“Information wants to be free.”
-Chris Anderson

The debate about Free rages on…

On the side of Free:

• Social Media, and its ridiculous valuations.
• Google, and its ridiculous revenue.
• Seth Godin, with the “Books are Souvenirs” publishing model
• Chris Anderson, the evangelist of Free

On the side of not-Free

• Traditional Publishers of Content
• 37 Signals
• Old-school businesses that can’t figure out what the hell to do
• Malcolm Gladwell

Whoa.

On both sides of this debate are incredible thinkers, incredibly smart and successful companies, and a lot of profits. Also, on both sides, are some real stinkers. Everyone is convinced that they are right, that history is on their side, that the laws of economics and psychology will win out in the end (vindicating their position).

Here’s the thing about all this…

You people keep forgetting that there is more than one way to make money.

The Case Against Anti-Free

The anti-free people keep pointing out that Twitter is free and doesn’t make any money, so therefore you shouldn’t give stuff away. The problem with Twitter (and all the other money-losing Social Media platforms) isn’t that they give stuff away. The problem is that they never (as far as we know) thought through how to make money.

Google gives away (almost) everything. Free search. Free email. Free maps. Free analytics. Free documents. Free everything. Oh… wait. You want to buy some ads? Awesome. Just pay, like, a nickel. Great.

WordPress, the most awesome blogging and CMS platform ever, is free. Free software, free support forums, free themes, free plugins. Automattic seems to be making a profit. Hmm…..

When I lived in Florida, I got to shop at the world’s most wonderful grocery store, Publix. They gave out a lot free samples, something almost every week. Around the holidays they threw in-store parties. Free food. Not just samples, either. Plates of turkey, ham, ice cream, pie, mashed potatoes, peanut brittle, cheese, sushi. Wine, egg nog, hot cocoa. Live music. All of it free. You didn’t have to buy anything. But you know, as long as you’re here…

The case against pro-Free

The anti-free people lambaste the free people with “shouldn’t you get paid for your time and effort?”

Yeah, yeah. Whatever.

The real problem with the “everything is free” people is that they talk (and think?) like we live in the matrix and everything is digital information. They talk about moving away from atoms and towards bits. They talk about how the cost of delivery approaches zero. They talk and talk.

Um… I can’t eat bits. I can’t fuel my car with bits. I can’t live under bits.

Free only works with media… information and entertainment.
You can give away free samples of food, but only for so long.

Writers, bloggers, Social Media gurus, computer nerds, and all the other people who lead this conversation (on both sides, really) mostly make their money in media, information, entertainment, and other bit-driven industries. That’s fine. Free movies? Great! Free news? Of course!

Free software? Well… maybe.

Free food? Sure… but here’s a coupon for that mustard you’re eating.

Free oil? Not on your life.

The digital economy of consumerist America is great and all, but it’s really just a way to move money around and keep everyone occupied. The essentials (food, shelter, heat) and the near-essentials (communication, transportation) will never- can never- be free. If you’re wondering why China is getting all rich and powerful- it’s because they make things. Actual real things. Things that have mass and displace water.

If China is the future (a lot of people think so), then clearly an economic model based on producing fake things that don’t cost anything to copy is not the way forward.

So, what then…

Macro

(That means the world.)
While the high-level emphasis on value-add, knowledge work seems forward thinking, the only way to reclaim/retain economic dominance is through making things we can export for money.

Make things. Export them for money.

Micro

(That means you.)
Free is, obviously, not a revenue model. Without revenue, you don’t have a business.

So, what does that mean?

Free has to be thought of as a Marketing tool. Like the free samples at Publix, only turbocharged.

But you have to have something to market. Whether it’s souvenir books, consulting services, advertisements, or speaking engagments, Free is only viable if there is a sensible monetization plan. You can market Nothing if you want, and market it quite effectively. But it’s impossible to build a business on that. At best, you have a hobby. At worst, you have a multi-billion dollar not-funny joke.

Don’t be scared of Free. Or suspicious.
Or in love.

Free is another tool. You can take out ads in the Yellow pages. You can hire a blimp to fly your logo. You can cold-call people at dinner time. You can sponsor a public radio show. You can make a funny YouTube video. You can get a celebrity to wear your stuff. You can…

There’s an almost infinite number of things you can do to market what you sell. Free is one of them. Use it if it works. Don’t use it if doesn’t.

Stop arguing.

Okay, wait-
Don’t stop arguing.

Please move your arguments to the comment section of this post.

It’s free!

This post is part of the Brogan 100.
Learn more here and here.