ErinLaing.com

If you have quality content, people will pay for it, regardless if it’s available for free.

Evan Hessel wrote an article for Forbes recently called YouTube Goes Hollywood. Here’s an excerpt:

Content partnership head Jordan Hoffner argues that YouTube streaming could actually stimulate DVD sales, pointing to the experience of Monty Python’s distributors, who posted dozens of television segments last year and soon saw its DVD boxed set shoot to No. 2 on Amazon.com’s movies and television bestseller list.

Contrary to what most people believe, when you give things away for free, you will be rewarded down the line. Monty Python is probably not the best example to use since it’s a celebrated establishment with a cult following of millions. The Tribe, however, is an excellent example of how giving away your content for free pays out in the long run, on an independent scale.

The Tribe is a short documentary film about the Jewish people and the Barbie Doll. The film played in festivals all over the world and has won countless awards. It’s available to purchase through iTunes, through the film’s website and it’s also available for anyone to see - in its entirety - on YouTube.

Tiffany Shlain, the film’s director, producer and co-writer made the film available for viewing on youtube from the get-go and her sales on iTunes were quite good. When the film got into higher profile festivals like Sundance however, she was asked to pull the film from the net (for legal reasons). As soon as she did this, her sales plummeted to zero. So, after the festivals ended, and a certain amount of buzz was generated, she put the film back on YouTube. What happened? The Tribe hit #1 on iTunes.

Since the film is available for free, Shlain offered incentives to those who actually bought the film ie. she got creative with marketing. She’s offering signed, limited edition posters and a cleverly designed dvd box set that includes flash cards and a film guide.

Even with big and small success stories, there are those that are still reluctant to follow suit. The music industry learned this the hard way. Why do we think the film industry is any different?

When you give things away for free, the rewards come back to you in spades. It’s called the gift economy.