I have written some post on the Bitcoin Foundation forum about two weeks ago about what I think Bitcoin should try to accomplish in 2013. Giving enough time for any comments and remarks in case I would be wrong about something, I present the piece to you now.
Bitcoin goals for 2013Peter Vessenes outlined the goals of the Bitcoin Foundation for 2013 (
https://www.bitcoinfoundation.org/about/letter). While I fully support those goals for the Foundation(especially establishing a set of best practices for businesses), I think that from a point of view of a Bitcoin businessman the community could benefit from a few other goals for 2013.
A crash course into buying things with BitcoinBuying things with Bitcoin is very efficient and convenient in a lot of circumstances. However, if you wish to buy things with Bitcoin you first need to get your bitcoins, a client or an eWallet and so forth. This process can be very daunting for a lot of people and it can turn them off from using Bitcoin altogether if it turns out to be too much for them.
We need an effective way to convert people from not knowing anything about Bitcoin to their first purchase. This process needs to be streamlined, all the fat needs to be trimmed off of it, and it needs to be easy enough for an average Internet shopper to wrap their head around (average Internet USER might be too much to ask for at this stage). If we get people into using Bitcoin at least once, chances are they will try using it again. If we lose them with complicated instructions, we might not get them back.
I have set up a basic guide for the time being (
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/First-time_buyers_guide), but I know it’s not enough. We need to turn this into a good, well managed website, add an instructional video and so forth. Then we need to look into where our guide fails, improve it and iterate a few times.
If we can create this guide, any new and established Bitcoin business getting new customers would benefit. With this guide we would be able to start converting people into using Bitcoin semi-automatically, rather than on a case-by-case basis.
Clear information and support for businessesAs it is with buyers, so do some businesses have problem with starting on their road of using Bitcoin. Same goes for charities and other organizations. In general, we need to create a set of guidelines for people wanting to start receiving Bitcoin funds. Those should cover topics like how to use automated systems like BitPay, setting up and handling the official client on their own, as well as how to use various Bitcoin APIs and other concepts. Combining this guide with the previous one would give everyone a go-to guide for all business things related to Bitcoin.
Making Bitcoin introduction as smooth as possibleAt the moment, telling someone to use the standard client and making them download and verify the entire blockchain is almost a sure way to lose them, or at least make them unhappy. We should change our way of thinking when it comes to introducing new people to Bitcoin from telling them how to “do it the old fashioned way” into showing them how to “do it easily”. If we show someone an eWallet they can use in a minute, the introduction will be a lot more bearable. Of course, we should always tell them that this approach is good for start and that using a desktop client is something they should look into in the future. By the time they start considering it, they will know enough to understand why they are doing it.
This point also goes to the developers of various clients - the easier you can make the setup phase for new people, the more people everyone will be able to successfully introduce to Bitcoin.
Bitcoin promotional campaignsVarious Bitcoin business have been in development for awhile now and we have a big list of companies that offer a myriad of goods and services. Bitcoin is starting to get ready to go viral. We should create some set of tools anyone can use to put the word out for Bitcoin anywhere. Fliers, posters, stickers and so forth, ready to be printed and spread around. We should promote the WeUseCoins website, the crash course mentioned above, the Bitcoin Foundation, you name it. Some people can be converted with simple exposure, so why not expose a lot of people to Bitcoin?
Similarly, the Bitcoin community should start working on some positive PR. Donating to charities, getting involved in helping people and so forth. While this shold generally be achieved bottom-up, there is nothing wrong with some big Bitcoin names getting involved.
Incentivising businesses to accept BitcoinWe should start targeting various companies and businesses and incentivise them to start accepting Bitcoin. One person asking sites like Wikipedia to accept Bitcoin donations might not do much, but a few hundred inquiries being sent out on the same day might do the trick. We could further incentivise them by letting people pledge their support if the company starts accepting Bitcoin. If we let our voices be heard and let our wallets do the talking, we could start converting more and more companies to our side.
In shortIn short - we should develop tools on how to quickly teach anyone how to use Bitcoin in an approachable ways, spread the word about Bitcoin anywhere we can and work on making people’s view of Bitcoin the best there is.
