Our Time. Our Money.

This week, Digital Sky offered to invest $200 million in Facebook at a $10 Billion valuation. What makes Facebook worth $10 Billion? They haven’t found a sustainable business model and lose millions every month, so what makes them so valuable?

It’s because they have YOU. And not only do they have you, but you tell everyone you know about Facebook. For free.

A web company like Yahoo had to spend more than $100 million on advertising with competitors like NBC and USA Today to get their brand in front of you and your friends. Facebook gets you to market their company to your friends and family for free. And your recommendation is MUCH more valuable than what NBC can offer via a commercial. That’s why Facebook is such a great investment. They have you, and you voluntarily market their brand to people you know who trust you and value your opinion.

I’m not saying this to demonize Facebook. On the contrary. It’s brilliant. I’m an active Facebook user. If you are like me, you gets lots of value out if Facebook…keeping up with friends, networking, sharing experiences. It’s fun and may be an important part of your life as it is mine. They’ve got a great product that has helped to make the world smaller and easier to navigate. I just want you to stop and think about why they are worth so much. It’s because they have create a brand that naturally and organically collects people together and gets them to spread the word.

If Facebook is worth $10 Billion because they have us….lets collect ourselves on our own and see how much we can be worth.

You’ve all read my take on the economics of advertising. Consumers supply time and attention to advertisers and should receive the money advertisers pay to reach them. I’m almost ready to pull the wraps off of a new business that aims to make this economic efficiency a reality. (please sign up to get more details)

A frequent question I get is “well then what happens to media companies?” There’s a simple fix too. You and I consume TV shows. We should be paying for the media that we find valuable and want to consume. Now before you shudder at the thought of having to pay for news and entertainment, remember, you’d be paying for it with a portion of the ‘advertiser stimulus payment’ you receive every month.

I was just reading in TechCrunch about a company that is looking to tackle the other half of this economic riddle. Contenture is looking to create an economic fix to enable publishers big and small to get paid by consumers for their valuable, advertising free content. Makes a ton of sense…as long as consumers have extra money in their pocket to pay for it.

Consumers get paid by advertisers for the time and information we provide to them. And then media companies get paid by consumers for the valuable content they provide to us. And an efficient market is born.

Uh oh. Today ShortTail Media announced the 30 second web spot. And some big name web sites are getting behind it.

I guess we’re skipping over too many commercials on TV with our DVRs, so the commercials will be running all over the web too. Soon we’ll have to sit through these ads if we want to get where we’re going online.

In one absolutely mind-numbing comment, the CEO of ShortTail, David Payne recently spoke at an ad industry event proclaiming that publishers need to be less sensitive to user experiences. LESS sensitive! Get further away from your customer. Oh that’s right. Publishers don’t see us as their customer, they see advertisers as their customer despite the fact that we are the ones that actually consume their product.

Sigh…I’m getting a little too worked up right now. Our world is only getting more and more cluttered as companies like ShortTail Media find new ways to sell our time and attention. Let’s take ownership before everyone else does.