Vrm Media Republic2

A new business model for free media. (that isn’t advertising)
Doc Searls Not a Ph.D
Berkman Center

There’s a split in our psyches between producer and consumer
At work we forget or ignored who we are at home.
So we “target,” “capture” and try to “own” our very selves.

Yet we’re all producers now. Or in a position to be.
We can participate.
We don’t have to put up with being herded into silos.
Or so we’ve been telling ourselves.
With one half of our brains.
The other half is still advertising at us.

Customer Relationshp Management (CRM) isn’t enough.
CRM doesn’t actually relate.
It talks to itself.
You’re still a target. A wallet with eyeballs.
Can we give CRM something more to relate with?
Something that makes them more money?

What we need is VRM: Vendor Relationship Management.
With VRM, we get to manage our relationships with vendors.
We get to set our terms.
We get to help vendors in ways CRM systems currently prevent.
We get to help CRM actually relate for a change.

With VRM I can inquire and relate to markets, on the fly.
For example, I want to buy a stroller for twins from somewhere near USC in the next 2 hrs …
— without going into a silo (e.g. eBay), or giving any more than the required information…
— which mainly consists of being trustworthy and having money to spend.

I should be able to express global (and logical) preferences outside of anyone’s silo.
For example,
IF I am calling for tech support,
THEN I don’t want to hear a commercial message.
AND I am willing to pay $X to reach a human in <60 seconds.

I should be able to manage my own health care data.
Instead of risking my life when I fill out manual forms with names of diseases I don’t know how to spell.

So we’re working on that.
We’re a Berkman project, and a community of developers and other interested parties.
Including marketers. We offer hope.

Our first use case is paying for public media.
Because…
A lot of non-payers are willing to pay…
Especially if isn’t just through fund drives.
We just need a way.
And we have one.

Say hi to the relbutton :
It says,
“ I want to pay…
what I want.” And/or,
“ I want to relate…
on my terms…
and not just yours.”
“ This is my code’s way
of letting your code know that.
Even if you’re not listening. Yet.”

The relbutton can represent four different states.
Intention to relate (and to pay).
Existing relationship.
Intention to buy (from anybody, on my conditions).
Intention to sell, but also to relate on your (the buyer’s) terms, as well as mine.

Here’s how it might look in use:
Now we have a tool that lets both buyers and sellers express their intentions, scaffold their relationships. (Among much more. No limit.)
Listeners, viewers and readers can both pay for and relate to public media in ways that work for both.
Of course, this can work for print as well.
And for music. Think about it.

What happens once we’re actually relating (besides making more money)?
Better ways for anybody to pay for anything.
Relationships not contained by CRM systems.
Markets that aren’t “your choice of silo.”
More and better data in the right hands.
The end of the split inside our heads.

Join us here:
projectvrm.org
We’re a project of the Berkman Center.
We’re a development community that’s already very active and fun.

Vrm Media Republic2

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