A Business-Related Suggestion for LiveJournal
LiveJournal is currently letting a massive source of revenue go untapped -- the sale of permanent accounts. I've heard that bradfitz doesn't like selling permanent accounts, for some reason, and while it may seem to (eventually) start sapping money from the paid userbase, it seems that not exploiting this resource isn't the wisest of ideas.
Simply put, the money that could be generated from the sale of only 50-100 permanent accounts could keep LJ in new servers for a while. I'm suggesting a type of blind dutch auction, wherein a small number of permanent accounts (say 50, for this example) are put up for auction on eBay or some similar auction coding LJ throws together. Users place their bids and are unable to see the bids of others. At the end of the auction (call it a week, whatever), the top 50 outstanding bids get to pay for their new permanent accounts.
This has the added business benefit of maximizing value of permanent accounts -- the people who are willing to pay more will receive the accounts.
Cons: Credit card fraud, possible loss of some paid users due to defection to permanent accounts. Some dissatisfied customers -- not everyone can win an auction.
Pros: Lots of cash. Customer satisfaction.
EDIT: I already have a permanent account. This is not an attempt to get a permanent account out of LJ. I was also already in the fotobilder beta before the perm. access to the beta was announced. So stop bitching at me, this is NOT an attempt to get something for myself. This is a suggestion for LiveJournal's business. It has nothing to do with me.
Poll
Simply put, the money that could be generated from the sale of only 50-100 permanent accounts could keep LJ in new servers for a while. I'm suggesting a type of blind dutch auction, wherein a small number of permanent accounts (say 50, for this example) are put up for auction on eBay or some similar auction coding LJ throws together. Users place their bids and are unable to see the bids of others. At the end of the auction (call it a week, whatever), the top 50 outstanding bids get to pay for their new permanent accounts.
This has the added business benefit of maximizing value of permanent accounts -- the people who are willing to pay more will receive the accounts.
Cons: Credit card fraud, possible loss of some paid users due to defection to permanent accounts. Some dissatisfied customers -- not everyone can win an auction.
Pros: Lots of cash. Customer satisfaction.
EDIT: I already have a permanent account. This is not an attempt to get a permanent account out of LJ. I was also already in the fotobilder beta before the perm. access to the beta was announced. So stop bitching at me, this is NOT an attempt to get something for myself. This is a suggestion for LiveJournal's business. It has nothing to do with me.
Poll