Videoblog 5 – Flattr: We Should ALL Use It!

May 12, 2011

(From the homepage, click through to the post to see the video.)

[tubepress video="9KVEbG8Htvg"]

In my imagination, this videoblog would involve animated illustrations of how Flattr works. Or at least line drawings that move. Or at least line drawings. Alas, the universe was having none of it on my recording day, so you get me and words. No worry, I’ve included Flattr’s own video at the end of the post so you can see their version of how it works, with cake.

Show notes:

Naturally: Flattr’s website.
I failed to mention this in the video: Flattr is only as powerful as the size of the community that uses it. This is key. If you’re reluctant to put Flattr on your site because you’ve never seen it before and so you get the impression nobody uses it, start using it. The more of us that do, the more of us there will be to support and be supported by.
I’m specifically addressing crafts and creativity bloggers, but the exact same thing goes for book bloggers and bloggers who write about absolutely ANYTHING.
In the year I’ve been using Flattr, I’ve earned €54.19 (about $73.98 CAD or $77.03 USD). That’s not very much, but not many people in my blogging community are using Flattr yet. Anyway, compared to nothing, it’s something. In my most profitable month I earned €16.24.
You can see a Flattr button at the end of this post, and there’s also one in my sidebar. (The button on a post is specific to that post; the button in the sidebar is in general for my site.)
I just discovered a nifty new feature! When you click a Flattr button, the text on it changes to say “subscribe”. You can then click that button to automatically Flattr that piece of content for three, six or twelve months. What a cool way to easily support the blogs you enjoy!
Flattr also just began allowing people to Flattr Twitter users even if those users don’t yet use Flattr. (Payments won’t be doled out unless/until the Twitterer starts using Flattr.)
Sister Diane blogged last week about how she supported free content in April. (And it’s not just relevant because she flattred me, though I do send her a ginormous hi-five for that.)

Here’s Flattr’s video:

[tubepress video="kwvExIWf_Uc"]

Questions about this? Fire away. I’d also love to hear from you if you’re reluctant to use Flattr on your site.

—
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Tags: blogging, Business, craftMBA, Crafts, Flattr, micropayments

This entry was posted on May 12, 2011 at 11:01 am and is filed under Business, Featured, Videoblog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Joshua Zamrycki

Loving the video blog, Kim. OK, I’ll bite. I am reluctant to use Flattr on my site because I wouldn’t feel comfortable extending an open (virtual) hand (or placing a virtual hat by my feet) to request money for something that brings me joy to offer for free. Granted, I don’t have a crafts blog – or any other job-related theme, for that matter. I just enjoy sharing may daily adventures and photos and videos of my kids. I don’t feel as if I’m the target audience for Flattr (though I’m sure they view the entire Interwebs as their target audience).

Now that I think about it, maybe it’s guilt related. Going back to the hat-by-my-feet analogy, I personally feel much more comfortable listening to musicians playing a free concert than I do listening to the same musicians busking. I could only stand letting their hat get passed around so many times before I walk away feeling guilty for not donating. They’re not saying that I *have* to give money to listen to their music, but the guilt is still there. For me, at least. The anonymity of the Internet would probably eliminate this feeling, though. Interesting question!
http://www.kimwerker.com Kim Werker

I’m so glad you chimed in, Josh.

I definitely have businessy bloggers in mind when I talk about Flattr. I
don’t think I’d feel comfortable using it as a personal blogger, either.
I’ve got my head stuck fairly deep in the sand of *one part* of the crafty
blogosphere – the businessy part – that it doesn’t occur to me anymore to
indicate I’m not really aiming my comments at recreational crafts bloggers.
And I really should!

If I were blogging about things I make, simply for the love of recording my
projects and sharing them with others, I wouldn’t feel comfortable using
Flattr, either. Unless, eventually, I wanted to segue into earning some
money from my blog if it got popular and I started thinking about business.

My blog is an odd one – I don’t hesitate to write about things unrelated to
my work, but it’s still my professional blog – and my career as a freelancer
and author is amorphous enough that it’s hard to narrow that category. I
enjoy writing, and I enjoy connecting with people, and I love being a part
of the community of people who make their living through making stuff in one
way or another. I think Flattr could be a great way for me to support my
blog without doing other things I don’t want to do, like managing
advertising. I admit that I do find it odd when people Flattr a post I wrote
about my kid, as opposed to a post I wrote that could be *useful* in some
way, but to each her own. Maybe my kid made someone (else) happy that day,
and in turn they wanted to share back.

You’ve given me much to chew! Thank you. :)

[For those of you who may care, I'm especially tickled by Josh's comment
because we went to university together, haven't seen each other since 1998,
and now he lives in SPAIN. I love blogging.]
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zsofii

Your video is very entertaining and hopefully also useful for those who don’t know about Flattr (I can’t decide, I’m working for them.) We’re happy to help with/discuss those questions, too!
http://www.kimwerker.com Kim Werker

Thank you! If I receive any good, meaty questions I’ll certainly get in
touch!
http://www.stitchtacsew.com stitch.tac.sew

Thank you for this post Kim, I really love the idea of getting to flattr those who I read regularly!
http://twitter.com/teller Siim Teller

Hi Kim, onlju just now discovered your excellent post (it pays to link to your old posts in tweets) and wanted to say that while we (Flattr) have been slow in supporting other currencies than € then it’s definitely coming. I know it’s hard to break to the US market with €…

How’s your Flattr experiment gone? Have you managed to win more of your audience over to support you via this or has the interest vaned? By the way, I’m very interested in hearing your thoughts on what we should improve/add/change to make it work better, grow more virally etc. Do get in touch – siim@flattr:disqus .com – I just joined the team a few week ago as the community manager.

Cheers :)