2. Give (some of) your best work away for free.
Just so we’re clear: I’m not one of those internet hippies who tells you “information wants to be free”, so you should give away all your best work and forget about being paid. (Have you noticed those guys tend to have a comfortable salary or professorship?)
But as Tim O’Reilly has pointed out, for most creatives obscurity is a greater threat than piracy. If no one’s ever heard of you, they won’t even bother to rip you off, let alone pay for your work.
So take advantage of the spreadability of digital content by giving away something valuable and encouraging people to share it with their contacts:
*.the first chapter of your novel (or even an entire novella)
*.a free report or e-book, full of insanely useful information
*.one of the best tracks from your album
*.a design template
*.high-resolution images
*.a series of tutorials
*.videos that anyone can embed in their site
Use a Creative Commonslicense to make it clear what people are allowed to do with the work. And make sure it’s something genuinely valuable. If you feel slightly uncomfortable about giving away something so good, you’re on the right track. Otherwise, why would anyone get excited enough to tell their friends?But don’t give away the farm. Make sure you have plenty in reserve — products, services, artworks — for the folks who want to take things further and buy from you.
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