I’m looking for ideas to incentivate people to stake in a pool.
I’ve eard for about 3 but i want to know more.
What more ???
Acquiring stake really is the hardest part of running a profitable pool. It’s important to understand this and set realistic expectations for yourself. Pools are essentially competing with each other for a finite amount of resources, and its not necessarily a level playing field.
Your first three points of attraction are solid, and work well for some pools.
As of late, people have had amazing success attracting stake by participating in various ISPOs. To catch these, you need to diligently research and interact with upcoming projects. Its a symbiotic relationship for pools to work with upcoming projects, as they will both benefit from the buzz created around a new project. Its important to note that even if you put in all the effort, you may not be selected to participate in an ISPO.
Interacting and supporting the greater Cardano community is also a great way to create strong organic growth in your pool. This can look anything like interacting with technical discussions, assisting others troubleshoot various problems, or even just being a kind and supportive human being to others in this community. We are all humans, and the vast majority of us are interacting with block-chain technologies because we love and believe in this technology’s ability to create a better future. You, as an operator, can contribute to that better future today!
Joining alliances such as Single Pool Alliance, Bare Metal Alliance, and etc can help to broadcast any common ground you may have with others. Joining a few of the many SPO coalitions is a wonderful way to gain some exposure and create connections/contribute with other operators.
If you are more technically savvy, there are many dev groups with extremely helpful and open arms waiting for new members.
Point being, get yourself out there and interact with this community. Your pool is both a business and an extension of yourself. Try to define your pool. Follow you interests, promote things you think are neat, and know that this road is now a slow road of growth for most pools.
Having run my pool for almost a year now, I can say that it has been very rewarding on multiple levels. Its sometimes tough, stressful, and time consuming…but, I personally really love contributing to this space.
Best of luck and please do share any tips and tricks you find along your SPO journey!
Thank you so much BlocksWell!. That was very valuable information.
Hi, I got another question:
It would be unacceptable (or unfair) to give some benefits outside of the cardano ecosystem to all people wich stake in a given pool ?
Example:
All users in basic plan in X app (traditional app) that proove staking in X pool will be converted to plus plan while staking.
Thanks in advance.
I do not see how that would be unethical if giving out ISPO tokens and stuff like that is okay.
Proving to be delegated to pool X could be quite non-trivial, though. You would have to implement a dApp connector or something similar in the traditional app.
…
Regarding the original question: I like it if I can learn at least a little bit about the person or team behind the pool. And (for me) it should definitely show the technical expertise behind running the pool.
That’s right.
It would have to implement a connector to Cardano Network in order to verify the wallet’s staking pool and a very low transsaction to demostrate the user own the given wallet address.
“… about the person or team behind the pool …” That’s a good point. Having a website would provide this information.
Ultimately, you are the judge of your own ethical and moral boundaries.
I, personally, do not see any ethical problems with this. In fact, this sounds like basic on-boarding. Anytime you bring new folks into Cardano, its a win for everyone.
This space is rapidly evolving, and there will be many new and creative incentive models to come. If you are keen enough to attract delegations with innovation, I believe you should absolutely go for it. If you don’t, someone else will.
If your model is successful, I would imagine more would refine and replicate your strategy. With this competition would come balance.
There is the current debate of how much stake a entity should be allowed to handle. (MPO vs SPO vs "AmazingProduct"PO) But, to my knowledge, there is currently no definite guidance for us to follow. This area could be a bit more tricky for one to navigate.
All of this, of coarse, is only my personal opinion. 
Thanks for a such detailed answer!
No way JimAtlantic.
This is the forum to discuss.
Wanna share something? Write a new post.
To incentivize people, offer them something they cannot refuse: Assurance!
do what banks, insurance companies, and The Fed do: collateral
banks use deposits as collateral to cover loans; they also use other assets such as income,
real estate, receivables, even securities, they’d steal your skivvies if they could sell 'em, right?
insurance companies use collateral too : they take cash in as premiums, deduct for “risk”
depending on their line of business, whether mortality (life) morbidity (health), fire and theft, etc.
and match their surplus against Bonds - usually US federal government bonds, which is usually regarded
as the safest investment in the world = at least, every nation on earth thinks so until very recently, Panama
The Fed uses collateral too - “this note is legal tender for ALL debts, public and private” .
Their collateral?
The Federal government, which has US, the American taxpayer, WE are its collateral !
Congress raises taxes to cover its expenses. That pesky 16th Amendment.
But this current method of exchange, the US dollar, likely is on its way out; agree?
So ~~ what can we use as “collateral” to incentivize people to lend/invest/stake crypto ?
Any “fixed” asset will do, so long as it can be exchanged / liquidated into a fungible asset.
The best collateral in the world is permanent, old fashioned, vanilla, guaranteed cash value life insurance,
because it’s Guaranteed to never go down and dividends, once paid, also are guaranteed and cannot be
reduced or removed - again, they are backed by the strength of the life insurance company.
Banks know this and buy tons of this stuff on their executives, so do successful athletes, movie stars,
wall street types, bazillionaires, etc. It’s the “never fail” assurance we want.
If I wake up dead, obviously they pay the big number, and every day I fail to die, it gets better
because every day I’m more likely to die. The event that causes the problem also solves the problem.
So that’s how to use collateral to Incentivize people to buy in.
You can buy some , or, maybe I can loan you some of mine.
Thank You
JA
I just realize the terrible mistake in the title: “incentivate” instead of incentivize. I Apologize and I will keep learning vocalbulary. At this time is impossible to edit the original post.
Thank you Jim for the extended answer.
Here is a thing. Staking your funds in a pool are safe by design of Cardano, because there is no assets transfered. You keep the control of your ADA. In a traditional banking investment you have to do it (money transfer).
IMO I cannot see the need of assurance.
that is a strong “differentiator” and should help provide a measure of confidence
It’s all about the emotional tolerance to risk; gotta find a “risk free” rate of return,
like…US government bonds…the “safest investment in the world” !
JA
Chartered Financial Consultant, President
Atlantic Wealth Advisory Services, LLC.
Trustee, The VET ~ The Veterans Empowerment Trust
Volunteer Advocate The Center for Economic & Social Justice
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