In his revolutionary bestseller, THE LONG TAIL, Chris Anderson demonstrated how the online marketplace creates niche markets, allowing products and consumers to connect in a way that has never been possible before. Now, in FREE he makes the compelling case that in many instances businesses can profit more from giving things away than they can by charging for them. Far more than a promotional gimmick, FREE is a business strategy that may well be essential to a company’s survival.
I’m interested to read this. I tried to download the Audible version just now, only to be told: “We are not authorized to sell this item to your geographic location.” Pffft. FREE?
Yes, it’s taken me while for me to get back in the saddle, so to speak,
but I’m looking at my life from all angles at the moment and I’m thoroughly enjoying
the way all the different fragments are combining in their shapes, sizes and colours and luminosity
to form something that pleases me …
Indeed, the picture is taking shape, on all fronts.
The foundation has been laid and creative limits are now a non-entity.
Family, friends, personal, domestic and work elements are coming together in ways
that I thought could never happen before.
… ideas -> thought -> action -> reality …
Not only is the future bright, but the present is also a-glow.
The composition that is my life is alive and happening … right now.
And it’s filled with the glorious fruits of my new choices and deeds.
My previous post had me rambling on about looking for a new WordPress theme, my plans to teach myself how to create my own themes in the future, how it could benefit my Clients businesses, blah blah blah …
I’m such an idiot! What about MY business??
There’s a large part of my business that would benefit enormously from having a blog attached to it! It could easily be used to keep our audience informed of new developments, it would provide additional exposure for our existing Clients, it would help encourage potential new Clients to climb on board with us, it would allow us to branch into other, related avenues of the business AND we could generate additional revenue through advertising.
Why on earth didn’t I think of this earlier? Somebody slap me please …
OK, in my own defence, I have been horribly out of the whole web loop for a while. Jeeesh …. things have progressed so much and so quickly. ACK! It’s all rather frightening. I won’t go into any gory personal details here and now, but let’s just say that I let things slide for a while and now I have a LOT of catching up to do to get back on top of things.
I got new sleeping pills yesterday. I was really hoping that these new tabs wouldn’t have the usual effect of making me feel completely knackered the next day but alas, I am definitely zombified today …. Oh well, at least I managed to get some sleep for a change – I only woke up once in the night – and when the tablet wears off I should be feeling much more refreshed.
Today is a busy day – I have a meeting just now with a prospective new client. She’s an image consultant so I’ve made a special effort to dress nicely. I’m hoping the chat goes well as I’d really like to do her new website. I’m very picky about the work I choose to do and this is a project that’s grabbed my attention. It’s something different and it’s quite girly, which I like =)
Then I have to go to the vet and pick up anti flea stuff and deworming tabs for all the animals which is going to set me back a bit but I have to do it. I couldn’t really afford it last month and the poor things are suffering a bit.
I have loads of admin to do, phone calls to make, quotes to send out and things to organize in the (home) office. That’s the part of my job I hate. Running my own business is cool in many ways but I don’t really get to do what I love most anymore – the actual designing and programming – I spend most of my time “steering the ship”, managing my team, sorting out accounts, tons of paperwork, all that stuff ….. But, I mustn’t complain! This business is my lifeline, I’d be totally screwed without it and I’m very grateful to have my own source of income, especially after my recent divorce (more about that later ….).
I’m not sure if I am going to have time to go to the gym today, perhaps I’ll just jump on my Health Walker here at home tonight for a half hour or so.
