Re: On demand media fulfillment

Don't be so quick to diss, Dave; the COW is among the most well-groomed and hospitible sites anywhere. Not to mention having a lot of real expertise to share.

These guys were not busting your chops, they are just being frank and direct in their language and professional opinions. If you look up their credentials, you'd probably be glad to give them another chance at helping.


But not everybody on the COW has seen and done everything there is to do and know. Usually they bat a thousand, sometimes all we can do with a question is bunt. Your situation is right on that inflection point where the next jump in scale brings disproportionate cost increases. Grinner's perspective is that DIY fulfillment for him had a lot of extra hidden costs and was not the best use of his productive time, so he thinks the usurious rates Amazon charges are the cost of doing business. Lyn has been his own business since I was a zygote, so if he says something is or isn't a good business idea, I listen to that opinion.

If you're asking for a sounding board, I would say you suggested your own best option within your own post. Take on an assistant, even just part-time, to handle the fulfillment while you concentrate on new production. That is, if you have enough equipment to do both at once. Bring them on as an independent contractor, some kid fresh out of school looking over Craig's for crumbs might jump at the chance.

I noticed the guys at Digital Juice have hit a similar wall: they have gone all summer without producing or releasing any new online videos and had to scale back other production not directly related to filling paying orders. Part of that is the cr@ppy economy right now. Part is a choice to take a hit on secondary functions while developing new product line on limited resources.

Personally, I think they have lost a lot of their sales audience by not keeping up the online tutorial videos. They are pefect marketing tools for what Juice sells. And when time are tough, the smart manager knows that is the time to INCREASE your marketing and release more such promotional product, not less.