Repository
https://github.com/utopian-io/utopian-bot - was unsure which repo is best, so chose the bot one even though the changes might be to the spreadsheet itself? Not creating an issue because I'm unsure where the issue fits best.
Components
Pay Utopian users evergreen income out of new posts from referred users in exchange for referring those new Utopian users, that either are existing Steem users or require new accounts.
Proposal Description
As in this old Utopian suggestion: https://steemit.com/utopian-io/@olamatto/suggestion-to-add-referral-to-utopian
We incorporate a referral system to encourage more adoptions of Utopian for different categories across ecosystems.
Additionally to the above suggestion, I recommend we consider how to effectively pay out commissions in a fair and consistent manner so that the better referrals are paid more over time.
I suggest evergreen income on any new Utopian post from a referred user, added to a % of a % pool on that referring user's Utopian Steem account - to be added to their next Utopian.io post, to encourage both users to continue submitting Utopian posts. The % can be small enough to not interfere too much with the existing bot's logic.
To kick things off, we offer a bonus % percent in the 1-Tier or all Tiers of the affiliate program for existing Utopian members as well as recent contributors to refer friends, family and colleagues - and, potentially, ad traffic - for a limited amount of time.
Functionally, ideally, we'd add a referral link via cookies and GET params to a Utopian domain, associated with new or logged in Steem account. If this is not possible we can create a SteamApp to define our referrer as custom json in a Steem post or comment.
Mockups / Examples
(Excuse my novice MSPaint.exe abilities :) )
Method 1: 1-Tier referral income (variable % rate)
Method 2: 2-Tier, 3+ Tier referral income (variable % rates)
Benefits
More users, more posts, more adoption, everyone wins - especially those open-source projects that directly benefit from more quality contributors.