I got a ping from Product Marketing Manager Bonnie Williams, asking me to check out Network Solutions’ new service, LinkTogether. It’s a cool concept — a service, built around a community, where Web designers and developers can show off their wares — including graphic assets, stock photos, code snippets, and Web templates — and maybe even get paid for them:
LinkTogether main screen
How LinkTogether Works
The theory of it is pretty simple — designers and developers have stuff that they’ve created but never used, and usually it’s just lying around. Instead of simply taking up storage space, why not create a marketplace for it?
The nuts and bolts of it are straightforward: register for a free membership (there’s also a premium Pro account available), and have a PayPal account. Once you’re registered with a seller’s account, you can upload items, list them, and assign your own prices (you can also share items for free.)
More importantly, you determine your own licensing terms, and can choose from a variety of license types (including Creative Commons licenses). For all this, NetSol collects a 15 percent sellers’ fee.
A marketplace for digital assets raises a lot of questions:
* Pricing decisions: After all, there is no better feedback mechanism than the free market: If you post an asset and it doesn’t sell, either you’ve got the wrong price, or the wrong product. You also have to factor in the value of demonstrated provenance and seller-determined licensing terms. And from the behavioral economics side, we know that “free” has some value (and baggage), as do certain price points. What ratio of free to paid assets should you use?
* Leveraging existing assets vs. Creating original content for sale: We’re assuming that people will start out showcasing stuff they’ve already created — the “your trash is someone’s treasure” concept. (Okay, “trash” is the wrong word.) By uploading and sharing what you’ve already created, you’re showcasing your work, putting it in front of people who are specifically looking for stuff to use. And since it’s already created, there’s no additional cost to you. So the question on building inventory is: If you ever get to the point where you’ve mined out your previous work, do you let your pile o’ previously built stuff grow organically, or do you start creating original assets specifically for sale?
* Tangible benefits from your work: We know that giving away content for free is a way to help build credibility, prestige, and peer recognition — building credit in an attention economy. The question LinkTogether and similar marketplaces ask is – is it possible to also get actual monetary value from the direct selling of assets, on top of any indirect value from reputation or referrals, etc? We know of a few examples — SecondLife objects among them, or the secondary markets in MMORPGs. How about for things more (dare I say it) useful?
Since I’m not a designer or developer, and since I’m a poor-to-mediocre photographer, I’m not sure that I have any assets I’d put up on LinkTogether. So I’d like to see what other people think — for those people who create original digital assets (excluding commissioned works), have you ever tried selling them? Have you had any success?
In addition to the downloads, LinkTogether also has community forums, downloadable white papers, jobs listings, and more, so take a look and let us know what you think.
Give it a Try! (Limited Time Offer)
Because you might want to learn more and give it a try, here’s an added bonus for blog readers: For the next 24 hours from when this post goes live at 8AM EDT on 4/20/2009, you can get a PRO account for two months free!
Sign up HERE and use Coupon Code: PCXXX02884
Brought to you by Network Solutions®
