LIfe is not a bowl of Cherries

[Jim Bryant]

Life is not like a bowl of cherries, but much more like a bottle of Jalapenos. What you do toady will surely burn your ass tomorrow. Kind of like giving photos away for free

[TheDarkReaver]

Jalapeños never give me any trouble the next day. Does this mean my life is just hot, spicy and exciting?

Yeah, giving things away for free has never worked for any business.

Like Google.
Or Facebook.
Or Digital Photography School

The newspaper you used to work for and Google provide a lot of the same services...which one is still around?

[TheDarkReaver]

Originally Posted by Photoboothguy

Yeah, giving things away for free has never worked for any business.

Like Google.
Or Facebook.
Or Digital Photography School

The newspaper you used to work for and Google provide a lot of the same services...which one is still around?

To be fair, Google and Facebook are giving nothing away for free

You could refer to Wikipedia...but that is run as not-for-profit.

Originally Posted by TheDarkReaver

To be fair, Google and Facebook are giving nothing away for free

You could refer to Wikipedia...but that is run as not-for-profit.

I don't pay to search on Google. I don't pay for G-mail. I don't pay for my blog...in fact, they pay me

Google and Facebook charge people to advertise on their sites, which is how they make money. Let me ask this: Do you think the advertising came before the content? At some point, both of these companies had to invest in free services to attract an audience. No audience, no advertising.

Want another example? I can't remember the name of the game, but one of the early Iphone Apps was a game with a few tanks blowing each other up. At $2, sales were dismal. So the developer created a free version, and said "want more levels? Pay $2 for the full version!"

He made $600,000 the following month.

[TheDarkReaver]

Originally Posted by Photoboothguy

I don't pay to search on Google. I don't pay for G-mail. I don't pay for my blog...in fact, they pay me

Google and Facebook charge people to advertise on their sites, which is how they make money. Let me ask this: Do you think the advertising came before the content? At some point, both of these companies had to invest in free services to attract an audience. No audience, no advertising.

But they're still getting paid by someone and therefore not really giving it away for free. By putting their services out there they are able to gain viewing figures which can be turned into advertising money. So all I was saying is they're not very good comparable examples to giving away photos for free because there are different business models at work.

However, the iPhone App example is a lot more apt. The idea of "give them a taste so they'll want more" does have more application to a photography business.

[Kretch]

Open source software is free.
Linux is free.
What about farm aid? Didn't many bands play for free? What about groups that donate time to local charities?
And last but not least. FARMVILLE!

[Kretch]

Originally Posted by TheDarkReaver

But they're still getting paid by someone and therefore not really giving it away for free.

I don't see the difference. If I choose to shoot an event for free, I'm still getting paid by other people for their events. How is this different?
If the product is free for certain people, it is free. Plain and simple.
Just because others want to advertise through it does not change the equation.
Google, hotmail, facebook, twitter... all free. It costs you nothing.

[TheDarkReaver]

All these things have to relate to the context of Jim's statement (which by the way I think is a bit of a blanket statement where exceptions and other such things apply)

I do not think that comparing the likes of Google and Facebook to it was particularly valid in this case because of the way their particular businesses operate. There's a difference (at least to me) between giving something away for free and being free to use. The fact people can't see this is giving me a headache.

So yeah, I'm out...because I'm getting far to anal about this.

[Brian Mullins]

Originally Posted by TheDarkReaver

However, the iPhone App example is a lot more apt. The idea of "give them a taste so they'll want more" does have more application to a photography business.

I would agree except for the fact that there aren't another 150 tank games that will easily supplant the original. That's 150 "free" levels and, honestly, would you pay once you realized how much "free" is out there?

Photography, like any business, should never be "free". There must be an end goal there. I've done photo shoots to get on vendors lists previously. That one "free" shoot with a clear "payment" grossed me around $50k. However, doing a shoot in the hopes they will "like" it is a road to financial ruin for your business.

Have a clear plan in place so any "free" work you do maximizes the return you will receive.