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Three Ways to Start a Revolution
I recently put forth the subject of whether bloggers should charge for their content (click here to read the post), and the debate was a great one.
I also asked readers what we should do about this situation. Should bloggers start charging for content? Should we start a revolution? Should we do this, or that, or the other thing?
Then I realized we shouldn’t be asking what we can do. We should be stating what we can do, as a fact.
So here are a few of the things we can do, as bloggers, to address this issue – and many more issues we all face together. We can do these things right now, today.
And we should.
We Can Talk About It
Conversation is powerful. By putting a topic on the table and discussing it while listening to other people’s thoughts and opinions, we’re able to get deeper into the situation.
We might uncover ways of doing things that we didn’t see before. We might find new reasons for upholding the cause. We might reveal obstacles we didn’t think of, and then we can talk about how to overcome them.
Talk is cheap, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t valuable. Talk helps create solutions. Talk is how you resolve issues with your spouse or your friends or your boss. Talking is the reason any of us know anything at all. Our parents, our mentors, our employers talked with us. We listened, asked questions, and learned more every time we did.
That back-and-forth exchange is how we get places. Try sawing through a log by stabbing it with a blade and you won’t get far, no matter how many times you stab it or how hard.
But try sawing back and forth. You’ll get a little deeper every time, and you’ll eventually bring that tree to the ground.
That’s how conversation works. Every time we throw an idea back and forth across the table, we’re getting just a little bit deeper into the problem. Eventually, we’ll bring that problem crashing down.
We need to feel comfortable discussing issues and being wrong, and we need to feel comfortable being persuaded to another point of view. We need to listen to one another and see if those new ideas have merit, or if they open up any other possible courses of action.
If we don’t, we’re just stabbing at that tree. All by ourselves. And that tree’s going to look like a pincushion by the time we’re done.
But it’ll still be standing there, still be in our way.
We Can Empower Ourselves
Some people out there take a “wait and see” approach. They might have a “not my problem” attitude. They might be one of those “just ignore it” people. They all do nothing, and they trust that others will work it out.
I think that’s a mistake.
When we choose to do nothing, we give other people permission to have power over us. Passivity is powerless. We shouldn’t let other people make decisions for us. Our lives are too valuable to be completely at the mercy of someone else’s whim.
Doing nothing means there’s no nudge to start the ball rolling. You can’t build momentum if you don’t start off with just a little bit of power.
If we do nothing about the problem – not even talking about it – we’re part of the problem ourselves. We’re saying that other people with louder voices should decide. And the problem with that is that even though other people might be louder, that doesn’t make them right.
It just makes them loud.
I teach my children that they do have the power to change a situation. That they do have control. They can provoke change. I tell them these things because I believe them with all my heart.
It’s up to us to stop allowing others to make decisions for our industry, our careers, and our lives, both as a group and as individuals. It’s up to us to take back control and to start making change happen.
Of course, that’s if change is what we decide we want after we’ve talked it over. I think it’s what I want. But I want to hear the debate. I want to hear all the sides. Then I want us to gather up all our power and direct it together in one solid course of action.
We Can Wake Up a Bit
It’s not like we have a choice, you know. Eventually, something somewhere is going to give.
Online business and blogging are changing every day. What used to work last year isn’t working so well anymore. “Traditional” income streams are dying. Adsense is over. Banner advertising isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Product launches don’t bring in the money they used to.
As consumers become accustomed to the internet and how it works, they also becoming familiar and acclimatized to what used to be new and exciting. They’re getting bored. They’re tuning it out and turning off.
So we’re going to have to work on evolving along with these changes. It’s time to ask questions, to look to the future and explore new ways of generating income so we can all make a decent living at this.
If what we’re doing now doesn’t work, then what will work next week? And next year? And the year after?
As the early-adopter generation of the internet, of blogging, of online business, we have an opportunity. We have the power to turn it all into what we want it to be, to change it, to see just how far we can take it all.
We just have to wake up and realize it.
What do you think?
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Amen, James!
The aversion to change or new ideas may stem from the human need to be part of a “group”. Especially when you’re inexperienced, self-esteem issues come into play – having people you respect say that you’re doing something right.
Walking your own path takes a lot of guts. You have be able to take punches from people saying “you can’t do it that way.” No matter what though, there are plenty of others out there that *will* share the same philosophies as you – go out there and find them, create your own tribe.
Jordan Cooper´s last blog ..Dumb People Click On Links
This would be that conversation you were talking about.
I’m a little concerned where you say:
You offer no proof of this. I doubt Google would agree with you that AdSense is over. Banner advertising never worked like people thought it would, but CPM can be viable (and often easier & far cheaper) than PPC. And how much money a product launch brings in depends on the efforts of those behind the product: they can be effective… or not. Overplayed tactics might be faltering, but that happens in cases where the marketer has neglected basic, vital points, like knowing her audience and offering them what they really want.
If you were, say for example, to add WishList Member to Men with Pens and offer a paid level of content, you would be, essentially, creating a product. Which means you would throw everything you know about how launch a product at it (and if you know anything about product launches, you know that doesn’t always mean you come out immediately with guns a-blazin’). The success of the launch is up to you, yes? But you seem to imply there is some mysterious reason why product launches are suddenly less effective. Not sure why you’re saying that.
If you know your audience and your position and offer well enough, you can have a gloriously successful product launch. If I’m missing something, here, please tell me.
I believe anyone who can build an audience for their blog in the first place can also offer paid content successfully. That content could take many different shapes. There are wonderful possibilities.
Michael Martine´s last blog ..Ten Steps to Rock Your Business Blog in 2010
I think it’s all about having a model … from freemium to premium.
I also think the key is thinking in terms of a product line and scaling yourself.
I think there are tons of monetization models (and one of my projects is figuring out the essential monetization patterns for info products.) The meta-pattern is always the same … you productize, then commoditize … and I think some things are valued as “free” now … while other things still have an interesting market value.
For example, if you sell a book for $10, you might sell a workbook for $40. I’m not sure why, but the market says that’s OK … so I think that’s part of the key … knowing the spectrum of options and their current market value … and innovating and coming up with new models.
J.D. Meier´s last blog ..Best of Sources of Insight 2009
There’s moving bits and moving atoms.
I suspect the most lucrative models will be moving bits (free) to move atoms (make money).
Kevin Kelly says get 1000 trues fans. Seth Godin makes it simpler: move 1000 people. People are made of atoms.
Then again, I might be full of crap.
Dave Doolin´s last blog ..Your Next Killer Technique for Telling Compelling Stories (It’s easier than you think)
Hi James,
Wish you a Happy New Year! I really liked to read this post title: Three ways to start a Revolution. I wanted this punch in the first post of 2010 from MwPs. I really liked the only way to do it is to discuss things out. Debate makes it much more easier to unravel things which we never thought about. I feel the gift of speech need to be leveraged. We need to come out more and talk – in case if we feel it’s relevant, say it so; or, if we feel it’s not, lets say it outright, of course politely.
I liked and respect the the first point in your post: We can talk about it. By being forthright in our speech we can empower ourselves and empower those who say the ‘right’ thing. Otherwise, a lie which if repeated many times will be construed as ‘truth’.
A great post to usher in 2010 in a bright way! I think you set the stage for the fireworks this year!
Solomon´s last blog ..The year that GONE by and the lessons LEARNT …
The challenge to charging for your content is to FIRST have a thriving audience willing to pay for it….or a thriving band of affiliates willing to sell it to their lists.
Start a membership site without that…and you’re hosed.
I firmly believe in charging for quality content; for me, ebooks and followup series work great. In today’s time-hungry market, offering ways to accomplish things faster (ie, ebooks of less than 60 pages compared to ebooks of 200+ ebooks – faster reading) is also of value as well.
Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach´s last blog ..Today’s Make Money Tip – Customize a FREE Wordpress Theme to look PREMIUM
I agree with Mr. Martine that you’re exaggerating the death of adsense and all that. I’m not so worried about everything changing, I do my best to go with the flow and follow my own feelings on the matter.
Sometimes it seems like everyone is out to make the maximum profit, all the time. However, charging for quality content is a no-brainer for me. It’s an excellent filter where the people not really serious about changing their life go away.
Henri Junttila´s last blog ..The Law of Attraction Explained
Revolution is the word used in your title, but I think you are more on the money when you mention the word ‘evolution’ in your post. Blogging – and everything online – is a constant game of evolving. To evolve is the only way to ensure we remain viable. Unfortunately, we have to evolve way faster than ever before… (yep, even faster than it took the kids of the 80s to chuck their fluoro t-shirts, bubble skirts and legwarmers in the bin when the 90s rolled around.)
Pamela Wilson´s last blog ..Alasdair McGregor: how to write non-fiction well
This post reminded me of a wise advice from a site:
Anticipate and watch social media trends.
poch´s last blog ..New Zealand Cyber Spies Most Powerful
The world is changing fast and we are awash in information. The way to stand out and make money is to shock or amaze people. The problem is that it is getting harder and harder. Quality standards keep getting pushed up while prices get pushed down.
Getting attention of potential customers is key and one of the best ways to do that is to offer your products for free. If you don’t, sooner or later someone will and it will likely be better than what you are charging for now.
Zero marginal cost products will approach zero in price over time. That is an economic fact that can’t be debated. We can create temporary monopolies by making things so unique, interesting or valuable to charge a premium but it is a never ending process of constant innovation and added value.
Real contact with real humans will always be valuable. That is where the future will be. One on one consulting, seminars, meet ups are difficult to copy and expensive to hold. You can’t outsource your US seminar to the Philippines, yet.
You may get your ebooks for free but you will have to pay $300 per hour to have a plumber come to your house. Real is the future.
John Bardos – JetSetCitizen´s last blog ..What Marathons Have Taught Me About Lifestyle Design
Interesting post James. I don’t believe that Google Ads are dead, but you and I have differed on that issue before. They are an income stream, like any other and should neither be ignored nor used as your sole source of income. My site was nearly dormant this December (always a slow month for me in both posts and traffic) and I still made just under $500 from Google. I don’t recall a time in the past couple of years when you’ve used Google on your site, but perhaps you are basing your opinion on experiments elsewhere. Whatever the case, I believe a smart Google strategy can work. I can actually credit John P. at Woopra for providing me with the ideas to fix that stream when I was at Blogworld and income there has been way up ever since.
As for a Blogging Revolution, I believe that change comes from within. Don’t turn your back on the name necessarily, but stop thinking of yourself as a blogger. One thing that has kept my site traffic up, even when I’ve taken extended vacations, is that I make it easy for people to access my older articles. I make far more advertising income off of older articles than I do from my front page.
I don’t see myself moving to a pay model anytime soon. I do welcome any other ideas you come up with though.
John Hewitt´s last blog ..How to use the Web to Find Writing Jobs
@Jordan – The aversion to change has do to with the fears of danger and loss and the perceptions of risk. Getting people to change is HARD. But it starts within each of us.
And thank you. Your comment is motivating. I agree that if you walk your own path, you’ll find like-minded people that you enjoy being with on it.
@JD – There are indded thousands of ways to develop business models, and everyone should indeed experiment with different variations thereof to see what works for them. The traditional tactics do hold, no matter which model you end up going with, though, so it’s good to have a bunch of them within it as a foundation to your venture.
(I hope that made sense. I’m on my first coffee. It made sense to me…)
@Dave – Disclaimer: We at Men with Pens highly oppose the making of anything nuclear in our general vicinity.
Reminds me of when I worked with Kelly Erickson – she asked me my ideal client for a venture and I gave her a full character profile. Then she pointed out that all I had there was a fan who would cheer and love what I do… but who wasn’t (and would never be) an actual paying customer.
After some research and thought, I realized that my ideal client was someone completely different – but a paying person who wanted what I sold. Move people. Not fans.
@Solomon – I feel that being able to discuss, talk and look at all sides of the coin is a gift, and yet so many people ignore the opportunity to ask questions, go deeper and learn more. We need to open up to talking to each other and listening to the answers we receive – and accepting them, too.
@Barbara – It’s funny, eh? Five years ago, a three-inch thick book was too small for me. Lately, I’ve been picking up half-inch whippets and thinking, “Oh, that’s a nice fast read…”
@Pamela – I love that we can experiment and try all sorts of things out with blogging. There are no rules; we’re making them. We can do what we want right now and push the limits, attempt new things, and discover ideas we didn’t know existed. Why not? It’s all a playground of opportunity there for the taking.
@Poch – What’s funny is that I’ve never watched any social media trends at all. I listen to people, I listen to readers, and I listen to my own self. (Maybe that’s a social media trend in itself…?)
@John – Interesting comment, and I just wanted to address your comment of “zero marginal cost products will approach zero in price over time”.
Ebooks aren’t a zero marginal cost product. Their cost is labor, and in the accounting books, the time you spend writing that ebook carries a cost that you enter in the COGS of your journal. So… that time I spend writing is very real to me, and no less real than the time the plumber spent on his task.
Good point on the value of real contact with real humans – I certainly agree with that!
@Henri – I think following our own feelings has more value than people give it credit. “Do this! Do that! Don’t do this!”… but our gut feeling says we should (or shouldn’t), and from there we end up spending a lot of time in cognitive dissonance, thinking over what we want to do and what we will do.
It’s OKAY to ask, “Why? Why should I do this?” and to discuss thoughts about it. Definitely.
@John and Michael – Now, I haven’t had enough coffee yet, so if I get this answer wrong, forgive me.
I should point out that “Adsense is dead,” wasn’t intended to be a statement of fact, but rather a literary expression meant to carry emotional weight within the context of the paragraph to show that what’s been done for a long period of time doesn’t work as well as it used to and that it’s time to wake up a bit.
I didn’t mean to imply that it’s not working well for some people, or that it’s suddenly ceased to exist on the internet. Not at all, and I know that it does indeed work well for some people (see Exhibit A, John Hewitt). But I also know that for the majority of people, Adsense doesn’t work, or earns very, very little indeed.
Now, you’re both very right to say that the other efforts, the business model, the traffic driving and the marketing methods all influence how well Adsense performs for an individual. Same thing for sidebar advertising. Affiliate marketing. Selling a service. Hawking a product. There are many tactics and strategies involve in sales and marketing that come together as a whole to achieve success.
Generally speaking, though, sticking Adsense in your sidebar won’t get you $100 a month.
Keep in mind, too, that desensitization plays a very large role in what works and what doesn’t. Adsense is one of the oldest tactics mentioned in my post – which means that it faces higher rates of people simply not seeing it anymore because they’ve become ad blind and mentally gloss right over it.
So while I don’t have a nice graph to show Adsense going down in overall effectiveness, most consumer behaviorist would probably agree with me that it’s not doing as well as it was back when it was new.
On a side note, a half hour of Google research trying to find a nice graph was fruitless, but it did turn up hundreds of people mentioning that Adsense wasn’t performing as it used to. That isn’t conclusive by any means, though, agreed.
But! To get back to both your claims that “this premise is refutable because you have no proof,” I agree. I don’t have research or facts to uphold my premise that Adsense isn’t working as well as it used to, so please do feel free to disregard that premise when considering the remaining premises and the argument as a whole.
Whew. More coffee anyone?
Hey John Jetset,
your comment is useful for me since I’m a pinoy. Bravo!
poch´s last blog ..New Zealand Cyber Spies Most Powerful
Hi James,
Marginal Cost refers to the cost of producing one more unit. The first ebook is expensive to produce but that is a fixed cost, not marginal cost. In the long run marginal costs = marginal revenues unless you can extract monopoly profits. If your costs to produce one more unit are zero, prices will also approach zero in competitive markets. Temporary monopolies can be established with a great brand like Apple or a new innovation like the iPod. However, there will always be something newer and better that comes along that will end that monopoly.
A great product like an ebook can temporarily make good profits but quickly begin to decline to close to zero, even in a long-tail economy.
John Bardos – JetSetCitizen´s last blog ..What Marathons Have Taught Me About Lifestyle Design
James, my first thought is you’re raising a couple of engaged citizens. Bravo. But that’s not what your post is about.
I ignore Google ads, mostly because they annoy me. If a site is peppered with ads of any sort, I click away. I might be missing some good content, but so be it. There are lots of other options out there with far less noise.
I doubt I fit the profile of someone who would be moved by Adsense, but I also wonder exactly why things are changing. Are people being desensitized, or are they realizing clicking on those ads doesn’t give them enough value for their time or energy?
Maybe it’s both. But the thing about revolutions is they happen by changing one mind at a time. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.
Stacey Cornelius´s last blog ..The ins and outs of your first impression (part 1 – work in)
I don’t believe Adsense is dead as it does quite well for me, and I don’t believe there are problems with banners. However, I do feel some blogs are harder to monetize than others.
Creating new income and revenue streams is never a bad thing. No matter what you do, there will always be folks who feel you’re whoring yourself out in some form or another, but if it works, I don’t have a problem with it. If people buy your ebooks and courses and pay to hear you speak, it only makes sense there will be takers on a paid content site. As Barbara noted, it can’t happen unless you already built up a community of believers which you have in spades.
I say build it…and they will come.
What a beautiful analogy to start the year: the picture of two people with their arms around the tree and then this line: “But try sawing back and forth. You’ll get a little deeper every time, and you’ll eventually bring that tree to the ground.”
Not sure where I stand on this one. I have a bad habit of straddling the fence until one side looks more appealing than the other.
I can’t say whether Adsense is dead or hovering between immortality and mortality with the help of millions of dollars in life support (sales).
I do know that unless you have explosive numbers of traffic to your site….those few cents you rake in are meaningless and certainly nothing you could even begin to classify as online income.
Charging a fee for your information isn’t a bad idea. But again…IMO, you need a massive following and in order to have this your content would have to be awesome which would make charging for it…worth it.
It’s definitely an idea. Just one I don’t see being an issue for me anytime soon.
Happy New Year!!!
Roschelle´s last blog ..All I Wanted Was Kool-Aid…I Got Life Instead
@ John – Ah, thank you! I learned something new today. Appreciate the explanation.
@ Stacey – Part of the problem with various types of advertising is that they tend to devalue initial perceptions and impressions of the site. On other sites, they simply come off as cluttered. Visit major news sites and you’ll see what I mean – many consumers don’t even know where to click or how to access what they want, because there’s just way too much going on.
@ Deb – Yup, you’re one of those people that can get that type of advertising to work for you, and that’s great. But again, limited success stories doesn’t mean that it works majoritarily for all blogs and sites. The same way that my site may sell plenty of services and products, but that may not work on your site.
And, too, because something works or doesn’t work for one doesn’t mean there aren’t declining or climbing trends. I may have great success with copywriting, but that doesn’t mean that copywriting services are doing well at large.
(Am I making sense yet? Do I need MORE coffee? Possible…)
All that to say, yeah. Bring it. Try it. Explore it. Talk about it. And figure out what works.
@ Mary – Thank you for getting the point of the post, lol. I rather liked the picture and analogy myself! (Disclaimer: We at Men with Pens are against deforestation and encourage selective cuts for forest health…)
@ Rochelle – I’m not sure I agree that a massive following is needed. What if every blog/site that was created today came standard with a premium content section? That would make it the norm, the expected… would there still be resistence to purchase? I’m not convinced.
We need to discuss these questions. We need to start provoking change – and change in general, too, not just about ‘how to earn money’. The post I wrote could apply to anything at all in the world that people aren’t happy with and would like to make better, n’est pas?
I love the saw analogy. Of course, sometimes people don’t want their trees cut down, but I digress.
The challenge with so much blogging, as I just read in The Cult of the Amateur, is that there’s just so much of it. Thankfully, I know of a good site or two–like this one.
Phil Simon´s last blog ..When Business Intelligence and Social Networking Unite
I agree that most people don’t make money off of Adsense and that sidebar ads don’t work well. i only have one ad that runs on my sidebar and I will get rid of that one soon too. My ads appear in the posts, where the people’s eyes are. I had to change techniques to improve performance. Anyone who visits my site 5 times over sixty days won’t even see my ads unless they come through a search engine. Loyal readers aren’t ad clickers, so I don’t bug them with ads.
it is true that Adsense worked better 5 years ago when the concept was new. My point is not that Adsense is great. I could do the same thing with any advertiser or even my own products. My point is that most people give up without making the effort to get their ads to work, and then they blame the ads or their readers. I am not the exception to a rule. i am simply someone who got a little smarter about what he was doing.
John Hewitt´s last blog ..Copy/Grant/Proposal Writing Jobs — 01/04/2010
Maybe we should talk more about possibilities instead of AdSense.
What would paid content on a blog look like, other than a paid member level for posts?
Once you move away from blog posts behind a paywall, aren’t you just creating the same kind of products we’re already familiar with? Is the revolution just that more bloggers tread this path without cringing?
And if you start creating paid content, how do you keep up with your normal free content? How do we provide the level of content that’s worth paying for? What’s the offer?
Michael Martine´s last blog ..Ten Steps to Rock Your Business Blog in 2010
I think everything is always changing, whether it be 09 or 2010. The internet changes within months. Internet marketing, and blogging are the same, changes happen weekly monthly.
Depending on how popular something is, the more it gets used and reused then yes it will slowly work less and less.
I think bloggers, marketers should be evaluating and tweaking their business weekly and monthly, whether it’s a new year or not.
I think adsense and banner ads still work well, it just takes a little more creativity to have them work well.
John Paul Aguiar´s last blog ..David Bach Start Over Finish Rich Download FREE Now
@ John –
Getting smarter about business is the way to go, and I applaud you for that. I also agree that people are very quick to blame this or that for a lack of success. Personally, I like to figure out why something isn’t as successful as predicted and then make changes to improve and better the situation.
Unfortunately, I know people don’t have the means or the time or the ability to figure out what’s wrong and why something isn’t working. And so they get depressed and discouraged and just stop trying. THAT is what I want to change.
While I used the example of paid blogging for the post, I really do think that talking, empowering ourselves and working towards making changes is part of any endeavor towards success.
And you just showed exactly why that’s important – by stating that you’re not an exception to a rule but that you asked certain people and did research on what works better, you’ve discussed your situation, and thus perhaps encouraged others to do the same with theirs.
Whether it’s Adsense or not
@ Michael – We should talk about possibilities. We should talk about every single thing we do with our blogs and our business. But the problem is, many people don’t talk, for a thousand reasons.
Um… but not me. I tend to talk. A lot
And so!
Good question. What are the possibilities? Personally, I’m already becoming tired of memberships, but that may just be me. I like what Nick Cernis proposed in this post, personally:
http://putthingsoff.com/articles/the-end-of-free-content/
But I’m sure there are a thousand ways to do this, too. How do you see paid content working? What would you try?
Eventually, every single thing that anyone creates becomes something familiar. So there’s no escaping that, of course.
And perhaps, too, that it’s more than “put this behind a paywall”. What about what’s done with the content behind the paywall? Can it become something different or something more? A pay-per-chapter sort of venture that results in something larger down the road? I don’t know. I’m just tossing ideas out there, really.
I think the revolution is bloggers treading new paths, trying new things, and being more confident with their independence and willingness to push the limits. Too many followers doing so without question, I believe. And I’m all about renegades, so it’d be good to see more people testing new boundaries.
But let me ask you this – don’t you feel it’s time for change?
@ John Paul – Heh, I think the internet changes within weeks, sometimes faster. It’s evolving more quickly than people can keep up with.
I guess I would pay for a blog if I was addicted to it. But how could I be addicted to it in the first place?
Today I bought a tabloid. Why? Well, I needed to read interesting stuff while chewing on a hamburger and french fries. Before I bought the tabloid, I could read the headlines, and if I wanted too, I could have checked the contents of certain interest for ten seconds or so, I don’t know what time limit is appropriate, but sometimes I check the contents of a tabloid or a magazine before I buy it. If that kind of fast checking could be allowed on a pay-blog, then maybe the whole system could work.
Håkan Tendell´s last blog ..Postcards from Gothenburg harbour
Maybe I’m odd, but when I Google something and the search results pull up something which is mentioned in the Wall Street Journal, I get kind of annoyed that I have to subscribe to get the content.
I guess I’ve got used to things being free. But, if everyone charged then I’d look for the best content (or at least intro) and buy that.
I guess the new operating models are a bit like Blu-Ray. At first it was expensive and there was little interest in it. Gradually people realised that Blu-Ray had better quality sound and vision so people start to buy Blu-Ray.
More content has come out and I’m sure, eventually, this will be the new standard. Remember the Video Disk anyone…?
For sure, at the moment there are lots of different types of ‘Blu-Ray’ models for the internet. It’s just no one has worked out which one will be the new standard.
For the past 2 1/2 years now, LongShortStories has helped lead the way in e-mail subscriptions to my short story collection.
Besides offering my One-Year (30 story) subscription for a nominal $12 and my Two-Year (60 story) subscription for $20, I also reach out to the hesitant with a Pay-Per-View offering for only 99 cents a story.
As the Bible says: “The servant is worthy of his hire.” Giving away what is my livelihood is not wise for a professional writer. Free samples, yes.
As in so many other facets of life, one always gets what one pays for. My readers are happy readers!
Happy New Year, Men With Pens!
Wayne C. Long
Writer/Editor/Digital Publisher
www.LongShortStories.com
Where the Short Story LIVES!
James, yes I do indeed feel it’s time for a change. I think the change has to occur in the minds of people more than in how we deliver valuable information.
In that regard, there really isn’t anything new.
What follows is me thinking into my keyboard. Sorry if it’s long and messy.
You have the written word in pixels or print. You have audio with its various ways to store it and deliver it. You have video online or on DVD. You have live events. Teleseminars/webinars. Games and virtual environments (difficult to create as a learning tool). You have private RSS feeds.
Then, text information can be in the form of web pages/blog posts, PDF ebooks, forum posts, wikis, etc. If the objective is training in a specific subject, some of these would work better than others. If the objective is community, different tools like forums and wikis would come to the fore.
Membership sites are a good logistical way or vehicle to store and deliver a great deal of content in various media—especially if that content has to change and update a lot. It seems stupid to buy a book on SEO nowadays when it seems every 3 weeks something major happens with Google or Bing. That’s why the next version of my SEO book won’t be a book.
Just like you never have to upgrade your Gmail, with a membership site, content can be updated instantly for everyone.
A paid newsletter is another way to deliver content. It can be just a “regular” email or it can be a PDF (I tried to one like that and couldn’t keep on schedule and canned it—I’m considering private feed aggregation instead). People can and do pay for these kinds of newsletters.
I’m working backwards here, but we’d really have to start with what kind of content subject matter and objectives first. Is the goal training? Is it on-demand advice? Is it a higher level of detail and depth than the free content? Are there “secrets” revealed you’d never dream of giving away on the blog?
Training is something a lot of people can easily see spending money on, because there’s such a definite return. For that same reason, people are suspicious of a training site where the course never ends, because that just looks like an excuse to suck money out of your PayPal account every month before you remember to cancel.
Unstructured advice and community-building can happen in a forum or BuddyPress set up, but that’s a hell of a lot of work to maintain, too. And maybe a bit harder to sell. I happily joined Sean D’Souza’s 5000bc member forums because of the massive value I received from a free course he gave away. I knew there was no question 5000bc would be worth my money every month.
Membership sites can have a live training and service element, too, apart from the more static content. For example, Clay Collins does regular mentorship calls with members of Project Mojave in addition to all the regular content.
If I had more time, I would’ve written something shorter, so my apologies for rambling. Just trying to get some shit to stick to the wall.
Michael Martine´s last blog ..Ten Steps to Rock Your Business Blog in 2010
Happy New Year James!
I have been blogging for less than a year (just about nine months) and it is currently my only means of making money – by choice (combined with a little bit of laziness and some help from a crappy economy).
I am basically playing a zero sum game where I make just enough to cover my monthly expenses (including a minor amount of discretionary spending).
I have decided to use 2009-2010 as a testing ground to see if I can continue to make money (and more of it) through entirely in online activities. Without boring you with the details, I used to work in the computer software industry as an engineer and consultant.
My blog currently provides indirect monetization only – I don’t have any advertisements or any affiliate links. My blogging provides an advertisement for my skills as a writer, blogger, and social media “definitely not an expert, but I play one on the Internet” expert.
All of my earnings currently are paid blogging (mostly as a ghostwriter) for other blogs.
I am only beginning to look into the potential (or lack thereof) of advertising, affiliate links, and creating and selling my own information products (e.g., e-books).
As I ponder this, I can definitely to your comment about the difference between “a fan who would cheer and love what I do… but who wasn’t (and would never be) an actual paying customer.”
I doubt my current “fans” would pay for any of my content (although, in fairness, I haven’t asked them yet, so who knows until, as you said, I start a conversation with them about the topic).
Chris Brogan has mentioned in a few of his recent conference speeches that he believes the future may be “sponsored blogging” – which I know is a future that is already here to a lesser extent than what he is predicting – and I also can’t speak to what he means in any detail, since I only heard the sound-bite a few times.
I also agree with Deb Ng that some blogs (and some niches) are harder to monetize than others. My niche is narrow and highly specialized, which is probably why I can make a decent amount of money for a limited number of ghostwriting gigs (at least for now, things change rapidly in the serendipitous “Series of Tubes” also known as the Internet).
I like the idea of adding a premium content section to my blog, which would prevent me from pissing off my “fans” by continuing to provide the “free” content they love now. I also agree with your remark to Rochelle’s comment – you don’t need a massive following, even if a small percentage of fans convert to customers, then even a small following could yield financial success.
I have often wondered what it would have been like if my blog had a “for premium members only” section right from day one. Would I still have the small, but thankfully currently loyal, fan base I have today or would the fact I had restricted content caused me to lose people before they could have even become fans?
I have also been toying with starting a separate premium blog – as opposed to the “put this behind a paywall” approach, but I am not sure if this would simply splinter my efforts.
Bottom line for me: I agree with you, wholeheartedly, we need to have more of these conversations. Thanks for starting this important discussion.
Jim Harris´s last blog ..Shut Your Mouth
I think it all depends what you are blogging for and what you are blogging about. If your just idly jotting down thoughts, venting or doing it just for pure self enjoyment then there is no real need to sell your services. However, if you have the nack for writing either thought provoking or viral stuff then perhaps you should earn a few quid from the whole process.
badger´s last blog ..Welcome 2010
If you’re a “pro” at what you do, then the good ol’ business model of offering a certain amount of value for FREE then charging for the premium stuff on the side will, in my opinion, never going to go out of style.
Sure, the delivery might change (video, audio… interactive crazyness) but in this economy, I’ve found reciprocation works really well. I think Gary Vee calls it the “thank you economy”. Has it worked? Well just see for yourself… after answering a sh*t load of emails everyday, speaking, doing videos and doing what his fan base wanted for like 4 years straight, they “thanked” him when the time came around and he released a product.
So for an entire blog to go premium-only is to shoot themselves in the foot… a hybrid approach is the future. There is a reason why the micro-subscription model is responsible for massive fortunes in the gaming industry. Sooner or later, the blogging platform will shift towards this also.
You can only sell so many ads and do sponsored affiliate articles before that nonsense stops working or bringing in the revenue all together.
FitJerk’s Fitness Blog´s last blog ..Recipe: Grilled Fish & Berry Blast – FitJerk Friday’s
Well put – Conversation is something we already naturally do, but how many of us really leverage it for change? Whether it’s personal change, business change, changing of life’s “rules” and questioning what works and what doesn’t. I think that is when we become true thought leaders…just my two cents for the morning!
Laura Cococcia´s last blog ..From The Afghan Women’s Writing Project: I Am For Sale, Who Will Buy Me?
Conversastion can resolve many problems but how much one put effort in listening .Even one listening , it took effort to change it into action .social,political,cultural things are getting so complicated day by day …so do conversastion ..like the dead clock shows correct time twice in a day still its of no use as u don’t know about the rest timing same way simply conversastion don’t take anywhere unless we assemble them with right people for right purpose.
I only subscribe to magazines with the highest level of content, and at a reasonable cost. And then only what I can manage to actually read. I see this ‘pay for content’ coming; someone will start it soon.
As, in my estimation, an average guy who reads blogs and researches on the net, your content will have to be the crown jewel of interest to get subscribers who pay. Obviously, I may be the only person on the planet who thinks like this.
I am hard pressed to think of a blog I would pay to read. Its not the ‘always been free’ concept that would keep me away. Its the ‘is it worth it’ idea that does it.
I believe if suddenly most superstar bloggers started pay-to-play subscriptions there would be a mass exodus of readers leaving those blogs. With the overwhelming glut of TMI anyway, it would not be a problem to find something to read.
All IMHO of course.
John Bardos, what you say about ebook pricing models is factually accurate while still being realistically icorrect.
You wrote that: “If your costs to produce one more unit are zero, prices will also approach zero in competitive markets… A great product like an ebook can temporarily make good profits but quickly begin to decline to close to zero, even in a long-tail economy.”
You used Apple’s iPod as an example of a “temporary monopoly” due to innovation.
But consider that the iPod first came out in October, 2001. That’s 8+ years that it’s been “temporary”. It was not the first MP3 player, or even the first high density one with a hard drive inside. It has never been the cheapest, or had the most features. (In fact, the iPod models continuously cost more, for less – in a pure sense.)
The iPod continues to succeed because MP3 players aren’t truly commodities. Sure, they can be — if you took the iPod away forever, none of the existing competitors could fill its shoes. The *competitor* products are like commodities, bought and sold on price and plain old feature sets. They’re all so BLAH.
eBooks also are not true commodities. There are many crummy ebooks out there — just like many crummy MP3 players — and THOSE ones are commodity-like. However, if you — like Apple — put real, honest, sweaty labor into making something wonderful, you can go on for a long, long tie.
Example: Nobody can really compete with my ebook, and it still sells 50-60 copies a month with no advertising, just over a year after I launched the first beta. And I raised the price to $39 a few months back. It’s not in a crazy niche like Train Your Cat To Use A Toilet And Talk, either. People know about it, and they know about my sales numbers, because I’ve written about it. It’s no secret. Just nobody out there can compete with me, and they know it.
This model — everybody thinks it’s a commodity except one or two companies, which totally kick ass in the market — is repeated everywhere. Look at Dyson. Look at OXO. Look at Lamborghini. Look at Lush. What could be more of a commodity than home vacuum cleaners, veggie peelers, cars, or soap?
And yet these companies de-commoditized themselves and make sooooooooo much money doing it.
Remember, people: for commodity pricing models (like John describes above) to work, the products have to be *exactly the same*. In short, they have to be true commodities. There’s a word for that, “fungible,” which means “you can exchange any one for the other.”
When that’s not true, then the whole “cost approaches zero blah blah” stuff does not apply.
And the beauty of creating your own products from nothing is that you can *make* it not be true.
Amy Hoy´s last blog ..Your Questions: Amy, how do you learn?
James,
This is the latest I’ve ever been to a MWP party, but I knew as soon as I was well I’d have something to say… just didn’t realize that was a couple of weeks off.
I love all the thinking out loud in the post and in the comments here. It’s true, though for those of us who’ve been in 2.0-ville for a long time it’s beginning to feel comfy and worn, while for the great majority of the world all of this is still incredibly new–so we still have that chance to start a revolution, or shape the future, or at least have a hand in it.
There’s a point that Michael made that’s so close to how I see it, that I wanted to jump off from his point:
Having worked with you on many occasions, James (and thanks for the shout-out), this will sound awfully familiar–
In my humble opinion, if we want to move to having our ideas (which become our writing) pay for themselves, what we’ll really have to start with is the potential customer’s objectives first.
Our own objectives to discuss the nuances of hand-crafting kayaks from polar bear hides and make money online from this writing are useless if we haven’t considered whether there’s a group of customers who’ll want to pay to learn what we want to pay to spread the word about… and whether we can be the most compelling voice in the kayak-building blogosphere, so that the customers not only enjoy, not only become paying devotees, but also help us spread the word of our incredibly valuable writings on bear-hide kayaks.
Is someone out there who needs what you do more than they need their morning Starbucks? What are his or her objectives?
Capture that information, and maybe you can push the revolution forward.
Regards,
Kelly
Kelly´s last blog ..Gone Fishin’?