Profit-sharing with Customers

My next venture is going to be an online service (nobody uses the word "dot-com company" anymore :) ). I am still at the prototyping phase but I am also preparing the business plan and the road-map.

One of the thoughts I had was that, I could offer the customers more than just the service. Like many other online services, the success of the service depends on building a critical mass quickly. In fact, it could be a failure if the customer base is not big enough for anyone to derive much value out of it. So in short, the customers who believe in my service during the inception, plays a decisive role in its success. Does that mean that they deserve something more?

Would it be proper if you share some part of the profits with these customers. It could vary depending on their participation and activity.

But would this is considered as an introductory offer OR construed as bribe?!

Does it make sense to set apart a percentage of shares for the customers, the dividends of which would be divided among the customers, at least as services on the website. This also means that if you could drive the service with income from sources other than the subscription, the extra money would fund the subscription charges for the customers, essentially making it a totally free service.

I am sure someone must have tried it already and there may be a reason why we don't hear about this a lot nowadays.

Just a thought. I have not analysed it much yet. I am not even sure of its legal implications.