Klatcher: Turn Your Expertise Into Profit

We all have expertise, and it'd be great if we could turn it into profit. That we be rewarded for our knowledge. If we so choose.

That's the idea behind Klatcher, a NYC based new site started by Sophotec VC Inc., which is based in the UK Midlands.

It's a pretty simple model, actually. You publish virtually any form of content, and set a price for it. Which can be free or whatever you want. A previewing system allows you to give people a taste of the content -- to hook 'em as it were.

So you can think of it as a content store, but there is another way to view it: as a text and multimedia blogging platform that offers an alternative monetization strategy to Ad Sense, blogger banners, and PPP.

Here is their self description from their web site. It was free so I am not denying them revenue by publishing it here, outside their system.

Klatcher makes your content sell.

Klatcher is the easiest and most effective way to publish your stories, photos, ideas, knowledge, artwork or music. And to start selling it in one click to the world. If you want.Its more fun than blogging, because it’s freer, more colorful, and easier. It’s more rewarding than working on your social networking profile, because with Klatcher you can express yourself faster and broader than on facespace or Mybook.And it earns you more money than any other monetization system. Because your readers love it.We know it’s hard nowadays to choose a platform. And we will fight for you. If you don’t like anything, write us, and we will take of it - asap. So give it a try! It’s free, and so easy you will become more creative than ever.

So, how viable is a pay for content model. Well, we all know that more people have failed than succeeded at selling content. But some have succeeded. Like WSJ for example. Now WSJ is perceived to offer truly unique and valuable content, and a democratic model may indeed draw participants that can offer words pictures, videos, and sounds that people will pay for.

In my view, it's a craps shoot, but that's OK. As you will see below, they are looking for a fairly small sum of money - $150K, to operate for a year.

Here's the 60 second pitch from Tech Crunch:

In keeping with the spirit of Klatcher, they have created a variety of pieces of content on their service and how to use it. All are free. Go here to see them.

I really do wish them well. I love the idea of enabling people to monetize their knowledge, and surely there is an alternative to the Ad Sense avenue of making money by publishing content online. Will it work? I dunno. But this team clearly has passion for their concept. And passion is 51% of the battle, in my view.

And I like the name. I can only assume it is related to a Klatch, as in a Koffee Klatch. So imagine that you're watching KoffeeTawk on SNL...

Consumas will be willing to pay for awnline content. Discuss.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.