Strategies for Implementing Web Monetization
Setting yourself up for success
The key to earning with Web Monetization is two-part:
Have your content on Web Monetized sites and/or platforms.
Have Web Monetization members coming to your content.
Placing Your Content on Web Monetized Platforms
If you Web Monetize your personal site, consider creating a page for archived digital content. Place your reels and videos here, including anything you’ve shared on social media. Blogs, performance calendars, videos all become Web Monetized content.
Add Web Monetization via Coil to your YouTube channel. Try the Free Music Archive. Gate content for Web Monetization members at Monetized.
The more time Web Monetized visitors spend on your site and your content, the more funds will stream to you.
This leads us to the question . . . .
How Do I Get More Web Monetization Members Coming to My Site?
Convert your audience.
If you’ve added Web Monetization to your site, consider placing the following language on your Support Us page:
[Artist or Org] has built this site with Web Monetization, a new protocol for streaming payments. Web Monetization sends micropayments for every second a Web Monetization member enjoys our content. [Artist] spends hundreds of hours creating content to share via this site. Please consider becoming a Web Monetization member to support this work. It will take less than ten minutes to set up your account and will cost you only $5 a month. For information on becoming a Web Monetization member, click here.
Coil offers an affiliate referral program. You will earn additional funds from any supporter who joins Coil from your referral link.
Inform your supporters.
We’ve supplied you with shareable information about the economics of streaming platforms like Spotify. Recent research has shown that most people underestimate the revenue that artists make from streaming services. You can copy and paste that information into a shareable email to send to your supporters and encourage them to join Web Monetization.
Researchers at Tel Aviv University have been studying the effect of the visibility of Web Monetization on user preferences. The team found that “when users are aware that their online browsing provides monetary compensation to content creators, they prefer to consume content from non-profit organizations or independent creators and activists over that of mainstream media outlets.”
Web Monetization for the Arts is a course on streaming payments designed for classical musicians and small performing arts groups. The project is funded by Grant for the Web.
