Bald & Bullish Newsletter
streamers & Web3, green screen content 📈, Web3 marketing, slashing NFT royalties 👀
Gm, and welcome to Bald & Bullish, the hub for Web3, entertainment, and content creation.
Here’s what’s in store for you today:
What the rise of streamers means for Web3
Why I’m bullish on green screen content
Storytelling and Web3 Marketing
Why NFT royalties going to zero was inevitable.
Tweet of the week
1. What The Rise of Streamers Means For Web3
It's finally happened!
This year, Americans will spend more time watching digital streaming services like Netflix and YouTube than traditional television (via Insider Intelligence).
The era of digital video has officially arrived.
The line between social media content and traditional media is fading. Platforms like TikTok and YouTube compete for the same eyeballs as Netflix and Hulu.
Mainstream pop culture is dead. Attention is becoming more and more fractionalized.
But here's what I'm pondering...
What does this mean for Web3?
It's too early to say for sure, but it looks like bullish news.
Fractionalized attention means smaller pockets of entertainment - each pocket with its own community of loyal fans. This environment is perfect for community ownership and participation.
Web3 entertainment could include:
➡️ Tokenized and collectible content
➡️ NFT airdrops
➡️ Token-gated writers' rooms
➡️ Token-gated events
➡️ Token-gated movies/TV shows
Digital ownership opens up a world of possibilities for the entertainment industry.
But despite all the practical utility Web3 entertainment offers, one thing must come to fruition if it's to be a success...
Web3 entertainment MUST be better than its Web2 counterpart.
If the entertainment sucks, no one will care about the Web3 utility.
There are still many questionable variables, but the current entertainment environment is prime for a Web3 makeover.
2. Green Screen Videos are the Easiest Way to Create Engaging Content
Have you ever felt like your talking head videos could use a little bit of pizzazz?
You're not alone.
I've made THOUSANDS of talking head videos and know firsthand how hard it is to keep this content interesting.
I mean, sure, you can:
➡️ Add quick cuts
➡️ Change the frame with every cut
➡️ Zoom in and zoom out
➡️ Cut to BROLL
➡️ Add sound effects
➡️ Add captions
Those are all excellent techniques to keep viewers engaged.
But all that takes time and editing skills, which isn't ideal for consistent content creation.
Green screen content is the answer.
What was the question, again? Oh yeah, how to easily create engaging talking head content.
Green screens are a great way to give your videos extra oomph to make them stand out and engage your community.
What is green screen content, exactly?
For our purposes, it's content that superimposes an image as your background.
Hollywood has used this tech for years. But now, anyone with a phone can create professional-looking green screen content without spending a dollar on equipment and post-production costs.
Here's the low down…
Every video platform has a built-in green screen function. You can easily take a picture stored in your camera roll and make it your background with the click of a button.
But here's the alpha...
Only use Facebook to create your video.
And no, I'm not just picking favorites here. There's a practical reason for this...
Facebook lets you save an unwatermarked copy of your video.
This is clutch because you can easily upload the same video onto every platform.
The other platforms are super sketch about exporting your green screen videos to your camera roll. Most will keep you from doing it. And the ones that let you will give you a watermarked version. 👎
And watermarked videos are a traction killer on other platforms.
Here's a quick step-by-step guide:
1️⃣ Log into your Facebook app.
2️⃣ Click "Create reel."
3️⃣ Click "Camera."
4️⃣ Click "Green screen."
5️⃣ Select a picture from your phone's camera roll.
6️⃣ Record your video.
7️⃣ Click "save" on the right toolbar.
And BOOM - the unwatermarked video will appear in your camera roll. 🎉
Why should you use green screen content?
Green screens are perfect for creating engaging talking head videos because they allow you to create dynamic backgrounds without going anywhere or doing anything.
Instead of giving a hot take in front of a boring wall, spice things up and…
➡️ Screenshot a relevant news article,
➡️ Make it your backdrop, and
➡️ Give a hot take.
This gives your videos an additional layer of polish and makes them more visually appealing than traditional talking head videos.
Plus, algorithms favor this type of content!
So, with minimal effort and zero cost, you can create professional-looking content that will wow viewers and algorithms alike.
If you have opinions or hot takes that need sharing, start recording them with a green screen ASAP!
It's the easiest way to create engaging video content.
3. Why Storytelling is the Most Important Part of Marketing for Web3 Projects
Storytelling is king when it comes to marketing projects in the Web3 space.
It can be the difference between a successful project launch and a complete failure.
🔹The Power of Storytelling:
Since ancient times, storytelling has been used to share information and connect with others.
For Web3 projects, this can be especially powerful because these technologies often rely on complex concepts that can be difficult to understand.
Storytelling techniques such as metaphors or allegories make these concepts much easier to grasp.
For example, instead of describing a consensus protocol as...
A technical mechanism for distributed network participants to agree on the current state of a decentralized blockchain.
Describe it as...
Like a court trial:
👉 Except instead of a jury of your peers, it's a jury of supercomputers.
👉 And instead of a human defendant, the defendant is a transaction.
If the jury collectively finds the transaction legit, it gets superglued onto a ledger that's impossible to change.
💥 Just like that - the analogy makes the concept way easier to wrap your head around. 👍
🔹 The Role of Narrative in Marketing:
Narratives are critical when marketing any product or service -especially those in the Web3 space.
When creating your project's narrative, focus on what makes it unique. Why should people care about it?
This'll help potential customers understand why they should invest their time and energy into using your product or service over someone else's.
Storytelling is a potent tool that can help make complex concepts understandable for potential users of NFTs, blockchains, or decentralized applications.
So next time you launch a new project in the Web3 space - think carefully about your project's story.
It might make all the difference!
4. NFT Royalties Going to Zero Was Inevitable | Here’s Why
Okay, I'm going to weigh in on the hottest argument in Web3 this week - NFT royalties.
(NFT Royalties = artists earn a % of every subsequent NFT sale)
Here's a quick rundown of what happened last week:
➡️ Blur, an NFT Exchange, dropped a token.
➡️ Volume on Blur went bizzurk. 🤯
➡️ Blur took shots at OpenSea, asking users the block them.
➡️ OpenSea shot back by dropping their exchange fee to zero and making royalties OPTIONAL.
➡️ The NFT community freaked the F out.
Don't get me wrong, the move toward zero royalties pisses me off big time.
The concept that artists could maintain royalties was one of the main reasons I got into NFTs in the first place.
But here’s my hot take…
OpenSea deciding not to honor royalties that aren't enforced on-chain was inevitable.
Why? Because capitalism - that's why.
Capitalism encourages companies to prioritize short-term gains over long-term sustainability, leading to decisions to satisfy immediate profitability in the here and now.
This is known as the "Moloch game theory" - AKA sacrificing future interests by cutting back on brand investments vital to securing customer loyalty.
It's a risky proposition - after all, companies that ignore their reputations in the present day will find it more expensive when building back brand trust after it has eroded away.
So, the fact that OpenSea had the option to cut royalties in the first place made the decision to cut them inevitable.
It's a tragic shame that NFTs without on-chain enforcement of royalties (which is every project you've ever heard of) will now need to rely on:
➡️ VC funding and/or
➡️ alternative revenue streams
OpenSea is slapping the projects that made them relevant straight in the face.
But hey, that's the ugly side of capitalism. 🤷♂️
In the future, I hope all NFT royalties are enforceable on-chain. For context, this means that royalty payments are written into the smart contracts, thereby not allowing exchanges to cut them.
5. Tweet of the Week
Betty is the co-founder of the Deadfellaz NFT project and gives an excellent take on the NFT royalties argument.
Although she agrees that on-chain enforcement is a problem that must be solved, she points out that artists deciding to set royalties in the first place is a matter strictly between the artist and collector. And exchanges stepping in and stripping royalties from existence is completely out of pocket.
The argument is sound. Betty is a champion of artists, and the NFT space is lucky to have her in its corner. 🤝
That’s a wrap for today. See y’all next week! If that’s too long to wait (it probably is), be sure to follow me on Twitter (@BrendanBald).
DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly for educational and entertainment purposes. It's not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets. ALWAYS do your own research.