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14 Comments

A new way to engage with your audience?

I will try to keep this very simple and concise

So, I am a UI/UX Designer and for a very long time I have been thinking of starting a project of my own.

I came across this idea which is somewhat similar to onlyfans. The idea is to build a platform where content creators can build their profiles and then start selling very small perks / services.

Let's say X is a content creator who signs up on the platform and then lists 3-4 services priced between $5 - $10. Services may include simple tasks like:

  • I will sign your steam profile for $5
  • I will record a personalized birthday message for $10
  • I will shout out your name in my next video for $5 " etc. etc.

Next, the content creators share the link to their profiles to their audience and then their audience can purchase these perks.

Creators are always interested in more ways to connect with their audience and to make more side-income. Their audience is always interested in supporting them in more ways and standing out among all other users etc.

I have not validated this properly but this is sort of inspired by twitch streamers who have various perks listed for x amounts of donations. Often times (in cases of streamers with a large number of viewers), it is hard to keep track of donations.

Through this platform, your requests, revenue, trends etc. will be very neatly organized. There is scope for a lot of growth by moving on to markets other than gaming.

Let me know what you guys think. 😊

on March 11, 2021
  1. 6

    Congrats, you invented fiverr!

    1. 2

      Fiverr has a completely different target audience and their tools and overall functioning is designed to cater to freelancers and people who want to 'hire' them for their skills. What I am suggesting is completely different. Thank you for your comment though.

      1. 2

        Hmmm... I read your post again and still don't see how it's "completely different". In your idea, people offer what they can do, and fiverr is the same workflow. Can you give more details or examples?

        1. 1

          It is largely about the type of audience the two businesses target. Fiverr's tagline is "Find the perfect freelance services for your business". It is built for freelancers and recruiters who want to get design, SEO, coding (and many other) services. You already know that though.
          The platform I want to build will solely be for content creators (streamers, youtubers) and their own audience, who will pay them for the perks they have listed on their profiles.
          Although, I agree, the workflow is sort of similar - set up a gig and then wait for orders and if entertainers were to use fiverr to do what I am suggesting, that would sort of be like hacking their way around the product because fiverr is not really built for that.

          So, the product I am trying to build is for an entirely different market as opposed to that of fiverr.

          If we were to apply the logic of having a similar workflow, then looking at gumroad, fiverr, onlyfans, patreon would help throw more clarity on it. All of these products have similar in a lot of ways but they are targeting a different market with specialized tools to cater to that market.

          1. 2

            Okay, good luck!

  2. 2

    It is good to start in a niche. But you do need to provide a solution to a problem that people will pay for. So focus on finding users with the problem and ask them about the solution they would pay for. Then luckily, you will validate your solution. But don't offer your solution.

    Here are 2 good resources on building your product.

    Michael Seibel - Building Products
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C27RVio2rOs

    The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick - Summary & Notes
    https://nucks.co/notes/the-mom-test-rob-fitzpatrick/

    1. 1

      Thank you for your comment, Timothy. I am very new to building products, although I have read about it, watched documentaries and what not, however actually doing it is quite different. I really needed these resources. Looking into it right now - thank you once again!

  3. 1

    I am sorry but they already exists

    1. Patreon.com (500 million dollar valuation)
    2. A startup based in India too. tartl.net
  4. 1

    Sooo... how exactly would this be better than Patreon?

    1. 1

      Patreon is subscription only and those who purchase those options are given perks on the basis of their level of subscription. Whereas, in my model, a creator can set-up all kinds of perks and users can pay for only what they want.

  5. 1

    Cool idea, everyone is looking to monetise things these days! There are of course solutions like Patreon but that is subscription-based so I haven't really seen anything like your idea.

    I think part of the appeal of paying twitch streamers is the live-nature of the platform: the audience (of 100s) get's instantaneous gratification, throwing money at performers is an age-old behaviour.

    Having said that, I see some interesting potential in your idea. Go find those influencer's and talk to them ;)

    1. 1

      Thank you Ric. You're right about the gratification part. I still need to refine it more.
      I will definitely reach out to some influencers once I get some more feedback here. 🙌

      1. 2

        No worries man. As one of the other comments recommended, I would recommend the Mom Test before speaking to potential users. There is definitely an art to validating an idea 🎨

        There is actually a free audiobook version here (you just have to remember where you got to each time as you can't download it): https://www.audiobookcup.com/the-mom-test-audiobook/

        Best of luck, I'll follow and keep my eye out!