"Steal This Book": Part II - Steal This Blog Post

A driving force behind the social revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, Abbie Hoffman inspired a generation to challenge the status quo. Meant as a practical guide for the aspiring hippie, Steal This Book (1970) captures Hoffman's puckish tone and became a cult classic with over 200,000 copies sold. Outrageously illustrated by R. Crumb, it nevertheless conveys a serious message to all would-be revolutionaries: You don't have to take it anymore. "All Power to the Imagination was his credo. Abbie was the best." 
— Studs Terkel. 

Fast forward 41 years and everyone wants you to steal their book or CD or idea. They want that because then you will distribute it and in turn, they will sell more whatever. A few years ago the band Radiohead released their album, In Rainbows, on the Internet with a 'Pay what you like' format that allowed you to either pay, or download the album for free. 1.2 millions copies were downloaded the first day and although the record company has never released sales numbers, it was a PR coup. Permitted, encouraged  stealing has now become a distribution method. After all, if nobody wants to steal your stuff, then it can't be any good, can it?

Seth Godin recently considered selling a DVD of his latest speaking series and then opted for an 'honor system' method that allows you to watch it on Vimeo - then he gives you the password. Free. This way he gets attention, and then sells DVD boxed sets. And this has become the Internet business model of choice: Give something away for free, use that to gain attention, and then sell a hard copy of whatever it is you have to make money. Hugh MacLeod has used this method for years to distribute his cartoons and ideas - now he will happily sell you a framed print from his online gallery or a book. Hugh is doing very well.

This blog is free but I do it to gain attention and then sell consulting services.What can you give away, or let people steal that will then endear them to you enough to buy whatever is is you have to sell? Steal this blog post please. 

D a v i d E v e r i t t - C a r l s o n

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Business is the art of getting people where they need to be, faster than they would get there without you.

This one, from my old buddy Hugh MacLeod: "Business isn't conceptual rocket science. It's about making money, trading goods and services and basically getting stuff done. In spite of that, it's still something that confounds a lot of people. How do other people make money? Why are some people rich and other people poor? Why am I poor when I work so hard every day? I've done my fair share of wondering about all this.That's what this cartoon is about. What can YOU do about not only your journey, but the journeys of others. The latter seems more interesting, somehow..." This week I had the opportunity to write a client about what I could do for him - because what he was asking for isn't what he needs and it's not going to help him, so wrote to him about where he needed to be and how I could help him get there. I was once told to never tell a client what could not be done - but rather what could be, how long it would take and how much it would cost - so that's what I did, because it was the responsible business thing to do.

D a v i d E v e r i t t - C a r l s o n

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Find me on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. Read my previous blog: The Wild Wild East Dailies.

If we're all living in a fantasy, I think I'll just believe in mine a whole lot more than the other people believe in theirs.

Gapingvoid.com

I'll criticize things in a meeting. I'll ask the tough questions. And I'll kill ideas on all the levels they don't work - and then look for better ones. I'm critical of food in restaurants, films, music, fashion, business models - whatever.

Because I'm an optimist, and I want things to work like baseballs flying over outfield fences as many times as they can. A pessimist won't do that, because he's afraid of winning, not loosing. Too many people fight to loose, so if life is just all one big fantasy, I get to win one every once in a while. The rest is what most of us just call work.

D a v i d E v e r i t t - C a r l s o n

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Find me on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. Read my blog: The Wild Wild East Dailies and keep up on our efforts with aSaigon/CreativeMorning.