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Stars for Channels

Quite the update Telegram has released. Channels can now directly monetize content without relying on providers like the old @donate service. This improves the stars ecosystem even more. The stars ecosystem was highlighted in the previous post., but lets update that a bit.

The Telegram Ecosystem

In the telegram ecosystem, everyone is a creator and an advertiser. Not everyone has to be a developer however. Here is how the ecosystem works:

Creators

  1. Create content, build an audience
  2. Create paid content to recieve stars from audience
  3. Build audience to create advertiser interest
  4. Get paid 50% of all ad revenue on the channel

Advertisers

  1. Run ads on other channels to promote your current channel,group or bot
  2. Telegram ads are direct, and highly targeted compared to interest based ads on other platforms
  3. More users = more star income for bot or channel depending on what you do

Developers

  1. Create bots / miniapps that accept stars as payment for services
  2. When users pay with stars, you earn an income
  3. You can also advertise using the stars to get more stars from more users

How many other platforms have this kind of ecosystem?

There is not a single platform who got this right on all levels.

  1. Best developer experience and tooling to build products
  2. Best creator experience to build an audience
  3. Non-intrusive ads that are highly targeted and benefits the channel owner
  4. A way to monetize content directly without relying on ads
  5. The Open Network?

The Open Network

The open network is the reason why this ecosystem would work so seamlessly. For instance every other service pays out through a banking institution, which is a centralized service. Banks take cuts on both ends, user has to explain how the funds came and there is a 3-5 working days of waiting.

Telegram pays out in TONCOIN. When users recieve TONCOIN they simply convert it to USDT or exchange it to their local currency, a fairly simple and quick process and no one is asking you to submit your source of funds, make you go through a 3-5 working days of waiting and so on.

Some ideas for channel monetization based on stars

  1. Video creation

Uploading courses to telegram rather than youtube will be more profitable for the content creator. Every viewer paying 1 star for a video that gets a million views on telegram would amount to a million stars.

Assuming that 50 stars represent a dollar of payouts, the creator would have made 20,000 dollars from a single video. Minus 31-32% for the platforms. (Telegram and App stores)

Can youtube match that? Not to mention that Telegram does not have some wierd algorithm that you need to constantly work to please.

If someone is your channels subscriber, he will get a notification of your new content directly. That is if he does not mute you. But youtube as a platform controls people and controls the type of content it wants you to post. Telegram implements no such thing.

The original meaning of the paper plane on the Telegram logo means “freedom”.

  1. Quiz channels

Upload a question, and upload the answer. The answer stays behind a quiz paywall. Users pay 1 star to see the answer. The channel owner gets 50% of the revenue. This could be a fun way to monetize a channel.

  1. Donate Bot

The @donate service shutdown recently. Some new providers exist but now with stars no provider is needed at all. A donation image can be added directly.

TBA