Hey gang!
Drex here from DrexFactor.com.
Last month when I uploaded my video detailing
my earnings for 2017 a LOT of people reached
out to me about Patreon.
It’s easy to see why: Patreon is clearly
filling a need.
It allows creators like myself who produce
a body of work for the public to receive support
directly from their fans.
This means we don’t have to mess with sponsors
or find ways to tailor our content for a mass
audience.
But that said...it’s not just as simple
as setting up an account and people just giving
you money to be creative.
I’m going to drill through what you should
know based upon my own experiences on the
platform.
Before we dive in, I just want to take a moment
to give a shout out to the friends of the
channel!
Big thanks to Dark Monk, Emazing Lights, Flowtoys,
Spinballs, and Ultra Poi for helping to make
the videos on this channel possible.
You can visit them all on the web by following
the links down in the description of this
video.
So first up: I’ve been on Patreon now for
just over two years.
Originally I’d tried crowdfunding through
my own website but found I couldn’t create
an interface as clean or easy to use as Patreon.
I’m really glad I switched over and I’m
sure my supporters are as well.
In that time I’ve learned a bit of what
to do on the platform and a whole lot of what
not to do on the platform.
So let’s start off with a really important
question: is Patreon the right solution for
you?
Now, I’m not going to name names but in
the past year I’ve seen a LOT of people
jump onto Patreon with the expectation that
it’s essentially just people giving them
money to be creative.
They don’t have a clear project in mind
nor a body of consistent work under their
belts.
They basically come at it saying: pay me to
be creative!
And this is mistake number one.
There’s no platform that exists to just
throw money at you in order to do whatever
you like.
You have to have something you produce that’s
of benefit to a group of people.
Do you produce videos?
Comics?
Music?
Photography?
Video games?
Awesome!
All of these things have audiences for them.
Create a body of work.
Cultivate a fanbase.
Then tell that fanbase that there’s a way
that they can support your work.
If you start by creating the Patreon without
first having the community around your work
you’re going to have two uphill battles
to fight instead of just one.
The next question you need to ask yourself
is what benefits you can provide to your Patrons.
The vast majority of people who support you
will almost always be doing so just to support
your work.
I’ve signed up to support many creators
myself simply because I enjoyed their work
and I discovered I could show my appreciation
by signing up to their Patreon.
But then there are also plenty of creators
who have offered rewards that totally inspired
me to give more.
When I discovered Leo Moracchioli I found
I could get free MP3 downloads of all his
covers by pledging at a certain level.
When I discovered History Buffs I found I
could get early access to his scripts and
see how he outlines his reviews.
When I discovered Mark Witton I found I could
get a print of one of his paintings every
year.
Think about the ways that you can add value
for your Patrons.
Why are they following your work and what
might you be able to give them to deepen their
appreciation of that work?
Take some time to think very carefully about
the rewards you can give your Patrons.
Think about the questions you have about other
creators.
What would you want from them?
Also think about sustainability.
Remember: people are coming to you because
you’re creating content that they enjoy.
Don’t add things to your plate that will
make continuing to create that content more
difficult.
Next: how much financial support do you need
to do this thing?
One thing you have to consider when getting
into a platform like Patreon is that you have
to grow your subscriber base on it.
You’re going to start with no supporters
and have to build yourself up to a level that’s
sustainable for you.
That’s going to take time and it’s going
to take effort.
Just creating the thing isn’t enough--you
have to let people know that it exists and
get them to sign up to support you on it.
Think of Patreon as being a long game instead
of a short-term cash out.
Treat it like a long-term investment and the
people that support you on it as the board
of your company.
These are people who have signed up to give
you their hard-earned money for literally
no reason other than that they enjoy your
content.
Treat them like gold because they are.
So for those of you who are working on starting
up a Patreon account I hope this gave you
some things to think about.
I’ve actually put together a brief document
that includes some of my best tips and tricks
for starting up and growing a Patreon account.
You can download that off my website at the
link down in the description.
And of course--if you like the content that
I produce, pretty please help me continue
to produce it by supporting that work on Patreon.
You can do so for as little as a dollar a
month and you get access to behind the scenes
and making of content, early access to all
my videos, and of course you get to have input
into the stuff that I produce.
Sign up over at patreon.com/drexfactorpoi.
Thanks so much in advance and peace!
