Do you remember how amazed we all were when we sent
our first fax to someone? Knowing that somehow that piece of paper was floating
through space to get to its destination.
Another office received our document while our original document
remained steadfast in the fax in our office. We didn’t have to physically put
it in an envelope and send it through the mail, yet somehow it got there.
That was the beginning of a whole new age of
productless products. Sending something
to someone without actually sending anything.
Nowadays, we buy things that no one had to pack and
ship to us – online music, ebooks, webinars, etc. They ship nothing and we receive nothing, at least nothing we
can actually hold in our hands. Then, we pay for it without any actual currency
exchanging hands.
The computer age has done more than open up our world
and broaden our horizons. It has enabled us to buy and sell productless
products. We buy products with no actual money and receive in return a two
dimensional nontangible item that we can’t touch, smell, or taste. And the
demand for these phantom items is growing. Amazon says eBooks are bigger sellers than
print books. I don’t believe iTunes would stay in business if they weren’t so
popular with people who want music piped in to them (without pipes, by the way).
I first appreciated this paradigm in selling when I
wanted to make my song “Mary’s Christmas” available to the public but didn’t
want to have to cut a lot of records, store them, and ship them out to
buyers. (Full disclosure: since I have no musical ability
whatsoever, the song is performed by my very talented son-in-law, Curtis
Willey.) By offering the song on iTunes, I could sell the song without having to
ship anything. What a concept!
Now, my book, Stop
Procrastinating – Get Published! is available through this phantom method
of commerce. You gotta love it! Of
course, people can buy the print version and hold the book in their hands, but
they can also get the eBook version that will arrive instantly on their Kindle
or computer with just a few clicks on Amazon. Oh look, it's flying through the air to you!
To continue this subject of productless products, if
you would like me to send you a free book (of course, without MY actually having to send it to you), go to Amazon and click on Waterbeds and Wedding Vows. The eBook will be sent to you
immediately. And when you get it, you will find inside that book a place to
click and get the second book in the Cranky Seniors Series, Hamburgers and Headaches, for free. They
can both be read on computer, Kindle, Nook, and ePub. I can send it to you while I sip coffee in my robe, unaware that I'm sending it. What a life!
One can only guess what the future
holds. It could be just a click away.
Quote of the Day: ". . . Striding the blast . . .upon the sightless couriers of the air."
William Shakespeare
Speaking of warm weather, we had a couple of days this week in the high 60s - low 70s. I still have enough New England blood in me to say, "But it's December!" I took advantage of one of those days and put up five bird feeders. I can see three from the kitchen window and two from the living room window while I'm at the computer. Today the birds discovered them! They seemed to enjoy the seed, but probably not as much as I enjoyed having them stop by to visit. I have two bird houses yet to put up somewhere before nesting season starts. This is a view from the kitchen window; there's a bird on the right feeder. You may not be able to see him, but he's there.
