Welcome!
Search this site:
Making money in a free-information economy
If you operate in the information or knowledge economy, have only a plain vanilla offering, and don’t really engage with your clients, now may be a good time to change careers. The world has changed (and for the better).
The ivory towers of professional bodies are slowly crumbling as free information is flooding the web, empowering web users en masse and putting downward pressure on the cost of advisory fees. Is this the end of making money from knowledge-sharing? Definitely not, and thousands of websites are reaping handsome profits in the new information era, but the revenue model has changed. Income is mostly in the form of advertising or survey hosting fees, while some money can still be made from the information itself – in the form of a 2nd tier, more advanced offering with paid membership.
Specific role players will benefit more from the changed economy than others:
The pioneers:
Surfing habits form quickly and are hard to break. Therefore businesses that woo web users first with a real value-add service, often have a distinct advantage to other businesses that enter later.
The impartial:
Wisely, users generally rate impartial advice from an independent business higher than the information feed from a business which could have a vested interest in the advice given. While experts are still respected, they now have to make space for the ‘wisdom of crowds’ as well, as reflected in websites like hellopeter.com.
However, companies are highly aware of the premium users place on peer reviews and several have disappointingly faked positive feedback on social networks. There will be an increasing demand for the services of independent integrity analysts, who will focus on anything from spotting online comments by companies masquerading as happy customers to investigating any kickbacks for positive reviews by forums and other social media networks.
The filters:
With the sheer volume of information around, users will increasingly find value in websites that firstly rate the quality of content and then feed through only the information that is relevant to them.
The specialists:
Experts in a specialised field (for which there is a market) have always been in a better position than generalists to make money from their knowledge. With plain vanilla information being freely available, specialisation may now become a necessity, rather than a choice.
The engagers:
More and more users expect a two-way conversation with an information provider instead of a one-way information feed. They want to be able to ask questions and comment on articles. The language in which information is written will also become increasingly important. Jargon, ‘legalese’ and a technical writing style have kept laymen in the dark and advisory fees sky-high for centuries. Those who can translate technical terms and speak the web user’s language will have a distinct advantage in the new information age.
Tags: free information, information economy, revenue model, web publishers
Create 6 press releases targeting your 3 keyword phrases, these can be distributed to over 30 sites, one or two charge an extra few bucks, around $20 but rank very highly, the press releases can be done and optimized for around $50 each.For under $1000 you have created some very powerful backlinks to your site, exposure on some very high page rank sites with your content. you would have a professional video done. Proper keyword research done and hundreds orf articles, press relases, videos etc all over the internet waiting for people to search those keyword phrases. Thank you for this article! I’ve just found a really good archive about real marketing Try it!
I enjoyed your post very much. I just started college and in need of some money. I’ve never seen this b4 but it looks very promising and I’m going to give it a shot. Thank you so much!
Hi, I found your blog on yahoo. I’m pretty glad to have found your website because I think it is amazing! I will definitely come back! Great resource for my students. Youproblog
I’ll be following your blog. =)
Useful tips! they are going to help me when i have nothing in mind to blog about, thanks
I was just looking at useful blog posts for our project research and I happened to stumble upon yours. Many thanks for this practical material!
Looking forward to reading more of your posts, some great info here on your site, thanks.
Good points raised here. Thankyou for that, but that is not the limit of my appreciation. I am afflicted with color blindness (protanopia to be precise). I use Konqueror browser (not sure if that is important), and a considerabland a number of web pages are tricky to read as a result of an inconsiderate choice of colours used. On your site, as the choice of colours is reasonable, the site is very tidy and pleasant to understand. I am not sure if this was a intentional and kind deed, or simply a happy accident, but you have my gratitude.
@ C Brakewell. Thanks, that is great feedback. We only aimed to keep the site simple and tidy. The usefullness to people living with protanopia is completely unintentional.
Hey I clicked on your website by mistake on ask while searching for something completely different but I am truly happy that I did, You have just added yourself another subscriber.
Hey I clicked on your webpage by mistake on google while trying to find something totally different but I am truly happy that I did, You have just caught yourself another subscriber.
Thanks for the interesting post
Hi, Good content throughout the site. This post is probably where I got the most useful information for my information gathering. Thanks for posting, maybe we can see more on this. Are you aware of any other websites on this subject
[...] I thank you for writing. Enjoy the holiday weekend! Leave a Comment. Name (required) Mail (will …Making money in a free-information economy | morethanmoneyIf you operate in the information or knowledge economy, have only a plain vanilla offering, and [...]
Just lately, I am considering establishing a small home-based biz. I still do not know how to start so I am fuelling myself with lots of informations from seasoned entrepreneurs, like you.
I usually don’t post in Blogs but your blog forced me to, amazing work.. beautiful …
I absolutely love your website. Could tell me how I can go about keeping up to date with it.
Hello, this is my first time i visit here. I found so many interesting in your blog especially on how to determine the topic. keep up the good work.