The thing about 'free'

Seth Godin does a short analysis of The thing about 'free'.

I found this interesting especially with regards to the selling of the party newspaper, Green Left Weekly. For years, people have been asking why we did not give it away like The Epoch Times (Monthly from Falun Gang) or MX (Daily from News Limited). Our response has always been that the cost of the newspaper implies a commitment. In this regard, Mr. Godin would agree.

Mr. Godin writes:

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That got me thinking about free music, free samples and other free interactions. They're different. Paying a dollar for a song isn't expensive to anyone who pays $3 for a cup of coffee. The dollar isn't about expense, it's about selection and choice and commitment.

There is no commitment, one way or the other, for free. If applying to college were free, the number of schools people would apply to would approach infinity--yet the cost of the application is trivial compared to the cost of tuition.

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As you think about your web service or your newsletter or the sales calls you go on, consider this: could you charge for it? What would happen if you paid for it? Time share folks have been paying people to endure a sales call for years. My guess is that this is because it works. And trade shows charge people to attend what is essentially a large loud sales call show floor. (Important note: 'charging' doesn't always mean cash money. Giving you large amounts of attention or privacy or data counts too).

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Emphasis Mine

In our case, this last point would refer to getting the contact details, and having a long political discussions with people on the street. And a person's willingness to be seen publicly with us indicates a large degree of commitment because of the anti-terror laws. They are putting their livelihood and liberty at risk.

Yes, we do give the newspaper away for free at times. Usually to the homeless (not very often), and we give away last week's edition to anyone who wants to see what the paper is about. I even let people browse through the newspaper for free.

There is no hard and fast rule. If they are walking by and ask for a free newspaper, I would say no because they have minimal commitment. If they stop and argue, and then ask for a free newspaper, I would have still said no. But after reading Mr. Godin's post, I would now consider saying yes because they have demonstrated a degree of commitment that is opening a channel for communication.