By Donna Knight

It all started with the Mark Joyner Farewell Package which is affectionately (or disaffectionately in some cases) known as the MJFP. This was the first time I know of where someone sold source code worth many thousands of dollars that had been successfully used to run million-dollar websites. Since then, I have seen a couple dozen similar sales of source code, and you can be sure you will see more of these in the future.

WHY DO THEY DO IT?
First of all, there are multiple reasons why someone would want to sell their source code, including:
– They need funding for a project.
– They’re going out of business and won’t be using it anymore.
– They spent $100,000 to get it programmed and would like to save someone else money and time.
– They are using a new version of the source code but the old source code is fully functional, especially for smaller sites.
– For a few people, such as Jeremy Burns, selling private label source code has become a business in and of itself.

WHAT TYPES OF SOURCE CODE
The types of source code you can buy include website scripts and software programs. Some people will refer to eBooks as source code but I don’t consider them to be. By source code, I’m referring to desktop or website programming or code.

The source code sometimes is for private use only. Sometimes it comes with resale rights, master resale rights, private label resale rights and even master private label resale rights. Private label resale rights means you have the right to do whatever you want with it, including resell it under your own name. But you CANNOT sell it with private label rights. Master private label resale rights means you CAN offer the source code with private label resale rights.

Incidently, the MJFP was the most expensive private label source code sale I’ve seen and it only came with private label rights. You could not resell the source code itself. However, it was also the most valuable in terms of how much was paid for the programming behind it and the value of the non-source- code products.

SKILLS YOU NEED
HTML – If you don’t know anything about HTML, you probably should NOT buy private label source code. Not only will you be lost in terms of what to do with it, but you won’t be able to give useful instructions to a programmer or webmaster about what to do with it. Most of the source code buyers I’ve read complaints from knew nothing about HTML and didn’t even know where to start when it came to putting the code to use.

One exception to this is that I have seen a few sales where you only need to know how to edit a sales page, and you don’t have to have experience installing scripts. This is a deal that practically anyone can benefit from.

SCRIPT INSTALLATION – The people who benefit most from these deals are people who know some HTML and who have some experience installing scripts. It is really not that hard to learn how to edit HTML and to install scripts. There are low cost books out there that can help you. If you know HTML but you don’t know how to install scripts, it is usually not very expensive to hire someone to do this.

PROGRAMMING – You do NOT need to know programming to profit from private label source code. While I am an experienced website builder and script installer, I am NOT a programmer.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
Always read the entire sales letter. In fact, read it a couple of times. I’ve bought quite a few source code packages, and I haven’t seen any cases whatsoever where people were lied to about what was required to get the source code working. The fact that bugs or missing data situations were rectified in many cases indicates to me that the seller was not trying to scam anyone. As a moderator of the MJFP forum, I saw all the complaints (and praise) about the package, so I got quite a bit of insight as to what people need to ask themselves before they buy source code. In many cases, people didn’t pay attention to the part of the sales letter where it said you needed to hire someone to configure and install the source code.

Whether you should take advantage of a particular deal depends on your level of experience and the answers to the following questions:

– Does the code require additional work by a programmer to get it working? If yes, do you have money to hire a programmer? If not, are there additional non-source code products in the package that are worth the price of the package alone? If the answer to both is NO, then you should NOT buy this source code. It will be a waste of your money.

– If the source code works as is, does it come with installation instructions that a newbie can follow? Or do you need to be an experienced script installer to follow the instructions? If the source code doesn’t include instructions, even an experienced script installer is taking a risk in buying it.

– Do they give information on programmers and/or script installers you can hire, if necessary?

– If the source code is expensive, is there a payment plan?

– Is there a refund policy? In most cases there are no refunds, so you should not buy unless you can honestly afford to.

– Are you spending your last dime hopeing this will finally be the product that will make you rich?
If so, DON’T BUY! If you are that desperate, the last thing you need to do is spend money. You probably already have products you can sell to make money. Your problem is most likely that you haven’t used what you already have. Well, now is the time.

WILL YOU NEED TO HIRE A PROGRAMMER?
If you want to add additional features to the source code, you will need to hire a programmer to do that. You can’t do it on your own and, frankly, it is not practical to learn programming just so you can use a source code package you bought. One of the best programmers I’ve ever met said it took him 5 years to feel like he had a handle on programming. Do you think it’s wise to buy something that takes you 5 years to put to use?

In cases where you will need to hire a programmer to get the source code working, you can hire one cheaply at places like Scriptlance.com and Rentacoder.com. Before you hire one, pay attention to the feedback they have. You should also ask to see work they’ve done.

CONCLUSION
There is no question most of the private label source code deals I’ve seen can be very profitable. They can save you hundreds and even thousands of dollars you would have to pay a programmer to custom program it for you. Plus there’s no guarantee the programmer you hire won’t hand you unusable garbage. These private label source code sales are usually fully working code that in some cases was used to run successful websites. However, you must go into these purchases with your eyes wide open.

I won’t say “buyer beware” because that implies there are lots of scams, and so far I haven’t seen them. I will say “Buyer be informed — BEFORE you buy.” That is the key to your satisfaction. If you are one of the many people who has bought stuff and never used it, then save your money and work on your motivation. This won’t cost you anything and in the end it will save you lots of money, time and frustration. With the right motivation and the right private label source code, there is no question that you can be very profitable.
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Donna Knight is a Computer Trainer and Website Promotion Specialist. She has built over 240 websites and helps new site owners promote their site cheaply. For tips that will help you save money and save time when marketing online, visit her Internet Marketing Tools and Reviews blog at http://www.DonnaKnight.com
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Copyright (C) 2005 Donna Knight. All Rights Reserved. Permission granted to post this article in newsletters, free ebooks or websites as long as the article and resource box remain intact.

By Donna Knight

You may not know this but Walt Disney ripped off many of the Hans Christian Anderson and Grimm Brothers’ fairy tales. He never paid one red cent of royalty fees to the authors. They may be dead, but shouldn’t Disney at least have paid their families, especially considering how many billions of dollars the company has made off this “stolen” material? So why, you may ask, hasn’t Disney gotten sued for intellectual property theft?

The answer is simple. Walt Disney was a marketing genius who knew he could not be sued for using this material. The reason he couldn’t be sued is because this material is in the public domain. What does public domain mean? It means the copyright has expired. The benefit of public domain is that it can be used by anyone in any way without paying royalty fees or even giving credit to the original author. You can make copies of it, give it away or sell it and keep all the profits.

The beauty of public domain is that anyone can take advantage of it if you know how. Public domain information is accessible to anyone with access to the internet and at the library. You don’t even have to be as creative as Walt Disney. You just have to add your own flavor to it.

What is Public domain?

The definition of public domain is any body of creative work or knowledge that is not protected by US copyright laws. Copyright protection should always be verified but basically all works created prior to 1923 in the U.S. are in the public domain in the United States. That’s not all. The law also includes works done prior to 1978, for which life of the author plus 70 years doesn’t exceed the current year. There are additional terms under which works have fallen out of copyright but the rules are more complex.

The term “body of creative works and other knowledge” includes literary works, music, movies, art work, scientific ideas, and inventions, just to name a few. So, quite literally, public domain information is a vast ocean of works available for anyone to dive into. The best part is use of these works is free. Everything you earn from them is 100% profit.

Walt Disney used public domain information by updating old classics and making movies out of them. In order to profit from public domain, it is important to keep in mind you must have an audience for it. That is not a problem since there are public domain works of all categories, including recipes, marketing, business, arts and crafts, children’s books, educational books, and many more. There’s no limit to the subject matters you can find public domain works in.

How much will this cost you?

You can find a huge amount of public domain information on websites for free. One of the largest resources is http://www.gutenberg.org. It is free to access and download any of the material there. Most works there are public domain. The listing information tells you if the work is still copyrighted, the author and the format.

What can you do with public domain works?

Just as there is no limit to the types of public domain works available, there is no limit to the
number of ways you can use this material. Here are some of the ways you can use public domain information to profit:

1. Republish old literary works as e-books. The classics you see in bookstores are prime examples of making money from public domain information. The publishers did not have to buy the rights for the books they distribute. You can do the same with e-books. You can find old literary works either on public domain web sites or even search your local library for old works, and scan them. Convert the images to text with a text OCR (optical character recognition) program, edit errors, package it nicely in .pdf format, and you’re all set to market a royalty-free product!
2. Republish old articles as special reports. Granted you’re not going to find any internet marketing or internet-related articles circa 1923, but there are still many interesting pieces from that era. In a recent case study, a man made 43 sales for a special report he made out of a 1914 article on dog grooming.
3. Make downloadable albums of old songs. Here’s your chance to make MP3 downloads that are completely legal. Keep in mind, however, only the songs are public domain. The performances of certain versions (i.e. the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s version of a Beethoven classic) have their own copyrights. If you are a musician, you can create your own version and sell it as relaxation music, dance music or music for various purposes. It would be best to make your own version from the public domain compositions.
4. Offer downloadable movies. Just like Walt Disney, Ted Turner has made a killing with public domain movies. One of his channels, Turner Classics, shows pre-1923 movies which he can rebroadcast without paying any royalties. You could do the same by offering old movies for download.
5. Make posters of timeless masterpieces. You could also search the web for high quality images of classic paintings and sketches. These digitized masterpieces can easily be reproduced as posters which you could sell to the millions of art aficionados worldwide.
6. Publish it in book format through a self-publishing company. Sell it online or offline. Self-publishing companies such as Lulu.com make it easy to publish a print book without a big budget.
7. Print it out yourself and sell copies offline or online. You can buy supplies, such as binders, for printing books at office supply stores. For the most professional highest quality print, use a laser printer. At this point in time, color laser printers are now affordable so you could even print in color with a laser printer if you have a bigger budget.
8. Take an educational work, such as one about playing tennis, and make a video series about it.
9. Create an mp3 audio class out of a public domain work. Let people download it from your website or put it on CD and sell it offline.
10. Create a collection of works from multiple sources. For example, make a compilation of children’s stories from various books that are full of stories.

Public domain works can’t be copyrighted, but if you make changes, your changes are copyrightable. This is the smart thing to do to make sure no one steals your hard work and makes money off it.

Millions of dollars have been made by those who took advantage of public domain information. There’s no limit to what you can do. If you have a computer and a printer, you already have the tools you need to make money with public domain. Now that you have some ideas about what to do, there’s nothing stopping you.

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Donna Knight is a Computer Trainer and Website Promotion Specialist. She has built over 200 websites and helps new site owners promote their site cheaply. For more tips on how to make money at no or low cost, visit her Internet Marketing Tools and Reviews blog at http://www.DonnaKnight.com
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Copyright (C) 2005 Donna Knight. All Rights Reserved. Permission granted to post this article in newsletters, free ebooks or websites as long as the article and resource box remain intact.