I have been writing since 2017, and I still remember it took me about a year to actually gain any income from it. And one of the sad things about being a content creator in the fiat world is that you need to waste so much energy on dealing with middlemen or algorithms instead of focusing on your crafts, which takes away part of the joy of creating itself. Yet somehow, I staked over 100k sats recently in Stacker News without much existing audience in the Bitcoin world ( 100k sats isn't much, but I enjoy the feeling of being appreciated 👀 )
So, I would like to share my findings on how content creators can integrate Bitcoin into their work so that more people can focus on crafting instead of compromising on making eyeball-grabbing content.
For Getting Tips from Audiences
Simply get an LN address from Alby or any of these LN address providers, then put it into your bio across different social media, and you're done! But the disadvantage of this is it requires people to copy and paste, which creates a bit of friction.! However, this is the first step to test things out.
I recommend using addresses from LightningTipBot, Alby or Stacker News. Personally, I don't like to show a wallet address like xx@walletofsatoshidotcom in public, which almost tells this company, hey this is my online presence, and this is my wallet; I prefer more subtle things.
If you have existing sites, there are two easy ways to integrate them:
- Easy breezy solution
Use Alby directly because they already set up a tipping page for you; all you need to do is link it. Sample
- Slightly more technical
Go to twentyuno, put your lightning address, and then copy and paste the code into your site. But once you put this code, people can only scan with their phones. To make things smoother, I recommend combining Alby with Twentyuno, so people could also tip from their browsers, and this only requires two steps:
- Put these two lines of code in the site header.
<meta name="lightning" content="lnurlp:you@getalby.com"/>
<meta property="og:image" content="https://www.your.blog/YOUR_IMAGE" />The Alby browser icon would turn blue when successfully set up your site, but one site I set up didn't show blue and still works somehow.
- Copy and paste the code from twentyuno into where you would like to have the tipping section. Sample
One more detail to share: I put different addresses at different places just to understand where people are paying more attention or where is working as feedback.
For Selling Digital Downloads or Products
If you currently have a shop or would like to set up a shop selling any digital downloads or products for Bitcoin, here is what I have tried:
1. Shopify with BTCpay
Building a shop with Shopify is quite convenient but expensive, with monthly fees, transaction fees, and many middlemen fees. But the most annoying part is they are asking for too many documents, so KYCed.
Expensive and NO privacy, I do not recommend this setup.
2. WordPress with BTCpay
WordPress might take a bit of a learning curve, but it is open source and has almost 0 cost besides hosting, and the most important thing: NO KYC! I am currently self-hosting WordPress using Digital Ocean. To make it function like a shop, all you need to do is install the plugin WooCommerce. In order to use BTCpay, we need to figure out how to host it. Many hosting providers are listed here, but let's choose the easiest one to start: BTCpay with Voltage.
But I think it would be better if you already have some audiences or do not mind the cost because it has ongoing monthly fees. I am currently paying about $9 for a Bitcoin node and $12 for a lighting node monthly - It would be kind of sweet if you pay these costs with the sats you stacked.
However, the EXTRA BONUS is that you get to experience the future while many people are still at the doubting or looking from afar stage! One more bonus to share - after tinkering with BTCpay for a while, I learnt that all you need is one node, and then you can set up multiple shops! For example, I use the same node on three different sites. How nice.
3. LNbits
LNbits seems like a really powerful tool. However, I tested it a few times both in my Umbrel node and voltage, but I don't understand why whenever I create a new store, it would be gone if I log in again.
🤯 So I am sorry, I can't have more to share for now.
Sum up
If you would like to set up a shop integrating with Bitcoin, the best and easiest setup I have found ( so far ) is using WordPress with WooCommerce, and payment with BTCpay hosting with Voltage.
Exploring the Lightning Ecosystem
Above are ways to integrate Bitcoin into the existing setups, but you might be amazed by how thriving Bitcoinia is once you tap into the Lightning Ecosystem, but this would be an article for another day.
Sneak peek
I'm excited to see a world without endless gatekeepers and middlemen taking cuts, and people can focus on themselves and their crafts, and this is already starting with me.
Stay tuned for more.