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When Joseph Holguin founded his new company Wusk, he did what he always did when learning a new skill: he turned to YouTube. There he found lots of information about areas he needed help in – the only problem, there wasn’t an easy way for Holguin to tip content producers. “A lot of the content was really beneficial to my life, either educationally or just it entertained me, but there was really no way for me to support these content creators. I wanted to really tip these content creators $5 or $10 to help them, but I didn’t see a way to do that,” said Holguin.
Holguin launched Wusk last month to help fill that void. Wusk allows fans to “tip” content creators after watching one of their videos on YouTube or listening to a track on SoundCloud. Wusk’s technology allows content creators to create a tipping page for each video or track they upload to the web. Fans can then tip based on their appreciation of different videos. It also serves to connect fans and content creators directly.
A Close-Knit Community
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Wusk seeks to reward content creators, but also engage them with their fan base. Holguin’s family business – they grow chilis and sell them through farmers markets – gave him plenty of insight into the power that personal connections have to make or break a business. “It's important for content creators to connect with their community… I see my uncle, my parents or my grandfather, they know everybody in the community. When I look at it from a social media aspect, I think its really important for content creators to have that same type of direct, one-to-one connection to fans,” said Holguin (pictured left).
Once fans tip a content creator, they become part of that creator’s fan club. With that, they gain access to exclusive content or messages. Any message the fan responds to goes directly to the content creator, not the entire group. “We are really able to connect directly, one-to-one,” said Holguin.
While Wusk doesn’t expect to eliminate the need for ads or product deals, Holguin does think this could add another revenue stream for content producers. “This gives a direct way for the fans to really support the content creators,” said Holguin.
Another bonus — the money is likely to bring a smile to the face of a content producer (and all the warm fuzzies that come with being appreciated) that ad revenue just can’t compete with emotionally.
“At the end of the day, I want to create a way for content creators to get support from their fans and an efficient way for them to connect a large group of fans, and for it to be genuine,” said Holguin.
Growing their base of users is a key priority to Wusk. They are currently reaching out to content creators — anyone from podcasters to musicians to cooks to online personalities — to get them to use the service. Wusk can be used for practically any type of educational or entertainment video. Eventually, Holguin hopes to support Vine and Instagram.
Holguin co-founded Wusk with his technical partner Mehfuz Hossain. Right now, Wusk is a two-man shop, with a designer on contract. Having bootstrapped the company for the past year, the co-founders are looking for seed funding and digital media advisors.
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