The sustainable business model for read.cash

I would like to propose a business model that is workable in the long term. The current reward system is not really perfect as it did not manage to solve the one problem and that is getting money.

Implementing Advertising ads is must

Advertising ads are a must because, in reality, We can't make money appear out of thin air. Another issue with depending on people to pledge is that in reality, there are a lot of people who will exploit our free service of knowledge for free. All the writers out there need to ask yourself do you want the reader to read your thing for free? For me, my answer is No. I often had people calling me asking about their coin.

The frustrating part about it is most of the time after explaining or helping them evaluate, nobody once bloody pays me anything. Got one time It was already midnight and I was sleeping than somebody sent me 50+ photos of coin and banknote to ask for me to look through. This was like a WTF moment in my life.

I know oversea, dealers would ask for a consultation fee. When I try to ask them for a fee, most will say " ask only ma". Next time you go see Doctor, try do this and they will chase you out. Some of knowledge we spend years studying and reading.

So I believe most of the writer's answer will be " No".

Learning from youtube

The Youtube ads reward system is based on views. More views mean more ads get to be served to the viewer. This way of reward system actually good as it will make all the content creators create a more evergreen type of content.

A good video or article will survive the test of time. Even until now, my most profitable video is actually my old video I do a few years ago.

How to implement it?

The current point system is going well down since there are points for getting a view. Just that we need to think about how to add the ads system into read.cash.

A few things we need to be clear, not all ads revenue are equal as it depends on the company who wants to advertise to decide the price. All Ads revenue that generates at the end of the month will instead throw in to read.cash fund to keep things simple, it will be very complicated if pay everyone based on the type of ads served on their content since the read.cash team is not big.

Before throwing it in there, the admin who takes a percentage of it to maintain the operation cost. Youtube does take 45% of the revenue generated from ads.

Ads we need to avoid

There are one ads we need to avoid that is the pop-out type. Normally this is one that will ruin the user experience. Get Overlay ads, Display Ads, and Sponsored cards type.

Pledge benefit

We should consider pledge benefit if the viewer pledges some money to read.cash fund, then the ads won't appear for a certain day. For example, every $1 you pledge you get 1-day ads free.

Monthly subscription

Monthly subscription is also a possibility, get advertising-free experience and e-mail notification.

Teamwork required !!!

In order to make it successful, the writer needs to get serious about what they write. Because this system will only work if the thing you write can get people to read.

Only by getting more people to view your thing only than ads is able to be served to the viewer to get paid.

Only by having a lot of views can the admin negotiate for the advertising deal.

What happen if we continue with the current trend without this system?

Read.cash already share about what will happen to the domain, it will end up for sale due to lack of fund.

I will share with you what will happen using steemit/hive as an example. In the beginning, a lot of YouTuber go to steemit/hive thinking that people there will appreciate their work. In the beginning, they gain some money than later on, nobody upvotes their content. Then slowly a lot of them find it unsustainable because it is inconsistent. Many people would only upvote those within their circle to game the system.

In the end, most of the former YouTuber go back to be a Youtuber. Only a few remain because they had the backing of a few whales( people will huge voting power).

I learn my lesson hard after writing a lot of article for steemit/hive. The only way to survive there is to by popularity. It was never about creating good content.

Unless you going to cover something sensitive, it would be better for those serious about creating video content to stick with youtube.

Personal advice for the writer

I think people fail to realize that earning by writing or doing video full time is not that simple if you want to just depend on that to survive. You need to use the reputation that earns your money in another way.

I will use my numismatic field as an example. The main purpose of me writing or doing video is so that I can promote the hobby and counter the misinformation that is effecting all the serious sellers.

There are dealer or auction house willing to help me because what I did is invaluable. Just recently I needed to buy something from the auction, normally a bidder needs to pay a deposit but for me, they say I don't need to pay.

In one of the previous auction, the head of the auction house personally thank me for covering about their auction and invited me to had a buffet with them. Normally this buffet is only for their staff and dealer who rent their place to sell things. I was the only person who is not a dealer or staff invited to have dinner with them.

Here is my writing about the experience. Link: https://tasteem.io/post/45447

Sometimes the dealer lends me their collection to do video, that is how I am able to cover so many things on my channel. You will notice I cover a lot of expensive collection, those are mostly borrowed from the dealer. If I really go and buy, I will be digging my own grave early.

You will need to find another alternative or creative way of making money besides depending on read.cash alone. Never put every egg in one basket.

I am a dealer selling the numismatic collection on eBay, the buyer sometimes buys from me because they came across an article or video made by me. I sometimes become a deal broker between 2 parties thanks to my reputation to earn a commission.

It is up to you to think of ways to earn money from writing indirectly.