Is Wired’s FREE cover story misleading?
I just got done reading Chris Anderson’s 6,000 word preview for his upcoming book Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business. In short, the article examines cross-subsidies (read: giving away razors to sell razor blades) as they pertain to the web products and their near-zero operating costs. You can have a free lunch so long as someone else picks up the tab, maintains Anderson.
While the article was informative, I don’t think the strategy of giving is “the future of business,” rather it’s an effective marketing tool for select web companies — not everyone, and especially not for offline ventures. Still, Anderson presents some compelling evidence that “free” will become more ubiquitous than I currently believe.
Ironically, and in an effort to deflect the “wait a minute, your product isn’t free” criticism, Wired is offering up to 10,000 copies of its March 2008 issue at not cost to you (a fraction of the 500,000+ issues the publisher sells every month, mind you). Not quite what I’d call “practice what you preach,” but then again, I don’t think Anderson’s article endorses the demise of direct sales altogether, even if his headline does.
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February 26th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
It looks like a link-bait piece to sell magazines.
Magazines will almost always give you a free copy to get your information.
February 26th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
I have so many problems with this BS I don’t even know where to start. I think I’ll sit down over the weekend and tear this idea apart.
March 1st, 2008 at 5:44 pm
I agree that FREE works for web companies, but giving in broader sense works for offline ventures as well.
Giving is a powerful tool. Giving generates motion and the giver can change the direction of that motion.
More info in my free book: Strategy of Giving.