Royalties Recovery Program

6 Lessons from Consortium Key's Successful Royalties Recovery Program

We are thrilled to share the valuable insights we've gained through our collaboration with Consortium Key, an innovative web3 organization that surpassed revenue forecasts by implementing our Subscription Tools. 

Now, Consortium Key holds the distinction of being the first NFT project in the world to implement a Royalty Recovery program, using Aspen’s Royalty Tools, addressing the challenges faced by creators and project teams in safeguarding their revenue amidst a declining infrastructure.

In this blog post, we aim to shed light on the wisdom shared by iambullish, the Chief Strategy Officer, and lexomis, the Chief Technology Officer of Consortium Key, as they reflect on their journey. 

Whether you're a web3 creator, a project team member, or simply curious about the potential of royalty recovery programs, their firsthand experiences offer valuable insights into both the implementation of Aspen's tools and the broader landscape of building sustainable revenue streams.

Drive Sustainable Growth through Transparent Communication

Effective communication plays a pivotal role in facilitating change within communities. Consortium Key emphasizes the significance of transparency in garnering support for revenue-related initiatives.

Communities can be resistant to change. Although the need for healthy project revenue may seem obvious to you and your team — or even a core group of your collectors — never underestimate the power of transparency. 

According to lexomis, "The first thing we talked about with our community was WHY we needed to do this. The equation is super simple, we cannot build great shit for them if we don't have money to pay our engineering team."

By helping community members comprehend the costs associated with the utility they receive, you empower them to grasp the importance of maintaining royalties. Utilize channels such as Discord and Twitter Spaces to disseminate information, ensuring multiple touchpoints for effective communication well in advance of activating the toolkit.

Strike a Balance: Prioritize Community, Acknowledge Traders

As iambullish explains, “Traders are always going to trade and try to optimize their profit. If you stop worrying about what they do and start worrying about how you can help your real community, things will work themselves out. We liked Aspen's ability to help us use an incentives-based approach to working with our community."

To ensure a hassle-free experience for their community, Consortium Key implemented a streamlined process within their Discord platform. They adjusted their official links section in Discord to direct traffic to their Aspen storefront. By doing so, they could conveniently inform their community that purchasing from the Aspen storefront guarantees seamless royalty management, eliminating any potential difficulties during their Discord setup. This simple yet effective change provided the community with the assurance that their royalties will be taken care of without any complications, fostering a smooth and efficient user experience.

Transition with a Well-Planned Approach

Implementing significant changes requires meticulous planning and an alignment with the community. Patience and strategic execution are key to successfully introducing new programs and ensuring their widespread adoption. Consortium Key's experience serves as a valuable lesson: change cannot be expected overnight.

lexomis highlights the importance of a phased implementation, stating, "Given the  impact of gating our utility behind royalties, we approached it in three phases. In the initial phase, we communicated the coming changes and allowed community members a few weeks to become compliant. In the second phase, we established gated roles using Aspen's platform, enabling community members to see visually their compliance status within Discord; we even turned the non-compliant holder role to 'shit brown'. Finally, in the third phase, we removed non-compliant individuals from now privileged rooms."

Building a system that includes a 'waiting room' after the transition allows new holders a three-day window to access utility while ensuring sufficient time to address their royalty compliance requirements.

Incentivize Compliance for Optimal Results

Implementing an effective incentivization strategy can greatly encourage holders to prioritize cleaning up their royalties status. Iambullish recounts their approach, which took advantage of a mini-bull market for shitcoins that led to a recent increase in their floor price. 

To motivate established holders to address their royalty compliance, they implemented a two-pronged incentivization structure:

1. Capped Payment Amount: For those who had purchased before the transition began, Consortium Key capped the amount they would need to pay if they hadn't yet addressed their royalty obligations. This approach helped alleviate any financial burden and incentivized timely compliance.
2. Subscriptions Program Voucher: Additionally, Consortium Key offered a one-month voucher from their subscriptions program to holders who purchased their NFTs prior to the transition but subsequently fulfilled their royalty requirements. This provided an extra incentive for holders to take action and ensured a smoother transition for everyone involved. Read how Consortium Key leveraged Aspen's Subscription program.

By providing clear incentives and support, Consortium Key successfully motivated holders to address their royalty compliance, aligning their community with the new program while mitigating any potential challenges or hesitations.

"Aspen's ability to provide a payback mechanism and an appeal mechanism made this super easy."

Equip the Entire Ecosystem for Success

When implementing new programs or executing a process transition for your members, it is vital to empower your community with the necessary knowledge and resources. Taking inspiration from Lexomis, we learn the importance of creating self-help and troubleshooting materials to support both the community and the team.

lexomis emphasizes the importance of equipping the community and team with knowledge, stating, "We built a bit of a mini-FAQ for our community, moderators and entire team to understand many of the simple things."

The FAQ, located directly in their Discord, served as a valuable resource for understanding common issues and straightforward solutions. By proactively addressing frequently asked questions and simple fixes, they were able to empower community members to find solutions independently and reduce the dependency on customer success requests.

Investing the time and effort to develop self-help and troubleshooting resources not only provides valuable support to community members, it also alleviates potential bottlenecks for your team. This approach fostered a sense of independence and empowered Consortium Key’s community members to resolve common issues on their own, while allowing their team to focus on more complex challenges and strategic initiatives.

Consistency is Key: Enforce Policies Effectively

Enforcing policies consistently can be challenging, particularly when emotions and individual circumstances come into play. However, iambullish emphasizes the importance of setting policies in writing and adhering to them.

They advise, "Although it may be tempting to make exceptions, maintaining consistency is crucial. We found it much easier to adhere strictly to our policies. When exceptions were made in the past, word spread, leading to a flood of similar requests. Aspen's system facilitated our consistency by requiring everyone to use the royalties appeal system, providing clear information for informed decision-making, especially in borderline cases."

Consistent policy enforcement promotes fairness and trust within the community while simplifying the decision-making processes. By establishing clear policies, documenting them, and minimizing exceptions, you create a framework that supports the long-term success of your program. Leveraging purpose-built tools like Aspen's further enhances consistency and offers valuable insights to inform decision-making.

Learn More About Aspen’s Royalty Toolkit

Consortium Key's successful Royalties Recovery program proves that royalty revenue isn’t dead — it just requires a better framework. 

Iambullish and Lexomis’ insights provide an effective roadmap for creators or projects interested in an empowerment platform for recurring revenue. By implementing the strategies shared by Lexomis and iambullish, you, too, can unlock the full potential of our Revenue Toolkits and tap into a sustainable income stream for your own creations.

With Aspen, you have the power to take control of your revenue generation and protect your royalties in the web3 ecosystem. By embracing transparency, striking a balance between community and traders, and implementing a phased approach, you can navigate the transition smoothly and ensure widespread adoption of your Royalty Recovery Program.

By enforcing policies consistently and utilizing Aspen's royalties appeal system, you can establish a fair and trusted framework that supports the long-term success of your program. Aspen serves as your ally in making informed decisions and providing valuable insights to drive sustainable revenue growth.

Built to empower web3 Creators, discover how Aspen's royalty tools can revolutionize your revenue streams and empower your creative journey.