Make Things Free...Make Money

To quote one of my favorite t.v. shows, "SWAG! Stuff We All Get."(Steve Carrell - The Office).

The world seems to be giving stuff away. Just do a quick google search for "free stuff," and you're bombarded with promises of t-shirts, cups, memberships and so on. One of the great free trends is the trend of taking pay sites or what would be membership sites and making them totally free. Now with the advent of adsense, yahoo! search, and other ad serving programs, businesses have discovered a way to eliminate the burden of online monetary exchanges without sacrificing their potential revenues. As more and more companies pour money into ad programs the greater the need to create larger impressions. So what is out there that can be totally free? Many things I believe can benefit from adopting such systems. No more membership fees, no listing fees on eBay, etc.... Really, unless you are selling a product, there is no need to charge for things anymore. If companies are willing to spend millions on advertising, you might as well spend your time marketing. For example, one of the most successful free ventures out there was Plentyoffish.com. Amongst the plethora of pay dating sites came this simple database. Without the flashyness of aesthetic design, plentyoffish.com took on a sort of craigslist of dating. It gave users the opportunity to join this niche, with its simple interface and a few key services, without having to pay any outrageous sign-up fees. Through the use of ad serving, Plentyoffish.com was able to generate a substantial amount of revenue. I will not disclose how much they made, but let's just say it was enough. So my challenge to you is...what other services can you automate online that will eliminate an online exchange of money?

Advertising - Me, Myself and I

You've seen them, in the grocery, in the mall, just about everywhere there is a point of service. Its these damn plasma tv's, playing the same old ads over and over, but do they really work against the conventional print media? Many studies over the years have lead many companies to believe that the future of advertising is in digital signs. Of course, the dynamic media that is capable of being played can be much more attractive but maybe not as effective as we think. I recently went to a gas station where over every register there were silent commercials, one for a car, another for food and another for a lottery ticket...which I did end up buying as my bi-weekly ritual. The problem with digital ads is they are not mobile. Now I don't mean putting plasma tv's on a segway and driving them around, digital ads cannot be passed around like flyers. The advantage with paper media is that it is cheap and mobile. What it lacks in flare is made up with solid, quality impressions. I myself have developed a digital signage company. I had some success early on, and definitely saw the potential. Being able to pitch an exciting new means of advertising for small businesses was an easy selling point...almost too easy. "Hello business owner, are you struggling against the large corporations. I have an exciting new advertising network that will surely bring you prosperity and help brand your name in this community." Yes I could sell the product, but I did not wholeheartedly believe in it. I couldn't justify the money I was taking. I couldn't prove to the owners that their ads on my network were effectively herding consumers to their businesses. As a small businessmen myself, I shut down the operation and re-evaluated. I thought to myself how can I truly make an impression on a customer that is sitting behind the glow of these screens. Psychology. What is this person thinking, doing, watching, reading when they see these screens? I believe the future is here. I say, enough technology more psychology. Over the years, through the evolution of print ads and onto digital ads, not much has changed. Sure now we have video, but what good is video if it isn't focused. Sorry this was my rant post for the day, just something that was on my mind.