Here's an Idea: Pay People To Watch Videos

Here's an idea I've been thinking about and have done some initial development work on. I'm interested to hear whether or not this sounds like a worthwhile idea or if anyone is aware of an existing website that offers this capability.

As I'm sure we're all aware, there's a bunch of excellent videos/documentaries on Google video like "America: Freedom to Fascism" or "Money As Debt". The problem is getting people to watch them. After seeing Ron Paul raise over $30 million from everyday people that believe passionately in his message as well as the numerous accounts of people buying A:FTF and other DVDs in bulk and distributing, it became apparent to me that people are willing to spend money to try to spread the message.

What if there was a way to offer to pay people some amount (for example $10) to watch a video like A:FTF. After watching the video, they would have to answer some simple questions to prove that they watched the video. And then (here's the important part) they choose how much they want to get paid (up to the $10 in our example) or if they would like to make a contribution to help further spread the message. They would also be encouraged get their friends and family to check it out as well. Then they would see other videos that they could watch.

So, people watch the video with the intention to make some money, but after watching it, some might be willing to contribute. With effective videos, the hope would be for a snowball effect as the video goes viral and people feel that it's important information that needs to be shared. So for a video campaign starting with $1000 in seed money and paying up to $10 per view, wouldn't just reach 100 viewers, but could build on the seed money if people start adding money rather than taking the money. As opposed to just handing out copies of America: Freedom to Fascism DVD's, this provides monetary incentive for users to take a couple hours to watch these videos. It also provides a means to collect data to see which videos are the most effective and what payment levels work best to get a video to go viral as well as encourage watching other videos.

Of course, other options such as a sweepstakes could also be used to encourage video viewing. Another use, could be to target desired individuals (for example history teachers, ministers, soldiers, neighbors, etc.) that may want to offer an extra payout amount to help encourage increased viewership.

If anyone has any thoughts, good or bad, please share. Also, if you are a web programmer or designer that is interested in this project let me know either here or send me an email using the contact form on my profile.

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Keep up the great work!