Living on MoM’s dollar
We all need to keep the lights on and feed our family. We all want to do more than this also. These concepts are usually the main factors that attract contributors and participants to our space unless they have already achieved enough to fulfill their needs and desires.
In the past I wrote, Corrupting Content where I explored my thoughts on monetizing my content, and added a bit of transparency. In this article, I will revisit this topic, and introduce an idea to help me achieve my needs and desires while continuing to provide the content I provide.
If you find no value in my content, you might be better off spending your time elsewhere.
The Status Quo
Currently, AFAIK, there are 7 ways to produce revenue from being a key opinion leader (KOL), or eduShiller. They all have their Pros and Cons. These I will name, The Dumpsta, The Backed, The Normie, The Merch, The Commune, The Talk Walka, and The Builda, and describe below.
This method of monetization (MoM) is the most frowned upon and quite rampant. This is where a KOL takes a token allocation, prior to releasing content, and then sells them to their audience. This can be done immediately while hype is building, or in the long term after the KOL effect on hype has subsided. This is the MoM that will get KOLs like ZachXBT digging around in your closet for bones to share. There is certainly a range of gray here and things to consider, but I have tried my best to avoid this MoM.
This MoM has been described as “producing content that is sponsored rather than producing sponsored content” by either Ryan or David of Bankless. This is where some entity, usually a successful protocol/product in the space pays the content creator some sort of sponsorship. This MoM also has a gray range. KOLs need to ask these questions.
- Do I think this product is actually good for my viewers?
- Will this sponsor affect my view and opinions of the videos I produce?
- Where do these funds actually come from?
- Who is paying them to pay me?
This MoM also requires that the sponsor be found and negotiated with. This might be near the top of the list of what I feel is a good fit provided that they are “silent sponsors”
This MoM is relying on Web 2.0 ads, subscriptions like Patreon, and product placement. This is the type that is usually what I consider the “might as well do it” type. But there are cons as well. It is Tradfi, and that is not what we are all here for. Salute to Coin Bureau for abstaining from this MoM.
This MoM is where the content creator produces Real World merchandise for selling. This could be T-Shirts to mugs, or anything really that might sell. This is also usually done in the Web 2.0 system, but there are Web 3.0 solutions but I have found them to be uninviting to KOLs, and their quality is not top notch either.
This MoM is where a paid subscription is offered to join a community. I have experimented with this several times and found it to be not fit for me. I lack the persistence to manage a community, and I also prefer to have my DMs open to everyone. I truly enjoy some of the conversations I have with people that DM me for various reasons.
This MoM is one that I think all KOLs should employ, and that is to consider their content as if they were a viewer. Content is always “Not Financial Advice” but it perks the interest of viewers and the KOL can employ the content in the same manner by digging deeper, asking more questions, and deciding if any particular project is worth their own investment. This does have the risk of being corrupted into a Dumpsta style MoM and there is again a gray scale that needs to be considered here too.
This MoM is the motivation of this entire article and the experiment that I wish to employ. This is where the KOL uses their time, energy, experience, and/or money to build a product of their own. This is not an easy route to take, but one that truly is walking the talk.
I will be annoucing a multi-phase project I have deliberated on for quite some time now, and hope that people look forward to it.
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