The online information economy

I just read an interesting top ten list that lists "10 new ways to make money online." I enjoyed the article since the author references a few of the things I do, but I was surprised that they didn't make the leap to discussing the overall picture - in my mind, the switch from a product based to an information based online economy.

In almost every example what the author is talking about is placing value on the information you generate. Whether it's a blog post that you write from a unique perspective, a photograph of your family dog, or helping someone troubleshoot their open source software, in every case what's being bought and sold here is only information, not a physical product. In the original online commerce boom, everyone was selling a tangible asset - using eBay to sell junk from their attic, setting up Amazon affiliate stores, and so on. In the 'new' virtual job search, people are finding ways to monetize the stuff they keep between their ears - lifetimes of unique experiences which can filter the massive amount of information available.

In short, the person who does a good job converting DATA into INFORMATION is the person who's going to be successful making money online today. The downside? It's pretty tough to scale that - I couldn't possibly write for fifty blogs, it's all I can do to keep up with two! But maybe that's just as well... in the long term I think we'll all be better off with a more diverse blogosphere anyway :)