Kindly find below our updated price list for your consideration …
| Item | Price | Supplier |
| Courses & Tutorials | FREE | Youtube, Blogs … |
| Global Client Database | FREE | Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter … |
| Market Insight & Trends | FREE | Twitter, Google Wave … |
| Customer Feedback | FREE | Facebook, Twitter, SurveyMonkey … |
| Global Talent Pool | FREE | LinkedIn … |
| Viral Marketing | FREE | All of the Above … |
| Infinite knowledge | FREE | All of the Above and more … |
The Internet has provided us with the platform of information sharing – however, it was not completely free. Companies where using the web as a tool to push their product/services onto customers – very similar to other traditional media, like TV. But that is the old Internet – before the Web 2.0 era – before Social Media. If you are still charging for information, you might want to reconsider your pricing strategy. If you don’t, I can assure you that you’ll be out of business very soon! It’s out there for grabs and it’s all FREE!!!
As a marketing professor, I am sometimes asked by my students how come I don’t teach from a book, and my answer is more often than not “I am no thief!” In my opinion, the university textbooks have become obsolete – Seth Godin said it beautifully in his blog entitled “Textbook Rant” and I quote “Any professor of intro marketing who is assigning a basic old-school textbook is guilty of theft or laziness”. This is FREE info, you cannot charge for it and claim ownership.
This is only one example – think of Head Hunters – if they are still charging you as an employer or as a job seeker for their mere services of match making that you are being ripped off. I would recommend you setup a LinkedIn account and save yourself the unnecessary cost.
Interested in finding out what everybody is talking about, what the latest buzz word is, what the latest trends are … just create an account on Twitter – if used properly, this tool can become one of your primary sources of information – it’s viral!
Are you still charging for these services? Maybe it’s time to change, everybody else is providing them for FREE – Think About It
I love to learn and I love to share,
I really don’t care when or where.
But as true as food doesn’t appear from the air,
involved might be a small token of a fare.
Certainly that is not too much to bear,
whilst your profits grow you just don’t care.
Don’t forget:
Charity is neither bare nor slim,
and though I’d gladly pay you or him
for a learning experience far from dim,
quality for “value” needs often be trimmed
when everyone chases the profit margin.
Though I admit: If learning
were like breathing,
It would all be win win!
I’m not sure that I agree. While I agree that the MOST fortunate and the least fortunate should not be divided by access to knowledge, I can’t say that that I agree that knowledge is free. Does that not change it’s value? Are you saying that the knowledge you share there’s no value in it? or you just shouldn’t charge for it?
I also think that yes, in the form that they are in – books are becoming obsolete. However, I think the purpose of books does not change. Someone took the time to gather, revise, review, and organize information into digestible bits. Are you saying their time is not worth SOME thing to the masses if it’s good information and good guidance?
Knowledge is certainly not free, information is though. It’s what you make of that information that transforms it in valuable knowledge, only then can you put a price tag on it. Price is only a part of the Value equation. Therefore, something being dubbed as free does not necessarily dub it as valueless!
The knowledge I share on my blog is of a certain value that varies from one person to another. It’s free, I’m not charging for it. Yes, it does bring in some business for my marketing consultancy – that’s the Catch in Free as I wrote in a follow us post! But the fact remains, I’m expressing my passion about Marketing and all its magic, in the hope of inviting people like you in conversing with me and exploring the different possibilities – that’s how info transcends onto new knowledge!
As for books, I read many of those and certainly they are of great value regardless of the form they are in audible, hard copy, electronic copy … I love them! I’m referring with my post to mere text books that sound redundant and add no value – wouldn’t you agree that as a marketing student, if i wanted to learn about the 4Ps, I could simply google it and get around 200 thousand hits. Why do I need to pay for that info (in the form of a textbook purchase) when it’s readily available for FREE.
I appreciate book that add a certain personal experience … that go beyond the definitions and the acronyms and focus more on cases, examples, analysis, recommendations … This is also inline with my thought about professors who teach from the textbook – what value is he/she adding to the student! Personally, I would recommend they simply give out syllabus at the start of their course and ask student to look into the subject and come back with questions, then the teacher can explain and provide examples from around the world, and from his own experience! It might sound radical, but this is how I believe Education 3.0 should be! Think About It!