Building a web3 reader rewards program is hard. Especially for an ex-financial advisor with zero blockchain experience. Let’s just say, I’m breaking a lot of stuff. In today’s post, I want to share my experiences and the lessons I've learned along the way. From the ups and downs of my journey to the key takeaways that I've gained, I hope to provide valuable insights to other web3 writers looking to build a similar program.

Before I get into my many embarrassing mistakes, let’s discuss why I’m building this program. Here’s some of the potential benefits that a blockchain reader rewards program can offer a web3 writer:

1. Engage & reward your audience with airdrops, exclusive content and access.

2. Partnership opportunities.

3. Encourage collection and develop a revenue strategy that doesn’t depend on web2 platforms.

Here’s a synopsis of my journey so far:

Positive Developments

Let’s start with the good. I've been working on building my skills in smart contracts, NFT collections, and airdrops. Despite some challenges, I've been successful in creating several projects that have been well received by my audience. These include:

1. David Jones x Landlines Poetry NFT Airdrop. A poetry NFT airdrop collaboration with poet David Jones, using the Manifold platform. I was able to airdrop these NFTs to my subscribers and collectors, and found the Manifold platform easy to use. This resource is especially helpful.

2. Brendan Bald Essay Airdrop. A collaborative airdrop of an essay by my friend Brendan Bald. This is a great example of how partnerships can work in a rewards program. In addition to giving my buddy some exposure, I gave my subscribers and collectors a unique digital collectible.

3. The Mirror Gift Card. A recent "thank you" reward of $5 of ETH on the Optimism network. This reward aimed to make collecting my future pieces easier and also thank my readers for their support.

Lessons Learned

As a web3 writer, I've encountered my fair share of obstacles and challenges while building my reader rewards program. Despite some successes, there have been a few mistakes along the way. Here's what I've learned from these experiences:

1. Building On Optimism Is Hard - While I had a clear vision for what I wanted to do, putting it into action has proven to be difficult. Minting on Ethereum is expensive. The Optimism network is cheaper but more complex. I've created two collections contracts, but they're not as polished as I would like them to be. Additionally, the Mirror gift cards airdropped to hidden folders and were unrevealed. Why? I’m not sure!

2. Damn The Bots! - My original plan was to make it super easy to collect my work. So, I decided to offer Mirror posts for free. Unfortunately, this led to bots scooping up the mints. I don't want to reward bots, so going forward, no more free mints! However, I will make them affordable for my readers. For example, you can collect this post for only 16 cents!

3. Not All Ideas Work - My goal was to collect Mirror essays from my Write3 community and then airdrop them to my collectors. However, I ran into several problems. For instance, Mirror only allows for one mint, and transferring the essays out of my wallet was cumbersome. After facing these challenges, I simply gave up!

The Future

I am bullish on my reader rewards program, despite my missteps. My goal is to reach 1,000 crypto wallet subscribers by the end of the year. Here are some plans for the future of the program:

1. More airdrops - I’ll be offering one more David Jones poetry NFT and more collaborations are on the way. Subscribe and collect my work and you will be rewarded, I promise!

2. Token gated content - I’m building write3.io, which will feature token-gated livestreams and content. The Write3 Classes will soon launch and will be free for subscribers and collectors of my work.

3. Allow lists - As I mentioned before, airdrops on Eth are expensive. To save costs, I will create an allow list for my subscribers and collectors. This will give them priority access to high-value work I mint, such as the upcoming Punk6529 re-meme.

Blockchain technology is creating new ways of engaging and rewarding audiences. I am working on building the Greg Younger Reader Rewards program to do this, and I encourage others to do the same. Share your progress with me via Twitter DMs and let's work together to build the future of web3 writing!

Oh, and don’t forget to collect today’s essay. Only 10 available!

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Thanks for reading!

If you like being rewarded for reading, be sure to hit that subscribe button! I use the blockchain to reward and engage my audience.

If you need help collecting this Mirror post, see this tutorial.

If you’d like more Write3 content, check out my socials --→ Linktree