Freeconomics: Great! (When It’s Somebody Else’s Money)
Seth Godin writes that authors shouldn’t plan on making money from their books unless they’ve already done so. Working for free is a key plank of “Freeconomics” marketing. But when this concept penetrates business at a more general level — as is happening — it’s poison to profits.
When you do something for nothing or for little, you create the expectation that it will always be so. Witness the media that launched their online editions at no charge and now are struggling to convince the public to pay.
It’s revealing that no Freeconomics proponent works for zilch. They’re too busy raking in big bucks via speaking gigs and best-selling books that talk others into working pro bono. Of course, it’s not really free work they espouse, but rather, deferred gratification got at by indirection. The theory: Give away what you produce and you’ll gain trust and a following, which will lead to future reward. It’s like prayer and redemption bundled into one, but in this case the sin committed is against your business.
Maybe I’m all wet on the topic of companies providing products and services for free. But history indicates I may be right when it comes to content.
NEWS FLASH — Shakespeare was paid handsomely for his work, and cashed in as a shareholder of The Globe, where his plays were performed. Lord Byron may have eschewed gold sovereigns, as nobles sometimes do, but he profited hugely from his work. In a single day Byron’s Don Juan sold more copies than did early freeconomist William Wordsworth’s Lyrical Ballads — in a lifetime.
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