The Career Tree Network Blog

In a traditional sense, people will purchase something when they believe that the value is greater than or equal to the cost of that item.  Let’s take an example, I go to the store and see a shirt for $10.  I like the shirt and would like to own it.  I pay the $10 (plus tax) for the shirt and now it’s mine to wear as I please. 

I think that I’ll get value from the shirt, so I buy it. 

The Internet, provides value to lots of people for a variety of purposes.  Aside from e-retail sites like www.Amazon.com, most of the value is provided in the way of content.  In this case, I’m not using the Internet to buy a t-shirt, rather I’m using the Internet to communicate, learn, find information, be entertained, etc.   

This brings me to the question…why don’t more companies charge for the value that they provide to website visitors?  I’ve been with www.hotmail.com for over 10 years.  In that time, I’ve enjoyed a tremendous amount of value from the service.  I’ve sent and received countless emails and it’s been a wonderful tool.  At the same time, I haven’t paid www.hotmail.com one penny for this incredible service.  In this situation, I get value, but I don’t pay for it. 

There are lots of websites that I greatly enjoy, but never pay for.  The Internet has adopted a free lunch approach where most websites just give away their valuable content. 

My websites (www.CareerTreeNetwork.com) are no exception.  I give unrestricted free access to job seekers and also have a free service level for employers.  Revenue is generated from employers who want additional exposure and access to site visitors and elect to pay for an employer membership.  The membership is a fancy adverting package. 

I believe that people have come to expect free access to on-line content.  Why should I pay to watch on-line videos when I can go to www.youtube.com and see them free?  Why should I pay for news when I can go to www.cnn.com and get it for free?  Why should I buy an encyclopedia when I can go to www.wikipedia.com and get it for free? 

This leaves content focused websites to primarily earn money through advertising.  And with so many websites out there, competition for those advertising dollars is steep. 

At the end of the day, I question the long term economic engine of the Internet.  If people are unwilling to pay for valuable content can the Internet really survive as a viable place to do business? 

I’m tired of businesses that implement technology that produces no customer value.  As a general rule, technological advancements should only be pursued when the solution has a mutual benefit to all parties that will interact with it. 

Here is an example to drill home this point:

Many grocery stores are now offering self check out machines.  Rather than have someone help me, I can now check out my own groceries.  Usually they have one employee “manage” four self-check out lanes with a centralized computer system.  The customer then does all of the work usually performed by store employees. 

Can someone tell me why this is better than the old people-focused solution?  I understand that it reduces the store’s costs…but how does it help the customer? 

Using that machine requires that I scan the products, determine plu codes, weight fruit, bag groceries, and mess with inserting my old money in to an automatic reader.  It’s much more work on my part for no added benefit.

Until grocery stores start offering an incentive to use the self-check out….I encourage you to boycott them at all costs. 

In a Human Resources setting, I believe that most Applicant Tracking Systems that require candidates to apply on-line are not candidate friendly.  I would offer that many qualified candidates fail to complete the application process because the system is too time consuming or cumbersome. 

One friend spent 1.5 hours filling out an on-line application for a position within a large bank.  After everything was perfectly entered, the system crashed and my friend lost all of his entered data.  How do you think this individual felt?  How many people did he tell about XYZ Bank’s [insert favorite adjective] on-line application system?  Even in a tough economy, there are many employers in the sea and only a limited amount of top talent.  What hoops do you require candidates to jump through?