Co-founded Netribution.co.uk to help indie filmmakers in 1999. Co-writer of the Film Finance Handbook (fundyourfilm.com), web designer for non-profits, CiviCRM community member & occasional filmmaker.
This seems perhaps the most important question in the community, and of course many of us are trying in different ways to address it. We've found it helpful to visualise a 2x2 grid with 'creator' and 'consumer' on one side, and 'inspiration' and 'incentive' on the other and place different initatives accordingly (the word 'consumer' sounds passive and isn't ideal, but 'viewer/audience' excludes readers/listeners and I havn't got a better term yet) - some spanning multiple boxes.
As you say, with negligable income from WM at present, there needs to be a strong focus on the inspiration side ("something around designing a better future"). Arguably we're at the stage in uptake where that's the strongest pitch – and it is a strong pitch, given both the trouble creatives have to get paid, and the limited options centralisation gives to media consumers. The pitch seems somewhat similar to creative and consumer.. ie 'a better web' – and of course many consumers create, and all creatives consume.
Still, the practical incentives probably shouldn't be dismissed, and will most likely differ more than the inspiration pitch between creative and consumer.
For instance, years ago I took the time to open a wallet account with GateHub because I was promised 2000 Ripple/XRP if I did. I wouldn't have done otherwise. It was a promotion back then and amounted to around $5 at the time. It was quite a suprise many years later when I read a news story, logged in and saw it had grown over 200 times. But 'cash' is low-hanging fruit and will appeal more to some groups than others. Perhaps the most obvious – at creator end – is bundling signup with another service, tool or platform, ie offering additional value, viewers, functions, etc. That's why developments in the API to support tip-jars and one-off payments are appealing as it would increase the reasons why creators should setup a wallet and payment pointer.
Thanks Nic. I like your 2x2! It's very useful to hear how you're approaching the problem and I appreciate you taking the time to post this thoughtful response.
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This seems perhaps the most important question in the community, and of course many of us are trying in different ways to address it. We've found it helpful to visualise a 2x2 grid with 'creator' and 'consumer' on one side, and 'inspiration' and 'incentive' on the other and place different initatives accordingly (the word 'consumer' sounds passive and isn't ideal, but 'viewer/audience' excludes readers/listeners and I havn't got a better term yet) - some spanning multiple boxes.
As you say, with negligable income from WM at present, there needs to be a strong focus on the inspiration side ("something around designing a better future"). Arguably we're at the stage in uptake where that's the strongest pitch – and it is a strong pitch, given both the trouble creatives have to get paid, and the limited options centralisation gives to media consumers. The pitch seems somewhat similar to creative and consumer.. ie 'a better web' – and of course many consumers create, and all creatives consume.
Still, the practical incentives probably shouldn't be dismissed, and will most likely differ more than the inspiration pitch between creative and consumer.
For instance, years ago I took the time to open a wallet account with GateHub because I was promised 2000 Ripple/XRP if I did. I wouldn't have done otherwise. It was a promotion back then and amounted to around $5 at the time. It was quite a suprise many years later when I read a news story, logged in and saw it had grown over 200 times. But 'cash' is low-hanging fruit and will appeal more to some groups than others. Perhaps the most obvious – at creator end – is bundling signup with another service, tool or platform, ie offering additional value, viewers, functions, etc. That's why developments in the API to support tip-jars and one-off payments are appealing as it would increase the reasons why creators should setup a wallet and payment pointer.
Thanks Nic. I like your 2x2! It's very useful to hear how you're approaching the problem and I appreciate you taking the time to post this thoughtful response.