How to get away from ‘free’

If there is one key issue that many media companies and other companies offering services and content on new media are struggling with it’s how to get out of the ‘free’ swamp? How to capitalize on what they’re doing (even if that may indeed be a ‘freemium’ model).

Kevin Kelly wrote a piece the other day on The Techium about why people pirate stuff. And I honestly think there are some great ideas in there that might help towards solving the challenge of ‘free’.

Kevin Kelly uses the example of game developer Cliff Harris, who was so sick and tired of having his games pirated that he asked the pirates themselves, why they went to the trouble of pirating his stuff instead of paying him the paltry 20 USD per game?

The answers were quite interesting, and below I have tried to put them into a more broad context than just game development.

“It’s overpriced for what were getting.”

Think about that for a second. Take a hard look at your offering. Maybe it’s just not good enough to warrant payment. Demand may not be high enough to warrant payment (you don’t solve a real felt need), or your product may be such a commodity that it’s essentially considered free (helloooo, media news sites).

Don’t blame the freeloaders. Blame yourself for not making a better product, people will gladly pay for.

“There are too many barriers to use”

This is said in the context of DRM, payment etc., but it should none the less be a wake up call to everybody regarding the importance of user interface and really making things simple. One thought here might be to make things so simple that there’s really no reason to copy it.

Cliff Harris made some important changes to his offering. But to me the most interesting and reassuring part is this ‘moment of truth’:

Ironically, one of the things that reduces your enthusiasm to really go the extra mile in making games is the thought that thousands of ungrateful gits will swipe the whole thing on day one for nothing. It’s very demoralizing. But actually talking to the pirates has revealed a huge group of people who really appreciate genuinely good games.

The emphasis is mine. Message here: Caring for quality, standing out and delivering it relentlessly time and time again is appreciated by the people out there. In fact so much that it may even get money out of their pockets.

Definately worth a gamble.

Vad NU! is a consultancy company owned by Mads Kristensen and specialized in helping clients take advantage of the business opportunities created by new media. Click to learn how I can help you and your company.