ning

Free Ain’t Going Anywhere

By Mark Evans in Social Media, Uncategorized 3 Comments Tags: , ,

In the wake of Ning abruptly eliminating its ad-supported free networking service (and slashing 40% of its employees), there’s some chatter about the much-ballyhooed “free” falling out of favour.

It’s an expected reaction given Ning’s high profile and how its success in attracting users was so celebrated – some of it may have to do with the fact Marc Andreesssen of Netscape fame is an investor.

But the fact is free ain’t going anywhere any time soon.

As much start-ups need a way to make money other than counting on gettings lots of users that will attract advertisers, the idea of offering a free service is too easy, too compelling and has too much potential to discard.

There’s an inherent belief that free is just the way it is these days – a theory celebrated by books such as “Free” – and that consumers won’t pay to use online services. At the same time, a lot of people believe free has the ability to attract a critical mass of users that, in turn, will drive a start-up’s value from zero to 60.

Every entrepreneur and every investor believes this model is so compelling that to walk away from it would be idiotic. Just look at the growing number VC deals announced in recent months of free services.

As long as free is seen a high-octane growth engine (at least from a user perspective), it will continue to stay alive and well – buoyed by optimistic entrepreneurs and bullish investors.

That said, the upside of Ning’s decision is maybe it incites more discussion of the need to have a business beyond beyond just free. It could mean that freemium (a free basic service and a premium option for more features) will get more love and attention. Or it could mean that some online services – heaven forbid! – simply cost money to use.

Free ain’t going away but more people are discovering that the ugly, downside of free means it doesn’t generate any revenue to keep the lights on.

For more thoughts on how start-ups need to have a real business model, check out another one of my recent blog posts – “We’ll Figure it Out Later is Not a Business Model”.

How Much Social Media Should Be Monitored?

By Mark Evans in Social Media 4 Comments Tags: , , , , ,

For good reasons, social media monitoring and measurement is all the rage as companies look to get information and intelligence about all the conversations taking place.

To offer comprehensive coverage, companies such as Sysomos (a client) monitoring blogs, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Wikis and forums, as well as traditional media. It’s all about getting as good a handle as possible on what’s happening and who’s driving the conversations.

One of the realities for anyone doing social media monitoring is how many social media platforms should be monitored – a challenge given the fact there are hundreds, if not thousands, of social media services being used to one degree or another.

For example, should Google Buzz be monitored now given it has nine million users? Some social media monitoring services such as Sysomos are already doing it because each Google Buzz user has an RSS feed that can be indexed.

What about Foursquare, which is the new shiny toy for social media enthusiasts? Does it make sense to monitor Foursquare right now when the only thing users doing is broadcasting their locations. Is that valuable or relevant social media activity that should be taken into account?

What about Ning, the do-it-yourself social networking service that has millions of users? Or Google sidewiki?

In other words, where should you draw the line? How popular or interesting does a social media service need to be before it needs to be indexed and monitored?

What do you think?

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...