Proposal description
1. Summary
This proposal is a continuation of the Dash Marketing Hub, an official fork of the Dash Incubator, focused on grassroots marketing and promotion of Dash, and on community energizing/engagement.
As promised, starting this cycle we will begin the progressive process of decentralizing the Proposal Owner role into the Director roles. Initial Directors will be myself (TheDesertLynx), Kanuuker, and Pozo, with one (myself) acting as a Treasurer. Full details on governance particulars can be found in our updated Rules document, with changes since last cycle highlighted in yellow.
Current Admins (in addition to the Directors who also act as Admins) are GreekNick and Rion.
2. Updates
Here are updates on our progress. In brief, we’re pleased with progress considering we started from zero and have had great success with DashDirect videos and the Twitter account, but need to be more proactive in the future in pursuing our strategy.
Content creation: We have had great success in producing videos of usage of the DashDirect app, already showcase its use in 15 US states, or 30% of the entire country, with more on the way. Special shoutout to C4Chaos, who has continued to produce numerous regular videos unpaid after his first video, and Tony for his Dash date night video. We have also begun producing videos of Dash purchases elsewhere in the world, with two completed so far and many more on the way, but those only began recently. Finally we produced a parody video of Jack Mallers’s announcement of Lightning tips coming to Twitter, and this parody video was viewed over 10,000 times on Twitter, and I received compliments even from Bitcoin maximalists.
Content delivery: Our primary content delivery mechanism has been Twitter, which has performed very well. Over a 28-day period we reached over a half-million impressions, significantly surpassing that of the official Dash account (which has over 400 times the followers), and has ranked #2 for Dash influencers according to LunarCrush right behind Mark Mason who has been active far longer and who has 33 times the followers (though this exact ranking fluctuates on the daily). A recent tweet of the Bitcoin Twitter tips parody video passed 10,000 views on the video and overall scored 50,000 impressions. We also have a LinkedIn account which has been making inroads and hundreds of followers, but it is still much newer and is growing slower.
Media outreach: Since implementing the media outreach bounties we have landed appearance on four medium-sized shows and one smaller show (the last of which hasn’t been published yet). This is an area where we hung back in an attempt to encourage others to take on bounties. In retrospect, this may have been a mistake as we’ve seen very little engagement from the community in helping to secure media appearances. This may also be due to the use of a separate Relationship Management board, which in retrospect may be too confusing. In the future we will adjust our strategy to increase output here even if most of it is done by a single person in the beginning.
Below is a breakdown of our available budget and expenditures so far:
3. Roadmap
Here we give our current priorities to the areas of funding in Hub, to enable better management and allocation of resources between Bounties. These priorities will be updated at least in each Quarterly proposal, and are referenced in our [color=#2980b9]Rules[/color].
This quarter the monthly funding ask is 100 DASH. This represents roughly 2% of the total Dash treasury. Based on the work we were able to accomplish with the similar previous ask and considering the work we have planned for this quarter, we feel that leaving this amount unchanged is appropriate.
In Q1 2022 we will explore modifying the ask depending on performance metrics and the demands of the network, particularly to explore the potential for an aggressive advertisement campaign for Platform launch.
4. Terms
All operations of the Hub funded by this proposal are subject to the latest Rules published here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bpTl-7TuzYPAy7_kGPNpHZo3biLxq6oE5tOjPv-Z-oo/edit?usp=sharing
All major changes/departures from previous versions have been highlighted. Specific details of the Network Contract that this proposal forms a part of can be found in section 1.6 of the rules.
5. Resources
Links needed to access all Hub information, including past proposals, accounting, and more, can be found in the Resources section of our [color=#2980b9]Rules[/color].
6. Summary
We found a model that works: show Dash being used, broadcast this effectively across social media, and when possible direct prospects to become Dash users themselves. We will expand on this strategy by rounding out our social media strategy with the inclusion of accounts for TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, and step up the pace on content creation to feed into these platforms and dramatically grow Dash’s presence. It has been a slow start because we effectively started with Dash having nearly zero social media presence and almost no content, but the upside of this is that nearly anything we do will create a dramatic improvement over the status quo because nothing much has been done.
In Q1 2022, after having grown our social media presence and achieved our content creation goals, we will be in a great place to use said content to create explicit advertisements and paid distribution campaigns for Dash. This hopefully will nicely coincide with expansions of the DashDirect program, the integration into THORChain, and of course the release of Dash Platform on to mainnet, and we will be ready to engage in heavy promotion and advertisement of a complete Dash product package at that time.
We are currently a very small team, and would like to expand to grow our breadth and quantity of output, but first need to significantly increase our number of Admins and Contributors. If you are interested in joining the Hub, or know someone who is, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Thank you very much. Please feel free to ask any relevant questions.
This proposal is a continuation of the Dash Marketing Hub, an official fork of the Dash Incubator, focused on grassroots marketing and promotion of Dash, and on community energizing/engagement.
As promised, starting this cycle we will begin the progressive process of decentralizing the Proposal Owner role into the Director roles. Initial Directors will be myself (TheDesertLynx), Kanuuker, and Pozo, with one (myself) acting as a Treasurer. Full details on governance particulars can be found in our updated Rules document, with changes since last cycle highlighted in yellow.
Current Admins (in addition to the Directors who also act as Admins) are GreekNick and Rion.
2. Updates
Here are updates on our progress. In brief, we’re pleased with progress considering we started from zero and have had great success with DashDirect videos and the Twitter account, but need to be more proactive in the future in pursuing our strategy.
Content creation: We have had great success in producing videos of usage of the DashDirect app, already showcase its use in 15 US states, or 30% of the entire country, with more on the way. Special shoutout to C4Chaos, who has continued to produce numerous regular videos unpaid after his first video, and Tony for his Dash date night video. We have also begun producing videos of Dash purchases elsewhere in the world, with two completed so far and many more on the way, but those only began recently. Finally we produced a parody video of Jack Mallers’s announcement of Lightning tips coming to Twitter, and this parody video was viewed over 10,000 times on Twitter, and I received compliments even from Bitcoin maximalists.
Content delivery: Our primary content delivery mechanism has been Twitter, which has performed very well. Over a 28-day period we reached over a half-million impressions, significantly surpassing that of the official Dash account (which has over 400 times the followers), and has ranked #2 for Dash influencers according to LunarCrush right behind Mark Mason who has been active far longer and who has 33 times the followers (though this exact ranking fluctuates on the daily). A recent tweet of the Bitcoin Twitter tips parody video passed 10,000 views on the video and overall scored 50,000 impressions. We also have a LinkedIn account which has been making inroads and hundreds of followers, but it is still much newer and is growing slower.
Media outreach: Since implementing the media outreach bounties we have landed appearance on four medium-sized shows and one smaller show (the last of which hasn’t been published yet). This is an area where we hung back in an attempt to encourage others to take on bounties. In retrospect, this may have been a mistake as we’ve seen very little engagement from the community in helping to secure media appearances. This may also be due to the use of a separate Relationship Management board, which in retrospect may be too confusing. In the future we will adjust our strategy to increase output here even if most of it is done by a single person in the beginning.
Below is a breakdown of our available budget and expenditures so far:
3. Roadmap
Here we give our current priorities to the areas of funding in Hub, to enable better management and allocation of resources between Bounties. These priorities will be updated at least in each Quarterly proposal, and are referenced in our [color=#2980b9]Rules[/color].
- Top Priority
- Creation of videos and other content showcasing real usage of DashDirect for real purchases among a wide variety of merchants and locations
- Promotion of the DashDirect app directly to potential consumers to secure new users and sign-ups
- Creation of videos and other content showcasing real usage of Dash directly paying for goods and services, including in Brazil (Bitfy) and in Venezuela
- Creation of videos and other content showcasing real usage of DashDirect for real purchases among a wide variety of merchants and locations
- High Priority
- Building out Dash’s social presence on a wider spectrum of networks and platforms to maximize reach and effectiveness
- Honing Dash’s content delivery mechanisms to maximize reach and awareness of all content produced by the Hub or elsewhere
- Building awareness and relationships with key industry influencers
- Building out Dash’s social presence on a wider spectrum of networks and platforms to maximize reach and effectiveness
- Medium Priority
- Increasing Dash’s public visibility through securing media appearances and article placements
- Securing interviews for key DCG members, developers, and other key ecosystem players
- Creating supplemental Dash content not including depictions of its use as a payments system
- Increasing Dash’s public visibility through securing media appearances and article placements
- Low Priority
- Any bounties not focused on or a dependency of the above
- Any bounties not focused on or a dependency of the above
This quarter the monthly funding ask is 100 DASH. This represents roughly 2% of the total Dash treasury. Based on the work we were able to accomplish with the similar previous ask and considering the work we have planned for this quarter, we feel that leaving this amount unchanged is appropriate.
In Q1 2022 we will explore modifying the ask depending on performance metrics and the demands of the network, particularly to explore the potential for an aggressive advertisement campaign for Platform launch.
4. Terms
All operations of the Hub funded by this proposal are subject to the latest Rules published here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bpTl-7TuzYPAy7_kGPNpHZo3biLxq6oE5tOjPv-Z-oo/edit?usp=sharing
All major changes/departures from previous versions have been highlighted. Specific details of the Network Contract that this proposal forms a part of can be found in section 1.6 of the rules.
5. Resources
Links needed to access all Hub information, including past proposals, accounting, and more, can be found in the Resources section of our [color=#2980b9]Rules[/color].
6. Summary
We found a model that works: show Dash being used, broadcast this effectively across social media, and when possible direct prospects to become Dash users themselves. We will expand on this strategy by rounding out our social media strategy with the inclusion of accounts for TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, and step up the pace on content creation to feed into these platforms and dramatically grow Dash’s presence. It has been a slow start because we effectively started with Dash having nearly zero social media presence and almost no content, but the upside of this is that nearly anything we do will create a dramatic improvement over the status quo because nothing much has been done.
In Q1 2022, after having grown our social media presence and achieved our content creation goals, we will be in a great place to use said content to create explicit advertisements and paid distribution campaigns for Dash. This hopefully will nicely coincide with expansions of the DashDirect program, the integration into THORChain, and of course the release of Dash Platform on to mainnet, and we will be ready to engage in heavy promotion and advertisement of a complete Dash product package at that time.
We are currently a very small team, and would like to expand to grow our breadth and quantity of output, but first need to significantly increase our number of Admins and Contributors. If you are interested in joining the Hub, or know someone who is, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Thank you very much. Please feel free to ask any relevant questions.
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Discussion: Should we fund this proposal?
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I think the admins are making the right decision to emphasize the production of DashDirect spending videos for future marketing ads. The Hub also allows us to have an accountable DFO for Marketing that will be quick to respond to the newest social media news, to MNOs and post regularly to bring in new interest to the Dash network.
It's a long road to where we want to get to because of the lack of marketing in the past, so I hope the network is patient enough to see the benefits of this proposal (and hopefully future ones too).
You're assumption is that it will benefit the network. What reason do you have to believe that? Hope?
desertlynx gets paid 20 dash to set up this proposal and sets it up to fail. That has nothing to do with alternatives being presented by people who have to risk their 5 dash to receive a much, much higher level of scrutiny.
It doesn't take a marketing professional to understand that after you make 1 or 2 marketing videos showing someone in a major chain buying something with dashdirect the marginal utility drops off a cliff. It doesn't take a marketing professional to see that someone who can't grow their personal twitter accounts after years of trying, is not going to be able to do it once he gets paid to do so.
What profession are you in? Would you hire an amateur with a terrible track record to do your job for you? No, probably not. Why are you gaslighting my legit concerns? Marketing is a profession. If it was easy we would see the amateurs running the dash marketing hub making coherent decisions. We have seen their previous *defunded* marketing proposals be successful. We would see a well defined marketing strategy with well defined target markets and customer profiles. We do not.
I do have a better approach, do you want me to email it to you? It is in powerpoint format. I am not a marketing professional. I would not execute it. Also, unlike Joel, I have a real job. I don't have the luxury (well, my ethical standards wouldn't allow me) to be a persona where I talk about spending money that I've been gifted for pretending to be something I am not.
For this price, the network can afford actual marketing professionals who know what they are doing. Instead we see disjointed projects that serve primarily to make the admins pockets more full.
Below is the real budget breakdown that matters (taken from https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lPo5ORDA36u03Zk-5rWMB98ZQ5e0f-o0gj3nYB3PX9k/edit#gid=1777637821). Unsurprisingly, thedesertlynx doesn't want this highlighted for you all to make an educated decision.
As of this writing, a total of 101.05 Dash of the 200 Dash raised have been spent on the dash marketing flub.
Amount spent on paid promotion of ads, existing or new, on any platform or media outlet: 0 Dash (0%)
Amount given to admin and contributor @thedesertlynx: 52.195 Dash (51.6%)
Amount given in total to admins (for admin and contributions): 71.8 Dash (71%)
Amount given to non-admins: 29.25 Dash (28.9%)
Full critique documenting this disaster of an initiative can be found here: https://www.dashnewsitalia.org/open-mind/
Please defund this vanity project. It is embarrassing for the network.
This is exactly the concern I raised when this proposal first came out, at the current price he payed himself alone almost 10K in one single month. That is a salary of 120K a year! Can you imagine how much more useful it would be if we bought on another professional to help our CMO at that price?
When the admins can just pay out to each other there is no incentive to try and get other people involved, and that is the outcome we are seeing. It is hard to get other people involved, like really really difficult, and it takes alot of work. If there is a profit motive to not do that hard work of getting others involved (as there is here) then it isn't going to get done.
Without rule changes to ensure this Dash isn't going straight into the admins pockets I have to vote no.
In the example of the DashDirect videos, of the 15 produced, 9 have come from a single person. While it's ideal to spread this among as may contributors as possible, if we had restricted Allan from taking his initiative we would have halved our output, which simply isn't acceptable. Remember that the output requirement is a natural barrier to abuse: people can only get paid for the work that they do. Even if a contributor seeks more funding, they are limited by the amount of quality work they can produce. At current prices the entire budget of the Hub is enough to support the salary of three full-time employees at $80,000 per year, though I suspect the workload required would exceed what three people are able to do.
We are always looking for more contributors, though they have been hard to come by until recently when we have created the initial momentum from the first few successful bounties and now we are seeing potential contributors show interest in joining, and we are busy onboarding them. But as always, we need more, and any help in this regard is appreciated.
As I've mentioned before, I launched this project at the urging of several prominent community members such as Andy, Ash, and Rion, and wanted to start with a decentralized governance structure, but Andy would not support it without a first cycle with centralized final word, and so I respected his wishes. However, every single month my contribution percentage and compensation has been reduced dramatically as I indicated from the beginning. I will still help out where needed, but nothing would make me happier than to see many more contributors and admins involved and contributing at a much higher rate.
It's sounding like you're passionate about having more contributors and admins, something we definitely need. Would you like to join? Alternatively, do you know anyone else who would want to join and contribute?
While that might make sense for developer tasks that rationale makes 0 sense for marketing. For instance, you and Chris are getting paid 1 Dash a week to "Post and re-share news and announcements (1 Dash/Week)". First off, are fucking serious dude? That is way overpricing that task.
Disregarding that you have ~7000 followers and Chris has ~1000, (Dashpay account has 411K for perspective) you two just keep claiming that bounty week after week. How is that helpful? What does that accomplish?
The Dash Marketing Hub is a good idea. I really believe that. But it needs rule changes to stop this absurd grift.
We work very hard and I'm proud at our results becoming one of the top Dash accounts from zero in such a short time, and our continued gains. With that being said, I ask this in pure good faith: Do you know someone who can do a better job? If you can find someone who can do a better job with similar output for the same money, we would love to get them on board. Just message Pozo (the task admin) and we'll get it arranged.
You mentioned being a fan of the idea of the Marketing Hub, but clearly aren't of the people involved. Please, feel free to get involved. I personally would love nothing more than to have many more people contributing, am personally excited to now be 1/3 rather than 1/1 in leadership, and would love to eventually leave even admin work behind and become a simple contributor as I have been on many tasks on the Dash Incubator. We need to get a lot more people involved in the project before that, though. As I said before, the more the merrier.
Clearly I would rather have the marketing Hub rather than not too.
My bad for jumping to conclusions, I hope to be proved completely off base, but I do have legitimate concerns about the incentive structure that is set up here.
I will look through the tasks available and see if I can be of any help.