The most effective way to make a living from attention paid online is to earn trust, connect a tribe and then sell something that isn't online. The Ironman triathalon, say, or Louis CK's concert tickets. Attention is precious and trust even more so.
Many folks, though, would like to be able to deliver a digital 'product', an ebook or video or some other online good that they can produce at low cost and sell in volume. There's a long history of brilliant writers and directors finding markets for their work using movies, books and other media that used to be new, and it would be gratifying if it could work here.
Unfortunately, most people do it wrong. They use a long sales pitch letter with highlighted boxes and fake testimonials. They make grandiose promises of secret riches or long-hidden techniques. And most disappointing to those that would build trust, they enlist a legion of affiliate salespeople, linking to one another and gaming search results or buying fake search ads.
There's a better way. Consider two counter-examples: Paul Wolfe's site about how to learn the bass, and Susan Piver's Open Heart project on meditation. I'm lucky enough to know both Susan and Paul, and I've seen how they've used the power of digital media to build successful businesses.
In both cases, the model is the same: it's free to get started. So free, in fact, that most people who engage discover that all they need is the free stuff. Since the marginal cost of sharing these samples is free, it costs them nothing to add one more person to the ever-growing list of those that trust, that pay attention and that gladly give permission to their teacher.
The magic comes in because of the inevitable movement of the most motivated students from free to paid. Not because the teacher has to hold anything back to sell out of panic or greed, but because the committed student is happy and eager to pay.
It's almost impossible to hold information hostage online. People are unlikely to sit still as you dangle something valuable but not share what's inside the box. The approach that Paul and Susan take is to eagerly share, and then to clearly delineate between what's free and what's not.
July 13, 2012
The application deadline for my free college student summer seminar is Friday morning. Please remind any college students you know that they're almost out of time…
The Kickstarter project I launched last month is almost over. The thing to get that's not yet sold out is the behemoth oversized best-of book, which is turning out to be really special, and this is going to be your best chance to get a copy.
I'm really enjoying Kurt Andersen's new book. It's always a treat when he publishes something.
July 12, 2012
This is bad news for market leaders, incumbents and those in favor of the status quo, and great news for everyone else.
And it happens again, fresh, every day.
Nick Schade makes beautiful handmade kayaks. One model is 18 feet long and it's built from plywood. The problem, of course, is that plywood comes in 8 foot long sheets.
Most people would work to hide the joint, to minimize it, to make it as invisible as possible. "Hey, if we have to do this, let's pretend we don't."
Nick stains the two pieces different colors and makes it into a feature. If you have a limit, perhaps it's worth embracing.
July 11, 2012
He invented the foundational science that led to radio, the AC motor and dozens of other concepts that enable us to live modern lives. He foresaw the energy shortage and global warming. He was also the model for the mad scientist in every bad movie ever made.
He was ridiculed, marginalized and ignored. When the media or the experts or the public didn't know what to do with the progress he pointed to, they shunned the messenger.
Tunis Craven, head of the FCC, said, "There is practically no chance that communications space satellites will be used to provide better telephone, telegraph, television or radio service inside the United States." Craven said this three years before satellites were used to bring the Olympics to the US from Japan.
Craven or Tesla? I think it's pretty easy to pick a role model.
July 10, 2012
If you have ever considered coming to one of my events, I'd appreciate it if you would take this quick two-question survey.
And, if you're a full-time college student, or you know someone who might benefit from an intensive three-day seminar in my office (it's a gift from me, there's no charge to attend), please share this with them. The deadline for applications is in just a few days, so hurry and apply if you're interested.
Thanks!
July 9, 2012
Too often, we're presented with choices that don't please us. We can pick one lousy alternative or the other. And too often, we pick one.
I was struck by Apple's choice to put a glass screen on the original iPhone. Just six weeks before it was announced, Steve Jobs decided he wanted a scratchproof glass screen. The thing is, this wasn't an option. It wasn't possible, reliable, feasible or appropriately priced. It couldn't be done with certainty, and almost any other organization would have taken it off the list of appropriate choices.
It was unreasonable.
And that's the key. Remarkable work is always not on the list, because if it was, it would be commonplace, not remarkable.
The artist says, "that sounds like business, and I want nothing to do with it. It will corrupt me and make me think small."
The businessperson says, "art is frightening, unpredictable and won't pay."
Because the artist fears business, she hesitates to think as big as she could, to imagine the impact she might be able to make, to envision the leverage that's available to her.
And because the businessperson fears art, she holds back, looks for a map, follows the existing path and works hard to fit in, never understanding just how vivid her new ideas might be and how powerful her art could make her.
There's often a route, a way to combine the original, human and connected work you want to do with a market-based solution that will enable it to scale. Once you see it, it's easier to call your bluff and make what you're capable of.
July 8, 2012
I woke up early to give a speech a few weeks ago and got dressed in the dark. Bad idea. I ended up wearing two slightly different brown shoes on stage, and I was sure that it was the first and only thing that anyone in the audience would notice. I was wrong.
People spend almost no time thinking about what you wear on your feet. A few hours after the meeting, we have no recollection at all about what tie you wore or how your hair was done.
On the other hand, we'll long be impacted by your big idea, the project you didn't launch and the gift you didn't give.
It's easy to obsess about trivia, mostly because the stakes are so small. What happens if we wonder about what we could do that might change everything instead?
July 7, 2012
"I don't want to belong to any club that will accept people like me as a member…" That's the (Groucho) Marxist credo.
You're invited to speak your mind online. To post thoughtful comments and tweets and posts. You're given a place where you can post your music, or your art or your photography or your take on the state of your industry…
Most of us refuse. We don't want to be part of a community that would have us, apparently. So we sit quietly and watch and take notes and absorb instead of joining the club of contributors.
Retweets are more common than tweets, and listeners are more common than singers.
Because we believe we don't belong. That we're not qualified. That someone with a louder microphone is better than we are.
Past tense perhaps.
Here's the thing: the number of people contributing is going up, and fast. The number of folks that are happy to speak up, to be a member of the contributing group, is as high as it's ever been.
Yes, we'd like to have even you as a member. Really.
July 6, 2012
