How to Make Money with Patreon

Are you a creative? Maybe you’re an artist and that’s all you want to do – create your original artwork. Maybe you’re a writer, yearning to write the next great thriller novel or popular fantasy trilogy. You might even be an online therapist or an essay writer or a musician who wants to do your own thing all day. Whatever it is, it’s something you can’t do without financial support – and a regular job only frustrates you and kills your creative drive. It’s not good for anyone!

This is where Patreon comes in.

What is Patreon?

Patreon It’s a website that has taken the tradition of rich people patronizing the arts and combined it with crowdfunding – so now people of all financial backgrounds can support those whose work they enjoy. In some ways, it’s like an ongoing Kickstarter — an independent musician or coloring book artist can create a Patreon page, set financial and project goals, and reward their backers.

The service was launched in 2013, and has become a driving force in the creative community It is very popular among webcomic artists, independent musicians, YouTube video creators and similar content creators. If you’re focused on building relationships with your audience and driving sales, Patreon might be the place! Amanda Palmer, an independent musician, earns about $83,000 per creative piece from her Patreon supporters. (To be fair, he had a very large audience before he started the Patreon page – he was a musician who did the traditional major-label record thing for a while, and he’s cultivated his audience online over the years.) The Chapo Trap The House Podcast has over 20,000 subscribers and earns about $88,000 per month. New York Times bestselling fantasy author Sinan McGuire earns around $9000 for each short story she writes (one per month). Now, all of these people had audiences outside of Patreon before they started, and they’ve all spent years cultivating those networks of supporters – but it’s something you can do, too. You can put in the time, you can build an audience, and you can create an income stream from Patreon – you just have to sell something.

How does Patreon work?

Setting up your own Patreon page is an absolute breeze. Once you’ve decided to use their platform, just create an account – you may already have one if you support other Patreon pages. If you want to become a creator, they’ll walk you through setting up your own page: you can either register with Patreon as a creator from the start or convert your profile to a creator account if you’ve only had one before. Support others.

When you take the plunge and start setting up your Patreon creator page, there are a few main sections to the process.

First, you’ll need to describe yourself and a few basics about the work you’ll be offering on Patreon: Here’s what you’re making (soundbyte-size), whether you want to earn per month or per release. . , link your social profiles, and even upload an intro video to get your audience up to speed on what Patreon is and why they should subscribe there.

Second, you need to describe how you’re using Patreon: this is where you can set your financial goals and create different reward levels for your supporters. Financial goals let you describe what will happen if enough backers pledge enough money to get you $2500 a month or $5000 a month or more. (These numbers are just examples – you can set any goal.) Some creatives use this space to tell supporters that they are now able to pay their rent or get health insurance or meet some other basic human need. Others announce that they can now offer an exclusive YouTube video or an extra song download each month or an exclusive printable coloring page for all subscribers.

Then there are the reward levels! If you’re an artist, you can give thanks and a social media shout-out at your lowest support level (say, $1/creation per month) and an exclusive art print per month for those who support you at higher levels (say, $25) and higher. ). If you’re a writer, you might have a $5 tier that offers access to a monthly mailing list where you talk about the business side of writing, then for $15 access to an exclusive story-a-month club, and so on. What you offer as rewards is only limited by your imagination – but make sure you create a rewards scheme that gives real value to your audience and even helps them feel more connected to your journey and work. And don’t forget to listen to audience feedback on what they’re willing to pay you for – people giving you feedback are Patreon subscribers!

Third, if you haven’t already, you need some compelling visual elements for your Patreon page. Not only do they make your page look nice and professional, but they’re incredibly valuable for attracting attention. If you’re a visual artist like a photographer or cartoonist, I’m sure you’ve got this covered. If not, spend some time looking at popular Patreon pages to see what they do and brainstorm which images might best support your brand and work. Then, if you don’t have the Photoshop skills to create your own visuals, head over to Fiverr to get some help.

At this point, you are ready to launch! Describe what you are creating; You’ve created an attractive page with your shiny new goals and enticing reward levels. Now you just need to score some memberships!

How can I make money with Patreon?

Make sure you follow the practical steps for getting paid with Patreon: Set Up to Get Paid! As a US creator on Patreon, you have two payment options: you can be paid via Stripe direct deposit or you can be paid via PayPal. Patreon will keep 5% of your take (that’s how they make their money), and then there may be fees depending on your payment method – with Stripe, a $0.25 fee for each deposit and PayPal charges $0.25 or 1% of the amount transferred. (PayPal caps that charge of $20 per deposit, at least.) Also, if you earn more than $600 in a calendar year, you’ll need to fill out a tax form. Then you are all set.

OK, so now you know how you are found Your money. but how do you to do Is it with Patreon?

There are two kinds of answers: the first is to leverage your audience, and the second is to offer something of value that appeals to a wider audience.

For the benefit of your audience, you should have one. People who read your website or listen to your music, who subscribe to your newsletter, who follow you on Twitter and Facebook and Pinterest… these people have the power to make you. So make sure they know about your Patreon! Share it far and wide on social media when your followers are most active. Don’t be shy about sharing it multiple times – social media moves so fast these days that sometimes it’s the only way to make sure people see your posts. Announce a newsletter about it, then put the information in your signature. Display the Patreon logo (with a link to your page!) prominently on your website.

Don’t have an audience yet? It’s a whole other thing, but you can build one. It will take time, trial and error, and meticulous care, but you can do it – start with a Google search for “how to build an audience” and go from there.

To drive those subscriptions and attract visitors to your Patreon page, you need to have that cool stuff that only you can create. There’s no Patreon type guaranteed to get you instant success, I’m afraid. The best I can tell you is that many of the top-performing Patreon pages involve video – whether they’re educational videos or nerdy videos or tech news. So if there’s some way you can incorporate videos into your Patreon page — whether you just set up a webcam to show you a drawing or painting, or make a music video with a song you’ve made — it won’t hurt your chances, and even Could help you a lot!

What do you think? Feeling ready to take on the Patreon world? Get inspired and take advantage of this unique way to turn your audience into customers and build a revenue stream for your creative life! But remember: it’s not just about making money – to succeed, nurture your audience, make them feel connected, and succeed together in patronizing your art.

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