Thank you

Well actually I wouldn’t say yes because I don’t need to buy happiness – but I certainly hope others do!
.-= Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome´s last blog ..Controlling Creativity: Timeblocking My Way to Success =-.

It’s also clear that many of us needed a reasoned, safe forum to talk about it. There are so many changes, and many of us are concerned that we’re not asking the right questions – specifically, just because we can doesn’t mean we should.

Thank you for sharing your perspective, and I understand how it can be exhausting. Sometimes signal becomes noise simply by being too intense.

Unfollow me/us as you need to – I respect your need for some time away from the firehose and I don’t take it personally, and thanks for joining the conversation when you can.

But God, I’m so overwhelmed by this conversation, and so many others of its kind in the blogosphere. It seems so overheated. My weary ears can no longer distinguish discernment from hairsplitting.

I alternate between phases where I follow you on Twitter or my feedreader, then unfollow in sheer exhaustion or stupefaction. Then somebody references you in a way that piques me again, and the cycle resumes…

Social Media Burnout would be my self-diagnosis, but I’d bet it’s a second-order effect

I pray this doesn’t come off as trolling. I fear it may.

I love your open-mindedness mate and also willingness to come back and admit you hadn’t thought of something. I wish there was more of that around the blogosphere.
.-= Tim Brownson´s last blog ..Who Cares What Tim Does? =-.

You make an excellent point, especially about people not giving value to free stuff. Also, before we go any further, I’d point out that you are infinitely more qualified than I to speak on actually creating and releasing a free ebook since you’ve done it and I haven’t.

I was simplifying and giving the best case in my example, but my point was that the reaction we were seeing when Charlie first asked the question was that a lot of people would not spend $47 on the book because of subjectivity and the fact the definition of “happiness” is different for everyone. My thought was to overcome those objections by giving it to them, then when the process actually worked for them, they’d become your tribe. With the key to happiness, the value would be high because it works. Unfortunately, when we go down a level, simplifying doesn’t work because it doesn’t take into account the fact that people may not do the worksheets, may not follow the instructions, and may not actually find happiness. It flat out may not work for them, possibly because it was free and “it couldn’t possibly work because it didn’t cost anything”.

By charging what you did you created value with people, and you managed to get MUCH more qualified sales leads. People who are excited about it, fired-up about doing the worksheets, and overall responding well. So it was in fact, much more valuable to sell it than to give it away. Honestly, I hadn’t even considered that. So now I wonder, is it an issue of subject? Would you have better luck building a following and getting speaking gigs at “Bass Pro Shops” by giving away something more tangible, like “The guaranteed 10 steps to learn fly fishing”?

@ Charlie,

Sure, the amount of individuals seeking happiness is going to be much larger than the amount of people actively searching for a 98% efficient solar power system. I think instead of saying my point was about market, I should have said it was about sellability. You could sell your solar power system to an energy management company TODAY for millions, whereas we’ve seen skepticism in people spending 47 bucks for the secret to happiness. That’s the difference I was speaking about. “Creating a process that led to global human happiness would probably change the world more than a clean energy technology” ONLY if you could get people to use it.

I sincerely believe that the essence of emotional Happiness (wisdom, enlightenment, or any other variation) can NOT be bought or sold. You can’t order it on the internet in a soda can and drink in true, authentic Happiness.

However, I do believe that it is possible to define and share the different processes that others have used to reach their goals. (whether that goal is running a marathon or learning to meditate doesn’t matter) And, depending on how important and how large those goals are, the recipient may find a measure of Happiness, Success, Richness etc in life. But they still have to do the work. They have to take the meaningful actions. And while they take those meaningful actions, internal work (growth) can and usually does occur on one level or another.

Yes, I have bought a few ebooks/programs that didn’t live up to my expectations but I found, in most of those cases, that I had dropped the ball as well. Perhaps this is because (as a physicist) I was trained to take most written books, articles, and papers as a theory–a hypothesis that was not proven unless it has been tested many times and may only be truthful within a certain environment. Even if proven, these experimental laws are more of a guideline for my own tests of reality. The more proof, the stronger the theory, but it remains a theory none the less.

The few times I purchased a book that I was sincerely upset about due to the quality of content, writing, editing, or the feeling that a false promise was made (& not delivered), I returned the product for a refund. Or, I wrote off the experience as a lesson to better understand my own emotional needs. The dollar amount was mostly irrelevant except during the actual purchase, because if I did not believe the material worthy of the price, I simply did not buy it.

So yes, I will buy products that sell “Happiness” (including Tim’s $47 ebook with the understanding that the product includes (not the essence of happiness) but an experiential process that has helped others reach happiness. And I have definitely found them to help me along my path. But I make very sure to evaluate both the writer and the ebook samples available. Apparently I’ll never been able to outrun my scientific process and mathematical pattern filled background.

Again, thanks for this illuminating discussion. I truly appreciate the honest communication of so many varied viewpoints.
.-= Lira Vaughan´s last blog ..A Change of Heart to Keep My Promises =-.