The future of advertising is inextricably linked with the future of payments.
Advertising used to work by engaging the consumer with a message that made them want whatever it was that was being sold and then sending them off to buy it somewhere and really really really (fingers crossed, really) hoping the message would stay in their mind until they got to wherever it was they could buy it.
These days the new world of payment and money means you can engage and transact simultaneously. You can deliver exactly what the consumer is looking for at exactly the moment they’re looking for it. That changes everything.
Forget cash and credit cards, online payment systems like Dwolla, Stripe and Gumroad monetizes links. You can sell anything through a link online. A photograph, video, blog post, Photoshop plugin, piece of information.
You can use the channels you already have with fans and followers. You are the distribution. No store needed.
You can turn engagement into money.