Anderson's seminal work, "The Long Tail" helped explain to a generation how the distribution model of the Internet has fundamentally changed economics of many businesses by spreading fixed costs over previously unimaginably huge audiences/markets. He continues in this vein in "Free" by tackling the "free economy" and what makes it tick.
In "Free," I learned about Anderson's six models of free:
- Freemium
- Ad-supported
- Cross-subsidized
- Zero marginal cost
- Labor exchange
- Gift Economy
and the important but often-overlooked distinction between "gratis" ("free as in beer") and "libre" ("free as in speech").
The lessons I took away from "Free" are twofold:
- Buy side: When I am offered something for free, I am more guarded, inclined to want to understand why I'm getting the offer (what is the premium item they will have earned the right to sell me? do they want my contact information? am I expected to contribute content back to a community in return? can I "free ride" on this offering?)
- Sell side:I am more cognizant that the best way to sell consulting services is to give a little bit away. This frequently means providing clients and prospects with something of value at no charge during what consulting guru David Maister calls the "courting" and "super-pleasing" processes. I've always known intuitively that this was the right thing to do, but this book helped me sharpen my thinking about it, and consider it as part of the professional service firm's economic model.
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