Question : Would You Pay Friends For Stuff?
After all, you pay complete strangers for theirs!
Let me provide some context. Axios published this at the end of January. Long story short, big tech (Facebook at al) have spotted that little tech (Substack et al) are making some inroads in the ‘pay me for my stuff’ space and so have decided to set out to do the same. LinkedIn is the latest to join the fray and announced its move into this space last week.
I know at least one person who as a matter of principle, would never ever ‘monetize their network’ - whilst others have lists that they use to connect with people on a regular basis, with the intent of ‘lightening their wallet’.
It’s an interesting dichotomy. Friends are friends after all. But if you are prepared to have a complete stranger pay you for something. Why wouldn’t you charge a friend?
I have my own thoughts - but first … to borrow (for free) from one of my favorite people … what do you think?
Question Four in this series of newsletters that I wrote about here.
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People pay for content, and people pay for quality content. Content meaning knowledge, wisdom, mastery, years of thinking, creative energies etc. So suggest its also looking at what can be offered for free and the generosity for that and what goes behind a paywall and why. After all, people pay for plenty of other things. Why not quality writing, audio and visual assets? So yes I pay for plenty of all of the above, as I think its worth it to do so. And I certainly to do not expect everything for free.
People are appreciating others' efforts more and more. I see a lot of "good for them" attitudes. People appreciate the hustle. They appreciate value, even if it's just a small laugh here and there. People also really connect with the "strangers" they subscribe to and pay - and that may be the real key. They feel like they know them, and gladly part with their hard earned money to support them. Most people would pay friends for "stuff".