A Social Media Business Model That's Really Social

(Photo courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons)

There is a lot of talk these days regarding social media business models. Let me propose one that's truly social -- give content away freely. That is to say, share what you've learned from others with others who have a need to learn it, and do so without a financial transaction being involved. 

Think of it as mentorship or paying it forward or, to put it in somewhat biblical terms, discipleship. We all have individuals who have influenced and taught us. What I'm talking about is becoming that sort of person to someone else. 

For quite some time I've been influenced by something author David Meerman Scott said, you've got to turn loose of your content, making it freely available to others. Ungate it, don't charge for it, don't put up barriers to its access. 

I've even thought it would be a good idea to take on some "mentees" and teach them everything I know, charging nothing for the privilege. If they want to pay me, fine; if not, that's fine as well; they still receive the benefit of my knowledge. 

In some respects that's what Chris Brogan is doing through his blog. He exemplifies this "give and it shall be given" attitude. (And I think you would agree, he's done quite well because of it, at least if book sales are any indication.) 

Yet another such person is Mike Sansone, who the people in his home town of Des Moines refer to as the blogging "godfather." Every month he meets with a group of others at their local Panera to discuss the hows and why of business blogging and social media marketing. Having talked with Mike at some length about this, I told him its as if he's a shepherd to these people. They hold him high esteem and implicitly trust his insights. 

While I think my time and intellectual capital is worth something, I hate to propose that it's worth a certain something. No matter what amount I may determine, it's going to be prohibitive for some and not enough to convince others that I have what it takes. I'd rather remove the financial barrier from the equation altogether and let the individual (or company) make the decision for themselves. If they can afford to pay, they determine the worth. If they can't, they still have the opportunity no questions asked. 

Besides, it's not "my" knowledge anyway, as if I ascended some mountain and was given information that was proprietarily mine to claim. Whatever knowledge I have has been gleaned from others and forged in the fire of my own experiences (experience which came as a result of working with others). How dare I assume that I even have the right to charge for that unless I am willing to pay royalties to each of those who influenced me. 

Do I have the temerity to do it? Am I willing to trust that if I "cast my bread upon the waters" that it will come back? I'm not there yet, but am moving in that direction. In fact, I have a couple of people with whom I'm working in this respect and I'd like to work with more.

I realize this is "blue sky" thinking, as Social Media Club founder Chris Heuer would put it. (You might refer to it as "pie in the sky.") I admit to being a starry-eyed idealist, no question about that. But, if we can create a framework whereby everyone benefits regardless of their ability (or willingness) to pay, I think there is value there both of an intrinsic and fiscal nature. 

What do you think? Does this way of thinking belong more to a ".org" mindset than a ".com?" 

Posted via email from Paul Chaney's [Other] Blog

Comments

[Get Free Publicity]

It was great to hear you suggest sharing your knowledge...I hope people listen and take your advice. In this day and age no one shares ideas they just steal them.

[Jason Crouch]

Paul - From what I have witnessed and experienced over the last couple of years, I think there's great value in sharing our knowledge with others for no obligation. I used to have a "scarcity" mentality, thinking that everyone in my industry in this area was a competitor. When I began to share openly, I found a lot of new friends, both locally and nationally. To continue your biblical theme, you truly reap what you sow.

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=604407761]

great post, when you give, it will always come back in multiples. Sometimes that takes time, some times it isn't obvious, but that is just how life is. It takes a very enlightened person to embrace that idea fully as you have and I know for sure you are the better man for it!

[Paul Chaney]

@Get Free - I hope people listen as well. It's not very "practical" advice though.

@Jason - I think the Bible probably has a lot to say about this topic that's very applicable to social media. Am even thinking of doing a series on the topic.

@Janie - I'd like to believe that it does come back "pressed down...running over." :-)

[Peter]

I like the question at the bottom of your post, about whether it belongs in a .org mindset to share.

Personally i think that freely sharing definitely belongs in the .com mindset. You mention Chris Brogan and I think he is a great example of how freely sharing can create profit.

I think the though part is optimizing for more profit from the free stuff and convincing others about the value of sharing. I have found that this becomes easier, once you put it into the frames of a business model, like freemium.
Then it is possible to illustrate the economic rational much better.

[r4i kort]

In the era of the Internet and social media, it's just as important for us to think before we post content to a forum, a blog or our accounts on services like Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter etc. Just last month, both Google and bing.com