I’m not in the habit of quoting other writers in entirety, but Seth Godin’s post a few days ago deserves to be seen again (& again & again).
If this strikes a chord with you (or if you disagree) then you might want to read Chris Anderson’s brilliant new book ‘Free!’
Remember – ot’s not want you want the market to do that’s important (to them), it’s what they want to do.
You can fight the trend of ‘free’ for as long as you like – but your (smart) competitors won’t. They change & adapt. What will you do?
Here’s Seth’s post:
Do you really expect that the first time we transact, it will involve me giving you money in exchange for a product or service?
Perhaps this is a good strategy for a pretzel vendor on the street, but is that the best you can hope for?
Digital transactions are essentially free for you to provide. I can give you permission to teach me something. I can watch a video. I can engage in a conversation. We can connect, transfer knowledge, engage in a way that builds trust… all of these things make it more likely that I’ll trust you enough to send you some money one day. I can contribute to a project you’re building, ask you a difficult question, discover what others have already learned.
But send you money on the first date? No way.
The question then, is how much time and effort does your non-profit/consulting firm/widget factory spend on pre-purchase transactions and how much do you spend on trying to simply close the sale?
