Following his "New York Times" bestseller, "The Long Tail, Free" is another look at the radical new way business is done. . . . [It] shows a new economic model that goes way beyond the old concepts of free with purchase' or loss leaders'.--Will Baillett.

From the Publisher:
In his New York Times bestseller, The Long Tail, Wired magazine's editor in chief provided a glimpse of the business future that's already here. And now, in Free, he does it again.
As the cost of doing business online drops closer and closer to zero, giving things away is not just becoming an option--it's inevitable. But if the product is free, where's the revenue? In Free, Anderson breaks down the priceless economy into six broad categories, demonstrating how to make money in each:
- "Freemium": Free Web software and services, and some content, to users of the basic version. (Think Flickr and the $25-a-year Flickr Pro.)
- Advertising: Free content, services, and software to an audience that advertisers will pay to reach.
- Cross-subsidies: Give away any product that entices customers to pay for something else. Example: It's a free second-gen Wii! But only if you buy the deluxe version of Rock Band.
- Zero marginal cost: Anything that can be distributed without an appreciable cost to anyone, like online music.
- Labor exchange: Performing tasks to gain access to "free" sites and services.
- Gift economy: From Freecycle (free secondhand goods) to Wikipedia, money isn't the only motivator.
In Free, Anderson uses the fundamentals of economics, a long view of the history of business, analysis of today's rapidly changing landscape, and fascinating predictions to create a book that, like The Long Tail, will be essential reading in the years to come.
- In hardcover, The Long Tail had lengthy runs on the New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, Book Sense, Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, and Los Angeles Times bestseller lists, and has sold200,000 copies.
- Like The Long Tail, Free began as an article in Wired--in this case, as a controversial cover story. Anderson has also been discussing the book's progress on his widely read blog thelongtail.com.
- As editor in chief of Wired and author of The Long Tail, Chris Anderson is one of America's most sought-after commentators on tech trends.

Tagged: Business, Economics, Finance