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This my 100th post on sethsimonds.com.
I think it’s fair to say that I’ve given you a decent body of work to judge me by.
Now, how would you like me to monetize my online presence?
Would you like me to update my Twitter account with a few tweets each day to various products? Would you like me to begin writing sponsored articles on this blog? Perhaps you’d like me to privatize my writing and charge a modest subscription fee to read my work?
Free is dead. Free doesn’t help me support charities or give of my time and talent to people, causes, and projects that need it most. Free doesn’t create relationships, it fuels apathy.
Am I worth money to you?
Free isn’t dead. It’s just (mostly) misunderstood. But that’s not the reason I want to share my reaction to this post. I wonder if you’re asking the right question (Am I worth money to you?). A more appropriate title could be: How Much Do You Value What I Do?
The collapse of the publishing industry suggests that people no longer feel the need to pay for content – or at least to pay for content directly. People also are leery of too much advertising, spam, and anything else that isn’t adding some value (whether intellectual, social or entertainment) to their activities online.
But the reaction from content producers seems – at least to me – chaotic and misguided. It seems to me that in an effort to find the quickest path between point A (content) and point B (money), we’re missing an opportunity to redefine how content producers could make money. For example, you’ve asked whether you should allow in-stream Twitter ads, write sponsored articles on your blog, or charge a subscription fee for reading your blog. Those are indeed available options – and many are trying to figure out which of these, if any, are appropriate for them and their audience. But those are not the only possible options. Search based (adwords-like) advertising on http://search.twitter.com, email supported ads for notifications from twitter are all possible ways to monetize Twitter without directly compromising the conversations and the content. I’m going to write more about that in an upcoming blog post. I’m surprised that nearly everything I’ve read over the past few weeks seems to settle for what’s available rather than to suggest better options.
I suggested you consider asking a different question because you’d receive more meaningful responses. I respect you and am always intellectually challenged by the content you’re creating. Does that mean I’d pay for it? Does that mean I’d accept in-stream ads?
I don’t know. And even if I said I did – would I really mean it? Many outstanding publications are worth money to me. But I don’t subscribe to them.
Your question forces me to think about money before value, and as we’re seeing in the publishing industry, the answer isn’t an encouraging one. How much do I value what you do? A lot! That should be the start of the discussion…
I’m not up for asking touchy-feely questions like that. I get enough of that reading through social media blogs. =)
I think the general mentality for advertisers/marketers is, “find out where people are looking and try to sell them something there.”
Wouldn’t we need to move away from that approach entirely before a new model could see real growth? Now that we can track word-of-mouth through text-based conversations (and soon voice, once Google gets enough data), how much does that change the way in which we initially get the word out?
I’m wondering what kind of new model/real growth your advocating here.
Care to expound upon it a bit more?
Selling out your public voice diminishes your value and is the fastest path to zero.
Giving away your public voice raises your value and intrigues us to want more. This is the slow path to building credibility.
Then, selling private thoughts — agency work, consulting, specialized white papers — to the clients who inquire, wanting more, raises your value and achieves monetization. This maintains your credibility and integrity, because if you are not authentic in such recommendations, clients will fail and know you lied. If you are authentic in such private thoughts and clients succeed, they will know you told the truth. This is the hard path to success.
Thanks, Obi Wan.
What’s the fast path? =)
[...] that companies should leverage re-tweets for in-stream advertising. Seth Simonds asks whether he is worth money to his followers/reader. The discussion has even moved into the mainstream media – The New York Times cautions [...]
Seth, history says that advertising is the answer. It probably comes down to what kind of advertising you feel most comfortable with. I also feel that there is a growing pushback against free and unmonitized content. This will probably continue to grow as the idealists are confronted with hard ecnomic realities (we’ve all got to eat).
Although my first reaction is to bristle at the idea of paying a subscription fee, the reality is that I only regularly read a handful of blogs (yours, Godin, Brogan, Mendelson, and Chandler). So I guess if the subscription method took off, I could continue my reading habits economically.
I think this line of thinking will slowly start sinking into the social consciousness. I see this happening as the quality of content starts matching it’s price. Let’s face it, talented people won’t work for free forever.
Sorry for the rambling comment, but it’s your fault for asking such a thought provoking question!
A very interesting question, my friend. I’ve struggled with this as well and all the options seem to have pros and cons.
I think that the subscription model is not going to go very far for most of us. Although an option is to package a series of blogs in the same way that cable and satellite TV companies package channels. Hmmm — interesting angle there that might be something to pursue.
Sponsored articles isn’t a bad approach if the product is something that fits with your blog and you approach it with the integrity that you have displayed to this point.
Ads and affiliate programs are also an option whether in the blog or twitter stream (or both).
Another possibility is to put some of your best work into an ebook.
There are many avenues to monetization and I haven’t figured it out yet for myself, so I can’t really say what would be best for your situation. But the fact remains that you do need to have some income and, frankly, recognition of the talent and effort you bring to the table.
There will be those who don’t want to see your blog once it becomes “commercial”, but the vast majority of people are used to seeing this on the web and in real life. I don’t think you’ll lose many readers that way, and those that you do don’t really support you.
Good luck with figuring it all out. I’m looking forward to seeing what approaches you use and hope that you are successful at it.