Steemit is True Crowdfunding: Setting the Stage for @bldgblox

@bldgblox is an SMT product developed by the @sndbox incubator. This post outlines our research and proof-of-concept for utilizing Steem as a powerful crowdfunding platform. Stay tuned for an official announcement from @bldgblox coming in February, 2018.

Going Beyond the Blog with SMTs

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With Smart Media Tokens (SMTs) coming out soon and a number of Steem derivative tokens already publicized to launch this year, we’re beginning to witness how the Steem blockchain can be applied to disrupt many other industries beyond blog-form media. New industries and new SMTs will open up new avenues of taking advantage of one the world’s [best performing blockchains] for multiple sectors.

What is truly important to understand is that whatever is possible in the future with any SMT is theoretically possible at this moment, manually and in practice. What this means is that if we as a community want to tailor the Steem blockchain to achieve a certain goal right now, we can. We see this happening with @dsound, @dtube, @utopian-io, and @steepshot to name a few and today, we want to talk about one perspective and use-case for the Steem blockchain - crowdfunding campaigns - and how you can start putting our principles and strategies to work.

Of course, as of now, Steemit.com is a very different interface than that of Kickstarter or Indiegogo and the current upvote mechanism for posts encourages audiences to treat them as singular rewards. But even without key interface functions such as a ‘percentage achieved’ meter or tiered contribution rewards, it isn’t difficult to imagine that the Steem blockchain is perfect for fundraising initiatives. Engagement, follow-up, and progress are implicitly valued on Steemit.com and that transparency is painfully lacking on current centralized funding platforms that care about the bottom line.

A Public Backstory

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Steem Park was the product of our initial fundraising hypothesis, that an engaged and ongoing project would be able to effectively raise more funds and impact than any Kickstarter campaign. As we got deeper into the process, there are a number of tremendous perks as well - the ability to choose intervals and types of rewards, circumventing network fees, and having verifiable/secure transactions between “patrons” and creators.

And while we pursued this campaign over the course of 2 months on the @hitheryon account, one post at a time, the possibilities of establishing any timeline and any type of campaign on the Steem blockchain are endless. Best of all, the momentum of the project is as strong as we are willing to maintain it; the Steem Park project of course continuing to be the flagship example of blockchain-based crowdsourcing from Sndbox.

Looking back, here are some of the "Tier" rewards we created for those donating to Steem Park (below). We experimented with different types of rewards and recognitions. Of course now - the prices that correspond to prizes look ludicrous! Steem has grown tremendously over the last several months!

Tapping into the True “Crowd”

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Current funding platforms - Kickstarter, Indiegogo, GoFundMe - pride themselves in being “crowdfunding” environments where anyone can contribute to a good cause, new product, or creative process. Newer websites are even allowing the purchase of equity to help fund startups and organizations. While these technologies do allow better access for the ‘normal’ individual (as opposed to venture capitalists or deep-pocketed buyers) into domains that were previously out of reach, they remain a huge barrier for most of the world who do not have dispensable financial amounts to offer.

That of course does not mean they do not have anything to offer. But with the current state of these platforms, any meaningful contributions or discussions are neither possible nor productive with the functionality of a one-way Paypal system. Creators should be rewarded and supported for their projects/work but contributors should also be able to accrue some meaningful asset or stake, especially one that they can build upon in the future.

This is where the power of the crowd - a broader engaged public - could really shine. Hundreds or thousands of new accounts, even with 1-cent upvotes, could potentially grow to have greater impact than a single $20 or $100 contribution in Kickstarter. Those stakes will grow over time and the impact accordingly.

Here's a list detailing the earnings of Steem Park and those who contributed. Theres tremendous power and enthusiasm in this blockchain crowd.

Formatting Posts for Long-Term Impact

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So, since we don’t have this type of interface now, we can enact the ethos of this type of blockchain-based fundraising by tailoring our Steemit posts a certain way. As we’ve seen with community and project accounts affiliated with @sndbox (i.e. @phillyhistory, @myach, @steemph.cebu, @hitheryon), we can use the tools we have in certain ways to achieve our goals.

Here are some tips to make advantage of a longer campaign-type ambition -

• Keep your audience up-to-date. It’s a bit difficult to follow every post someone does, even during an important campaign or series of related posts, due to the broad quality of the Steemit interface at the moment. It’s important to add small summaries and links to previous posts to manually keep project-related content linked. This gives both new and old followers a moment to orient themselves.

• Set a roadmap with projected milestones. Set future goals and a schedule so your audience can follow. This opens up channels for people to engage and contribute along the way rather than waiting passively or even unknowingly for the next potential update. This also implicitly shows your seriousness and accountability to follow through with your project.

• Experiment with post types. Having a long-term and developing effort affords you the chance to play with traditional post formats. Curation articles, update newsletters, donor information, contests, and any number of different strategies can make your trajectory more effective and inclusive.

Share your ideas!

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The opportunities for funding a whole new world of potential with a whole new crowd. Let us know what you think and share your ideas below! What kind of developments and impacts would you like to see out of the Steem ecosystem?

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@bldgblox is an SMT product developed by the @sndbox incubator. This post outlines our research and proof-of-concept for utilizing Steem as a powerful crowdfunding platform. Stay tuned for an official announcement from @bldgblox in February, 2018.

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