Managerial implications

Answering the research questions mentioned in chapter three might help us generate ideas for managing this special case of online business, in which one publishes their own ideas for free, but takes advantage of surrounding activities to gain profit.

How do people create revenue from publishing free core content?

Online creators publish their core content for free, but at the same time conduct plenty of activities. They are related to both maintaining the relationship with their audience, as well as strictly monetising the surrounding content (thanks to opportunities this relationship provides). Both this additional content and eventually the main content may be later inspired by or co-created with fans. The following graph shows the updated version of the main research framework, based on our findings:

Figure 4.2 Updated version of the conceptual framework

Q1: How do fan communities emerge and organise themselves?

A1: Fans may get information about the certain creator from social media channels and their communities would usually form in the comment section of the core content. After assuming a certain level of independence from the main platform (by creating a set of inside references or later, a specific culture), they might move onto the other websites, like regular forums or platforms in the like of Discord and Reddit. The “glue” between the members of the fan community is the common set of references, understood even without being active on outside forums. Community evolving around this new culture is bonded by commonly shared feelings of admiration of the work, and identification with other admirers. Its activity would evolve beyond the scope of the creator’s work and give birth to subsequent economic actions (Lisowska-Magdziarz, 2017).

Managerial implications: ​The successfully created community will largely manage itself (see: ​SSSS forum for the fans of Minna’s webcomics). At first, though, the web content creator should provide at least a simple platform for the fans to express their opinions and create a verbal community directly related to the creation (such as easy to use comment section right below the comic page). They should involve themselves in the interaction, meaning reading and answering to the comments (as often as possible), apply the creative feedback (i.e. getting rid of typos, or taking care of technical issues that are present in the videos, etc). Creators should devote some part of their daily schedule to observe the social media and reach out to fans at the early stages, providing them with updates and information.

Q2: How do people utilise their fan community in order to gain revenue?

A2: Creators are usually observing the fan community, making notes of the most common themes, trends and topics among the fans, and act accordingly. They would create a merchandise based on the trends (such as TwoSet t-shirt collection, based on most popular quotes from their videos), open a crowdfunding campaign for the printing of the book based on core content (Minna’s Indiegogo and Kickstarter campaigns), or simply monetise on the video made entirely out of trends among fans (such as Try Guys’ “ ​Eugene Babysits Ned's Baby” video from 15 November 2018 or fans suggestions for TwoSet’s reaction videos). ⁶

Managerial implications: ​Creators have to be observant and not miss the opportunity to monetise certain content. The more interest the creator has for their fans, the more the community will grow, connected by the common goal of supporting their favourite artist and benefit from its content. Thus, the monetising activities must go in par with the trends and demands of the community; for example, the merchandise featuring the crowd's favourite quote or comic character would sell fast (i.e. TwoSet’s t-shirts, ​Loading Artists' apparel and mugs). Also, if the fan community express their willingness to support the crowdfunding campaign in order to gain certain benefits, this may serve as a great signal of appreciation and ensure the success of the campaign (Minna Sundberg, TwoSet Violin). Creators should be able to notice such demand and act on bringing it to reality.

6 Video was ​inspired by the commonly fan-referenced fact, showcased in other Try Guys’ videos, that

Q3: How does the revenue influence the continuing creation of core content?

A1: Gaining revenue from the merchandise or raising money through Patreon means that the creator would be able to devote more time for creative content-related activities, especially the continuing flow of the core content. No matter whether the creator works full-time on their online content (Minna Sundberg, Try Guys) or publishes their content in their free time (Gregor Czaykowski, TwoSet Violin), the more material profit they have from monetising activities, the more time they would be able to devote to create more content and answer fan's demands. In certain cases (rare, though), overwhelming support combined with a good plan for the future activities and high level of work ethic may result in changing part-time activity into a full-time job, which could allow a creator to support themselves for the major part – such as the case of Minna Sundberg or Try Guys. Minna has admitted that the highly successful book printing campaigns have helped her organise her schedule around creating SSSS​-related content full-time, without being worried about finding another steady flow of income (Sundberg, 2014). The salaries may vary according to the level of experience and location though.

Managerial implications: ​Higher revenue may give a creator more time to actually create, but one must first have a clear vision of how much of their life they can devote to their webcomic/channel. The long-lasting plan for the content is advisable, also the ability to control the relationship with the fan community must be included in the schedule. While Gregor creates the comic in an episodical

manner, Minna has a clear goal of finishing the story (which is augmented by her tight work ethic), and thus can manage to keep the fans updated with the new content on a regular basis. In the case of Youtubers, keeping the content engaging and fresh is the key to sustainability, but this may be of the high risk of burning out too quickly and compromising one’s mental health (Parkin, ​2018​). Katherine Lo mentions, that the physical and mental exhaustion, stress, anxiety and pressure by the quickly developing community can put an end to somebody’s career way too quickly – that’s why some accounts might want to hire additional staff to manage certain aspects: editing, analysing comments or arranging sponsorship deals for example (Parkin, ​2018)​. This might lessen the burden on actual creators, but at the same time distance them from the fan community (such is the case of both TwoSet and Try Guys, who have been employing additional staff; see: “TwoSet Violin:

Apply”, n.d.).