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About
Freeloading
by John S.
Rhodes
Summary
Jess McMullin, a Usability Analyst
at Cognissa, and a long time reader of WebWord, wrote
me a letter a couple of days ago. His basic complaint was that I don't
give my readers enough credit. I'm pretty sure that he feels offended that I
have called my readers a bunch of "freeloaders". What does that
mean and what is freeloading?
What is Freeloading?
Freeloading
is an interesting concept. The basic idea is that someone, or some group,
takes advantage of the generosity of another person. I think that there are
many freeloaders at WebWord. I'm not going to hide my feelings about it. If
you are reading this material right now, and you were never a client, then
you are freeloading. You are taking advantage of the fact that I am writing
this article and I am offering it to you for nothing. I consider this
freeloading because, at least at first glance, I gain nothing from your
attention. I'm not directly selling anything and I'm not even using any
banner ads right now. You get something for nothing and you are probably a
freeloader.
Now, there are at
least two things to consider at this point. You might be a freeloader now,
but you might turn into a paying client in the future. Or, perhaps you will
influence someone to become a paying client. In this way, I like to assume
that your current freeloading will return value to me and my company in the
future. Therefore, I distinguish between current and future freeloaders.
Indeed, this is why I am so open an honest about freeloading. I know that
some people will not always be freeloaders, and the converted freeloaders
become clients and subsidize current freeloaders.
I said there were
two things to consider. My second point is that without freeloading, there
would be very little traffic at WebWord. At Jess McMullin implicitly points out,
a web site
without traffic has no power or prestige. Traffic is power, and power
can be exchanged for value, money and time. For example, if I tell
someone that I have over 4,000 newsletter subscribers (which I do at this
point), then they are more impressed than if I only had 3,000 subscribers.
The more subscribers I have, and the more traffic to WebWord, the more power
I have. Power means that I get to interview some important people. I've
interacted with Jakob Nielsen, Bruce Tognazzini, and Donald Norman, just to
name a few. I've also been invited to give conference presentations, and
many clients are impressed with our industry presence.
I hope that this
explains my views on freeloading. I don't literally think that WebWord freeloaders are
taking advantage of me. My readers and the general WebWord audience are great people
and I deeply respect them. I respect you. I think every person adds value when they visit
webWord, even when they don't email me, don't link to my articles, and don't
subscribe to my newsletter. Freeloading stinks in the short run but it is
great in the long run. I'm aware of that and I that is why I like
freeloaders. I feel that freeloaders aren't really freeloading.
If you are reading
this, I want you to know that I respect your time and intelligence. Don't be
bothered if I call you a freeloader. Know that I understand that you are
adding value to WebWord just by spending your time here. Know that I am
trying to help you improve your web site and that I am trying to expand your
thinking about the internet. But also remember that I need clients and the
folks that pay for WebWord's services are making this all possible. My
clients make all of this possible. Please give them the respect they
deserve. We're all in this together.
What next?
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