How do you sell something we’re used to getting for free?
A mass trend has hit the Internet, it sneaked in so subtly it almost went unnoticed.
The problem: The Internet is truly free, there is little or nothing you can’t get for free. Do you write standard fill-in-the-blanks legal documents? I can download them from docstoc. Do you write your own music? I can download via piratebay. Do you create websites? I can get a free one with Microsoft…
This has been damaging for so many industries, but now they’re actually playing the system and making a mint… how?
Solution: Microcharging.
iTunes are fully aware that MP3′s can be downloaded for free, albeit illegally. They came in with low low costs for singles and even less if you buy the whole album. MP3s can be downloaded for 79p! 10 years ago, I could buy a single for around £4 so that’s a big improvement. Who wouldn’t pay 79p to stay on the right side of the law for a track they liked?
Facebook charge for little graphic images, and little adverts. The majority of these cost around $1… it’s pocket money… of course who are the target market?
Digital photo printing generally costs 10-50p per print. 10-50p and the wait for delivery is well worth not having to fiddle with the printer, top up the ink and sort out paper jams, what a bargain.
Nintendo Wii. You can purchase wii points in blocks of 1000 for £7.50. For that you can download games which are now available for free online. Of course you can’t put them on your wii without a small cover charge.
In the US, mobile users pay to receive an SMS message. Twitter are cashing on to this with their mobile alerts (and a cushy deal with the networks. Which is why they stopped in the UK, here the billing is the other way round losing twitter money)
The list goes on.
Do you have something that doesn’t decrease when sold? eBooks, help-sheets, anonymous questionnaire data? These are great places to start as they require little or no action from you per sale.
Naturally this system works on volume, but with the right product(s), 1000 downloads at £1 each… I won’t insult intelligence by showing you the answer… you get the picture. If run through Paypal, your users won’t even have to hunt for their wallets (assuming they have an account)
Is microcharging the missing link in social networking sites? Is it the missing link to Twitter’s fortunes? How else could we use microcharging as individuals or a collective?
Tags: free, marketing, microcharging, sales, selling
