My Patreon mistake: promising too much
60sCreators relate to the common pitfall of overpromising and appreciate the simple advice to start with one $5 tier.
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The video offers a practical guide to earning money on Patreon, covering membership tiers, one-time payments, digital products, and strategies to attract and retain supporters. It emphasizes starting simple, providing exclusive value, and leveraging public posts and previews to convert free followers into paying members.
Chapters
[00:02]
Choosing Your Audience
Creators can choose how to earn money on their work without relying on advertisers or algorithms, but must decide which audience to target.
[00:15]
Membership Subscriptions
The most popular way to earn on Patreon is through monthly or yearly subscriptions, where fans pay in exchange for exclusive benefits.
[00:29]
Start Simple
The creator's initial mistake was promising too many benefits; starting with a single $5 tier is recommended, expanding later as you learn what works.
[00:57]
Exclusive Content Ideas
Don't put all your work behind a paywall. Offer your most dedicated fans access to behind-the-scenes content, progress updates, or early access to videos before they go public.
[01:23]
Ad-Free and Bonus Content
Videos and podcasts on Patreon are ad-free. Creators can also share exclusive posts with cut scenes or original bonus episodes made specifically for subscribers.
[01:37]
Community Engagement
Loyal fans may appreciate interacting with you and each other. Create a group chat for members to connect and discuss in a relaxed setting.
[02:03]
One-Time Payments
Besides subscriptions, one-time payments are another option. Any post can be made available for single purchase, appealing to fans not ready for a recurring subscription.
[02:16]
Digital Products
You can sell digital goods in your shop tab, and offering free content is a nice bonus to attract supporters.
[02:30]
Public Posts and Previews
The most underrated strategy is making many public posts so free followers see what they'd get regularly at a higher tier. Preview snippets of exclusive posts can also encourage upgrades.
[02:44]
Quips for Discovery
Quips are short notes that appear in Patreon's public feed, providing a direct channel for new fans to discover and support you, bypassing other social platforms.
[03:10]
Further Resources
The creator suggests checking out Patreon for Creators for more guides and hearing from other creators on maximizing the platform.
To succeed on Patreon, start with a simple membership tier, offer exclusive value and community, and use public posts and previews to convert followers into paying supporters.
Mentioned in this Video
Tutorial Checklist
Study Flashcards (5)
What is the most popular way to earn money on Patreon?
easy
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What is the most popular way to earn money on Patreon?
easy
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Monthly or yearly subscriptions where fans pay in exchange for exclusive benefits.
00:15
What mistake did the creator make when starting on Patreon?
medium
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What mistake did the creator make when starting on Patreon?
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Promising too many benefits; they recommend starting with a single $5 tier.
00:29
What is a recommended way to provide value to dedicated fans?
medium
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What is a recommended way to provide value to dedicated fans?
medium
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Offer behind-the-scenes content, progress updates, or early access to videos before they go public.
00:57
What are Quips on Patreon?
hard
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What are Quips on Patreon?
hard
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Short public posts that appear in Patreon's public feed, helping creators reach new audiences directly.
02:44
What is the most underrated strategy to maximize income on Patreon?
medium
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What is the most underrated strategy to maximize income on Patreon?
medium
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Making many public posts to show free followers what they'd get regularly at a higher tier, and using previews of exclusive posts.
02:30
💡 Key Takeaways
⚖️
Start Simple
Emphasizes avoiding overcomplication, a common pitfall for new creators.
00:29
🔧
Public Posts as a Conversion Tool
Highlights a counterintuitive strategy: giving away content to attract paying members.
02:30
💡
Quips for Discovery
Introduces a relatively new feature that bypasses external social media for audience growth.
02:44Full Transcript
[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!
