RE: Will They Pay? Part II

From: Michael Martinez <Michael_at_xenite.org>
Date: Fri 25 May 2001 10:11:13 -0500

ROB FRANKEL <rob_at_robfrankel.com> WROTE:

>Yeah, I don't get what all the fuss is about.

The fuss is about the fact that most commercial sites
won't be able to charge for content, but some people
don't seem willing to accept that.

>My experience proves you can do it. Easily. Here's
>what I did:

Sorry, but your experience only proves that you were
able to do this. FrankelTips may be doing well for you,
but then, cosmetics did well for Mary Kay, vitamins did
well for Shaklee, and soap did well for the owners
of Amway.

A few people climbed to the top of each sales
organization, but most people either only made
modest incomes or lost a lot of money.

The fact one person succeeds in any type of revenue-
generating model doesn't mean it will work for others,
let alone everyone. No one has ever been able to prove
that can happen. No one ever will. Basic economics
teaches us that only a few providers for any goods and
services are ever needed. And in the online world, when
you're competing with free content, charging for content
and staying in business through content fees is a very
rare accomplishment.

Most people really do NOT pay for content, and the
reason is simple: they are already paying for access to
a system that was created for the free dissemination of
information (content). The fundamental purpose of the
Internet is not changing.

Pay-for-content sites are a niche that just cannot lead
the way for the online business community. If the model
really worked that well, more companies would have moved
into it by now. Especially all the companies which
failed to generate sufficient revenue streams to stay in
business.

Michael Martinez
 Science Fiction and Fantasy info_at_xenite.org
  Visualizing Middle-earth, a book for all Tolkien fans
   http://www.xenite.org/



Received on Fri May 25 2001 - 10:11:13 CDT