Can Pay a Blogger Day help Flattr gain velocity?

Swedish micropayment startup Flattr announced a pretty neat idea today: its designating next Tuesday thats November 29 Pay a Blogger Day.

The concept is fairly straightforward: if theres a blogger you like to read, why not take a moment to reward for their efforts?

Blogs are something that we read almost daily but how often do we step back and think about the time and effort that goes into writing an enjoyable, informative and entertaining post? Day after day, week after week, and keep the enthusiasm that writing brings the author?
Pay a Blogger Day is our effort to put the bloggers in the spotlight to recognize the value they bring to the internet. Not to mention our own daily web consumption. Most of the Flattr team members are (or have been) bloggers ourselves so we know whats involved and on 29th of November we will give a round of applause to our favorite bloggers and get our wallets out to buy them a coffee / beer / that new cool iPhone app :)

I can certainly think of a few bloggers who Ill be dropping some cash toward.

Of course, its not just altruistic for Flattr. The scheme, if it takes off, will be useful marketing for the company, since the site hopes that all this largesse will end up with increased traffic. After all, its service is largely aimed at helping creative people get paid by patrons online.

Its certainly an interesting move from Flattr, which has been looking around for a really strong way to entice users in.

Ill admit I am fond of the idea behind the service who wouldnt like the idea of helping people out for being awesome? but its definitely had its trials so far. To start with, its tread! ing toug h ground in the first place, since tip jar-style payments have really struggled in the past.

But its also been slower than the team would no doubt like: in the year or so since when it opened up in beta, the sites developed numerous extras including a neat approach with Twitter integration but its failed to really catch light.

Thats a shame, because really, its the opposite end of the funnel from another very popular service, Kickstarter. Whereas the U.S.-based site focuses on helping creative people fund projects before they happen, Flattr wants to get people rewarded for things theyve already done. Theoretically there is no reason these two things cant co-exist but its clear that Flattr needs to move up to the next level if its going to break through like Kickstarter has.

That said, its been pretty successful in some areas: for some reason, its picked up a head of steam in Germany, for example. But it needs more momentum, greater velocity.

Lets see whether Pay a Blogger Day can make a dent.

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