5 New Money Rules: Making Money In A Thank You Economy
Everyone has the same problem – New Money’s CATCH-22:
You need a scaled network to charge for content. You can’t scale a network without money.
New Money’s CATCH-22
When Gary Vaynerchuk created his wine videos they went viral creating a lifting tide that became The Thank You Economy. Share, Vaynerchuk’s book The Thank You Economy teaches, and you scale a network capable of paying you back. Vaynerchuk’s book was published in 2011 sharing stories he experienced and/or created several years before.
The web is noisier now.
Here is a short video summarizing a “how to create a startup” lesson with Adam Schultz at Triangle Startup Factory Last week:
Caption: Adam Shultz Money, Market and Product startup process diagram video.
“Create balance” between MONEY, MARKETS and PRODUCT feels helpful and right. This Curatti post is focused on “money now”.
New Money Rule 1:
Partner As You Build
Finding great partners is the secret to making money online. I believe in OPC (Other People’s Content) and OPL (Other People’s Lists). Leverage whatever you can to find partners with scale willing to trade.
Our startup CrowdFunde is using Phil Buckley and my SEO, content marketing and ecommerce expertise to develop partnerships. Partners such as Moon Audio, Vestique, Curatti and others want to partner in order to tap potential content marketing and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) benefits.
Our partners have scale and are willing to share.
CrowdFunde’s partners need a User Generated Content (UGC) engine. Impossible to climb our new online marketing Mt. Everest of content marketing, UGC and social shares alone. Partners help CrowdFunde look bigger. No one goes into a room alone and stays very long. Partners help create a party that feels compelling and fun with a “train is leaving the station better get on” momentum.
New Money Rule 2:
Create and Sell Training
CrowdFunde’s team can train on a handful of hot topics including: SEO, content marketing, ecommerce and crowdfunding. Training is a great, inexpensive and viral way to make your cash register ring.
We will create “Lunch and Learn” sessions. Phil and I will spend an hour teaching “inside baseball” tips for everything from SEO to how to use Scoop.it. Great idea to partner on training too. We will approach Chris and Dave and incorporate Triangle Startup Factory as a partner.
New Money Rule 3:
Crowdfund
We are developing a crowdfunding campaign for CrowdFunde. Creating a crowdfunding campaign is a great, lean, fast marketing exercise. Crowdfunding forces you to think about how to pitch your idea in ways others understand.
Crowdfunding forces you to think about rewards people want. People don’t buy the “rewards” as much as they are buying IN. Donors what to be part of your tribe. Look at how brilliantly Pebble Watch solved every startup problem from distribution to celebrity endorsements. No wonder their Kickstarter campaign made $10.2M.
Ethan Mollick in Dynamics of Crowdfunding outlined 5 quality benchmarks including:
- Video.
- No misspelled words.
- Large personal networks.
- Well thought out rewards.
- Updates.
Mollick’s study pointed to the importance of the first week. Campaigns who have 25% or more in the bank after a week increase chances of success to 80%. Line up contributors before you open the campaign and make sure you have 25% in the bank after the first few days. Have a “kickoff party” and hit up your friends.
New Money Rule 4:
Sell Sponsorships & Advertising
Ask a few highly relevant businesses for their support early. They may tell you to go away, but if your ASK is full of VALUE you can get companies to pay to help you create legitimacy.
Selling sponsorships isn’t EASY. Consider incorporating a sponsorship reward in your crowdfunding campaign and work your personal network. Some “sponsorships” are so valuable (to you) it may make sense to ask permission to use a partner’s logo without payment. We use Triangle Startup Factory as a source of legitimacy and as an important partner.
Selling sponsorships and finding ways to incorporate partners helps your website become a “platform”. The more contributors and social share supporters you have the merrier. Platforms shore your content up for the new SEO.
New Money Rule 5:
“Sell” Anything of Value
Phil and I met with Triangle Startup Factory’s helpful legal Intern Jamie Spicer today. She is working on an advanced law degree at Duke and PAYING to be an intern at TSF. TSF is a great job for Jamie since she wants to work with entrepreneurs.
Every business has things others want.
Maybe your company has expertise in selling homes, cause marketing or mobile marketing. You have more things people are wiling to pay for than you realize:
- Internships – people trade their time for your expertise.
- Contests & Games – people enter in hope of winning something they may not be able to otherwise.
- Ability to do you a favor in kind.
- Edit a book from leading thinkers in your industry.
- Free Lunch – your time and expertise is valuable and hard to reach, so create a “win a free lunch” contest.
- Partnerships – ask for sponsorships and see who wants to play.
- Publish, Write and Blog – everyone wants recognition, so when you offer to do an interview or publish an article they love it.
- Share Access – My friend and CrowdFunde co-founder Phil Buckley runs one of the most successful SEO Meetups in the country. He needs two sponsors, but only has one. Why? Remember people buy what YOU sell them.
Sell what you can as fast as you can so you can build with the best kind of money – OPM (Other People’s Money).
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