There is an old saying that goes along the lines of “You get nothing for nothing”. These days however it is a little different. It today’s world you can offer something for free and still make a profit. Nothing like some freelove.
There are quite a few companies who offer free or seriously cheap alternatives to every day life. From phone calls (www.fring.com and www.yeigo.com) to printing and photocopies(www.tadacopy.com) there are free alternatives. Most of these free services are paid for by advertising budgets but if you are willing to put up with it then by all means go for the free options. There are even some really cheap car rental companies starting up. It has even reached the exclusive segment of lift tickets on ski resorts…
We are excited to see the recently The Copycat Network, (copycat@webmail.co.za) a newly founded student advertising company, is looking to start a free photocopy service, based on tadacopy’s idea, to students This initiative will be launched at Wits in March and hopefully on other campuses soon.
If anyone doubted the viability of a free (or very cheap) option then one of the prime examples is Mxit. In a few months the usage of Mxit was in the millions of messages per day and they were making a tidy profit.
This might cause concern for some of the bigger service providers… especially to the phone network companies, but most of them will find a way to use it to their advantage or at least work with it. If not dealt with however it can be devastating for companies.
Advertisers are the ones jumping on the bandwagon as they are the ones standing to benefit the most and technically, they are the ones funding the freebies. The exposure for them is worth the cost and it pays for most of the service for the user.
So a big thanks to all of those out there who are supplying something for nothing… it is creativity at its best.
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