I was having a think about a multitude of site related things recently, ranging from site monetisation to author engagement.
Laz recently pointed out that the only difference between paid premiership and content gained premiership, was the ability to vote in competitions. Which, on the face of it, isn't much, especially when (historically) competitions only attract about ten to fifteen entries (more on this subject later) per competition. Hardly a draw for paying customers (taking into account entries are paid premier only accessible for a short time after). Where is the 'snobbery' value of being a paid member? To tempt people to take out paid subscriptions, you need to give them a reason to do so other than, or at least, as well as, limitless story downloads and voting privileges.
I have previously mentioned 'gamification' in the forums and the possible use of it to drive premier account upgrades. Now many of those of us oldies in the UK, will remember Esso tiger tokens and the equivalent in certain brands of cigarette, where if you collect a certain amount, you could trade them in for other goods. This 'soft blackmailed' customers into prioritising Esso and the cigarette company (whose name I can't remember (B&H Regal?) over other competing brands. So 'Gamification' has been around a long time before it attracted its own buzzword. It's also being used to impressive results in the current Ukraine war, where troops get awarded a certain amount of points for certain kills, which they can redeem for certain items of equipment. This allows local commanders to tailor their equipment to the local conditions and the threats they face. It's also used by teachers (the good ones, at least, to make lessons more interesting).
Idea one:
At the moment, authors have an author's page to do author type things to their submissions. How about a tweak to the code so that every (I know nothing (John Snow) about programming, so I have no clue as to if it's feasible or not) reader has a 'reader page'. This 'reader page' is only available to paid members and allows a limited modification of the site themes (Which is currently open to all, I think, no idea as I don't use the function), which could then be removed from free use to behind the pay wall. On this page, paid readers can gain 'badges' that they can choose to either make public or keep private as per their personal preferences. These 'badges' would be earned by certain milestones (ie 'Bronze' for three years paid membership, 'Silver' for five, 'Gold' for ten (year amounts just for this example use). Again, another 'badge' given for scoring (ie, 'Bronze' for voting fifty times, 'Silver' for voting five hundred times, 'Gold' for a thousand etc etc, (again, total amounts are only placeholder, not recommended). Yes, I really did go there and include an attempt to get readers to vote! As well as 'badges' awarded for certain milestones, there could be space on the page for paid members to list favourite authors and a bit about why they like them. Basically, soft bribery into upgrading their membership.
For the gamers amongst us, Steam does this very well, allowing users a private page where they can 'showcase' their achievements and basically 'brag' to other Steam users should they wish (Steam has the option to make that page private) and to display 'badges'.
Idea two:
On the likes of Youtube, Youtube now allows content creators to include links to sites like 'Buy me a coffee' etc, where people can simply buy their favourite content creator a coffee as a thank you. Whilst that is certainly an option, it doesn't have to be just coffee. I don't know about other countries, but in the UK, most supermarkets have a 'donation box' after the tills, where people can donate an item(s) of their shopping. This can be a tin of soup, or a packet of children's nappies. Apparently it's quite successful because in this day and age, people are a bit suspicious of charities and they feel that donating toothpaste, deodorant etc etc, will actually be given to those in need, rather than charities taking cash and only donating ten percent (or whatever) of the cash to those in need, the rest going on 'admin fees'.
So how about an additional box on the site for 'donations'? This could be author specific, (Yes I am aware Bookapy exists, but not all authors here are on Bookapy (I'm not)) or it could be for the seasonal competitions. There may be affluent members who would be happy to donate a little money towards the Christmas/Halloween/Valentines competitions. This money wouldn't necessary be used to increase the pots of the first three winners, but could be used to, say, fund a further ten prizes of five pounds (or other currency) for the next ten runners up (after the initial winning three).
The majority of authors here, I'm pretty sure, are well aware of their abilities and limitations and are well aware that they will never be of the standard to be in the top three, so are not going to bother entering. However, if there was a sixth or seventh prize, (even if the prize is just the cost of a coffee/beer) then they might actually think they have a chance at being in seventh place and enter a story.
Lots of entries would make the seasonal competitions more interesting and provide more 'soft' value for those looking at the possibility of taking out paid premium.
Of course, if you donate funds to the competition prize pool, you would, of course, earn a 'bragging badge' for your profile….
Idea three:
I don't know if this is even feasible, but leading on from my second idea, how about some mechanism on the site that allows the more affluent site members the ability to 'donate' to an author a month (or year) subscription to a writing program like Grammarly. Many writers here have said either on the forums or via blogs, that they are simply financially broke. Donating usage time for a paid writing subscription service is not a bad idea when you think about it. It gives an author the chance to take a half decent story let down by poor spelling/grammar and correct it to something even better. That is actually to the benefit of the site overall, because it would help increase the amount of quality stories, which in turn, makes it more appealing for free users to upgrade their access to paid…
Of course, if you donated subscription time of the likes of Grammarly to an author on the site, you would of course, earn a badge for your profile…