Try out Catalog-on-Demand for Amazon

[timh]

If you're an Amazon Associate, you might be interested in the ability to easily create PDF catalogs of Amazon products. We are rolling out a beta version of a new web service called Catalog-on-Demand for Amazon, and would like to get feedback from people like you who create or use ListMania lists, registries, or tags. I can't post my URL because I'm new to the forum, so enter catalog-on-demand com followed by slash amazon.

You can create as many catalogs as you like for free, as long as the catalog contains no more than 25 products. You can enter your associate ID to ensure that you get your referral fees when readers click on the links in the PDF. Plus you can monitor customer interest with reports that track which customers click on which products.

We would appreciate receiving your feedback and suggestions. We're particularly interested in learning whether you think this will have any value to you in your business or personal life, and what other features might make it more useful or friendly. Thanks!

[wesley]

So is the idea that someone will keep the catalog for future use, this the pdf? I am not sure what the difference is between a catalog of 25 items and just building a page of 25 items in one's niche.

I assume you work for amazon as you say "we are rolling out a beta version". How do you guys see this catalog as being beneficial to site owners?

I thought about it for a minute and I am just wonderding why my conversions would be higher with this?

[timh]

Wesley - Thanks for the reply. First of all -- this is not from Amazon. Our company is ObjectPublisher Web Services. We offer a web service called Catalog-on-Demand (CoD) for lots of large manufacturers and distributors who want to automate production of PDF catalogs, brochures, flyers, and other marketing materials. The reason these companies use CoD is to provide targeted marketing to individual customers and prospects, thereby increasing revenues, margins, and improved customer loyalty.

Our idea was to bring this technology to the Amazon Associates. Most people prefer the experience of a printed catalog over a web catalog. So this would allow you to provide a customer (or market segment) with a custom catalog that they could print and peruse, and then use the PDF to link back in order to place their order. It is just a more packaged, more friendly way to deliver product information. I encourage you to experiment with it. We're calling it "beta" because we know there are still some glitches, and we are not yet sure exactly which of the hundreds of features of regular CoD we should include with this special version for Amazon.

[wesley]

I can possibly see this working for my lingerie site. The idea is the woman would print out the catalog and then leave it around for her husband as a sort of hint for her birthday gift.

So I guess the question is - does it have to be used with amazon only. Can I use it for my own products and also with other affiliate products I promote?

I will test it out as you recommend. I assume it can be tested for free while in the beta stages. I can see some uses for it. And of course I would need the tracking so I could see what was happening.

[timh]

Wesley - Your idea is an excellent example. As to whether it can be used with your own products, yes, that is actually our primary business. At this time, however, the startup fee is $2,500 with a minimum monthly fee of $350 (most of our customers pay considerably more). We understand that is far out of reach for most affiliates. So we are thinking about a "mass market" version of the Catalog-on-Demand service that has a much lower entry cost. In fact, one of the reasons we have launched CoD for Amazon is to try and gauge the interest in such a service. It would only make sense if it could fairly quickly (say, within a year or so) be ramped up to 10,000 users or more. One idea is that we would set up our own affiliate program to promote this.

Would you be interested in including both your own products and the Amazon products in the same catalog? Or separate catalogs? If you had products from other affiliates, would those be in the same catalog too? Do envision that the products would be interspersed even on a page? Or would they be on separate pages in separate sections? What are affiliate programs are you thinking of? Do they have public APIs like Amazon?

I think we'll keep it free for the next several months at least, certainly for catalogs with 50 products or less. We are very interested in seeing if this will take flight. And our aim will always be to keep the fees for the mass market version as low as possible. Our real business comes from serving the higher end of the automated publishing market. So please produce as many catalogs as you want, and let us know how it goes! Also, please feel free to directly contact me anytime by phone or email. Thanks again for your interest. I look forward to working with you.

[wesley]

I'm asking my questions online here as opposed to your direct email in case others have questions, too.

I think we'll keep it free for the next several months at least, certainly for catalogs with 50 products or less

I've been on the site and I don't see anywhere to set up a catalog. I was going to give it a whirl for one of my affiliate niches.

So please produce as many catalogs as you want, and let us know how it goes!

Where do I do this?

[timh]

Wesley - I am not allowed to post a url to this site (why is that?). So I have to give you the correct url in words. I am guessing that you did not notice the "slash Amazon" in the original posting. The correct url is www dot catalog-on-demand dot com slash Amazon.

[wesley]

I am not allowed to post a url to this site (why is that?).

I think it is because you haven't been around long enough. I think you need so many posts. I suspect it is to prevent spam.

But yes, you are right, I did miss the url in the first post.

Let me check this out over the next couple days and I'll report back. I am surprised others haven't commented because I see many uses for this but I have been selling products for years so maybe it is just easier for me to think up benefits.

I have been spending a lot of time over the years creating documents to give to potential clients but if this works, it might save me some time.

[timh]

I think you're right that I have to post x number of times. Now that you mention it, I think I remember reading that at one point. I can't explain why there aren't more comments. Maybe because it is a sort of a holiday week. Obviously we're going to have to figure out how to publicize this service. We're open to ideas!

[wesley]

The idea is brilliant no doubt but I think I will have to keep up with my word doc catalogs.

The biggest problem in its present form, it does not allow links from any program other than amazon. I got rid of amazon from my sites a long time ago and would not use it again.

But in relation to the catalog, itself, again because I send out catalogs regular, I would want more customization and design ability. The catalogs all appear to be in green which does not suit all products. I mean even from amazon, if I was promoting their lingerie, I would not want a lawn green catalog to look at.

I know the product is new and there are a lot of people out there running amazon so I am sure they would benefit from this catalog.

[timh]

The Amazon site represents a very thin slice of the functionality of Catalog-on-Demand as used by many of our manufacturer and distributor customers. There is a wide variety of layouts, color schemes, and other features available. I'd like to explore some ideas with you and will be contacting you directly. Thanks very much for your feedback. It has been extremely helpful.