If Everything Is Free for Today’s Bride, What Do We Have Left to Sell?

I read the book Free: The Future of a Radical Price by Chris Anderson this year and it completely blew my mind.

Anderson talks about the rift in the mindsets of people over 30 and people under 30 when it comes to “free.”  

Those over 30 grew up hearing, “Nothing is free.”  “You don’t get something for nothing.”  They had first-hand experiences with snake oil salesmen and “free” trials that ended up having a hefty price tag.

Those under 30 have an entirely different perspective.  They were born into Myspace, Google, Youtube, Flickr.  They live in a world where information is free, music is free, blogs are free.  They’ve come to expect it.

What will this do to the wedding industry?  EWedNews explores this idea in this new article  here: “Subscriptions Can’t Compete With Free Exchange of Information”

My question is this: Are we going to fight the push for free information or are we going to use it to build our businesses?

I know which one I’m going to choose!

Sure, information is abundant and that which is abundant becomes very, very cheap.  On the other hand, with so much information available…what becomes scarce?

TIME.  We have everything at our fingertips and so many choices, but no time to sift through them.  

SPACE.  We have such an abundance of stuff that we have nowhere to put it.

RELATIONSHIPS.  With everyone spending so much time online, we don’t connect with people in person any more.

While information gets cheaper and cheaper, our time gets more precious, more expensive.  Time-savers are selling like hotcakes.  Storage facilities are filled to capacity.  Online dating services are making millions.

When one resource dries up, let’s look for the opportunity.  Instead of fighting the trend, let’s embrace it and find a way to make money where things are scarce.

What do you think about the wave of free information and how it is affecting the wedding business?  Leave a comment and let’s stir up some discussion!