As of today, I am going to try and implement a system to help myself supply more MYSD chapters weekly.
In a nutshell, I have an agreement with two people who will pay similarly to a Patron would. The difference is they’re not paying for advanced chapters. Instead, they are paying me to give them a shout out – for lack of better word. These guys essentially want to get views for their YouTube videos. As such, I am posting them on chapters to give their videos exposure for a certain monthly price. Think of them as Adsense, but instead of counting on Adsense, I am actively giving them shout outs.
Let me make this clear right now: this is not a paywall or adwall!
What I need from you, as readers, is to basically watch the videos.
Q: Will they be obstructing chapters? Will I HAVE TO watch them to read chapters?
A: No and no. Adense earnings suck; I don’t think I need to explain how poorly they pay in this circle.
Some readers won’t pledge on Patreon due to conspiracies or aliens, which I can’t comment on. Others simply don’t want to; it is what it is, and I don’t take issue with anyone honest about that. Hence, this is another way anyone in either of these groups or similar situations to help everyone, including themselves, out – in the sense everyone gets more chapters.
There’s no logging in, pledging, donating and whatnot. If it costs anything, it’d be data (if you’re not using WiFi) and your battery. You’re not obligated to subscribe to them, either.
If the videos are so compelling that you do want to watch them, feel free to. If you don’t want to, you can just mute them and let them roll in the background as you read and comment.
And, it’s worth repeating again: this is completely voluntary as a reader.
Q: Does this replace Patreon?
A: No. There’s no way it could replace a blooming Patreon. Never. It would be impossible to charge them exorbitant amounts — relative to them, like $500/month. These two guys I have a deal with at the time of writing this aren’t even earning a dime from their YouTube channels, let alone paying that much. This is merely there to supplement Patreon.
Q: What if I’m a Patron?
A: Then, you won’t even see the videos and you just enjoy your advanced chapters.
Q: How will it work for me as a reader? What’s my bonus?
A: I will place a video at the top of a chapter. Simply click and let it play. In the meantime, as it plays, you can go on and read the chapter and comment exactly as per usual. Once you’re done, you’re free to just close the video and be done. Simple.
If the sound is annoying, mute it.
There is no direct bonus to speak of. It’s dependent on everyone as opposed to one person. If we all pull together and feed the video owners views, everyone benefits. It’s not a system where one person can carry hundreds of others. Advanced chapters are still a Patreon deal.
Q: How does it work for you as Wu Jizun?
A: They pay a monthly fee that I add to the Patreon earnings. Let’s make an example with some numbers to demonstrate.
Let’s pretend we’re in September.
Let’s pretend each of the two pay $200 per month to have me promote 2 videos of theirs each week.
Let’s pretend the MYSD Patreon is earning $100 a month.
That means, in September, the total earnings for September would be $500. At $500, I do an extra chapter of MYSD weekly. In short, they supplement the Patreon earnings.
Needless to say, posting another chapter would give me an extra $2 from Adsense and another chapter I could potentially give a shout out on, so I don’t stand to lose. This would empower me with a chance to ask them for higher shout out fees.
Q: Will the videos be there forever?
A: No. I will eventually remove them if they don’t pay me.
If they don’t want to continue having me promote their videos, they stop paying. As such, as long as we feed him enough views each month to keep him happy, he continues to pay, especially in the case of him needing views and watch time to (hopefully) allow him to monetise his channel. So, if you don’t watch the videos I post, he doesn’t get enough views to warrant continuing paying me a monthly fee, simple as that.
My hope is that we can feed them a view count they’d be happy with (I discuss this with them) so that I can charge a higher promotion fee. That means they cover a bigger portion of Patreon. Of course, there will be a cap as I mentioned before.
WARNINGS
1/ Don’t send bot views. If you get the video owners in trouble with YouTube, you’re creating trouble for me and yourself.
2/ Don’t do the “click and close” trick. It doesn’t work and messes with their videos in the algorithm. The longer you leave the video running (until completion), the better it is to impress them, empowering me to demand higher fees.
To repeat, because there will be, at least, one person who asks again: this is not a paywall or adwall of any sort. This is 100% voluntary on the reader’s part.
Also, just as importantly, these next two weeks will be a trial run. If they and I are happy with the numbers, we’ll continue forward with this strategy. Otherwise, we’ll scrap the entire idea.
I plan to implement this for the first time on the next chapter (16th July, 2019, Australian time).
If you have any questions or thoughts you want addressed, drop them below in the comments.
