A sample Pyrabang ticker object
Pyrabang (disclosure – I will get a referral fee if you sign up for a paid subscription via this link) has its faults, but after looking at a diversity of options and advertising products (including Adsense) I’m happy to recommend it to people interested in developing consistent marketing that can be customized to blend with your site’s look and feel.
The service costs $5.95 per month for “Gold Members.” There are free accounts but you don’t get access to the cool features unless you pay the $5.95 per month. That money goes a long way, though, because posts on the network are only a penny each. When you sign up for Pyrabang some of the money compensates your sponsor, and $0.40 per month is converted into 400 “bangs,” the advertising currency of the system. Posts require a 10 bang investment from the author; two are taken as a transaction cost and eight remain as your “stake” in the post. Every time someone clicks on one of your links, you are credited a bang.
That means, in case you were drowsing, that you can actually earn money writing compelling, clickable copy for your posts.
Sure, you’re not going to make a gazillion dollars (we are after all taking about one tenth of a cent per click), but “self-financing marketing” is a good thing. In addition, you have a ridiculous number of options for using your posts as advertising on your own sites. The ticker above is one such example. You can also see a Pyrabang skyscraper-style “ad unit” at Surfing Pays.
Now, the tricky part is that these little widgets don’t actually pay you for clicks – instead you pay one bang for each click from such a bar. But if they’re your affiiliate pages that you’re sending people to, that’s a really cheap click. And because Pyrabang delivers the page with a top frame with Pyrabang information, there’s always the off chance that someone will sign up for Pyrabang.
Ah yes, the sign ups: Pyrabang uses a 2×10 matrix referral system that pays users $4.00 per referral for the first three months (assuming the referral stays active) and then $.90 per active subscriber after that. In order to ensure that people don’t just rely on spillover, users can only unlock the full matrix if they actively refer people to the business. Ignoring the referral bonuses, it takes seven subscribers to break even on your subscription fees.
But I don’t actually care if I ever build a matrix – I’m getting the word out on things I think are exciting. I’ve seen substantially better click-throughs on Pyrabang than for other advertising methods – the people who see these ads are motivated to learn. Plus, I feel like I have an edge on wordsmith skills – I can write small compelling descriptions of links I think are cool. Finally, what’s also great is that it doesn’ have to be an “ad network” only – it’s sort of a weird Digg-meets-Twitter-meets-Crazy-Libertarians.
Oh, did I mention? They’re crazy Libertarians, the founders. Verrrry interesting. There’s a certain amount of tin foil headgear present, as well. There are two things about it that still make it compelling for me – the fluidity and ease with which I can manipulate my own content, and the click-through rates. Besides, who among us isn’t freaky about something? I see myself as a vital and necessary counterbalance to the prevailing views. 
Anyway, if you want to see what it’s all about, you can sign up for free below. Let me know that you did in the comments and I’ll even lend you some bangs so that you can see the system in action. You won’t have access to the fancy widgets but you can pull your RSS feed. A person can do a lot with an RSS feed…
