the Wisdom of the Free

   I love the idea of giving away free stuff. From the “thinking out loud” file, here is some reasoning behind it. I've been consuming at such a clip of late I'm unclear how many of the following authors proposed this, but several of them did champion the wisdom of the free give-away as a method of ingratiating a potential client base. David Meerman Scott (in World Wide Rave: Creating Triggers that Get Millions of People to Spread Your ideas and Share Your Stories) may have. Seth Godin (in Free Prize Inside / Purple Cow) most likely did. And Joel Comm (in Twitter Power. How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time) most definitely forwarded the idea.
   Here's an example. I came across a friend on a social network who had asked for "some words of inspiration." My knee-jerk reaction was to seek something to forward, which I did.
   What I found was one of my all time favorite volumes, near as I can tell at first blush, in its entirety (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=9&ved=0CEIQFjAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.abuddhistlibrary.com%2FBuddhism%2FF-%2520Miscellaneous%2FMiscellaneous%2520Buddhism%2FEssays%2FArticles%2520by%2520various%2520teachers%2FMy%2520Favorite%2520Hafiz.pdf&rct=j&q=hafiz+laughing&ei=P5sgTM3lIYL88AaFm5R0&usg=AFQjCNE0N9ccsoAY-7TE1iBhP7XSqyFTCw&sig2=wb5g9MIqvYC5ZslXRmCcsQ) I Thought I Heard God Laughing was Daniel Ladinsky's first book.

   I was sensitive to this for several reasons. First, I count Dan as a personal friend. We loosely worked together years ago and have since crossed paths in pleasant quality. Second, I know full well that despite most of Dan's works having spent time on the New York Times bestseller list, poetry is not a commodity that will ensure multi-billions in revenue. So why would he have allowed a free pdf of his book?

   It turns out, however, this is a great example of the free. As I know Dan, he's hardly attached (if at all) to anything. This is an excellent condition to start with. One really needs to feel complete in letting something go. Next, God Laughing has likely peaked its monetizing time, which means what other use might it serve? Its next use may well be to establish long term traction for future word of mouth (Chris Anderson's The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More).

   To the degree to which the item has value, to that degree making it free will yield dividends. No, one doesn't want to give away everything. But in the balance, with perspective, one can see how such a dynamic can work well; even on an individual basis.