It's time to change Steemit's Business Model
I've been keeping up with the comment section on @ned's post since yesterday. Of course as with every controversial thing that ever happens on this blockchain, there are plenty of good ideas being shared, and many not so great ones being pushed as well.
This might be one more video on this very subject that I'm sure won't go away anytime soon. That being said, it's my intention to bring some balance to the conversation and a dose of realism. "Real Talk" - as it's known.
I think the primary flaw in thought around Steem is that one can earn without investing. The fact remains that the bills for running servers are paid in fiat, so the system costs money just to exist. Having Steemit and DTube is just a fringe benefit to investing fiat into Steem, but it's that fringe benefit that is used to onboard new people. We need those people to buy Steem and start trading with it, but there are still too many barriers to purchase small amounts, so this is not happening yet. Adds? Well that's a little like paying to watch HBO and still getting commercials. Personally I'd be much more in favor of charging $20 up front for an account and relating voting power to the Steem you purchased rather than the Steem you earned, but that has it's drawbacks also.
Another issue with adds (other than me hating them): advertisers like to get an idea of how many times an add was viewed. Newspapers can claim their sales figures to show distribution, but we have no view counters.
How about not trading Steem on an open market, but selling direct without an exchange?
Agree with what you said here, however the problem with getting people to start trading is that they need to be convinced that if they invest even a little they’ll get profit back.
Many people boarded steemit due to the fact that it’s free and if we are going down this route then it’s actually going to be quite easy for minnows to climb on the steemit ladder if they’ve invest in it.
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I agree 100% on keeping new account creation free. Imagine how many people in the 2nd world you would be cutting of by forcing a $20 acc opening fee.
@techwizardry What is the cost of a Computer, a Smartphone and the monthly subscription fee to connect them to the I'net? I think those items themselves are barriers to entry into crypto currency as it is. Some folks can't always pay their electric bills, ... sad, but I don't see anyone complaining to the electric company to turn their power back on because they are locked out of access to their Steem.
I wholeheartedly agree that free Steemit accounts are good for new sign ups, but this discussion should be about different ideas that could improve the Steem eco system. Some suggest advertising, fine, but will those companies accept Steem as payment? If we allow advertising on Steemit, who is going to get paid? With what will they get paid?
Ha ha, more questions than answers. Thank you for your time if you read all this. Greetings!
P.S. If I'm not willing to pay for Steem, who is going to buy mine when I need to sell?
When you get paid at the end of the week or month, do you expect your Dollars to be worth more 6 months later? If not; why then accept Dollars in exchange for work? Every year you pay more for food, rent, etc.
The problem with currency, is that it needs to be a store of value and a means of exchange. You are saying it has to be an investment that produces a profit. In that case currency is not the commodity you are looking for. For profit you need to invest in a company that takes $5 in materials and creates something that sells for $100.
If we all hold Steem, if Steem rises to $2. and we all sell to take profit, what will happen to the price of Steem? It goes down right? So now you know why they are all screaming HODL! We need to start trading with Steem to make it work. If we don't, Steem will be just like BTC, just sitting there in a wallet doing much of nothing.
I thought it was pretty funny how you are recommending ads, but you use an ad blocker ;)
Yes, that was quite ironic! hhahahahah
Honestly I think the best way to keep the "lights running" is there needs to be some sort of subscription system.
Maybe have the Dtube content creators pay 5-10$ a month to use the platform, to be able to upload videos.
You will make more than that back in earnings right?
many are into crypto but all of them use shampoo :D
I do not like the adds selling idea but I can clearly see how the idea of getting fiat funds could help, but also getting #STEEM listed and specially having a #STEEM-USD pair will be great. I also would like to see a Buy STEEM through the steemit.com website using my debit card or credit card would be amazing. The pretty important here is how to get them funds to keep operating and fund the project while also allow the users to keep having a good user experience.
That's actually a really good idea. If we had an easy way to buy Steem, that would make things much better for a lot of us.
I know I'd put $20 in, right now.
Yeah I could constantly pay something each month and that will sustain it's growth over time.
i can't watch right now. what are your sentiments?
due to the blurry lines of regulation, at least at the moment being... adopting a system of selling ads could give the projects in crypto some fiat revenue to keep on building without having to sell crypto to keep the lights on.
Also, it would give us some resilience in bear markets. I say much more.. but that's the TLDR
TLDR, haha... yes. I worry about the slippery slope of selling ads, but I understand where you r coming from. ty
The Brave (BAT) program might be a way to get Steemit some extra funding.
I don’t mind ads on steem one bit as long as I have a choice in how many ads I see and if I want to see them at all!
Like you said if it can be done tastefully and contextually it’s not a disruptive experience!! I think people who are against ads are basing their experience on what Facebook and YouTube have done where they shove it down your throat with little or no choice in the matter
I think the promotion tab could be overhauled to add a more opt in based ad service where users choose to view ads and both steemit inc and the user spit the revenue of impressions and clicks similar to PTC sites
Steemit can go a little further and offer native ad experiences like brands creating paid surveys paying both the user and steemit to get feedback
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As far as I know, steemit's business model is to increase STEEM price. Going to watch the video now.
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I get that, but that's basing your business on the idea that your stock is going to up. There has to be a way to hedge the market...
Exactly. I don't think that's sustainable.
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great points man. and maybe it’s my marketing background but i’m ok with ads too.
the user experience can be fantastic with or without ads. i don’t think that make some breaks the experience.
interesting to see if this gets adopted or not.
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sorry meno but I hate the idea of ads, and would this not just be a UI feature that apps could ignore?
The idea would be that steemit.com could implement them on the UI to foot the bill, it does not have to be implemented by busy or steempeak or anyone else for that matter.
Steemit Inc selling their stake puts a lot of downward pressure to the already bear market, hence it's not effective at this point in time.
However, since they are also running a node that is used by a bunch of dapps, i think the aesthetic sacrifice is more than justified.