Who’s right?  Who’s wrong?

Seth Godin, Chris Anderson, and Malcolm Gladwell are going at it about “FREE”, the book recently written by Chris.

Personally, I side with Chris and Seth, even though Malcolm makes a strong argument for his position. 

I think it’s clear that if you look at the trends of “free”, you can see how it has grown more and more pervasive over time, and people expect free samples or free trials of whatever they are considering buying. 

For instance, whether it says “Free Trials” or not, people expect 100% of their money back if they are not satisfied.  This amounts to a free trial.  “Free” has been woven into the fabric of American society so much that I believe most people see it as an economic birthright.

As such, I believe everything is trending towards free first-time usage. The “free line” (the amount of free things given) will move higher and higher as competition continues to grow and “free” embeds itself even deeper and deeper into the American psyche. 

As more and more companies build “free” into their business models (not just as a marketing cost), it’s going to force other companies to lower their prices or change their models.

Sure “free” has been with us for a while, but it has been slowly evolving and has been slowly changing the game.  Chris Anderson is giving us a status report.  Read it.  You definitely want to know where we are now so you have a better chance to get where you want to go.

If you want to follow the debate, check out Seth’s, Chris’ and Malcolm’s positions.  Chris’ and Malcolm’s debate center around paid versus free journalism; Seth’s expounds on ‘free”:

Seth: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/06/malcolm-is-wrong.html
Chris: http://www.longtail.com/the_long_tail/2009/06/dear-malcolm-why-so-threatened.html
Malcolm: http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2009/07/06/090706crbo_books_gladwell?currentPage=all

To get a FREE 25 PAGE EXCERPT from the book, go here:

http://books.google.com/books?id=lLZbXN2odVYC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false

To buy the book, go here:

Technorati Tags: business model, Chris Anderson, Free, Malcolm Gladwell, Seth Godin

Don’t you know it! 

Just when you think that “FREE” has been worn out because every buyer now expects a free report, a free trial period, a free sample, someone has come along to take the concept up another notch.

And that someone is none other than Chris Anderson, the founder of Wired Magazine and the inventor of the Long Tail idea.

In his new book, “Free”, Chris gives  a perspective that opens up the playing field for “Free” way beyond what we’ve become accustomed to. Or at least he has put in writing what we may have known subsciously.  He shows you how to compete while your customers are giving away for free what you are selling.

For instance, Chris gives examples of how some companies are now being built around the concept of free—not as a lead generation device, but as a model of their business.  These companies are not using free as a marketing strategy; they are building their whole business model on the idea of providing their main service or product free to the buyer (permanently; not as a trial) and making their money from ancillaries.

This ups the ante folks.  Get a copy of Chris’ book, read it, and start preparing for the changes that are coming.”  Get a copy here:

Technorati Tags: business model, Chris Anderson, Free