We originally posted a version of this on our tech blog in May, but decided to share it with you again…
In Des Moines, IA it is tough to find good seafood and when you find a place that has it – you keep going back. Our place of choice is Waterfront, but as you can imagine, fresh seafood in Iowa costs a little more than it does on the coasts. So last week, we decided to try to make our favorite Waterfront cuisine ourselves at home.
To our surprise, Waterfront offers up their recipes on their website – in printable 4×6 recipe cards. They also have a market attached to the restaurant that sells fresh seafood daily.
Many businesses consider their recipes top secret – whether it be business processes, industry knowledge, or expertise. So why does a business like Waterfront embrace it? Why do they give out their recipes and all the means to make it yourself when their core business is to prepare and serve you food?
This act of giving away information is core to the Freemium business model. It is fundamental to the content strategies Doug and I discuss on our internet business podcast and is something I teach my clients when we discuss organic SEO. It’s the reason I blog, record a podcast, tweet industry details, etc. I give away my successful internet business recipes daily – but for what? Why give away something when I can have people to pay me for that knowledge?
Lets return to Waterfront… They give you a recipe and the ingredients – and send you on your way to make that delicious Halibut Royale that you’ve eaten in the restaraunt a number of times. Excitedly you arrive home and start cooking. As you work your way through the recipe you find it’s not as easy as you had thought. And when you finally pull it out of the oven and take the first bite – you realize it’s not near as good as it is in the restaraunt. So next time you get the craving for fresh seafood you will likely return to the restartaunt and purchase the expert-made halibut royale rather than attempting to prepare it yourself.
So I give away all my web strategy recipes. Some people will take them and run – never requiring my consulting services. But many will take the recipes and try to make them work themselves only to realize they aren’t cut out for it. Upon this realization who do you think they will return to? … the chef that gave them the recipe.
This principle forms a significant cornerstone in how we are changing our business in 2010. Do you give away your recipes? Let us know in the comments or jump into the forums.
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Brilliant… both the restaurant and your advice… ( I used to work at Waterfront
Have a great New Year, Andy!
Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef
It’s a top 5 restaurant in Des Moines for me – they are awesome. Of course the chef used to work there
Happy New Year to you too – thanks for stopping by!
Nice post Andy. Chris Anderson addresses this in his book “Free! The Future of a Radical Price.”
He talks about how Jello was marketed when it first came out. Nobody understood what jello was or how to serve it… and the owner didn’t have the money to buy expensive licenses to solicit people door to door.
Instead he’d go door to door, giving out reciepe books full of different ways to prepare and serve jello. Then he’d go to local grocery stores and explain that they’re about to get a flood of customers asking where they can buy jello.
They went from almost no sales to $2M+ in two years…. back in 1904.
Andy – Great suggestion on the book (amazon link)
He makes some great points on the “Free” economy. He did a keynote with Guy Kawasaki on the book last year at SXSW that was fantastic where they talked some examples.
That Jello example is amazing – and it was over 100 years ago! Just shows this model is timeless yet remains effective!
Thanks for stopping by Andy!
As you say “there is a long tail for everything”.
Giving the “recipes” builds your reputation and says that you are confident and secure in your abilities. This can also go a long way in telling people that you are interested in helping and not just taking money.
Even if people take things and run, they still may remember their roots and come back, which provides you another opportunity to monetize. It could be months or years, but there is an excellent chance they will come back. Have to keep the long tail in mind at times.
Great post and great advice to keep in mind.
Meant to say “keep the long tail in mind at all times.”
I mentioned this before – reputation is growing increasingly important as more and more of us become transparent in our lives and business online
You make a great point on tying reputation with the long tail… Thanks for stopping by Michael!