New Platform, New Me
What's a Coil?
Me, getting paid for things I create and post on the Internet? That's just a far-off dream, a fantasy, only a reality for wealthy LA-dwellers or Nashville-native independent artists. At least, that's what I thought, until I reconnected with an old friend, Riley Q, who is kicking off a bona-fide social media career, turning a profit like an actual paycheck, and educating newbies like me on how to do it! Now, getting paid to write blog posts, music reviews, and create videos of live shows I attend is a reality within reach!
This blog platform is changing the game of web monetization, and it's about time.
Anyone who has been involved in any part of the YouTube community for the past few years knows how countless creators have struggled through Adpocalypse, copyright strikes, and seemingly arbitrary demonetizations. Every YouTuber making their living off of the videos they posted was essentially getting their paycheck pulled out from under them, with little to no support or answers from the platform itself. It's been the same on Instagram recently as well, with the mysterious, ever-elusive algorithm hiding creator's posts from their followers' feeds, and post notifications never being sent out.
With these major platforms being in the sad state they are, creators have been asking where to turn to next. How can they put their content online in a way that they can know how they are getting paid, and a sudden change of some unknown, mysterious rules won't take a massive chunk out of their income?
Some say Patreon, some say Twitch, and both of those are wonderful tools to receive compensation directly from people who are fans and want to support your content by paying for a monthly subscription. But Coil is doing things in a whole new way, and I am HERE for it 100%.
Instead of having to spend $5 or $10 per creator for a monthly Patreon subscription, Coil users pay a flat fee of $5 a month to support as many creators as they please, and to have free reign to post whatever they are passionate about on the platform. Coil also has a video platform counterpart, Cinnamon, that hosts content ranging from vlogs and original songs to comedy and instrumental covers.
Coil pays creators by streaming micro-payments of a few cents to them for any amount of time that another Coil subscriber is on their page, reading, watching, or listening to their content.
Simple, right? Makes sense, right? The more people you have visiting your page and enjoying your content, and the more quality content you produce, the more you get paid. No games or uncertainty about it.
This format also means there are no advertisements and no pressure for creators to push products to their audiences in order to make a buck.
This platform is still in its infancy, so no one is making YouTuber-California-mansion levels of money yet, by any means. But as the Coil community grows, so will the amount of people supporting creators directly by consuming their content.
It's very exciting for me to get to be a part of this at the very beginning, and I will hopefully find success using this platform, publishing content that I'm proud of, and getting a small taste of that ever-desirable life of getting paid to sit at home and create something I love.