Yes, that’s right. There are things we can learn from the world of online porn.
Check this out, and yes, I’m going to want your input at the end of this post. 
See, online porn has long been a trend setter in the world of online marketing. What you see them doing eventually becomes mainstream (they also make mistakes that we can learn from). For example, the evolution of online video was driven very much by the world of porn. In an indirect way, the growth of broadband probably was driven by this… because, well, in those days, why else would somebody need high speed except for porn? 
People like Brad Gosse might refer to that as the “good days” of online porn. Money was flowing. They were setting trends.
Then, it all changed…
The Moment Porn Changed
Brad Gosse is a nice guy, and I recently had the opporunity to listen to him speak at the Underground Seminar. Today, he has several online businesses (not porn related) and has done quite well for himself. He got his start, however, as a major player on the business end of online porn.
During his talk, he pointed out that online porn has historically been 2-3 years ahead of the rest of the internet in terms of trend. What you see them do, you’ll eventually see go mainstream.
But, not so much anymore. What changed?
It all changed the day somebody decided to attract leads by posting a tiny bit of free content. You know, some small collection of porn photos given away for free as a way to attract people into a paid product. Today, this happens ALL the time, and that’s the point…
A little bit of “free” evolved into a LOT of “free”. Various suppliers of porn were competing for how much free stuff they were giving away. Then, this evolved into video. More and more free porn video clips were being published. The cost of bandwidth of all of this was extremely high and Brad shared that, at one point, he was paying as much as $30,000 per MONTH for his hosting.
In the world of internet marketing, we’re familiar with the idea of “moving the free line”. I believe it was Eben Pagen who came up with that phrase, but it essentially means that you’re giving more and more stuff away for free as a way to get people into your paid stuff.
In the world of porn, they pioneered the idea of moving the free line. It became increasingly cost prohibitive to do it. Not only that, it just progressed (driven by competition) to the point that, today, nobody needs to pay for anything.
See, of course I know NOBODY here ever looks at porn (cough! ), but there is so much free content out there that nobody needs to pay for anything. Just throw any adult term you can think of along with the word “tube” into a domain, and you’ll probably end up on a porn site with TONS of stuff.
So, let’s draw the parallel….
When Moving The Free Line Backfires
So, the lesson found in online porn is that they moved the free line so far that they basically committed business suicide. Today, it is all but impossible to get people to pay for online porn. There simply isn’t any need.
Let’s now look at our more mainstream world of blogging and internet marketing. Marketers are, today, giving more and more away for free. Bloggers do it all the time and are taught to do exactly that. We’re all basically conditioned to give everything away.
This model works, obviously. We all love free stuff and many bloggers (including myself) have built up our brands and popularity by giving away lots of free content. And it isn’t as if that doesn’t work. I’ve made a lot of money in this business and the marketing side of my business is driven almost exclusively by the distribution of free content.
But, Brad pulled no punches in his talk at Underground. He warned about the danger of moving the free line too far. He said it happened to the world of porn, and he sees it happening in our world now.
People are increasingly skeptical of paid offers today. Many people don’t buy awesome products because they think they can find what they need out there on free blogs. We are, collectively, molding a market where people expect free. That’s not good for business. Not only that, people don’t really value free stuff. They’ll SAY they do, but when it is free, they don’t really take action and they become information connoisseurs. Probably kind of like a porn addict, in some ways – no sex, but they keep looking.
At what point does it go too far?
And, is it a bad thing or not? There is a VERY valid point that the Internet wouldn’t be where it is today were it not for the free sharing of information, and I agree with that wholeheartedly. However, when it comes to making money at it, does it begin to backfire at a certain point?
Perhaps not if your business model is primarily driven by affiliate marketing. Plus, there is also the idea of reciprocity - give things away so people are more likely to buy from you when the time comes.
But, there is a tipping point there. In some markets, I believe we’re nearing that tipping point now.
Today’s Porn Business Models, And The Lesson Therein…
So, today, you can’t really sell porn content very easily. The audience simply has no need to buy because there’s so much free stuff out there.
Brad says that, today, the big trend is in live, streaming video feeds. In other words, dudes are paying not only for higher quality videos, but also for live, streaming videos. Webcam feeds of adult performers is now pretty popular, and even sites which sell content are now doing this streaming thing.
So, what’s the lesson?
People don’t pay for content. They pay for ACCESS.
The volume and quality of recorded content is so high that it has commoditized. However, access to a person is, by it’s nature, a limited resource.
Brad also told a story of one lady who did live, streaming stuff… literally nothing more than snapping scantily clad pictures of herself on her cell phone in the mirror, and posting them online. She developed a huge following and all these dudes were offering to buy her gifts. They were sending her all kinds of gifts, including Ipods and other electronics.
In other words, they felt like they were insiders in this girl’s life and they had access. And, of course, being the horny old men they were, they thought they had a chance or something. Hilarious, really.
But, it shows that people will pay for access. How many times have you bought an online course because access to the instructor (the “guru”) was the real selling point?
Here’s What I Want You To Do Next…
Obviously, my interest here isn’t in the world of porn. However, Brad’s point about that world being a bit like looking into the crystal ball of our own world was quite interesting. And, the lessons are there.
So, here’s what I’d like you to do right now:
- Post a comment below and share how you think YOU could apply the idea of selling access rather than simply content. The idea here is to help the community of readers here on this blog. We’re all after the same basic things, I’m guessing.
- Share this post with your friends on Twitter and Facebook if you think it was valuable and a good read. I’d appreciate it.
I’ll see you in the comments…
David has been blogging for 15 years, and generating a six-figure income at it for the last 12. He is the founder of Blog Marketing Academy. 
David Risley has been building and operating authority blogs for 15 years, and operating a six-figure business doing it for a decade.
Its the Walmartization of the Internet. People demand free/cheap now. To use your Porn example, there used to be a time when Porn was well produced. Now anyone with a web cam and a willing wife can “produce” porn.
Just like competing in the real world with Walmart, you have to offer something superior. Something that the user can’t get in 100 other places. Only then will you have the chance to make any money.
Well said.
That’s a really good point. As the free line moves, the quality line needs to move if you want to stay in business.
There’s some great thoughts in here that I’m going to keep in mind, especially about ACCESS. I still see the need to provide free content to build up reputation enough so that the access seems worth it. For someone snapping photos of herself, the rep is easier to build — instant, really. For someone selling “intellectual property” wonder if there’s a porn model to follow that’s easier/faster than writing blog posts!
Hehehe…
Yeah, you’re right, giving info away for free is always going to be necessary. The point of this post, though, was that there *is* a point where you can go so far with it than you harm your own ability to monetize.
Where we draw that line is up to each of us, and I’m sure, too, that it differs for every market and every personality.
Really interesting, and not something I’d ever thought about, so thanks. I suppose we’re in the early video stage that porn was once, with some people experimenting with paid (recorded) video and podcasts. The next step would also be charging for live streaming – like the webinars you’ve done in the past as part of a launch.
To bear this out, when we set up a membership side on one of our blogs, we “threw in” a regular live chat with us, and it’s something that’s proved really, really popular with members. Maybe if I can get Julie to wear fewer clothes during the chat sessions, we’d get even more on board!
Hehe…. its gonna be funny all the sexual innuendo this post could attract in the comments. Oh boy.
Yeah, I think there’s a LOT of growing room online in doing live stuff. It doesn’t have to be live video or webcam stuff, either. Webinars, as you mentioned, are real time. But, it could also be other forms of access, such as email access, ability to call on the phone… anything which turns the flow of information from a 1-way static flow into a 2-way flow.
I’m not even sure if this relates but months ago I has (on my blog) a monthly experience that I had enhanced and after signing up to the list and sending in your top favorite blogs (if you wanted to) you would have access to all the other top favorite blogs.
My point here is that I’m not sure the idea was “bad” or “wrong” but that what the access was to might not have been strong enough or something people even really wanted. Not that I’m going to say I’m a big fan or not (wink, wink) but Porn is something most people are just into whether they admit it or not.
Yeah, underlying it all, you still need a compelling offer. And, obviously, porn is compelling to a huge percentage of the population.
But, whatever niche a person is in, I’d hope they wouldn’t be in it unless there were others who were looking for something in that niche.
It’s interesting that internet pioneers, new media superstars and startup celebrities with names ranging from “Jimmy” to “Philip” also started in porn.
Not that it’s particularly easy to find references to any of this now.
Digression: it’s not that hard to bury or even eliminate something from search engine indexes. It takes a little time and little effort, but it can be done. As the above references will attest.
Free: I have a couple of rants in queue about this. The short answer is I’m giving less technical material away for free. In some cases, I’m charging as little as $1.99, but I am charging. Currently, sales are few. But I write this stuff anyway, and it’s damn good stuff. I have a hunch that if I simply keep writing it, at some point it will start to sell very well. Like I said, I write this stuff anyway, so it’s not much loss of time for me.
And I really like waking up in the morning and finding money in my email. Ahh….
So, are you doing micro-purchase for single pieces of content? I think that can work, but of course you’ll need a lot of traffic for it to scale. Also, targeted well for search because your target market is going to be people looking for a specific, immediate solution.
Suggestion: Look into what Ryan Lee has called “nano continuity”. In other words, recurring billing, but at a small price tag at less than $5/month. For what you’re doing, might be worth looking at.
Agree on all points. Will check in to nano continuity. Once he gets his HTTP 500 error fixed…
There are a couple of plugin authors doing this as well, $3 every 4 months, schemes like that.
You do any keyword research on your post slug? Just curious…
nah, just guessed.
BTW, wait until tomorrow. More on the nano continuity thing dropping tomorrow. Gonna be big news.
A lot of blog readers, when the connect with the blog owner really want that access so if you can give it to them in a more personal manner they tend to eat it up. Sure you can write an ebook but that’s not personal. If you sell live seminar time, or one on one email coaching, then you have something that no one else can sell — access to YOU.
This was an interesting perspective and like nothing I’ve read before…thanks for sharing.
I think the opportunity is in quality and value. That’s nothing ground breaking to you and your readers, but take a few looks around some “off” niche’s and you’ll find A TON of opportunity to be the best of the best there.
Kev
Hey David.
Excellent point about paying for Access, that’s awesome.
So how could we apply Access?
How about creating a membership site with OptimizePress and Wishlist and people have special access to your forums, webinars, interviews with experts, you, etc.
Or perhaps create a front end product and then use an upsell or forced continuity into another site of yours (or product) which provides even more value (i.e. access to more than just content).
Or maybe you have some kind of software to offer? Sure you’ve got an ebook with content, but what about “If you buy this book, you’ll also gain access to software X which gets you to the top of Google.”
What about access to money itself? Investors…
It really is limitless as to what you can create access to.
Yes, it is.
Be careful of forced continuity, though. I’m not a fan, and neither are Visa and Mastercard.
Haven’t used it yet, but a friend of mine does. Money-wise, he seems to do a little better with forced than manual upsell option and it certainly has to be presented as a benefit and free trial offer. ClickBank is okay with it so far.
Yeah, its a big gray area. At the minimum, you’ve got to make sure it is clear as day that they’re enrolling in continuity. Where the problem has been in the past is that people used it and then hid the fact in the “fine print”. Results in upset people and chargebacks.
Hey David.
Excellent point about paying for Access, that’s awesome.
So how could we apply Access?
How about creating a membership site with OptimizePress and Wishlist and people have special access to your forums, webinars, interviews with experts, you, etc.
Or perhaps create a front end product and then use an upsell or forced continuity into another site of yours (or product) which provides even more value (i.e. access to more than just content).
Or maybe you have some kind of software to offer? Sure you’ve got an ebook with content, but what about “If you buy this book, you’ll also gain access to software X which gets you to the top of Google.”
What about access to money itself? Investors…
It really is limitless as to what you can create access to.
David
It’s a great point and you’re right, porn has lead the way in video marketing. I actually had a couple of clients years ago looking for developers to augment their staff building video applications for porn sites. They MADE MONEY!
Regarding access, I think we need to think about full disclosure and our own personal voice. Great marketers have always been great story tellers. People can empathize with others who resonate personally with them and they trust them enough to eventually buy from them.
For instance…I am contemplating build a site around the divorce niche for instance (more niche than “divorce”, but in that market). I recently went through a very difficult one and gained an incredible education about the domestic legal system, custody laws, children’s rights and dealing with attorneys, judges and the like. My point here is this stuff is intensely personal and the stories I have to tell are INCREDIBLE. I KNOW I could be very helpful to many dads going through this at a very lonely time and I could succeed by telling stories that are true, compelling and helpful.
I think this is what will keep us from diluting our market-be real, be personal and be unique…Give away a chapter and then sell the book and the movie…
Mark
Yep. And while I don’t know anything about the divorce niche, my gut tells me your approach to that is all right.
Strong emotional drivers in that market, for sure.
David, You’re right, there is lot’s of free content to get the answers you want, but it all takes time. And since time is our most precious commodity, most people are willing to pay in order to shorten than timeline. However, I don’t believe one person can be an expert in all areas, so you get a little bit here and a little bit there and who wants to pay for a membership on several sites.
I don’t think the line has been crossed yet and as long as there are people out there reminding us, as you are, I think it can still be fixed. Giving is one of the best things there is.
Thanks for your insights.
Connie
Teaching Sells taught a long time ago that it was about selling access, not information. It is so true. Access to something special or to something few others have access to (secrets and insider information) always sells.
Yeah, its not a new concept by any means. But, not a mindset many think with.
David… do you realize what kind of traffic this article will probably bring in? Check out your SEO… would be interesting to know what kind of keywords are getting people to this article down the road.
We’ll find out.
Well I think all you people have good points . I do not have any web site or blog. I would love to start something up and start making money on line. I have looked around a bit . I have bought a couple of things . Now to me the hardest thing I can see to trying to make money on line, ( besides learning all the technical stuff ) is the trust factor . There is so much scams and people really pushing what the say about there products that they boarder line on lying . So I think the idea of giving a little to show the guilty of your product is a good idea.
You gotta start with your own passions, interestes, etc. When you say you want to “start something up and start making money online”…. you’ve got the order all wrong. You just want the money, but sounds like you’ll do whatever. That’s more of a bizopp attitude.
Reverse it, then you’re on the right road.
David,
To clarify, when you say: “People pay for access”, what exactly do you mean? Please specify. Access to what? Access to content? Access to people? Access to my time? Sure, access to the Guru/Teacher is important, but does Access encompass anything more than that?
Access to guru/teacher, primarily.
Content is of value, but you’ll find that most successful marketers today are really playing up personal access in some way. And this is why.
People don’t value the “how to” as much anymore… they want the “how to” and some hand-holding along the way because everybody’s situation is different and pre-recorded content can only get you so far sometimes.
Quality and value… sure. But show me more than 5% quality on internet marketing content and you can see why people are going for the free stuff.
In future I can see that the only people who will make the big bucks, are those who built personal authority and influence bolstered by reputation, selling personal access. In other words; become an authority in a hungry market. Then take them by the hand and teach them what they want… personally.
People still want instant gratification like in porn but they also want somebody to personally tell them what to do and how to do it.
People nowadays crave personal attention and interaction. So to succeed in this virtual business world, give people what they want and how they want it, personally and with integrity, authority, and real value, and they will pay for it and come back for more.
That was how it was done for ages before the advent of the internet and by people who wanted to build real business without just looking to make a quick fortune.
> “In future I can see that the only people who will make the big bucks, are those who built personal authority and influence bolstered by reputation, selling personal access.”
That’s already happening. The future is now. The names you recognize in this market are doing that. The other 95% aren’t, and yeah, they dirty things up for the legit people, but in the end, they don’t really last.
Jac, this takes time, and it’s why for me two years in, I may be eating ramen, but I’m far, far from throwing in the towel. But I have seen a few people ahead of me give it up!
Strangely, for access, I believe all markets are hungry. Even in the “blogging” and mmo markets, people who have the trust and authority do very well.
Hi David
This is the first time I m on your blogg and I find this article quite interesting. I m in the training industry, basically I run my own small business focusing on the Occupation Health and Safety, can you give me any ideas on how I can include a blogg as part of my marketing strategy. I will really appreciate that.
Once again awesome stuff
Well, its simple at the core. The details are just decisions you need to make for yourself.
Simply, you use the blog to provide valuable answers to folks interested in your niche. Help them solve problems. Then, design the site and content to funnel leads into whatever makes you money. Since you have a small biz already, you probably have the money thing figured out. So, what questions do you get all the time? Those answers can make blog posts.
new trend approach with the use of new multimedia tools,
input is’ received by users in their homes not everyone wants the usual method of payment especially for porn at home because it is not guaranteed a good show
This is a really insightful post. I watched the video where Eban talked about ‘moving the free line’ and on a conscious level I totally ‘got it’ and yet at the back of my mind there was something that just didn’t quite make sense – that something was exactly what you’ve highlighted here – ‘where do you draw the line’
There will always be someone in your niche who has moved (or has the resources to able to move) the free line further than you – and this is where your concept of ‘access’ makes total sense. If you look at all the big IM launches (PLF is a great example) Jeff’s bonuses include coaching calls and live events – something that only he is able to deliver – this is arguably the reason people buy PLF.
In a competitive industry there will always be players who push the boundaries of ‘free’ – and as Brad states that damaged a lot of online porn companies – but I’m guessing these were companies that didn’t have the resources or the intellect to innovate and survive.
Blogging for money is still a fledgling industry and it’s going to keep evolving at a rate of knots, personally I think it’s great that you are promoting these sorts of discussions and getting your readers to really think about how they can build a serious business around their blogs.
Daniel
Thanks, Dan. Yeah, not to toot my own horn, but I specifically make a point to talk about the REAL stuff about making money as a blogger. Real business. That’s how you make bank.
Give away your secrets, by all means. Our situation is different to porn (video) or MP3. Once you’ve consumed entertainment content the perceived value – the newness – is gone. But information in and of itself is useless, and arguably worthless, until it is applied, and we all know most people don’t.
As a graphic designer I can produce a free report on the elements a successful website needs to encourage users to take action, or write and give examples of how a visual identity should be applied across your brand, from business cards to website, Powerpoint presentations or invoices, and this acts as an example of my knowledge. The MONEY is in how I apply that knowledge to your business, so apart from selling my design services (on which I’m constantly undercut by overseas freelancers) I’m now developing my business model to focus on consulting on strategy, as an extra value layer.
Thanks, Dexter.
Totally agree, BTW. That said, what if the freeline got moved to the point where all the designers were teaching that stuff, day in and day out, for free in public? You’d need to up the ante. And that’s where access to you – the expert – comes in. It is a limited resource and others can’t duplicate it.
“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”. I think this applies nicely to what’s currently happening in the porn industry. Back in the heyday of porn, the industry trade shows were all about who had the biggest, badest booth, the most off the hook parties, and the hottest chicks. Today’s adult industry trade shows are much different. There is more business being done, with more substance and less hype. Some may disagree with me, but porn is just another widget (granted it comes with tons of baggage that other widgets don’t have), but at the end of the day it’s about running a profitable business. The adult industry is going through some serious growing pains right now, but the tough will survive and flourish. And they will create better products and business models. Who knows, porn may end up once again leading internet trends…
@David – I have been reading your newsletter/blog regularly for several months and really appreciate your helpful (and free – heh heh) information! I happen to own a couple adult websites, and I believe that the mainstream blogging/marketing industry has valuable information for ANY niche, including adult. Thank you!
It sounds to me like in the world of marketing the difference between giving away the WHAT and selling the HOW. You can tell people what to do and why they should do it and then offer access to the HOW as your paid offering….I feel a blog post coming on!
Very true, however by “access”. I was referring to access to the person, not just more content.
I think a blend of the person and more info is the ticket. On my blog I talk about what to do and then have how to videos or a marketing company behind it if they want to have someone else do it. A client has info about real estate markets that are hot, behind it access to how to purchase them or even how to get started as an overseas investor. You can also have access to the person in person through training or seminars (a la Jeffery Gittomer).
I just did a not-so-scientific survey on what people value most as a “Bonus” and access was at the top of the list.. personal access.
“Moving the free line” is definitely an issue. I have compared it more to offline scenarios like Coupon marketing. I saw a restaurant chain go under because they had discount coupons for such a long time that their customers had a coupon expectation and an ingrained habit that included a discount.
The porn industry comparison seems quite valid. So where do we go from here?
You’ll find out tomorrow afternoon. Something popped onto my radar over the weekend, and it is the perfect tie-in to this discussion.
I still think that the question on whether people will purchase product online or not is quality of the product itself and person who is behind the product. If I trust and know the person behind the offer, I will want more stuff from him (even paid). This is an ACCESS also, i.e. wanting to get more and more information from the person we like and trust. However personally me I still do not have a good feeling of the limit until which free content should be given. A lot of internet marketers working in internet marketing niche are doing it right, still need to learn from them.
Hi David, I don’t exactly remember how i got onto your blogs, but i’ve subscribed to you newsletters and downloaded your blogger blue print, which i have yet to read. I went to your website and understood what and how you were doing it. It just made so much sense. My husband is a semi-retired hotelier. The kind of knowledge he has gathered over the years in this industry, the new generation won’t even get a 5% of this background and experience. Therefore we are starting a blog/website to offer info to this niche group and offer direct contact for a fee. Either by email or phone. And in the future, what you have for your special groups. Very clever marketing. Thank you again for helping all of us out here. It’s a double satisfaction for you I’m sure. Keep is up. Looking forward to sharing this with others.
Thanks.
Another great post, thank you sir. I think access to the expert is an ideal thing for all of us to sell. Speaking as a customer, I feel like if the subject is at all complex, then plain old content is not always that helpful. You really need to be able to ask questions and get things clarified otherwise you just end up confused. You sure are giving me lots to think about and I appreciate it.
Interesting comments. I know that my marketing has changed. Access is the key. My thing – The Intelligent Trader – was designed around a newsletter and access to what I was trading/investing in. Lately, people have been asking me to set up a live chat room where I talk about the market and trade live and share my ideas with others who trade live alongside me. I haven’t figured out how to do it yet, but you are spot on with the way the market is starting to think.
I have a comment, but I can’t really say it here
People pay for great shit, whether it is porn or something else. Youporn works because it sends traffic to individual sites, where people pay to see more of their favorite gals in action.
I don’t think porn committed suicide, I think that porn was stopped from continuing to rob people.
Hehe… yeah, good point. Lots of shady crap happened in that business.
Very cleaver way to incorporate the “sex sells” marketing into your typically very straight-laced blog!
Me? Straight-laced?
Nah.
Great article — I like the idea of looking at other niches to forecast what’s ahead.
I think the seduction community (all the guys who read “The Game” by Neil Strauss) were ahead of the curve too. The dating gurus were selling ebooks on how to sleep with girls and setting up private membership sites with forums where guys could get advice way before bloggers were doing it. Same with online dating services, which were the earlier forms of social networking (before Facebook).
It’s also true I bought access to pro blogger’s membership site because I did want to associate myself more closely with him. I’d read his blog for a few years, and it seemed like the next step.
I’m applying the same mentality when I relaunch my membership site later this month — the highest level will include group coaching calls and a FB group to further improve access to me. Now I just need to sell ME.
Something similar has happened in the music industry, to an extent. The big bucks for MOST bands/performers is in the touring. Much more so than it once was. It’s now much better to put their best music out there for free as much as possible, to entice people to become fans and pay for access to them (live shows). For a musician their money mainly comes from what their music brings them (fans) not the music directly. The fans pay to attend the shows and buy the merchandise.
If you follow that industry and the porn industry you can probably find a pretty smart (altho strategic) path of your own. You have to make great shit, and the great shit has to attract those that love it so much, they will pay for direct access to the person/people making that great shit.
Okay, I’ve been following your blog quite recently, David. So first of all, sorry if I’m a little off-topic here. I’m a little confused by this revelation. I used to own an adult-themed site a couple of years ago (not proud of it), but despite the amount of free material, I still ended up getting a couple of cease-and-desist letters from some site owners. I didn’t know better back then, but that would mean that I was pretty much duped into shutting down my site in the first place. I was gullible and naive at the time, I know.
Back to the point, my question is: considering that participants in certain sites (let’s say, images for instance, there are image boards like 4chan) have no qualms against posting up material from paid access sites (despite being warned against plagiarism and piracy), wouldn’t that already leverage the means of paid access in the first place?
Pertaining to selling access rather than content, the idea would revolve more around a club membership (prime example being your Inner Circle club), wouldn’t it? “You pay us this amount of money, and you not only get to use all the facilities in this place but also meet the board of directors”. Or rather, to put my finger on it, it’s more like paying to see a psychologist rather than just being thrown topics related to psychology and figuring out how to stop sniveling in front of people.
Well, as for people swiping porn and re-posting, I have no idea. That’s not my market at all. My understanding is that images are owned by the creator and they charge licensing fees for distribution. But, in the end, where there’s a will, there’s a way.
As for the Inner Circle… pretty much.
What’s happening now in the adult industry is similar to what happened in the music industry (this ties in with Shawn’s post below). Content is being “shared” for free on such a large scale – with tube sites taking the roll of what Napster did with music. So the producers of the content have been struggling to combat this, but it’s a complex and never-ending process to seek out and shut down every single site that steals content. This is why the “access” concept is taking off in adult. Web cams and dating are huge right now, because 1) They allow access to a real person, and have the ability to become a one-on-one situation – the highest level of access, and 2) That content can’t be stolen.
hi David
I’ve been following your blog the last year and this has been the most relevant article for me. Also kudos to you on writing a headline that made me immediately open the email and click through. You have that down to an art!
My question to you is how can you combine these 2 things:
(a) people will pay for “access” not content; with
(b) “4HWW” style leveraging your time.
I am in the personal development business and I set myself apart by moving the free line – gave away for free about 40-50% of the new techniques I had developed. I figured that enough people would pay for the extra content. For a while they did, but to be honest I think it backfired in the end. I still keep the best content as a premium, but to be honest I think people got enough of what they needed from the free stuff.
My main concern is that time is my most precious resource. I don’t mind selling access, but I’d appreciate your thoughts on how to do that whilst leveraging your time in the best possible manner.
cheers
Simon
You can still do group access, helping many people at the same time. i.e. webinar.
BTW, 4HWW has some good principles, but nobody gets successful on 4 hours per week. Including Tim Ferris.
The problem with FREE content, is it invariably takes large doses of TIME to find it, sift through it, evaluate it and digest it. Take for example, “What email subscription service should you use?” You would see what the pros use, then start sorting through: aweber, Icontact, GetResponse, MailChimp, etc., etc. Hours of your time spent researching. Whether a final decision is made or not, the single most valuable resource you can never get back is, TIME.
You show someone how to get more value or leverage their time (free content or not), you will have that customer.
Great post, great comments too.
It sound’s to me that we’re back to the core of traditional B2B businesses. Sell Services or Software or Live Events (Seminars). Real stuff people undestand and value.
If the person sells more than the content itself, I’am affraid that people in the Personal Branding field will have a lot work pretty soon.
Anyway, that’s rather funny to see how the english speaking IM bloggers are faced to domestic markets saturation and no ones is discussing the localization of their assets. Spanish, French, Portuguese speaking markets are 5 years delayed and almost virgen territories (i lack knowleges about asian markets)
¿Why?
All business have to enter new markets now & then to sustain growth rates.
Good point. Honestly, just speaking for myself, foreign markets kind of fall into the 80/20 rule for me. With the difficulty of translation, and not knowing the business culture in those places, there’s just ramp up to it.
Hey David
One of the big indicators of this new trend in mainstream is the popularity of how to channels on youtube and sites like howcast etc.
There was a saying that kind of went out of style.
“Information wants to be free”
And I actually believe that “information” and education should be free (I don’t think that content and information are the same). The issue will always be trust, and resonance.
We have all had that one teacher in school who impacted us more than the rest. The information they teach is in the text book, how they deliver the information in a memorable way is not. We can all bring value to the table in that way if we work hard at it. Delivery is everything.
Thanks for coming to my talk!
Thanks, Brad. And, yeah, the parallels are definitely obvious with Youtube and Howcast.
Excellent read Brad! With “porn” written in the subject line, I bet it attracted a lot of curiosity seekers?” But you’re right; porn has led the way and was one of the first to build a strong online marketing presence. Of course I wouldn’t ever look at anything like that!
Blogging has to change, people have become accustomed to ‘free’ content and they take it for granted. I was thinking about doing a weekly webinar where people can get an inside scoop.
Webinars are great. I would definitely jump on that.
Great post David!
I’m in a mastermind with Brad and he is a coolio dude! I had the privilege of interviewing him recently and was amazed as well learning how the internet was funded originally in part from the porn industry.
Yes I agree with the trend mentioned where people are becoming accustomed to the free model in most online industries.
I think you need to be an innovator and continue to move your own line and test what works for you. It’s not like opportunities are leaving us or anything, we just need to work smart and recognize these trends.
Most of the comments I went through here looking for ways to sell access but here are some ideas popping in the head some tested some maybe not yet ; )
I just launched a new blog where I will be posting in the normal sense of blogging. I personally like creating little products. So let’s say I post about how to profit in niche blogging. I put up a killer post that doesn’t hold anything back. At the end of the post I could have a simple product 7-27$ etc… Where I have a simple video where I use the tips and reveal niche topics and the spins I would put on the sites to enter the market, available domains with high search etc…
Do this on a lot of your post and people are beginning to pay for access to really premium stuff that gives value to them. You could even create a small forum or Skype chat group that you monitor and they can ask you or other members questions.
You can put on webinars on hot topics in your niche, reveal some strategies, promise no pitch and tell them they can ask you questions on the webinar etc…
You could have a group call or webinar session once a week or a month offered to your list.
If you have 15k subscribers and the group session is a one time 47$ pay per session you could profit quite well if set up correctly.
People will pay for content organized and easily findable for them as well.
You can organize your blog post into a sellable product or into a membership model with premium benefits.
Some authors are following a similar model (Vanyerchuk, TFerriss) where if you purchase their new book in bulk (5-1,000+ copies) you get vip access to them. I bought 5 copies of Four Hour Body Autographed for access to TFerris via Webinar.
There is definitely a trend here, but for the leaders and true producers it creates a lot of opportunity.
Good stuff, Brandon. Thanks.
David, an excellent post as always and some pretty great comments and reactions. A best read for today.
i cant remember the last time i bought a porn dvd
Thank you David. This model might work if I do it correctly, I am in the small odd little niche of Preppy Blogs, most are based around clothing, mine is not. In the fall I will be launching a new project, a on-line magazine for preppies by preppies. I will need to think about this model and determine if I can make the access component work.
Thank you for your ideas.
Always, Bumby
It’s like a membership business model (like yours, David), where access grants the paying member information not available for free (giving it a scarcity package, as well elevating its “price”). The thing is, it’s not just about selling “access”, as that’d be just plain selling without value, but it’s the “access to value” that’s important, and selling this is the point. This can be done in paid subscriptions to forums, ebooks, eseminars etc, as long as there is no “giveaway”.
What do you think, David?
Wow, David – this is an awesome post on strategic marketing.
I’ve been following your recent posts on the future of blogging but this one has got me thinking of lessons a marketer can draw from other industries doing massive sales online. I had read also from another marketer’s blog, sometime about how the porn industry is always ahead of ‘marketing and sales strategies’ with innovative sales approaches that the others only discover a year after and play catch up.
As brief as this post is, it’s got lots of insights I’d like to come back to read it again.
Thanks man. I enjoyed reading.
Yep for sure
What about “Pay per Click”, selling actual product, such as sex toys or educational videos, as well as online access in your adult industry site…or in this case blogger site?
The thing is, it’s not just about selling “access”, as that’d be just plain selling without value, but it’s the “access to value” that’s important, and selling this is the point.
Its like a pay-per-click scenario. People are always complaining having all this kind of household expenses and like, but still they can afford to buy porn access just to satisfy their libido..