The free debate
Lately there’s been a lot of debate about whether free is the wave of the future when it comes to digital content. It’s all about the idea of giving digital content away for nothing, because when it’s digital and it’s out there it will be spread (through torrents and other download options) no matter what. On the one hand you have people like Chris Anderson (author of Free) and Seth Godin who agree and on the other there are Malcolm Gladwell and Jonathan Fields who don’t.
Both sides have compelling arguments. But I do feel there’s a place for a sort of hybrid form. One where you offer content for free (through for instance a blog or website) but sell more personalized or specific content for a price. Chris Guillebeau works like this on his site where he offers free ebooks but also sells more specific products. According to him he’s doing alright. And there are more examples: a writer can publish his writings for free (maybe on a sponsored website) and offer autographed books to his fans (the 1000 true fans-theory), a business consultant can provide his business and management ideas on his blog and sell a personalized plan or a digital artist that puts his works on a website and offers his skills to advertising and public relation agencies.
This can work for individuals but not for old media companies (read: newspaper conglomerates), who have been slow to adept to the new media, or other content providers. For them, there is no working blueprint on how to monetize digital content and just running ads on your site doesn’t cut it. They have to come up with new ideas or they’ll run out of business. And of course there will be a lot of opportunities for the person that comes up with a working strategy. But that strategy has to pay people/businesses for the content they provide and is sustainable within the rules of new media. That’s a unique problem and until it has been solved, the debate remains.
There is one constant to all this: people will pay when the product or content you offer fixes a problem, fills a need or in any other way adds value. As long as you have such a product, you will make a living.
