The Rise of the Gig-Economy and the Millennial Generation
The photos and videos we take with our smartphones are unrealized, monetizable assets. With the evolution of the camera phone, our cell phones are no longer just a handy way to take a picture, they are some of the best and easiest to use photo-taking devices out there. The ubiquity of camera phones has skyrocketed the number of photos that are taken. More than 1 trillion photos were taken in 2017, that means that each camera phone owner took over 1000 pictures in a year with their smartphone.
Millennials and the Side Hustle
Millennials are the largest generation making up the US workforce. According to research, one in three people part of the American labor force today is of the Millennial generation. We can assume a similar dynamic exists in many other countries as more Millennials get older and join the workforce. This generation has brought with them a new approach to the working world, however. Many of them choose to incorporate side hustles and prioritize flexibility over stability.
With the rise of the gig-economy, Millennials are supplementing their income or focusing on having multiple jobs to stay out of the office and keep a flexible schedule. Perhaps this is due to the fact that, as research has found, Millennials prioritize experiences over things, choosing to spend their money on concerts or travel over the big TV or fancy cars. They seem to be in constant pursuit of free time to enjoy experiences and this may be why so many lean towards bringing income in through alternative work structures. In the US alone, it’s been predicted that 42 percent of all self-employed individuals are likely to be Millennials by 2020.
Regardless of why gig-economy and side-hustling have risen in the last decade, it has given companies like TaskRabbit, Uber, and Airbnb the opportunity to shine. These companies have contributed to the success of gig style work culture. Uber and Airbnb gave people a platform to utilize an underused asset to make extra income on a regular basis.
People knew they could get extra cash by renting out their apartment while on vacation, or by putting an extra bedroom up for rent, they just didn’t have a place to do it or facilitate the process in an efficient way. The same thing with ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft, it wasn’t that people weren’t thinking about ride-sharing they just didn’t have a way to scale a business like that, without becoming a taxi driver.
Giving people looking for extra side income or flexible work schedules the freedom to jump in and make some money when they could and back off when it didn’t suit them anymore was a huge game changer.
Evan Kimbrell and Airbnb
Like Evan Kimbrell, who not only earned enough to cover his San Francisco rent by taking advantage of all Airbnb had to offer but now travels the world on the income he brings in. Airbnb afforded him the luxury of only working on projects he enjoys, even if they don’t make him money.
Evan started out as a young developer, freelancing when he first moved to SF. He took a chance on a high rent and wondered if he would be able to keep up with cost and be able to make ends meet. When he first started hosting on Airbnb, he was just looking to rent out his spare bedroom. That month he brought in $1500, which covered half his rent at the time. This was a huge score for him and was the hook-line-and-sinker which has lead him to the life he leads today.
He has seen 7 countries in the last two years, brought in $11000 in top months, works on the projects he’s passionate about — not having to worry about paying the bills, all this and he was still able to visit home for the holidays.
Today’s Unrealized Asset
People are making more content than ever before and saving it to their phones. But not many people go back to them. People don’t have the time to do anything with this content. Our lives are busier than ever and we want to save these memories because the world moves so fast. However, it is rare that we have time to properly edit or put the photos and videos together into a proper memory keepsake, like a slideshow or video montage.
These are monetizable assets. User-generated content is widely sought out for marketing purposes. Brands and companies want to engage their audiences with more authentic content and the best way to do that these days is with photos and video taken by actual users. Marketers are willing to pay a pretty penny for such quality and coveted content and it’s high time there was a proper marketplace that allows people to get in on it.
Any marketplace that provides a space for marketers and everyday people creating content to meet and transact has its work cut out for it. Security is of the utmost importance when facilitating transactions. But don’t forget we are dealing with intellectual property and art.
Copyright laws have to be taken into account, proper credit must be given to the creators, and compensation can’t be forgotten either.
Companies do exist to help marketers procure UGC, but the marketers and the creators have to pay to play. Listing your content may cost a content creator some fees and for the everyday smartphone user looking to make an extra buck, this hardly seems worth it. Marketers have to deal with markups on licensing fees due to intermediary transaction fees. And the companies have to be willing to take on drawing up and enforcing the license agreements which can be tedious and complicated.
Blockchain technology is solving these paint points left and right. Smart contracts, with their self-executing nature, leaves the marketers and content creators in good hands when it comes to terms of licensing. Cryptocurrency allows marketers to compensate their creators across borders and across currencies. The blockchain, inherently, secures all these transactions and interactions leaving no question of content ownership and transacting parties. But who’s out there making this technology accessible?
Enter Mobs: Giving marketers and everyday creators of the world the chance to monetize on an asset they only imagined was worth something. Like with Airbnb and Uber, people already have these photos and videos on hand, they just don’t have the tools to get the most out of them. Until now. Just like Evan Kimbrell, anyone has the potential to get involved and change their life by making some extra money from something they already do at least 1000 times a year. Mobs and blockchain are here to get the party started and you are all invited.
