Read-to-Earn

What is the Read-to-Earn business model

The Read-to-Earn (R2E) business model is the latest monetization model that allows you to make real money simply by reading. In the R2E reference model, no additional activities in the form of reviews, voice recordings, or edits are required. It sounds incredible, but in fact, there's no miracle here. Technologically it is now possible.

Background Story

The online media have long used a variety of monetization models - subscriptions, donations, Google Ads, native ads, and other adverts. The money comes from readers, sponsors, and advertisers. It is considered good practice to offer the reader some content for free and the rest for money. This may be a limit on the number of articles per day, or paid access to premium content. There have been attempts to apply Web 3.0 technologies to the media content, but there is no real need to turn blog posts into NFT so far. Let’s call it stagnation. 

On the other hand, the blockchain game sector has moved on. There are also enough problems here, but there are a lot of enthusiasts - after all, it's been "on trend" for five years. Investments are plentiful, the market is growing, and a new generation business model has already been created - Play-to-Earn (P2E).

Play-to-Earn as a bridge to Read-to-Earn

The Play-to-Earn model is the logical extension of the Free-to-Play model. Both names make it clear that you don't have to buy the game app, nor do you have to pay for using it. Moreover, in the Play-to-Earn model you earn in-game currency when you complete certain tasks. No doubt, there are paid services and items, but you always have a choice: pay and get an advantage, or don't pay and still keep playing.  The business model of the game is based on the fact that no one forces you to pay, because there are always those who pay. And they willingly pay. Why pay? - Temptations, enticements, happiness hormones.  The more varied they are, the more successful the model. Everyone gets what they want to the extent that they are honest with themselves. 

The model is great, but, as always, there is one "but". It is good for games. Reading, of course, is not a game, but if you tie them together and weave them one into the other, we get a Read-to-Earn model based on playing rather than working.

What is now known as the R2E model

The term Read-to-Earn is very attractive to businesses. It's kind of a dream. So they try to use it wherever reading is involved. Here are the uses of the term R2E:

• Reviewing books. The most common option right now. If you love to read books and know how to review them, you can earn an average of $10 - $20 per review on Kirkus, Booklist, Online Book Club. The term Read-to-Earn basically works, but it would be more accurate to call it Read-Books-to-Earn or Review-Books-to-Earn. In fact, it's a job close to a hobby.
• Recording audiobooks. A common option as well. If you have a good narrator voice, you can make an average of $200 per hour of audio recording at ACX, Voices, and Findaway Voices. We wouldn’t call it Read-to-Earn. More accurately, it's Voice-over-to-Earn or Read-Aloud-to-Earn. As opposed to reading books, it's a full-time job.
• Commenting on the news. A less common option. You need to read the news and leave a comment. The websites where this is offered are quite questionable. In terms of the name it is more like Comment-to-Earn.
• Affiliate marketing. You have to share a link to an article, and if someone registers on this link, you get money. The technique is used everywhere and refers to passive income, but only popular bloggers can rely on making extra money on a regular basis. It has nothing in common with the Read-to-Earn model. Except that you share a link to a post that you can read.

As you can see, there are options, but they are all related to working, not just reading. The reference R2E model has not yet been applied by anyone. It is time to apply it. But first, let us highlight the principles.

Principles of the R2E model

The principles of the Read-to-Earn business model contain the Play-to-Earn principles and several new principles related to reading.

• Free access to the application at any time. You don't need to pay anything to access the app.
• There are no ad blocks. Otherwise it's a different business model.
• Only game elements can be subject to payment, not the main content. Content is not split into free and paid items.
• You can entice players to pay for elements of the game. Forcing them to pay is not allowed.
• All income and expenses are made in game currency, which is linked to cryptocurrency assets like Ether or Bitcoin, or fiat currencies like USD or EUR. Otherwise, you can’t call it "Earn".
• Earn first, pay later. This is an important principle, because often the opposite is true: Pay first, earn later. The latter isn’t that nice.
• The income-generating action must be as simple as possible - give a like, pick a tag. No reviews, no affiliate links, and certainly no voice or video recording.
• Reading should be reading, not scrolling to the "like" button. It can only be controlled in a playful way. The game around reading should remain a game, not turn into a panopticon.

In other words, players are rewarded in game currency for putting time and effort into the game. The advantage of the R2E reference model is that actions are perceived as a game rather than as monotonous work. 

Is it necessary to bind the game currency to the cryptocurrency?

The Read-to-Earn business model involves in-game currency. In terms of gamification there is no big difference between binding it to cryptocurrency or fiat. The main thing is the fact of binding to a highly liquid currency. Cryptocurrencies look more promising. They let you fix the rules of money distribution in decentralized smart contracts. Such contracts exclude any intermediaries, including game owners. On the other hand, many people are not used to crypto, it is perceived rather cautiously.

Conventional currencies are more familiar and in many ways more reliable, but payments in them depend on the integrity of game owners.

Features of the Read-to-Earn model in the Supremacy project

In the section Principles of R2E model we described the general approach to the Read-to-Earn model. But each project may have its own specifics. So, these are the principles that are implemented in the Supremacy project:

• When you open the site you get to the main page with the players' posts. The posts are open to everyone. The Get started button invites you to join and explains the benefits of signing up, but you don't have to. There is no Pricing page. There is no fee to access the content.
• All webpages are free of advertising blocks. 
• Reading, commenting, and writing are free of charge. 
• There are paid in-game items that you can purchase at the Marketplace for the in-game currency.  
• In-game items may not only be purchased but also received as rewards. Their absence won’t prevent you from reading or playing. They only give advantages in the game.  
• We have two tokens in the game, Twei and EGO. Twei is the in-game currency, tightly tied to Ether. EGO is a token for calculating your stake in the game. You can read more about them in the Tokenomics section.
• As soon as you make the first gameplay action, such as signing in, you get your first income. No advance funding or card information is required.
• The main revenue-generating action is clicking the “Like” button at the end of a post. It couldn't be simpler. No additional actions like reviewing or sending out links are required. You click on the "Like" button – you get paid in Twei.
• The algorithm of the game will prevent you from earning without reading. You can figure it out only by playing the game. That's what the game is about.

How to start getting paid for reading right away

There's a 93% chance you passed up the offer to like one of the posts available on the home page. And we probably would have. But now you know you can make money from it. The first income and the feeling of getting into the game awaits you behind the “Like" button. Come join in.

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