Bacardi

To go on with Joy's idea: fear of crashes I can understand, yet there is another method. Don't ask me how to do it, I'm just a painter in a rock and roll band (huh???).

Yet: At Renderosity you have a login and password. Registering means your pw is sent to the valid e-mail adress you gave. When logged in, you have your shopping page which allows you download what you paid for some three times if I'm not mistaken. I'm not against the idea of a CD, but personally, I prefer downloads an burn on a multisession CD myself. Question of customs-officers asking painful questions and my wallet being plundered by the government and all their taxes and fines.

Blinky2004

Good point too MM and Erik.
More food for thought.

Thx! [righton]

wbiss

Sounds like an interesting undertaking, Mark!

I ran across a site a little while back (and have been looking for it) that charges $5 U.S. for the "juicy" tutes. I'll keep looking... I didn't BM it at the time, 'cause there wasn't anything there that I was willing to pay $5 for. [innocent]

[shhh] [confused] I put $3 on my credit cards all the time!

Whatever way you ultimately decide to structure this project, your quality tutorials could be a decent income generator for you.

Blinky2004

Thanks Wendy. And yah, plz have a looksee for that site. I'd be interested in seeing what they offer.

I now want to make an upDate to this topic.

I have decided to go ahead with this huge project. Huge not only in the amount of writing i'll have to do, but also in the amount of html and backend work that has to be done to create an onLine store kind of system. Then integrate it into the existing site.

I'll post more upDates as they happen.

This is the current idea for the payment system:

- each tute can be pay for individually.
- each chapter full of specific tutes can be prepaid for.
- more than one chapter can be prepaid for.
- and the entire project can be prepaid for.

i'm thinking (not completely decided yet) that each tute will be @2.50 Canadian. Now that means you US folks AND Euro folks will get an above par deal. The exchange rate will knock this price right down for you. Canadians will get a face par value.

If prepaying for a group of tutes, cut-rates will apply. Something like 10% off/chapter. Or something on an incremental scale / tute. Like $1 for one, $2.50 for 3, $4 for 5, etc etc... (these are just example numbers). But it'll be something along that line.

Method of payment is currently PayPal and direct deposit. And i believe direct deposit will be quicker so the materials can be accessed quicker. Otherwise, confirmation will be required before the materials can be accessed.

Ok so that's about it for now.
More as we go... :B

MsOz

I'm really on the fence on this one.
On one hand, I can certainly appreciate all the time and effort Mark has put into writing GOOD, easy-to-follow tutorials, and feel he should profit in some way from those efforts,

But, on the other hand, I personally steer clear of sites on the Internet charging me to see their content. The original intent of the World Wide Web was the free (as in unfettered) exchange of information, which, for the most part it has succeeded in doing. Although I might not have the special PSG touch on my interfaces, there are already enough tutorials out there providing the techniques for free that I would'nt pay for a CD.

But, hey, I am NOT a typical PS User, and have been learning this app for almost 5 years now. There are probably more than enough new people to the application wanting to have all the tuts in one collection who would think $10 to be a steal...which brings up the copyright protection of the CD, Mark. There IS a process that will encrypt your Interface CD so it cannot be copied or downloaded. The downside is the app costs about $700-$800, but if you do go "big time" with this (and you've paid your dues to the Graphics community enough to deservedly do so), you may want to consider that route as an additional selling point, since the tuts will then be truly 'exclusive content'...

stickdiesel

http://www.aqa-d.se/autumn2002/index.htm


Anders Qvicker produced a PS fun with filters cd a while back. I cant see why you couldnt do the same

Blinky2004

Hey i totally understand your view madster.
Ever since i started doing this, back in '96, i've never ever thought of charging people for my services. This site is a labour of love, not profit. I watched a lot of my peer sites from way back, go to pay-per-view, and seen them die away. So it's definately not been something i was ever thinking of doing.

BUT... that was then and this is now.

Now, i have 2 good reasons to want to give this a shot:
First and foremost is i have a son to think about now.
And second is, that my work has slowed right down and i'm exporing alternative methods to generate income; of any kind.

It's these 2 factors that have me even considering this venture. Any if it ends up being the demise of my site, then sobeit. I feel the time is right to try this kind of thing. I can feel the planets aligning. 8[

Stick i agree about your view of "why not".
Only thing is, i haven't fully considered whether to even make a CD. I was thinking of providing PDF copies of all the material.

Anyone think this is NOT a good idea?
I mean... if it's just a matter of guaranteeing this material is original, that's very easy to do. I actually already thought that out part way. But it would mean not supplying the material in any "offline" format.

CDs can be cracked and copied very easily nowadays. So it's not even worth considering encryption. All it would take is one person with the resources, to flush the whole investment down the crapper.

Thanks for further input folks. I appreciate this. [righton]
The more you think about something, the clearer it gets.

dubya

I'm all for your idea, Mark. When I first started using Photoshop, just over 2 years ago, I realized that I could find tutorials on the web and was shocked that people were just giving them away free. As I have amassed quite a collection of tuts, I'm still amazed that people such as yourself freely distribute tutorials on difficult projects.

As for selling your tuts, there are several guys on the www already in that business -- Designs by Mark, Colin Smith, Anders Qvickers has already been mentioned, etc. . . My take is "if you have the talent to create a spectacular tut, you might as well benefit from it."

I recently joined savva.com.au and realized that all his tuts are members only (you can join the site and forums for free, but must pay a monthly/semi-annually/annually charge to download.) I was impressed with the screenshots of what tuts he has to offer, and am considering joining up. If so, I'll be making that decision solely on his marketing skills and not really knowing if his tuts are special, or just run of the mill.

However, I've downloaded all of the tuts you have available and used many of them in my work. Knowing the quality of work you do, I wouldn't hesitate to pay a fee to access your creativity. It beats shelling out 40 or 50 bucks for a book half full of tuts that you've already seen on the web.

~Dub

dubya

I also just noticed over at extremephotoshop.com that Matt Kloskowski is soon to launch his own Paypal-payment special tutorial section later this year.

You're certainly not alone in your thinking Mark.

~Dub

gymmie

Absolutely, I'm in, and eagerly looking forward to this!

Lynda.com charges $25 a month; that's steep for this since she has a LOT of tutes to choose from; I assume this would be an ongoing thing, with one or two to start, so you'd have to charge by the tute.

However, a "straight" monthly charge might be an option in the future, once you get a lot up there.

Either way, I'd pay! I'd prefer to pay by SSI, not PayPal, but that's not a big deal, for me. It may be for some people, though...something to keep in mind. PayPal has been having some bad press lately. Maybe offer a couple of options.

Very important, either way: People should have instant access once they've paid. Nothing more frustrating than paying for something that should be accessible online, and having to wait a few days for access.