A jar full of hope: Why Brett Rounsaville of Greatest Employee in the World says online donations and tipping can work
In response to my post A jar full of fail on why online donations and tipping don’t work on the Internet, my friend Brett Rounsaville of Greatest Employee in the World (and of AmTrekker fame) has responded with a counter example of how his entire effort to criss-cross the country and live out his bucket list was entirely supported by the largess of people on the Internet.
Hey Andrew,
For nearly two years I traveled the United States and Canada while maintaining a daily blog about my adventures and producing a weekly video series. More importantly, during that two year period, 100% of the experiences I had while criss-crossing North America were supported by donations from readers, viewers and fans of the website. (That’s not totally true. I was paid $500 to be an extra in a movie at one point…) Bottom line: I feel like I may have enough real world experience to advocate a couple of the devils in your last post.
To be clear, I actually agree with a lot of what you had to say in A Jar Full of Fail but I think there are enough exceptions to your rules to seriously strain said rules. It’s not that I’m a huge proponent of donations or even that I think they can support large undertakings, but when you lead off with the line, “Online tipping is for natural disasters and not your blog or podcast…” I think you’re missing the mark a full one eighty. If ever there were a place for donation subsistence it’s with independent blogs and podcasts.
In the post you seem to hold up the failure of TipJoy and TipiT as evidence that the idea of small donations to websites and bands has faltered out of the gate. However, I would say the reason TipJoy and TipiT have failed has nothing to do with the idea of donation based monetization failing. Saying tipping isn’t a viable form of monetizing because TipJoy and TipiT couldn’t make it happen is like saying people hate dogs because pets.com failed. No one will ever succeed in business trying to squeeze their way into a market owned by an 800-pound gorilla like Paypal by adding another middleman. If anyone can set up a Paypal donation button in under ten-minutes then why put someone else’s icon on your site just so you can hand over an extra transaction fee?
Problem #1: In the real world you get tipped when you make eye contact.
Not one way, but both ways. I see you, you see me.
Agreed. But on the web this can still be accomplished simply by acknowledging your audience. They always see you. That’s why they’re called “viewers.” That’s half the equation already accounted for…all that’s left is for you to let them know that 1. You’re listening and 2. When they speak up you’re willing to offer an answer. Maybe it’s not quite mutual eye contact but at the very least it’s mutual respect, and that’s some pretty powerful stuff.
Problem #2: A bigger crowd doesn’t always mean more tips. The degree of personal responsibility your audience feels is inverse to the size of the audience. If your audience knows you have a big audience, the individuals feel less responsible.
I like this rule too. However, I think it should stand as a reminder that: The degree of personal responsibility your audience feels is directly proportional to the amount of responsibility you allow them to take. Again, this is the difference between a participatory experience and shouting into the void.
I hesitate even to bring up this example because it’s such an unique situation, but in the case of Amtrekker I set out on my own with a list of fifty things I wanted to accomplish and refused to come home until every item was crossed off my list. For those engaged in the story it was up to them to make things happen. I’ll be the first to admit that I absolutely, one hundred percent, could never have accomplished what I did with out the incredible kindness and generosity of complete strangers. When you see that #12 on the list is to “Take part in a civil war reenactment” it’s pretty clear that someone has to step up to the plate or that’s never going to happen. And, yes, I could have made phone calls to strangers all day trying to set up these adventures but people LOVE to be part of a team. Why not let them play for your team? For those that couldn’t help accomplish a task, they still wanted to help somehow…which is where that little orange “donate” button comes in handy.
It’s literally the same reason people use the word “we” when they talk about how their favorite sports team is doing, or in a more twisted light, why people join gangs. Everyone wants to be part of something bigger than themselves. Give them something to be part of.
Problem #3: Tipping creates price uncertainty. If the value of something is entirely subjective it makes it very, very hard for people to make a decision.
Yep. Sometimes that works in your favor…usually it doesn’t.
Problem #4: Why pay for something that’s free? If we think it has no value, isn’t going away and have no personal connection to it, why would we give up something like money that has value, is scarce and we’re very deeply personally connected to?
There doesn’t have to be a physical connection for there to be a personal connection. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, people want to be part of a team…but it’s up to you to be the kind of teammate that people want to help to the finals. That personal connection is absolutely the most important part of the equation if you ever hope to so much as cover the costs of blogging or podcasting via donations. What you’ve said is pretty dead on for the vast majority of bloggers out there. Most people are content to upload an article or a podcast and let that be the end of it. That will not make people care. Period.
The last point I’d like to address is “Why not at least try it?”
Chances are you will get a few donations if your blog or podcast is popular. Probably more than the $.00124 a head Wikipedia gets (I irrationally blame all those One Laptop Per Child children in poor countries for bringing that average down). But at what cost? The moment you put the donate button on your website you’re calling yourself a charity case. You’re putting a value proposition into people’s heads and telling advertisers that they get to call the shots on pricing.
This is one of the few points on which I actually whole-heartedly disagree. If you’re doing it right and putting time into finding the right advertisers for your niche then all donation subsistence proves is that you have an engaged audience that cares enough about what you say to spend their dollars on keeping you in business. Which, in most cases, is exactly what a niche advertiser wants. (I’m using niche very loosely here. REI is in the outdoor adventure niche, Coke is in the soft drink niche and International Merchandising, Promotion & Services is in the plastic Smurf collectible niche.) Felicia Day and The Guild may be the perfect example for this point. The fact that they had fans engaged enough to be willing to donate to keep the series alive in its first two seasons was much more important to them landing their Microsoft deal than the donations themselves were.
I could easily run this article into the ground by telling more Amtrekker stories but it’s pretty clear you know what you’re talking about. I’m loving Monetize This, Andrew! Keep up the good work.
Thanks for listening, Team.
I’m done.
Brett.
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I think Brett has some great insight. Check out his latest project at Greatest Employee in the World.
My limited response:
1. My original post was about using donations and tipping as a sustainable business model. You only have to ask Leo Laporte how well this is working for the TWiT network. Running a business and helping out some hipster hobo fulfill his hobo dreams are very different goals. That said, not everyone wants to turn their hobby into a business. Brett makes a fine point for how getting people engaged can be great for one-off ideas.
2. I used TipJar and TipJoy’s difficulties as symptoms of online tipping. They were intended to fulfill a service PayPal does not in microtransactions where a small donation would normally be wiped out in services fees. There were others that came before them and they failed too. As it is, tipping amounts like $.25 with PayPal doesn’t work.
3. I think Brett’s absolutely right to say go try it - if you think it’s the right model for you. Brett’s experience and The Guild are examples of projects people were going to do no matter what. The Guild started life as a television pilot. When that didn’t work they put it online and built up a fan following to produce more episodes. They started *making* money when Microsoft sponsored them and they began selling DVDs. But donations helped them get there.
Brett has made a very good case for using donations for one-time projects and as a way to launch something that people feel really engaged in. It’s something to consider.
Have any questions or comments? Email me at andrew@andrewmayne.com
