Bootstrapping for more than just money

Filed in archive Bootstrapper Tips on April 16, 2008

It might surprise some readers to hear bootstrap business advocate Seth Godin talking about giving away a product like his 1998 book The Bootstrapper's Bible.

But that's exactly what the founder of Yoyodyne, who the same year sold his company to Yahoo! in a $30 million stock deal suggests in his post "Thinking about digital media".

Seth explains that when his book on the bootstrapping ethic was first released:

For a bunch of reasons, it didn't do very well. It probably sold about 10,000 copies at about $12.

I got the rights back from the publisher and turned it into a PDF which was sold on Amazon...For a surprisingly long time, it was either the #1 bestselling ebook on the entire Amazon website or in the top 100. It costs less than $3. Yet, after 18 months of strong sales on Amazon, it has sold fewer copies than the paperback did.

But then, Seth said, he got the bright idea of giving away free downloads still available on the Internet at sites like this one, at the time observing:

...in twenty four hours, it has already "outsold" the Amazon eBook and will quite likely surpass the printed edition within a week or so.

The money issue doesn't bug Godin. The way he sees it, giving the book away:
• Helped him spread his message much faster than would have been possible otherwise, and
• Hopefully interested readers in interacting with him on other levels, some of them no doubt business related

Seth calls this the "currency of the future" and it's worth remembering for bootstrappers. Sure revenue is always important to a business lacking external funding, but that revenue can come in many ways.

Don't nickel and dime your customers to death. Give them something that will encourage continued involvement with you and get them to tell others about you. There are a lot of ways to create value and a lot of ways to exchange value with others.

Photo Credit: D. McAbee, Morguefile