Dont Give It Away! A Manifesto To Save Internet Business

That's it. The FREE ride is over.

We have to stop giving it away.

Let me backtrack for a second.

Every now and then, you'll hear someone say "the best way to get someone to come to your website is to give away something for free". Sure, that's great if you are running your site as a hobby, but not as a business. I think the time is right: I think its time to say STOP!

One of the reasons real legitimate internet business is in the mess that it's in is that it got caught up in the myth of the free. The myth of the free is that your business can survive if you give away something of value for free. In the real business world, that's poppycock (or balderdash or baloney if you prefer)

That's right: giving away stuff for free is wrong in business: do you think your local hardware store would be in business long if it gave away its stock? Do you think your local grocery chain would be in business for long if it gave away free hams at Christmas? No: and if you believe that your web based business is a real business, you also must get away from the lure of the free. You have to stop using the word free; you have to stop giving away things of value for free.

For years, internet surfers have been trained to expect things for free. The internet bubble was built on giving stuff away for free. Some lamebrain even said "Information wants to be free" (as if it really cared!). Problem is, that is no real way to run a sustainable business.

And guess what? I think people realize that. I think that people are starting to realize, just now, now that most internet businesses have failed, that if you want something of value, you really should probably pay for it, otherwise the source of that value will probably disappear.

For example: one of our competitors (AskMe.com) provided a great service for free: they connected people with questions to people with answers. After a good long run, they shutdown their free public service, depriving thousands of people with a great source of knowledge. Why? Because it was completely unsustainable! (It would never have gone on for as long as it did without some $8M in funding) There is no way they could have maintained that service without paying for it somehow. They continued to pay until there wasn't any money left to keep it going.

How do I know that things are changing? People have been burned by the free: one day, their favorite free site is up, the next it's gone, because the company couldn't stay in business. And they feel guilt: maybe the site could have kept going if only they'd paid.

Many times, I've gotten calls from prospective members and journalists asking "How do you make money" (I run an expert advice site). What they really want to know is "Are you going to stay in business?" and "Can I DEPEND on you?" and I'm happy to say "Yes" because we charge for our services, people pay for them, and we make money, just like a real business. And your business, if you want it to stay a active, vibrant business, should do the same.

We need to change our mindset: We need to look at things with a fresh eye. We need to get people used to things like VALUE again: We need to retrain people to stop accepting something for nothing. We need to make the phrase "TANSTAAFL" mean something again!

Do your part today:
Stop giving away that free report.
Stop giving away that free screensaver you slaved over.
Stop giving away that free software you wrote.

If those things have value: then stop giving them away. You see, every time we give people things of value for free; they expect more things of value for free, and it DE-values the things that have value.

So start now, on your own site: take down that free whitepaper, or better yet, charge them a few cents for it (there are ways to do this nowadays). Help train people to get them back to the way they were, to shopping at real businesses, to build a real internet economy. Help them understand again that to get something of value, it will cost them.

Some wise soul said "You Get What You Pay For". People have forgotten this simple truth of business. Let's help people remember it.

And then internet business will survive and thrive again.

About the Author

Chris Kalaboukis is CEO of SwapSmarts - a leading expert advice marketplace: swapsmarts.com .Chris has 17+ years of experience in internet, information technology and business development with high-end web design, wireless, high-speed internet deployment (via cable modem) and entertainment companies.

chrisk@swapsmarts.com
http://www.swapsmarts.com