Knowledge is Money

I found a slightly dated (but still relevant) article on cio.com titled Knowledge Profiteering. The Information Age may have begun earlier than we think. The article describes how famous people in the past have used information for profit. I think the article makes some good suggestions about how to create a viable knowledge based business in America as we see more traditional businesses struggle with downward price pressures due to commoditization and manufacturing move to lower cost parts of the world. Here four methods the article gives for applying knowledge for financial gain:

1. Apply knowledge as intelligence.
Use market knowledge, or intelligence, to take advantage of business opportunities. Like this morning's stock quotes, these competitive insights have a short shelf life. Act quickly on market knowledge to beat the competition.

2. Use knowledge to persuade.
Publicize powerful pieces of information to create demand.

3. Control the knowledge platform.
Create the knowledge real estate everybody must use. For example, operating systems do not create information; they store and share information. But by owning the operating system you can become a very powerful and wealthy landlord. Just ask Bill Gates.

4. Sell knowledge as a product.
Although knowledge products have existed for centuries in the form of encyclopedias and other reference sources, 20th century KPs can create technology products that standardize whole bodies of knowledge. KPs who offer their products on the Web can instantly hook large populations of customers.