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Changing course, part 2 (read this second)
13 years ago
I have two really important things to talk about, and I want to keep the discussions straight, so I broke this up into two separate journals. Read this first so you know where I'm coming from.
It's been my opinion that Watchtail was, perhaps, doomed to fail because I'm a terrible businessman. When I started the site, I relied entirely on unreliable donations, and it worked out pretty well...while it lasted. Then the demands far outstripped the supply, and it all went belly-up. In trying to save the site, I tried reducing overhead costs, rather than increasing the budget, and when I couldn't get that working fast enough, the site suffocated to death.
In the first journal, I discussed how to approach the server problem. Any suggestions you have in that regard should be made in the comments there. Here, I want to talk about the continued funding to cover the cost of bandwidth, a problem that must be solved regardless of the outcome of the first issue.
As you know, my goals in creating Watchtail were to make it a better experience than other streaming websites: No obtrusive ads, easy access, and decent quality video. The cost of bandwidth threatens to choke these three things. I've come up with a solution for video quality, at the expense of frame rate (a bit like join.me), and increased the video size to 480p from 360p, roughly speaking. It's the ads and ease of access I really want to talk about, since this is where I think funding for the site really needs to come from. (Donations will, of course, still be part of it, but not all of it).
What do you guys think of the following?
1. Adding other ads to various pages, like Google AdWords or ProjectWonderful, two ad services I think are unobtrusive and well-respected.
2. Subscription features - trying not to become Watchtail Gold or anything, just custom banners and possibly paying to remove a viewer cap (which would in general be higher than Watchtail had in the past). If you have suggestions for features you would add or change to be subscription features, leave them in the comments below.
3. Merch. T-shirts, buttons, whatever. I sort of see this as icing on the cake; I can't expect to fund the site indefinitely off of it, but would you guys buy these things if they existed? Honestly?
4. Any other suggestions, leave in the comments.
It's been my opinion that Watchtail was, perhaps, doomed to fail because I'm a terrible businessman. When I started the site, I relied entirely on unreliable donations, and it worked out pretty well...while it lasted. Then the demands far outstripped the supply, and it all went belly-up. In trying to save the site, I tried reducing overhead costs, rather than increasing the budget, and when I couldn't get that working fast enough, the site suffocated to death.
In the first journal, I discussed how to approach the server problem. Any suggestions you have in that regard should be made in the comments there. Here, I want to talk about the continued funding to cover the cost of bandwidth, a problem that must be solved regardless of the outcome of the first issue.
As you know, my goals in creating Watchtail were to make it a better experience than other streaming websites: No obtrusive ads, easy access, and decent quality video. The cost of bandwidth threatens to choke these three things. I've come up with a solution for video quality, at the expense of frame rate (a bit like join.me), and increased the video size to 480p from 360p, roughly speaking. It's the ads and ease of access I really want to talk about, since this is where I think funding for the site really needs to come from. (Donations will, of course, still be part of it, but not all of it).
What do you guys think of the following?
1. Adding other ads to various pages, like Google AdWords or ProjectWonderful, two ad services I think are unobtrusive and well-respected.
2. Subscription features - trying not to become Watchtail Gold or anything, just custom banners and possibly paying to remove a viewer cap (which would in general be higher than Watchtail had in the past). If you have suggestions for features you would add or change to be subscription features, leave them in the comments below.
3. Merch. T-shirts, buttons, whatever. I sort of see this as icing on the cake; I can't expect to fund the site indefinitely off of it, but would you guys buy these things if they existed? Honestly?
4. Any other suggestions, leave in the comments.
-I like the subcripption feature, and I'd definetly get it for myself :3
-The tshirt & button thing is a funny idea, but I don't know how much it would get buyers honestly. Probably depends what quality they are. x3
I been dying to get back to use watchtail honestly, procaster&livestream is so buggy and heavy for my computer, and join.me is too heavy for my internet...
I would totally go for a Subscription! Great idea!! Now if you do it would need to see if its a monthly rate or if someone could pre pay for a year.
With the merch. its iffy. They would have to be good quality and I dont see it selling like crazy. I could see some selling just not alot.
I'd definitely buy and subscription feature (and more ad space on the site for myself if it comes back up.)
I would definitely buy a tshirt or something if there was one. i'll support watchtail all i can. But i'm not sure how well theyd go for other ppl.
I miss Watchtail. So much. I wish i could do more to help D:
If you really wanted to try the tshirt stuff, i wouldnt mind offering up one designs or something.
As for other suggestions, i'm not really sure honestly. If i think of anything, i'll let you know!
and that subscription viewer cap increase thing sounds like a good idea for the site.
also porn ads....*kidding xD*
but yeah...as long as theres a clear window for the stream, and a clear box for the chat and some margin room around so it aint cluttered....im happy.
Anyway, good luck with everything. I will try to donate...something, soon :)
Subscriptions would be ok, as long as you do not get slapped with a SUBSCRIBE NOW thing every time you load a new page.
Shirts and Buttons, I think if you did do some merchandising, you would need to be careful, it would have to be something severely appealing.
You might try offering rewards for certain amounts of donations. I.E A shirt for $8, a subscription for $10-12.
And what about having a listings page to let artists who donate a dollar per listing, advertise their commissions on the site for 2 weeks or something.
I'll be answering a few of your other concerns in the journal I'm about to compose.