I've Made $170+ Posting Photos
No, I'm not talking about Only Fans, calm down. I'm not talking about putting hours and hours into ad collaborations on Instagram with companies I don't really love either. I'm talking I simply showed up, posted a raw selfie with a message that was on my heart that day and clicked “post”. That's it.
What is this sorcery I speak of?
gFam.live
Also known as Global Family, which I've talked about in depth before...
A Guide For Posting On gFam
My Top Content Strategy For Coil, gFam & Beyond
For those of you who haven't heard of gFam it is a new social media platform that is Blockchain powered with Coil and Xumm.
The basic premise is that you should be able to make money off of YOUR content without selling out to every company that wants to throw you some product and a few dollars. In addition to that they believe that you, not the platforms, should be making money off of YOUR content. See that pattern? It's your content.
I think a lot of us underestimate our worth when it comes to the content we put out. For some reason we think that our words, our ideas, our thoughts- they're not worth anything. When in all reality, they're worth so much more than we could imagine. They are worth someone else's inspiration stemming from your perspective, your time (Gord's post is great!) and your life experience- that's invaluable. Although you can't put a real price tag on it, we still should commend one another for our efforts and in the same way you couldn't put a price on a musician but you can tip them, you should be able to tip all sorts of creators regardless of their proximity to you. This is where gFam comes in. A global family that is united by the great thing called the internet paired with the innovation of blockchain technology.
gFam desires to empower us to take back ownership of our content and to not only acknowledge that but OWN it by posting it in a place that encourages users to tip for that content.
It's a little odd, yes, because why would you “tip” content that you could get similarly for free on other platforms? I guess that depends on your definition of free.
Free, or at least “internet free”, is a facade. It's not free. That content is coming at the price of your information which is being sold to ad companies for a fairly high price. Your identity, time, and information is in a way, being trafficked to make a lot of money for a lot of people that aren't you. Sure we give our consent when we click “Agree” on that terms and conditions box but really, is it informed consent when it's in micro print and 18 pages long? I would argue that there is a better way.
With that being known, if you care about your information and your privacy I encourage you to consider the innovation of this new platform. You are back in control and the reigns are in your hands. You choose who you tip to show them your appreciation for the value they brought to your life, but you're never forced. You have the ability to enjoy content without being bombarded by ads and having your information collected and sold right under nose. You have the ability to make a little bit of money simply by showing up and sharing your thoughts. Isn't that amazing?
Maybe you're not sold yet, and that's okay, it's a new concept that you have to get used to since you may still be sitting in shock realizing that the free internet that you've grown to know and love isn't actually free.
So let's talk about how much I've made since that's obviously why you're here.
On gFam, as of now, you get paid via Xumm using XRP. You quickly choose how much you want to tip on the gFam platform, confirm the transaction with Xumm and then it's sent instantly to the recipient. That money then stays in their Xumm account until they decide what to do with it.
Dustin and I choose to save most of our XRP, depending on where we get it from, we have a whole system set up. When it comes to gFam I wanted to track how much I could make so I haven't touched any of it since I started other than to tip others. I do love that I can easily take what I've earned and pour it back into the ecosystem without having to transfer a bunch of money every which way, blockchain for the win once again. This number isn't an exact precise number because I have tipped out people on the platform from my earnings and obviously the price of XRP fluctuates but as of Sunday, October 18th at 4:33 pm CST I have made $159.21.
657.93 XRP x 0.242 (10/18/2020 4:33pm CST price) = $159.219
From the tips I added up I've tipped an additional $10+ which brings my total to around $170, give or take a little.
I will say that I haven't spent as much time on the platform as I would have liked to these past few months which is why I haven't tipped a whole ton, but I've still engaged through comments and sharing the platform when I can. (Give this pregnant, moving, busy woman a little bit of grace. 😘)
So, let's break this down with a little comparison..
I've spent years on Instagram and have posted 706 posts. I've gotten a bunch of “free” but seriously crappy product from my wannabe influencer days a few years back but other than that I've made $0. In fact, I've probably lost money on outfits, coffee, my time and other props for my content. This is hours of content creation for zilch.
gFam on the other hand, I've been on since it launched and I've posted 28 times and made $170. That's roughly $6 a post which each take a max of 10 minutes of my time. With that rate I am making $0.60 a minute, which is roughly $36 an hour. That's pretty good considering that if I'd be posting that same content, taking the same time on Instagram I'd be making $0 and they'd be making no telling how much.
To some of you, that may not feel like much, but that's a pretty good deal considering the latter. Still, I understand your hesitation in wanting to actually participate, so let's take that even another step further.
Right now there aren't a ton of users on gFam, last month it was around 200. Obviously this isn't even taking into consideration other months, but think if we got double, triple or even quadruple that number of users on the platform, we still wouldn't even be touching the possibility. Let's say we got 1,000 users on the platform and 1 out of 5 users tipped me just a half an XRP, for 10 minutes of work on one post I'd make right around $25 a post (at current XRP price).
Now that's a generous example given that not even 1/5 of users tip me on a post now, but as popularity on a platform increases, more people are likely to use it. It's also a rough example because some people like to tip 1, 2, or even 5-10 XRP per post, it fluctuates. That being said, don't expect half-assed content to be overly rewarded, if it's rewarded at all.
Now that my head is spinning from all this math (please don't hesitate to correct me as math is not my strongest subject) I'd like to propose a question to you.
Do you like the way the internet works right now or do you think the system needs to change?
Let me follow that up with an additional question..
Do you feel comfortable knowing that your data, your information and your life is being profited on by multi-billion dollar companies who then turn around and do things with that money that you have no say in?
I'm not going to tell you how I feel because if you've made it this far, you probably know how I feel or at least have a good idea.
It may feel uncomfortable to start using other platforms, telling your friends about a new platform, and paying for content (shoutout to Coil for that $5 all-inclusive subscription 😉) but if we want things to change, we need to start somewhere.
Right now things are a little slow going and some days are better than others on gFam, but honestly, what platform isn't that way? At least with gFam I'm not competing for algorithm space and ads every other post. At least with gFam I know I'm supporting a platform that has integrity and isn't selling me off to the highest bidder. At least with gFam I know I'm supporting hard working individuals and reminding them that their voice matters and when I really love their content I tip them to empower them to continue creating. It's been a really beautiful and empowering experience for me, to say the least.
At the end of my life money isn't the most important thing, but it does matter. For me, gFam embodies the best of community while also ensuring that I can keep showing up by compensating me for my time and efforts, it's a great balance.
I truly encourage you to try out gFam. Try posting, try engaging and try out the tipping feature! It's really fun to send off money and to see it come in. As of right now there isn't an app but you can bookmark it on your phone or computer and access it just as easily as you would an app- no excuses.
Let me know if you have any questions about my experience on Twitter and seriously, if you need anything, reach out to the gFam Twitter account, they're the best!