Open Source Business Model
Imagine this, how if a conventional business is teamed up with an open-source business models? I’m talking about webhosting giving away their products for free, music artists literally giving away their records to be downloaded (free!), or a book writer giving away a free copy of his/her book (I’m quite an imaginative person and you will see this kind of posts much more on this blog such as this, this, or this).
We can use the open source business models not just for softwares or programs but pretty much anything else imaginable. With the wake of more interactivity between users and the company, it’s just about time that the consumers now can have a product that suits their needs, or better, free.
A wrinkles might have appeared on your forehead by now (especially if you’re with the RIAA or the record companies, or probably a book publisher). “Giving away an album for free, are you nuts?” May be I am, you’ll decide later after reading this.
Free, realize it or not, is the most powerful marketing tools and a great buzz creator. Using an open source business models (I’ll shortened it to OSBM for future reference) not just as a marketing lingo will develop your business even further (that’s what I think… you’ll see why soon enough).
Why? (see, I’ve told you)
By using OSBM, you’re no longer fully in charge in the course of development of your product. Your customers to some extent also takes part on your product development and as soon as you involve your customers on your product life-cycle, the more they feel that the company is part of their life (isn’t that sweet?). Once they feel like that, the life-cycle of your company is guaranteed.
Many writers already giving their books for free (such as Seth Godin) for a couple of editions in hope that the buzz will later elevate his brand image as a highly recognized speaker/author/anything else. Some other smaller bands have uploaded their musics for free via P2P network and they gain a loyal fan-base when they didn’t even sell 1 copy at all.
Of course, OSBM is not only about giving away your work for free. It’s also about sustainable growth and monetization of the business its self. We’ll talk about this later on another post (or two probably?)
Note: OSBM is not compatible to all business! Mainly, only non-tangible business can use OSBM.
