Web work is a big tent. But one thing unites us all, from part-time telecommuters to full-time digital bedouins: we all need to find some way to get paid for our daily activities (assuming we’re not already independently wealthy!). As the long-term consequences of cheap mass storage, ubiquitous connectivity, and massive bandwidth become apparent, though, it’s not always clear what our business models are. Businesses which used to be based on selling physical copies of creative output – such as record albums or movies – are in serious trouble thanks to the relentless copying machine that is the web.
Writer Kevin Kelly has taken a fresh look at some of these issues in a recent essay titled “Better Than Free.” In it, he addresses the question: “How does one make money selling free copies?” While this is currently of keenest interest to those of us working in the creative arts, Kelly argues that many physical goods, from pharmaceuticals to consumer electronics, are heading to price points that might as well be free. For web workers who are thoroughly integrated into the net – where our actual output of words and bits can be quickly and efficiently duplicated – this is becoming an increasingly important question.
Kelly’s answer (and I urge you to read his original essay, where this theme is developed in much more depth) is that “when copies are free, you need to sell things which can not be copied.” He calls these generative values, and identifies eight of them that are broadly applicable: immediacy, personalization, interpretation, authenticity, accessibility, embodiment, patronage, and findability. This list probably isn’t exhaustive, but it does point to the sort of human-generated value that is so far resistant to the automated copying of the internet.
Many web workers routinely generate content as part of their day-to-day business: blog entries, computer code, position papers, and more. If you’re one of this breed of web workers, it’s time to think about what you’re really selling to your clients. With the cost of copying plummeting, this is not the time to be staking your future on traditional content distribution as a long-term money maker. Rather, you need to be thinking about what unique generatives you bring to the table, and plan on how to enhance and publicize those in the coming years.
Do you see web work as the forefront of an economic change? Or can we continue to do business as usual over the internet?
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