The Opposite of Toll Positions - But Just As Profitable

[Ankesh]

I recently met Matt Mullenweg - the founder of WordPress. And it was quite epiphanious for me.

1.

Toll positions is all about control. You control the product or the distribution - or both. And make money by collecting a toll - a fee.

2.

On the other hand - there is open sourcing. Which means giving away total control. Let everyone come on board and make changes and tweak things. No single person has complete control. No toll can be collected.

But even using this open source model - WordPress became the biggest blog platform company - even though they were not the first on the scene.

And being the fastest one to grow the biggest - they are making a lot more money from other avenues too. By selling optional premium services and things like that.

I think open sourcing will always beat a controlled toll position product in the long run. Because it has the potential to attract the masses in speeds never seen before.

Eg: Prediction: Google Android will beat Nokia and iPhone. Because it is open source.

3.

The best model of course is somewhere in the middle. One that uses parts of the toll position strategy. And parts of the open source strategy.

One organization that comes to my mind is Toast Masters.

1. Its open source as in anyone can open a Toast Masters outlet in their neighbourhood.

2. But it has a toll position too - because every new Toast Masters chapter needs to get all the educational material from them.

Today - Toast Masters has become the biggest public speaking education company out there.

Hi Ankesh,

Does that mean you were one of those Lucky bloggers recently vacationing in Paris France?

Hope you had a Good working holiday and a Fun time...

Thanks for mentioning Matt Mullenweg... I always enjoy the Great info Matt shares which is applicable to so Much more than just Wordpress and blogging...

Thankfully, technology and the expanding internet makes Traveling nice and simple these days...
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives..._mullenweg.php

Regarding Toast Masters and public speaking education in general... Don't forget Scott's Great info on public speaking and other out of the box business ideas and opportunities...
http://www.sowpub.com/forum/showthre...ynameisscot t

With Open source and Crowdsourcing business ideas... Keep a very open mind...

Definitely worth a little digging and some Creative brainstorming... Lots of Untapped business opportunities still to be discovered...
http://www.sowpub.com/forum/showthre...ht=open+source
http://www.crowdsourcingdirectory.com/

Phil