Let’s say you are one of the influential Twitter or Facebook users like Mike Butcher of TechCrunch or Soraya Dorabi of FoodSpotting. If they choose to write an e-book or, heavens forbid, record an album, with their social media audiences reaching into tens or even hundreds of thousands, neither Butcher or Dorabi will need a publisher.
Sellfy, the Latvian startup and a recent graduate of Lithuanian startup accelerator Startup Highway helps popular social media users promote their digital products through their existing network with just one link.
The premise is that by sharing the link, the digital content owners will lead potential customers to the product purchasing, which will then be fulfilled by Sellfy in exchange for 5 percent processing fee.
The issue would come with copyright infringement should one want to sell products they do not own rights for. How do you protect a sale of digital photographs, whose rightful owner may not be properly identified?
But Sellfy backers - angel investors from Skype - Toivo Annus and Sten Tamkivi and others, that have just put in an undisclosed amount of investment into the company, must be confident that the issue is not as serious as it appears. The company offers the service of digital goods hosting, payment processing and digital product delivery.
Another twist to Sellfy service is to offer the affiliate marketing program, which shares revenue with influencers in social media to help drive sales, thus turning their social media power into some form of “celebrity endorsement”.
Let’s see how they will tackle the copyright issues, as they will inevitably arise at the first signs of the company success.
