thanks

Callie

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

Gurgle wrote: »

Are you serious?
Have you been in a coma for 15 years?

Sure, you could have scraped some cash off a computer illiterate landscape artist in the mid '90s but the days of making easy money off anything related to the internet have long gone.

This man is wrong... do not take this comment into account.

Plenty of money to be made from it, IF your good at selling yourself. E-business, as gurgle would know, is extremely indept, you could really show a company how it would benefit them to operate some on the internet and so on.

People think that because they know a lot about computers and the internet, it means everyone does. There are a lot of ignorant people out there that still do not know how to operate a computer, don't know the true worth of the internet. Definately give this a shot, goodluck with it.

Gambler

I don't know what your main line of business is but I think you'd find it would be much more profitable to develop a free booklet\guide like this and sell it as a promotional tool to a web company as part of their marketing strategy.

You rebrand it to their company and they can send it for free to potential customers. In reality anyone who needs a book about web 2.0 is never going to be able to actually develop something themselves so they are going to end up having to then hire someone anyway..

Just my 0.02