A Penny for Your Thoughts (Or Not)
Would you pay to have your opinion on an important story heard first?
Would you sign up if it were possible to make some money back too?
I’m going there… On second thought, no I’m not…
When I first wrote this last year Twitter had not blown up yet. I realize now how annoying spammy tweets and ads in RSS feeds can be. An open and transparent system for comments is better than a closed ad-like model.
Google has ads on its search results pages and sometimes there are also sponsored links that receive special placement. What if you offered premium comments on blogs and web pages that would receive special placement for one cent. The premium comments could be listed on top of the regular comments feed.
As an added incentive, premium commenters would be able to place their own unique text ad or an AdSense ad at the footer of the comment. Premium comments allow the site publisher to make some revenue while giving users an incentive to turn hot air into spare change.
The infrastructure is already there with services like Disqus spreading across the web. Facebook users and MMORG players already use digital currency to buy and sell virtual items. Will this help publishers and readers make money or will it lead to flame wars and an avalanche of spam?
Putting Headlines Ahead of Profits
Taking the bottom line out of the equation may preserve the integrity and existence of some newspapers. Dependant on advertisers and soaked in debt, many for profit news corporations are suffering. What if newspapers and other media organizations were able put journalism and their communities first?
There is an alternative to becoming a non-profit organization or going out of business. It is called an L3C, which stands for low-profit limited liability corporation. This new kind of business entity was created by legislation in the State of Vermont. It is a hybrid structure that borrows characteristics from corporations and non-profits. Is this creative capitalism in action?
L3Cs are so new that they have not yet been tested in the field with a news organization. The buzz is increasing online and legislation is pending in several states. The low profit model is something to watch closely as it may yet be the salvation that so many newspapers have been hoping for.
