Patreon is a creative platform that has over 6 million patrons. Patrons are those who subscribe to and enjoy content created by Patreon creators in exchange for a monthly fee. This covers a range of videos and areas of interest, and is a great way to generate income from your content.
What Is Patreon?
So, what exactly is Patreon? Patreon is a platform where you can find fans to become participants in your work by offering them a membership. You give them access to exclusive content, community, and insight into your creative process. In exchange, you get the freedom to share your work and build an independent creative career in your field.
Setting Up Your Account As A Patreon Creator
Before you set up your account, it’s important to plan what sort of content you will be creating. After signing up, you will need to describe yourself and your work, so it will prepare you for this step to think beforehand. Both your description and your videos should stand out and intrigue viewers, so keep that in mind when marketing yourself and your page. You can also upload an intro video to describe your project to your audience, and link your social media channels to your Patreon profile.
In regards to the logistics of setting up your account, Patreon provides Starter kits. These include templates to expedite the launch process. When setting up, you will need to:
- Describe your content and choose 2 areas
- Let Patreon know if your work features any adult content
- Pick your currency (Dollars, Pounds or Euros)
- Reserve your custom URL (this is optional)
After this, you can build your page. The editable sections include About, Tiers, Welcome, Goals, Payments, Posts and Offers. For more information on setting up and editing your page, head here.
Top Tips For Patreon Creators
Set Goals
Patreon encourages creators think in terms of goals, which are a combination of financial and creative goals. You are also encouraged to state these goals to subscribers.
When you are creating your account, make a list of goals to share with your subscribers. This could be financial, for example to make $3,000 to buy new lenses and/or kit. By doing this, it adds an extra incentive for viewers who enjoy your content to help you improve it even further.
Monetize Your Content
Patreon creators can monetize content through monthly subscriptions or by individual video releases. It depends on your availability and determination as well as what works best for your content as to your schedule.
Monthly subscriptions are great because you will know how much income you will receive per month. You can also set up subscription tiers or ‘reward levels’ with higher monthly fees. These give patrons perks such as exclusive content and deals. Examples of these could be access to early releases. This may create more work and impose stricter creator deadlines, but if you have the time and discipline, it is worth doing!
Individual releases, on the other hand, mean that there are no deadlines to worry about. Patrons pay creators when they deliver their content, which means creators won’t have a monthly amount to fall back on. This will make things less stable in terms of income. However, it is considerably less work. Therefore, if Patreon is something you are only using in a part-time capacity, this could suit your schedule better.
Marketing Your Patreon & Content
Patreon has elements of social media, such as creators and subscribers being able to interact. Therefore, it is important for Patreon creators to market yourself, promote your brand and engage with your audience.
Some ideas for marketing your Patreon content and engaging your audience:
- Giving subscribers behind the scenes or sneak peeks into your creative process
- Engaging with fans in the comments section
- Live Q&A with fans
- Adding contributors into the credits or offering merch
Don’t overlook the importance of sharing your Patreon across your other social media profiles. Adding the link to your Instagram bio and sharing teaser videos allows new fans to find you, and existing ones to find your Patreon.
Final Tips For Patreon Creators
Growing your Patreon audience and subscribers will require time, patience and testing different methods. It also involves understanding your audience, how to promote yourself and to solidify your branding as a business or service. Patreon is a fantastic way of sharing content and growing a fan base, especially during the current Coronavirus pandemic. So, now is the time to get started. Good luck!
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