The End of Free Content on the Internet
Most bloggers give their content away for free. It’s what we do. It’s the nature of the beast.
But is it a smart strategy?
Yes and no.
As an attraction strategy to draw an audience in, giving away free content makes complete sense. It’s the carrot at the end of the line. It’s the hook you use to provide additional services or sell additional products.
Wait…you mean you don’t offer anything extra? You’re focused on monetizing with AdSense and Google searches? It’s an obvious strategy, in the sense that everyone’s doing it, it’s relatively easy to setup, and we’ve heard plenty of success stories of people many thousands and thousands of dollars. But does it really make sense? There has to be more right?
There’s an old saying: Those that can, do - those that can’t, teach.
Not anymore.
My friends Brian Clark and Tony Clark (not related, or so they tell me) have just launched their new business: Teaching Sells.
And to kickstart things they’ve released a free report on how to really making money on the Internet. Forget monetizing free content. Virtual teaching environments is where it’s at - leveraging your expertise, your knowledge and your free content to get people to pay you money for your work.
I read the report last night. It’s great. Well-written (no surprise), easy to get through, lighthearted but serious. And nicely illustrated (again, no surprise, if you’ve ever read Tony Clark’s blog: Success from the Nest.)
Go check out the report now.
(Note: I don’t make any money by sending you over there.)
The report will help you understand how you’ve been bamboozled into putting in a ton of effort to try and eke out some dollars via AdSense and Google. It’s a compelling argument. Having said that, I’m not opposed to monetizing free content. There is value there, and I’ve seen successful businesses built on that model. But it’s certainly far from easy.
Thinking about that old saying about teaching, I have a new saying to propose:
“Those that can, teach - those that can’t work their butts off to monetize free content aimlessly with minimal success.”
I’m sure Teaching Sells will be a huge success. You won’t find two more trustworthy and focused guys out there. And they know what they’re doing.
(And yes, the headline is a gross exaggeration but I can’t help myself.)
I’m sure you knew a headline like that would lure me out of the bushes…
I’m not interested in “montezing my content” through AdSense. I oppose the practice. But yet, I’m happy to give away my content for free without prejudice.
Why? Because for me, a blog is a mind on display. I put my thinking online so that later, at some point down the road, future clients/employers/business associates can evaluate me in the purest way possible: based on my ability to think and communicate that thought clearly, persuasively and articulately.
This represents a deferred, but far greater (I expect) and more meaningful (in my opinion) way to benefit from one’s blog.
Mat - I wrote the headline just FOR YOU. *grin*
Without a doubt, a blog is an excellent way of developing and promoting your personal brand. And doing so without monetizing makes sense.
I’ve done some monetization on this blog, mostly for experimentation purposes, but I also see Instigator Blog as a way of “putting myself out there” so potential clients, partners, etc. can see what I’m all about.
But for many that’s not the real focus of blogging, they’re doing it to make money directly from it. And there’s nothing wrong with that, except for the fact that it’s a lot harder than people would like you to believe.
And of course, I’d always argue that any amount of blogging develops a personal brand, whether you’re monetizing or not, so people should be aware of that.
I concur with Mat, Ben. I like to read blogs that take me somewhere and challenge me. If a great number of bloggers began to sell their “wares” through couses, these would glut the market. Don’t quite know where that would lead. Ideas???
Robyn - I don’t think you’ll see a glut of teaching products / paid courses online from bloggers because it will take more work than producing free content on the fly.
And, when you’re “forced” to produce the content into something cohesive, with supporting materials, etc. it means really evaluating the quality of your content and deciding if it’s good enough to pull off and worth making the investment.
Having said that, if there is a glut of this stuff, it’s not something that bothers me. Just like the glut of blogs doesn’t overly concern me. I’m still able, with a critical eye and a network of people, decide what’s worthwhile for me to read and pay money for.
Hey Ben,
I love the site. Keep up the good content.
I haven’t read the report but from your post I think you are right. The most common way to make real money is to market other services. And a big way people might not even think of is to market yourself and get a job.
They might not be paying you for your blog but they might have decided to offer you a job based on 1) what the blog says aobut your abilities and 2) your reputation…
@Rachel: Thank you. I appreciate the kind words!
@John: Without a doubt, blogging can help you get a job. Of course, the reverse is true as well, depending on what you’re publishing. I’ve written a few times about how all social networking is business-related and professional.
I know when I’m hiring for Standout Jobs, I look for people who are blogging about the industry. I check out their del.icio.us bookmarks, etc. I learn about them, how participatory they are, and how truly interested they are in what’s going on.
It is a common refrain in Business Schools that those who can manage, manage. Those who can not, teach management!
Brian and Tony have hit on the biggest link bait this side of the blogosphere, allegedly. Everyone, but everyone is talking about their new scheme.
Are we going to abandon our blogs and start teaching? I doubt it. Just as with the next big idea, most people will not bear the change and will maintain the status quo. Whatever you want.
Are Brian and Tony going to abandon tradition? Almost certainly not, they’re drawing in a massive audience and will, I suspect, be monetizing right now without even having to start feeding out the tutorials. Good luck to them!
db
David - I wouldn’t consider what Brian and Tony are doing as “linkbait.” They’re building a business. I know that, because I’ve spoken to both of them about it, and met Tony many months ago when he was talking about what they’re doing.
This isn’t a “get a ton of publicity to monetize with blogs” type approach (or scheme) — it’s “get a ton of publicity to monetize by building a business.” Who wouldn’t want that?
Yes, I agree badly worded. I wasn’t meaning it was linkbait in any derogatory sense, rather that the very nature of what they’re trying to do is baiting a lot of bloggers to discuss it…
db
@David - That’s very true. I wasn’t baited, I just wanted to promote them because I believe in what they’re doing. But Brian Clark is very, very, very good at drawing attention and buzz. Tony’s no slouch either.
Hey, Ben, wasn’t trying to imply that you’ been baited…not by master baiters not by anyone, just seem to have seen their names and their concept again and again this week, all respect
d
David - I know. I didn’t think you were being negative, just clearing the air on my front.
When I wrote the post I thought about it; because I rarely do “promotional stuff” for people…
We’re all good.
And I’m sure Brian and Tony are as well!
It’s interesting that I should have read their intro this week, because it *is* a concept I’ve been thinking about for a long while. Many years ago, I wrote a whole tranche of science experiments for a part work publication. They paid me, but the part work was never published, so all those experiments went to waste. I’ve been thinking how they might be repackaged for the net generation…at a price, preferably. This could give me the impetus to get on and convert them…
db
Most people are lazy and that’s why they choose adsense etc.
It’s easy to write a bunch of crap and throw up some ppc ad networks or affiliates.
It’s at least ten times harder to actually write something worth selling and then getting up from in front of the computer and actually going out and selling ad space.