Monetization Strategy

The goal is not to make profit, but rather support the costs of the server/staff(if it gets to that point).

• photo quality upgrade

Our application has the ability to deliver photos (and possibly audio and video). These media formats can cost significant money if they need to be delivered repeatedly over the cloud and stored, especially if using high quality. To execute the core functionality of the app, people do not need super high-resolution photos and audio, but some users may be willing to pay to upgrade their experience and their presentation to others. if someone chooses to donate: We would store their images in higher quality in the cloud (less compression) We would show them the highest quality images we have of other users (so the images are more clear and they have a better viewing experience) We would show their profile in a higher quality to all people that view it (so that they can see you more clearly)

• ads

• donations (after a successful match)

• customization options

This is an idea borrowed from the video game industry. Essentially it would involve several different cosmetic upgrades around the app to customize and show off: Different font themes for your app Different colour schemes for your app profile banners and backgrounds that are shown to other people that view your profile think hearts rainbows bubbles steel Different fonts to be seen by other people on your profile (particularly for your name maybe, like a fancy display font)

• discord nitro style

this idea combines some of the functionality of the above ideas. The general gist is to make a bundle of nice-to-have features that are presented as a way to support apps costs. This would include things like upgraded qualities, cosmetics, badges, gifs (although that maybe should be for everyone),

• mandatory fee?

These approaches consider the possibility of charging all users, or at least all users that want to take some common action, such as matching, dating, etc.Low Annual Fee Charging a small upfront fee: $10 per year, because that is what the dating apps make per user anyways, and we just do it without the bullshit.Lifetime Fee Another related option, which may not be exclusive to a low annual fee, or some other charges, but perhaps complementary, is charging a single larger amount for a "lifetime" subscription. This may put off some people, depending on cost, but also has some interesting positive psychology to it. Once someone pays (and in contemplating doing so), they can see that their interests are now clearly aligned with ours: we've gotten what we want from them, and they know they can use the app for as long as they want/need to, and again in the future if they need to, without ever having to worry about paying again. From a financial and sustainability perspective the fee would have to be high enough to bring in reasonable income, but low enough to encourage more people to pay. Perhaps $50 or something, although with our low annual cost consideration of $10-12/yr, this is equivalent to five years, which very likely most people on these apps might assume (or at least hope) they won't need an app after a year or two or three, much less five. In other words even if it is probably realistic that most of these people will need to come back on a dating app some time in the next 5-10 years, they may not want to believe that, which will impact their willingness to pay (i.e. if they pay a price that is only worth it over a 5+ year time span, they are implicitly telling themselves "I will not find true love/life time relationship sooner than 5 years".

• matching charge (or donation prompt on match or on leave app):

charging every time they match: (very small fee) Prevents scammers and flakes since there is a small cost to make a match. It also makes people more decerning but may reduce the number of people actively using the platform. Plus micropayments on an app are not fun.Date Charge Date Charge charging every time they go on a date: This one is the best idea since it aligns people's mission the closest with the app's mission. The challenge is figuring out the mechanism to tell when they've gone on a date. Perhaps we could have a button saying that they are ready to go on a date in the chat screen (but then they might collude to circumnavigate it). Alternatively, we could use the knowledge when they come back to the app to swap out the person for another, but then we can't catch people who found their person and left the app.

• upgraded profile customizability

Any profile upgrades available shouldn't fundamentally change a person's chances of successfully meeting someone. They have to make some difference, but profiles without any paid upgrades should not feel "nerfed". Blocked based profiles

This is a more general idea, but could tie-in to monetization quite well. See here for a description of the feature Block-based profiles Essentially free users would have a limited number of profile "blocks", e.g. in-line photos, text area, prompts, and perhaps no ability to rearrange them. You could pay to get increased profile flexibility and length. For example: Free users 6 blocks, a combination of photos and text sections Not able to rearrange No "enhanced" blocks, e.g. Instagram or Spotify feed Paid users 12+ blocks (some reasonable limit) Freely rearrange with drag-and-drop (vertical order only) Enhanced/dynamic blocks like Instagram feed This could be a nice, tangible upgrade for people, while still keeping things totally functional for free users. It does involve some additional technical overhead to implement these more complicated profiles, but I think it could be a very nice functional differentiator that no other app (that I'm aware of) has.