In this day and age, everyone seems to be expecting to get everything for free. And, of course, they also expect the highest quality products and services for free. Having many years of experience in sales, I have had to deal with this evolution through many different venues. Some of which actually made sense. I’d like to focus on a few areas in which I side with the consumer in expecting something of high quality for free.
Music downloads.
OK, this has been a topic of great debate for the past several years. It has even involved huge lawsuits and lots of publicity. The problem is that the current generation of music consumers are so used to getting music for free, that they actually find it odd or simply “uncool” to have to pay for music. Now, being a musician myself, I have a pretty good understanding of the ins and outs of the music business. So, here’s my take on free music…
First off, the artists or songwriters have always historically gotten the short end of the stick when it comes to actually making money. The large record companies typically got much larger portions of any profits then the people that slaved to produce their labors of love. So here’s the simple solution. It should be up to the artist whether or not they want to give their music away for free. This can actually be a great way for an unsigned artist to promote themselves. Now as far as the big, signed corporate music goes, it should not be free. The main reason for this is the fact that it does cost a lot of money to create and record a great album, and promote it, and distribute it. However, with the current trend of selling music digitally through downloads, this can cut many costs like printing, duplication, shipping, and storage of the inventory. So, basically, music should be much cheaper, but not free (unless the artists chooses it to be). There should be plenty of room for a compromise that would save the record labels a lot of money, while still paying the artists their fair share, and giving the consumer quality products for a decent price. So, to sum things up, in the case of music, I feel that while it should not necessarily be free, there should some cases of free music, and that other music should be sold for a more resonable price.
Ebay.
Now here’s an example of what I consider “corporate greed”. Even though eBay is a well know, very functional quality website, time’s have changed, and they seem to be slow to respond. One of the main reasons that I say that is Craigslist.com. They have grown immensly in popularity, and still remain a free service (at least for a majority of the website). I think it would be totally fair for eBay to continue charging their Final Value fees, and even the listing upgrade fees, however they don’t need to charge people for listing their items too. Craigslist has grown so quickly because people can list in almost every category for free, and also avoid paying final value fees if the item sells. Yes, eBay will give you a lot more exposure, however, since the listings are free, it doesn’t cost the seller anything to simply list on Craigslist and just wait it out. Ultimately, you’ll make more profit for your item when it does sell. I have sold well over 200 items on eBay, and have recently sold several more on Craigslist, which is now my preferred selling platform. I do still use eBay, but only when they are having a special on listing fees, such as 3 cents per listing or something.
Online Dating.
You would think that online dating websites could justify charging for their services because what they are offering is a way for you to meet “quality people” from the comfort of your own home. This is definitely a great convienence, and a fun way to meet many people without having to actually get all dressed up, and spend a bunch of money at clubs and bars. However, once again, Craigslist has shown great popularity with the personal ads on their website. The downside is that their site is extremely basic, so not only are you limited to the ways of communicating with others, and expressing yourself, but it’s also way too easy for spammers to quickly create fake ads too.
Now comes the evolution of another free service. As we see with the popularity of sites like Craigslist, people are constantly looking for free services. One website in particular, FreePersonalClassifieds.com has found a simple solution. They provide a quality online dating website with many of the same features as the expensive pay sites, completely for free, while earning revenue with a few simple ads on each page. This is a true win/win situation. The consumer gets a valuable service for free, while the business can actually thrive as well. This should come as no surprise, since MySpace.com (which is also free) was sold several years ago for an estimated $580 million dollars because there was obviously huge money to be made in advertising, while still providing something of value for free.
So, the bottom line is this: Consumers are always looking for free stuff, and for some smart businesses, there obviously is a way to provide something for free while still having a profitable business that you can still feel good about.