According to Free Dictionary, a Middleman is “an independent trader engaged in the distribution of goods from producer to consumer”. For years we have trust middlemen to find the best “whatever” for us and in return, we compensated them for their efforts. Today, the middleman is dead but when one door closes another one opens.
Music. It use to be that the only way you can get your song to your audience was if a Music Label (the middleman) signed you. To the relief of many artist, that is not a reality anymore. From Myspace to Reverb nation, the distribution of music can now go directly from the artist to the consumer. Take for example Soulja Boy, an 18-year-old rapper who rose to fame because of his YouTube video for his single “Crank That.”
Publishing. For writers, literary agents were the middlemen. Other then typing and binding your own book there was no way to get your 500 page novel to your intended audience. Today online companies like Blurb or Lulu can not only print the books but also ship the books for you. Self-publishing, specifically ebook, are growing so rapidly that companies like Amazon are participating.
Selling … Anything. There once was a time where getting your items into a store was your sales plan. Today a your sales plan is more about your online ecommerce store. From Bigcartel to Volusion and also Etsy, selling your items to customers is literally an upload away.
Learning. Ever wanted to know how to do Lady Gaga’s eye makeup in her Bad Romance video? Now you don’t have to go to beauty academy school to find out, you can just youtube it. From home repair to solar panels, youtube is becoming a library of how to do anything and everything making me wonder if even learning will be a Do It Yourself thing in the future.
Online and Offline designing. As the Do It Yourself attitude increases so does websites that help you do it yourself. Specifically in design were once it use to be that you needed to hire a logo designer, photographer or webdesigner, today their are loads upon loads of libraries of logos, images and website templates on the web.
As you can see, in just about every industry, the middleman is dead but the good news is you are step closer to your audience so get out there and make some music, publish, sell or just learn something. If you are one of the middlemen that have a big target on your head then take if from me, know you need to flow with the market, evolve and keep it moving.