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The following post is based on a true story. Some details have been withheld and names have been changed to respect the privacy of the subject.
“Money grubbing corporations,” she uttered with a slightly raised fist as she raged against modern corporate capitalism. Her anger was palpable making her appear larger than her mere 5 feet. Her graying hair softly bounced from side to side as her body communicated her disgust that someone would dare want to profit from her life’s work.
Mrs. Teague had been dedicated to her profession for nearly half a century. She had years of research and information meticulously cataloged in PDF files. She wanted to develop a website and provide the information “to the people” for free. Many organizations in her industry would have gladly taken her research and offered it to their millions of buyers and subscribers but Mrs. Teague refused, knowing they would sell rather than give away the information.
I listened politely, nodding at the appropriate moments. The years faded away as she talked and I pictured her as a young woman with long dark hair with beads around her neck protesting against an evil government. I fought back a smile not wanting to appear disrespectful, returning my attention to her present diatribe.
Like so many I have met, Mrs. Teague had definite ideas about money and profit. Her work, in her mind was valuable but to assign a price tag would be blasphemous. She had accumulated it in the course of her work, and as such it was created for “free” and should be offered for the same price. Yet, she would need a site that not only housed the information but a searchable database. She would also need to market the site so that “the people” could find it and access the free information. None of that would be free. She wanted to spend very little money to offer it, did not want any contact information on the site, and wanted no questions or follow up discussion from those who downloaded the information. She simply wanted people to come, download what they needed and go away.
The “money grubbing” organizations in her niche offered people a variety of services and support in addition to some free information. They charged a fee but they also provided something in return. Mrs. Teague failed to make the connection and simply saw profiting as evil. Her time and expertise in collecting the data would indeed be valuable to users, who would gladly pay to access already bundled information that would have taken them a huge amount of time and effort to gather on their own.
So, was Mrs. Teague wrong in wanting to give the information away? What would you have advised?
In the next post we’ll dig a little deeper into our attitudes about money and discuss the options in this scenario. Please join the discussion by adding your comments below.
I am confused. If she has so much information and it is carefully catalogued, why not put it in book form and offer it for sale to the public at large?
Could it be that the attitude she appears to have is the reason she has not accomplished her objective?
You raise a great point! People do tend to respect what they pay for, another reason I counsel business owners to be careful of giving away services to family and friends. You never get the respect that this is your profession, your expertise. Thanks so much for adding to the discussion!
People respect what they pay for. If Mrs. Teague really wants to get the attention of the end clients she should put a premium on her information. Things offered for nothing are often ignored. Once people know how much she knows she can waive fees for those truly in need.
Hi Brian! Thank you so much for your comment. The work is her own creation, but it’s not the type of information you can copyright so your point is well taken. There is nothing stopping another company from simply downloading the info and using it.
Lol, I didn’t wish I was somewhere else but I am fascinated by people who automatically think money is evil.
Hi Meryl, great point about respect! In her unwillingness to charge, and not invest in the normal systems she may actually lose what she most valued.
Hi Brad, awesome insight. Like you I love the freedom we have in this country to control how and how much we earn. I think we sometimes forget that this truly is a land of opportunity. You are so right about the wealth creating opportunity. As I listened to her, I kept thinking of the parable of the talents and how those who “grew” their investment were rewarded with more while the one who hid lost all that he had.
Hi Karen, I tweeted about this but I’ll comment here, too. I wasn’t clear on how she got the information originally. Was she paid to gather it or is it her own creation? If she puts her information out there for free, can she copyright it? If not then the ‘pay’ sites will charge for it anyway.
There’s more but I’ll leave it at that. When you say ‘nodding at the appropriate moments’, it sounds as if you wanted to be somewhere else. 🙂
I agree with Brad — it’s not wrong. But it could lead to unfair situation if someone else takes advantage.
Hi Karen, I don’t think Mrs. Teague is wrong to give away her own property, if that’s what she wants to do. One of the beauties of the free market system is that people are free – free to give things away or charge for them, if they can. What is wrong is to condemn the whole idea of profits. First of all, there’s no better alternative that I’m aware of. Second, profit creates wealth, and wealth creates opportunity. In our current economy, we can all see what happens when profits are weak or absent – we have less wealth, less opportunity.
Yes. A case of “nice guys finish last.” If she doesn’t charge, the money grubbers will. At least, she’d make sure the information is treated with respect.