Is it right to monetize information?

Is it right to monetize information?

by | Dec 18, 2023 | ideas for humans

Knowledge is valuable. But how valuable?

Institutions have monetized information in acceptable ways such as private education and intellectual property (IP). But is it right to put a price on knowledge? And who has the power to choose which types of information are acceptable to monetize?

One could argue that by putting a price on information, it benefits only those who are wealthy enough to be privileged to access that information. Does this mean that others are kept ignorant if they are not as lucky?

 

Do news channels have the right to monetize information?

One example of how information is monetized is the rise of online subscription services for news media. Many newspaper websites are now accessible only through a paid subscription.

It’s understandable that the consumption of news has changed dramatically these past decades. With the decrease in sales of print copies, and the shift towards distribution of news through internet channels, news outlets must pivot and find ways to reach their audience. If readers want news from the internet, news agencies must sell ad space and charge subscriptions, or lose revenue and go out of business. Nowadays, it’s not sustainable for news agencies to give away their news for free.

There must be a way to make a profit from knowledge and information, but without guarding it from people who have a right to know. As citizens, we have the right to be informed about the world, but it must be made possible in the first place for news agencies to run their business.

To be equitable, there must be a way to fund a new sources’ operations without overcharging readers.

 

Should education be free?

Is private education better than public education? Is a degree from an Ivy League college more valuable than any other college?

Some Ivy League graduates will spend half their lives paying off their tuition fees. But an impressive degree next to their name will sometimes give them an edge over the competition in the job market.

In a private education system, only the very wealthy can benefit from the information. And in a lot of cases, only the very wealthy can choose who can benefit from it, for example, by selecting those who can receive scholarships and academic grants.

Higher education generates more knowledgeable citizens, which spurs economic development, and boosts the economy. Countries that invest the most in both public and private education have a higher GDP and economic output.

It’s easy to believe that the most expensive college degree leads to careers with the highest salaries. This is why professors and experts are highly paid. They have the knowledge that they can teach, which in most societies are highly valued.

Yes, education should be free up to a certain point. At the same time, institutions have the right to charge fees in exchange for knowledge. Education is like any other investment, you have to put in the money to reap the benefits.

 

Should knowledge be affordable?

So far, we’ve seen news agencies and educational institutions charge fees for their services. The reality is that people must capitalize on knowledge to make a living that they desire for themselves.

To keep a business running, you must have the information in the first place by investing in research and development. This is how your business is sustainable and is able to continue offering your products and services.

Information, especially when it’s valuable, permits competition. And when you get competition, you also get a resulting increase in price. In this way, information can become very expensive.

Can there be a system where those who can afford knowledge, do so, but in a way that allows them to spread that information to others? The dissemination of knowledge is a step towards creating a situation where everyone wins.

Knowledge is more valuable if there is a price on it. Knowledge that you can later use to improve your financial situation, health and well being is highly sought after. It follows that there is inequality because not everyone can afford it. Is there a better solution than saying that it’s just the reality and we have to accept it?

One can argue that information should be readily available for anyone’s consumption, especially if it’s information that could save your life. Imagine what could happen if we were kept in ignorance, or those with power are selective over what we can know and what we can’t know.

Should the elite have all the power to make decisions over what is permissible to know and what isn’t? This is one of the reasons why laws such as the freedom of information act serve its purpose. These laws guard our right to know and deter those in power from corruption.

 

Can what we know hurt us?

Are we better off being in the dark, because ignorance is bliss?

Sometimes we are kept ignorant for political reasons. There are some types of information that are kept secret for reasons of national security. However, when that information is kept secret only to allow others to continue fueling corruption, that is when information leaks lead to scandal and controversy.

When information is bartered and sold to the highest bidder, it encourages a breeding ground for spies and criminals. Selling state or trade secrets is a crime that leads to lawsuits, fines, and jail time.

So yes, knowledge has a great, and sometimes criminal, value, especially if it’s illegal knowledge.

There are laws against stealing information and trade secrets. There are laws to protect IP. IP permits the right to make a profit out of knowledge, and to protect that right.

 

Being entrusted with knowledge means being responsible for equal opportunity

People have the right to monetize information, but should be responsible for spreading some of that information freely. We have realized that it is a disadvantage for society to safeguard information only for those who are wealthy enough to afford it. However, there are some strides towards making access to knowledge equitable. For example, open access journals provide research articles at no cost to readers.

It is idealistic to believe that information should be free for everyone to benefit from, regardless of their income and economic status. But maybe it’s fair to say that knowledge is available to those who know how to look for it.

In an ideal world, the selling of knowledge is done with the understanding that it will be used for good and for improving societal conditions.

In an ideal world, there would be no fees to access knowledge. Those who wish to would be able to benefit from it, without restrictions.

We have to strike a balance between releasing and safeguarding information in these three situations: 1) business owners must be able to capitalize on their discoveries, which can include products and services; 2) safety, security and privacy must be upheld with regards to confidential information, and 3) knowledge is for everyone, especially when it is knowledge that will increase quality of life and health.

People who are entrusted with knowledge must be the first ones to uphold equal opportunity and fairness. Only when this standard is set can people have the right to monetize information.

Is life unfair?

Is life unfair?

by | Dec 11, 2023 | ideas for humans

Life is totally unfair.

You’ve heard this too many times in your lifetime: “life is unfair.” Maybe life was unfair when you were a kid because you were never invited to as many birthday parties as Suzy and you still hold a grudge against her to this day.

It’s a truism that you sometimes wish would be false.

But is life unfair to the same degree for everyone? The answer is probably “no.” Life treats people differently, and it’s obviously unfair.

To examine whether life is fair, we must first define fairness. It’s a standard that would differ depending upon your views, personal beliefs, and geographical location. There are variances on what we deem is “fair”, and this includes a whole set of criteria such as access to resources, money, wealth, beauty, health, opportunities, and peace. Ultimately, if you define fairness based on these metrics, you’d disagree with someone else who has different standards.

So life is unfair, maybe to an unequal degree for everyone. How do we change that?

 

1. How do we define, measure, and evaluate fairness?

We first have to define fairness. Many things in life are not fair. There is rampant inequality, and I just mentioned them in terms of income, wealth, health, opportunity, education, and even things like the physical and emotional characteristics that you are born with.

If you were complacent about inequality, you’d say that others just have bad luck and that’s why they’re unsuccessful and unhappy. But is there a better solution than just saying that it’s the reality and we have to accept it?

If there was a scale that measures fairness, it would resemble a Gaussian-like distribution. The yardstick by which we measure fairness includes both material and immaterial things. Most people have an average amount of advantages. There would be some outliers and these would be the people with the worst luck, and the people with the best luck. At the extreme, people either fail miserably in life, or soar through life with all the confidence and success that life brings them.

We want equal opportunity for ourselves, to have as much success, health and happiness, as everyone else.

Whether you are destined for a fair or unfair life begins even before you are born, because you can’t choose your lot in life. For example, your upbringing determines whether you had money during childhood to take music lessons, enroll in summer camp, have birthday parties, and clothes in the latest fashion.

Unfortunately you can’t choose where you were born, and the family you grew up with. You can’t choose your parents, or go back in time and change the way you were brought up. Most of what brings us good or bad luck is out of our control. So how do we take control and conquer our powerlessness over what happens to us?

 

2. Life is unfair when freedom of choice and autonomy are taken away.

We’re the most powerful when we’re independent, when the choices we make are made because we have the freedom to choose.

Not everyone has the same freedom. For example, it can depend on your geographical location, the political climate in that location, and whether it is a war-free zone. People can have different standards of what constitutes a fair life, depending on where they live in the world.

Life is especially unfair when people don’t follow the rules, when anything goes, when they’ve gained their advantages by unfair practices. We all want a level playing field, with the same equal starting point as everyone else.

There is a lot of competition because there are fewer resources, and not enough to go around. That inevitably leads people to get to where they are by being dishonest. Some people mistake dishonesty for ingenuity, meaning that finding ways to beat the competition takes creativity and invention.

In the struggle for power, most will lose.

Do we need hierarchy? Do we need leaders who are more powerful than us? If not, will everything descend into anarchy and chaos? And can laws control fairness?

 

3. We use laws in an attempt to control fairness.

But people who are corrupt escape punishment. They beat the system and rig the system so that there are winners and losers, and those who play by the rules end up getting punished.

Life is unfair because there is deep rooted inequality in every society.

Most societies are structured to be hierarchical because it’s the least chaotic way of living with order and peace. The opposite of this would be living in a world where everyone got what they wanted. That’s not possible because everyone wants different things, and these things clash and oppose each other.

An interesting research paper proposes that fairness is related to self-esteem and predictability. This is a good proposition because there’s nothing more demoralizing to your self-esteem than when you are always treated unfairly.

Loss of control means that everything is unpredictable. There’s nothing less unpowering, and hopeless, than feeling like you have no control over anything, and that no matter what you do, you can’t change anything. If you were to grade your satisfaction in life, the score would be higher if you think you’d been treated fairly.

You could say that people in power have the most aggression, and are the most assertive. These characteristics allow them to get what they want, and have things go their way.

People are successful because they’ve discovered the secret to how to get what they want. If someone is ultra successful, you can’t help but think that maybe they got there by dishonest means. Does dishonesty and lying pay off? Should we all be liars?

Sometimes, to gain power, people must display the worst characteristics, and this is unfair.

If you evaluated the characteristics of happy people who are satisfied with their lives, assertiveness would probably score high on the list.

 

4. What can we do to make life fair?

Everyone has challenges in life, but it’s the way that they react to them that allows them to overcome them and be successful. If you feel you have a lot of disadvantages, hopefully you’d feel compelled to take action and create a better future for yourself.

By recognizing this, only then will you make positive and lasting changes to your life.

To change your fortune in life, be more receptive to opportunities or actively seek them. If luck doesn’t come your way, create your own luck. Don’t passively wait for good things to happen to you, because you could be waiting forever. The people who are luckiest seize every opportunity that crosses their path.

There have been some strides in making life more equitable.

That’s when society is prosperous and flourishes, to the exclusion of those not lucky enough to benefit from it.

Equal opportunity is not open to everyone. Bad things happen to good people. Justice for all doesn’t have to be a faraway dream though.

There is positive collaboration, and people working together to implement systems that make things more fair. In the workplace, there are rules against discrimination, and there’s a call for greater equity and diversity. Progress is slow, though, and there’s still lots of work to be done.

In a utopia, or ideal world, there would be no distinction between classes and everyone would be treated fairly and equitably.

It’s true, life is unfair.

If life was fair, you’d get what you deserve and that’s not always the reality.

So if you think life is unfair, you’re not alone. Lots of people would commiserate.

Should you partner with an influencer to promote your business?

Should you partner with an influencer to promote your business?

by | Dec 4, 2023 | ideas+business

Introduction

At a certain point in your business, you might consider partnering with an influencer to promote your business. A social media influencer can spread your message and win you new audience members.

 

What is an influencer?

An influencer has a loyal audience who are hooked into the minutiae of their everyday lives. They tune into their social media channels just to see what the influencer is doing, wearing, buying, and recommending.

It really is amazing how devoted these fans can be. If the influencer has a massive following, they often capitalize on this by building partnerships with other businesses and getting paid for it.

 

Partner with an influencer to promote your business and increase brand awareness

If you own a business, and want to build brand awareness, or increase exposure to your target audience, you could consider partnering with an influencer. This can really multiply your following, popularity and get your brand in front of your audience.

Of course, you have to pay an influencer. Like any paid ad service, you want to maximize your return on investment (ROI) to achieve the most results from the money you spend. The influencer becomes your brand ambassador, or temporary spokesperson, for your business.

The partnership might become part of your marketing plan. An influencer charges fees in exchange for featuring your product or service through their social media channels. A partnership might be useful if your following is small and you want to grow your following.

 

Does the influencer match your target audience?

There is a right way to execute a partnership with an influencer. First, examine whether influencer marketing is right for your business.

Would your business have the most advantage from this partnership? Since influencer marketing does not work with all businesses, you should decide whether this is the right path to take.

It’s not surprising that lifestyle and leisure (e.g. travel and food) are the industries where the most influencers are found. So it’s these industries that would work best.

What kind of audience do you already have, and what kind of audience do you want to attract?

Understand your target audience, have a goal clear in your mind, and know what you hope to achieve from this partnership. This is important for analyzing the end results and concluding whether the partnership worked to bring about the desired effect.

 

Tips on searching for an influencer to promote your business

Look for an influencer that will resonate with your audience, within your budget, whose views agree with yours.

Ask for a media kit. Most serious influencers will have one put together. A media kit includes their background information, follower count, bio, and social media channels.

If you don’t already have an influencer in mind, or know which ones to approach, do a search on social media and view their blogs, tweets, photos and videos.

Influencer marketing is just like any paid ad service: do your research before engaging their services, because the reputation of the influencer becomes the reputation of your brand.

Research what the “market rates” are for their services, and decide if it’s within your budget.

Meet virtually with the influencer to work out the details of your agreement, and to determine if they’re a good fit for your brand.

 

How to approach an influencer

What you need before you approach an influencer is a website or established business with your social media channels already set up. Once you’ve constructed a short list of influencers to approach, write an email or send a direct message. Avoid sending a generic mass email.

Another option is to engage the services of a digital marketing agency that represents the influencer.

Have a clear outline of the types of content you want the influencer to use to promote your business.

Finally, the contract should include the expected fees and pricing for their services, based on your agreement and previous research.

 

The risks of partnering with an influencer

There are always a few risks that you will take if you are working with an influencer. To effectively use influencer marketing, your actions must be authentic. The influencer must believe and genuinely support your brand, products and services, or it will be seen as insincere, untrustworthy, or done only for money.

These days, it is easy to inflate their follower count through fake user accounts.

On rare, though nonetheless possible, occasions, your influencer might find themselves embroiled in a scandal or controversy. As your brand ambassador, this invites negative publicity that might affect your brand.

You have to believe in what they stand for, which can be a problem if their views and opinions do not agree with yours. Thoroughly understand the influencer’s personality to ensure that it aligns with your brand’s values.

Finally, what should you do once the influencer has put their recommendation for your business out there? Follow up by monitoring engagement with the influencer’s post. Determine whether your ROI was worth it, and whether you gained more followers. You could continue the partnership if opportunities arise.

 

Conclusion

By partnering with an influencer, you can achieve a reach far greater than if you were promoting your business yourself. If you are cautious with your outreach, you can really maximize your ROI. Don’t skip any of the key steps, it can mean building a new partnership that works better and more efficiently.

Three Industries with High Earning Potential for Small Business Owners

Three Industries with High Earning Potential for Small Business Owners

by | Nov 27, 2023 | ideas+business

Introduction

Most entrepreneurs who have authored business books are also owners of businesses that earn them millions. Just I’ve noticed a pattern from reading these business books. There are three industries with high earning potential, and these entrepreneurs have capitalized on them.

The three industries are: real estate, event planning, and coaching.

On the high end, business owners in these industries can make millions in potential earnings.

Before they’ve moved on to write books about it, they were self-made millionaires from various backgrounds. Not all of them were raised in rich families, which goes to show that with luck and hard work, you can build your million dollar business, too. Realistically, though, the average income is in the high six figures.

In this blog post, I describe the three industries with high earning potential. I will outline their risks, qualifications, and challenges in each.

 

1. Real estate agency

Owning a real estate agency can really have the potential to earn you a high income. The real estate market is expected to grow to USD $729 trillion globally by 2028.

If it’s your dream to be a real estate agent, you will need to apply for a real estate license. The required coursework can take up to 1.5 years to complete within Canada, or up to six months in the US. After passing the exam, if you want to obtain a broker license and own your own brokerage, you need further training and at least two years of experience as an agent.

The startup cost of a real estate brokerage is at least $10,000. This includes office expenses, marketing, and salary for your employees.

The risks of starting a real estate brokerage are lawsuits from: not disclosing information about the property to the buyer, any breach of confidentiality, and injury on the property during showings.

The threats to your brokerage business could stem from events such as a housing market crash. The housing market is sensitive to many factors out of your control, including interest rate, supply and demand, and the health of the economy.

In addition, the rise of discount brokerages are also driving competition between different firms.

As a real estate agent, your commissions are pretty much standardized across the region that you work in, so it may not be possible to earn millions if you don’t own your own brokerage.

Furthermore, owning a real estate brokerage is just like owning any business as an entrepreneur. You must network and get your brokerage known and trusted within the industry.

In the end, real estate brokerages are in an industry that have the high earning potential of $160,000 per year.

 

2. Event planning

Another industry with high earning potential is event planning. This industry is expected to grow to USD $1.75 trillion by 2032.

Unlike real estate, you don’t need a license to be an event planner, so there are lower barriers to setting up your own event planning business.

However, it could help to be certified in event management. Once you earn your certification, experience working for another event planning agency before starting your own would be useful.

The risk to starting your own event planning business is that your highest income earning months are seasonal. In addition, the event planning industry took a tumble during the pandemic as events were switched to online virtual platforms.

This just shows how you must be able to pivot and adjust your business model in response to market conditions that are out of your control.

In addition, the cancellation of a single event would require you to refund all the tickets, leading to a major loss in income.

Finally, there is the threat of competition from other event planning agencies. but depending on your brand and price point, you may be able to find your niche more easily than a real estate brokerage.

 

3. Business coaching

The third industry with high earning potential is business coaching. As a business coach, you act as an advisor for other entrepreneurs, guiding them in their business journey.

Your coaching business can have different models. For example, one on one or group coaching can be in-person or virtual, or you can sell masterclasses that your customers view on demand.

Business coaching is possibly the business with the lowest risk out of the three, because of the low overhead costs. Unless you’re thinking about leasing an office space, all you would need is a phone line to handle calls, a virtual meeting platform like Zoom, and internet.

It can also help to get certified as a coach, and these programs will have a fee.

One risk that this type of business faces is the loss of income caused by a recession or economic downturn. During these times, people will be reluctant to start businesses and hire someone to help them, though it might depend on what type of business they are in.

There are also challenges that can result in this type of business. For example, it’s also true that some niches perform better than others.

Selecting a good client can take time. There has to be a good match between client and coach, so know how to select clients who will work well with you.

Another risk is that depending on your business model, you may be trading time for money. One way to get around this is to sell access to on-demand coaching classes on an online teaching platform.

 

Conclusion

All three types of businesses require you to put in the effort to network and get your name out there to gather and maintain a good client base.

So, good interpersonal and communication skills are essential, and the know-how for gracefully dealing with difficult clients and customer service issues.

Also, it requires you to have realistic expectations. A good reputation is not built overnight.

A good business and marketing plan for making sales is also a major factor in the success of the business.

Expertise and experience are valuable, so find ways to gain that knowledge fast.

At first, stress and work life balance can be an issue, until you may need to find a system for outsourcing your tasks.

Avoid situations such as taking on a client that is not a good fit for your or your business, which can tarnish your reputation.

Relationship-building and leadership skills will land you far ahead of the game.

How to build reciprocity in your business

How to build reciprocity in your business

by | Nov 20, 2023 | ideas+business

The importance of building relationships with your audience or customer is key to the success of your business. Reciprocity sets up a system of mutual benefit that helps to drive growth and engagement, and ultimately, sales.

From your customer’s perspective, reciprocity means that if you help them, they will help your business. Reciprocity is not created immediately, however. It takes time to build trust and loyalty through your brand.

Here you will find reasons why you should build reciprocity in your business, and how it can mutually benefit you and your customer.

 

1. What is reciprocity in business?

Reciprocity is the exchange of value in one from entity another. In this case, the value is often given by your business to your customer for free. For instance, if your business is to sell goods, you may add on free shipping as an added value to your product.

This achieves two things. From the point of view of your customer, reciprocity gives a reason for your customer to keep buying from you. From your point of view, as the business owner, it encourages loyalty to your brand.

This is how a system of mutual benefit is built. You should find ways to keep this system going so that your customers return for repeat business.

 

2. Why should you build reciprocity?

As a business owner, the main reason to build reciprocity is that it gives value to customers. It builds trust and strengthens the relationship between your business and your customer.

By giving value, you achieve another effect: you build authority, which gives your customer a reason to listen to you. As you grow your brand, you will hope to encourage loyalty among your customers.

What better way to do this than to position yourself as the authority in your niche? Building reciprocity also motivates your customers to take action. Whenever you are trying to sell something, you will always get some resistance from your audience. To tip the balance in your favour, give them something for free. You will encourage their decision making and thought process, pushing them towards your offer.

Finally, this system of mutual benefit also wins new customers. A customer who is new to your brand, and has never heard of your product, needs encouragement. A great way to introduce your business to them is to give them a free taste of your product and all of its benefits.

 

3. How can you set up a system of mutual benefit?

If you are a new business owner, you may be puzzled as to how you will nurture relationships with your potential customers. The simple answer to this problem is to build up content that you will later give away for free.

The first step is to create the content. Called a lead magnet, this is a piece of marketing material that you will give away for free in exchange for their email address, or for signing up for your newsletter. This could be a free checklist, e-book, or audio material.

Just because it’s free doesn’t mean that you should make the material low quality. The purpose of the lead magnet is to introduce your brand to your potential customer and entice them to buy from you in the future, so don’t skimp on its quality.

The lead magnet should promise them that there is further quality to be had, and give them a reason to remain interested in your business.

Don’t be afraid to give them value for free. It will ultimately lead to a greater return on investment because your audience will want to act as your brand ambassador, spreading news of your business by word of mouth and recommendations through social media.

 

4. How can your business benefit from offering free value to your customer?

Let’s say that you have given your audience a ton of value in the form of materials such as blog posts, videos, webinars or photos. Your content is interesting and engaging. You also gave value in the form of free trials, limited time offers, coupons or free shipping.

How can you ask for something in return? This is where your social media marketing strategy can be of good use. You can ask for feedback, comments and reviews. By keeping your audience engaged, they will think of your brand first instead of another competitor’s. They are more likely to take action and buy from you.

The more channels you use to get your message out there, the more likely your audience will see it and remember your brand.

 

5. Building reciprocity in your business is really just an exercise in maintaining good customer relations.

When there’s a system of mutual benefit set up, your customers are more likely to be happy with your brand, and more willing to buy from you. The more value you give, the more persuasive your messaging is. This is how you will convince your potential customer to sign up to be a loyal customer.