[BLOG] Who pays for the content?
primesuspect
Beepin n' BoopinDetroit, MI Icrontian
Social Media blogger Chris Brogan asked a question today: Who should pay for the picnic?
This is a question that forms a core component of what people like Lincoln and I think about on a daily basis. This stuff keeps me up at night.
My response to Brogan's post was this:
[blockquote]As an old school Web 1.0 community who has gone through the awkward early years of monetization, we’ve always found that full disclosure to your community is probably the most crucial aspect of any efforts to make a living doing what we love to do.
Community members have to be a part of it too, though. You can’t just foist off ads, a referral program, or some rich media campaign such as interstitials, roll-downs, or co-brands without talking it over with the community first.
One way we’ve garnered community support for our advertising efforts is by reminding them that the ultimate goal is continuation of the site and everything that makes us worth coming to. The four annual events that we have and all the other fun stuff make ‘putting up with ads’ worth it for the core community. We can’t slack on our end of the bargain though. The more money the site generates, the more we have to put back into community efforts.
While the ideal of “content should be free†is a happy thought, those who consume the content need to remember that it is NOT free to generate content. We have to pay for it in hosting fees, time, and salaries. While the model is in place to deliver content for free, the money to pay for it has to come from what is ultimately a compromise - a dilution of content (in the form of advertisements) or up-selling products/services to consumers. It’s no different from the model that network television or newspapers use.[/BLOCKQUOTE]
As community members, what are your thoughts on monetization of content? Can you imagine an Icrontic without ads? What are some different ways to monetize what we do?
This is a question that forms a core component of what people like Lincoln and I think about on a daily basis. This stuff keeps me up at night.
My response to Brogan's post was this:
[blockquote]As an old school Web 1.0 community who has gone through the awkward early years of monetization, we’ve always found that full disclosure to your community is probably the most crucial aspect of any efforts to make a living doing what we love to do.
Community members have to be a part of it too, though. You can’t just foist off ads, a referral program, or some rich media campaign such as interstitials, roll-downs, or co-brands without talking it over with the community first.
One way we’ve garnered community support for our advertising efforts is by reminding them that the ultimate goal is continuation of the site and everything that makes us worth coming to. The four annual events that we have and all the other fun stuff make ‘putting up with ads’ worth it for the core community. We can’t slack on our end of the bargain though. The more money the site generates, the more we have to put back into community efforts.
While the ideal of “content should be free†is a happy thought, those who consume the content need to remember that it is NOT free to generate content. We have to pay for it in hosting fees, time, and salaries. While the model is in place to deliver content for free, the money to pay for it has to come from what is ultimately a compromise - a dilution of content (in the form of advertisements) or up-selling products/services to consumers. It’s no different from the model that network television or newspapers use.[/BLOCKQUOTE]
As community members, what are your thoughts on monetization of content? Can you imagine an Icrontic without ads? What are some different ways to monetize what we do?
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Comments
I don't know that you guys really need to monetize what you do any more than what is present, unless things are in the mode of failure. I think the likelihood of the community rallying around paying more for the events is more an option than trying to raise more money with other monetization options. Some of them are just gaudy and in the way.
I guess what I'm saying is you guys do a great job doing what you do, and we appreciate it as a community.