Daily Patricia - How To Make Business On The Internet Harder Than It Needs To Be

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DailyPatricia.com is an online documentary project that follows serial entrepreneur Patricia Handschiegel. Patricia is a serial media and entertainment entrepreneur who founded a pioneering social media site in 2004, which she sold in 2007. She is currently the CEO of 9, a transmedia production and consulting company that builds and consults on franchise projects for traditional and digital media, entertainment and internet business. Her startups and business insight has been heard at events including South by Southwest, the Writer's Guild of America, Blogher, Women 2.0, Girls in Tech, and in mainstream business media/blogs including Mashable, Paid Content, TechCrunch, The Wall Street Journal, VentureBeat, TV Week, and others. As founder of Stylediary, her fashion advice has appeared in more than 250 media outlets. She's the co-creator of the popular Huffington Post series The New Power Girls and Thenewpowergirls.com blog, which covers news and profiles of women startups and existing companies in multiple markets. Prior to entrepreneurship, Patricia worked in internet telecom at the engineering level and all facets of consumer sites. She's a social entrepreneur using business for change in empowerment, the elderly and childrens causes. Contact her at patricia@whatis9.com

July 5, 2009

How To Make Business On The Internet Harder Than It Needs To Be

This week, the topic of “free” content and services on the web is once again coming up in conversations. I never agree with this mindset. It’s a little like “Allegory of the Cave” — people will not stop staring at the shadows on the wall to realize their view of the world might be wrong, and that there is a bigger, better scene if only they would look outside. I wish more would entertain the bigger picture of the web, the history of platforms of all types (including the internet) in our society and even greater, the lessons that already exist on topics such as this. I say all the time that we are taking the long way around with internet business. Someday, people will understand that I am right and why.

No less, on the topic of free:

1. The internet is a platform. We have many platforms that already exist. The rules on these platforms have not changed — only the strongholds around them. Nobody created these rules on the platforms — they grew out of evolution and necessity, just like they will online.

2. We would adapt and adopt business to the web faster if only we would understand point 1 above.

3. Ad supported, free content has existed over many platforms in the past and has always been poor quality, creating the appetite for better stuff even if it means paying for it. Push all the free you want on the internet, eventually the quality — not the cost — will drive other models.

3. Supply grossly exceeds demand for ad supported only content on the internet. The idea that there will be gobs of money to support all that free content is wrong.

4. It is ignorant to take an audience (society) that has voluntarily accepted subscription content and services and train them backwards. Only to eventually realize that they themselves drove the acceptance of subscription content by wanting to pay for it and will again. Again, taking the long way around…

5. Perhaps it is not an issue of “free” but “cheaper.” We will pay less than we do now for content and services on the new platform (the internet). It will not last forever, but we will.

6. The internet platform is unique in that it serves as a utility and content distribution platform. Monetization in these separate worlds are very different. It’s worth a look further if you want to make money where they are combined.

7. Anybody (newspapers, TV, internet sites, etc.) that is not succeeding in drawing an audience to their site is failing in marrying audience to platform. It has nothing to do with anything else.

Someday, people will listen to more people who see the internet from the same perspective as I do (platform focused). In entertainment business, at least 35 other people in high level business that I know talk about it. With internet business, I never hear anybody reference it, ever. Odd? You decide.

P.S. — this blog also has some interesting thoughts on the topic.

10:58am | URL: http://patriciahandschiegel.tumblr.com/post/135934490/how-to-make-business-on-the-internet-harder-than-it