[00:00] Making money as an online creator can be tricky, especially if your passion in life isn't jumping through hoops to avoid demonetization, finding ethically dubious products to promote, or frying
[00:12] the attention spans of impressionable children. Things are a little different though on Patreon. There you can actually choose how you want to make money off your work without advertisers and attention-sucking algorithms getting in the way. The only question is, which approach is right
[00:25] for you and your audience? The most popular way to make money on Patreon is through memberships, where your fans pay monthly or annually in exchange for exclusive benefits. And you can create different tiers which allow your members to choose which benefits they want.
[00:39] Don't sweat it though if you haven't planned out a whole slew of perks yet. When I started out, I made the mistake of promising way more stuff than I was ready to keep up with. I should have just kept things simple to avoid overwhelming myself and my audience. One $5 tier is a great place to start,
[00:53] and you can expand your offerings over time as you learn what works for you. Now, you probably don't want to just put all your work behind a paywall. Rather, you should consider what your most dedicated fans would be interested in having access to.
[01:05] If your audience can't wait to watch your next video, you could provide them with regular updates on your progress, or even a look behind the scenes while you work. This one was a no-brainer for me. You're already doing the work anyway, so you may as well share the process with those interested.
[01:18] And, once that video is done, you can let your members have early access before it goes up on other platforms. Oh, did I mention that videos and podcasts uploaded to Patreon don't have ads? That's a nice perk for them as well. And if you want to go the extra mile for your members,
[01:32] you can share exclusive posts with deleted scenes or even original bonus episodes made just for them Now since it be your biggest fans coming to support you on Patreon they also might enjoy a chance to engage with you and with each other So you could create a group chat for all your members to hang out in and get to know each
[01:49] other and where you can be part of the conversation in a way that feels more casual. Also, you can make polls to let your members have a say in what you work on next. Now while memberships will likely make up the majority of your income on Patreon, one-time
[02:02] payments are another option you won't want to sleep on. Anything you post on Patreon you can also make available as a one-off purchase, which might be perfect for some fans who see something they're interested in but aren't ready to pay an ongoing subscription.
[02:15] You can also put digital goods for sale on your shop tab for anyone to purchase. And oh hey, giving your paid members a discount code for these items would make for another good perk. But if you really want to maximize your earnings on Patreon, the number one most underrated
[02:29] strategy is… giving stuff away for free. No, seriously, you'll have a hard time getting people to support your work if they don't know what they're getting in return. So it's a good idea to make plenty of public posts to give your free members a taste of what they'd get regularly at a higher tier.
[02:44] Also, you can make portions of your exclusive posts viewable as previews to entice free or lower tier members into upgrading. And now you can even reach out to brand new people by posting quips, lightweight posts that go on Patreon's public discovery feed.
[02:58] Rather than posting to other social platforms and hoping people find their way to your Patreon from there, quips give your new fans a direct line to where they can support you. This is all just scratching the surface, though.
[03:10] You can subscribe to this channel if you want to learn more about Patreon and hear from other creators like me about how we get the most out of the platform. You can also check out Patreon for Creators, which is full of valuable info and guides to help you get started with your own page.
[03:24] Happy Patreoning!