How To Make Money Using Patreon

Right about now, you are probably wondering what you could do that people would be interested in watching and supporting you for. But the fact is, just about anything you are passionate about, and good at, could be translated into a Patreon page!

Do you like playing video games? People could sign up to support your Twitch stream, or your YouTube channel where they could watch you play games, review new releases, or give tips and walk-through strategies on various gameplay.

Or, perhaps you really enjoy cooking. You could film yourself working on interesting, healthy or low carb dishes, and post those recipes for your patrons.

Or you might be good and drawing, sketching, crafts, or painting. You could post your artwork, as well as things like tutorials and resources that you personally use to create your art.

Maybe you have some sort of obscure (as in not hugely mainstream) hobby that you think no one else would share, but that makes it even more likely that people would want to support you, because they might have a hard time finding that type of content elsewhere!

It might be something like:

• Model building (cars, ships, planes, etc.)
• Crafting (woodworking, knitting, crochet, sewing, etc.)
• Gardening
• Outdoor activities (hiking, camping, fishing, cycling, boating, etc.)
• Art (drawing, painting, digital art, 3D, sketching, etc.)
• Entertaining (acting, comedy, making music, singing, etc.)

Basically, anything where you can teach people something, or entertain people will work well for Patreon! Chances are, you’re already into something that will work just fine on the platform.  All you have to do is translate that hobby into a medium that works online, such as writing, photos, or videos!

Building Your Page

The first thing you need to do to start participating on Patreon is to create an account and build your page. Creating an account is very simple. It shouldn’t take you more than a few minutes. Even if you choose to create a video for your page, it shouldn’t take more than a day.

Head on over to: http://www.Patreon.com Click Log In at the top right of the page, and then look for “New to Patreon? Sign Up” underneath the LOG IN button. Click that link.

It will ask you for some very basic information. Just fill out the form and sign up, or you can use Facebook to make the process a little easier if you prefer.

Next, you have to set up your profile. This will only take a few minutes, plus a little more time to create a video to showcase what you offer your patrons. You don’t have to create a video, but it’s a very good idea to do so because it does help increase conversions.

Let’s look at the different options that are available, and what you need to do to set up each one.

Per Month vs. Per Thing

One of the first things you need to decide is whether you’re going to charge “per month” or “per thing”. Most people charge per month, and patrons seem to prefer that setup because they know exactly how much they will be charged, and when it will happen.

Patreon even specifically states in their documentation that 80% of creators are on the “per month” plan. Their golden rule is that if you are releasing 4+ pieces of content per month to your patrons that you should choose the monthly option.

The “per thing” option is best if you post content sporadically and don’t want the pressure of releasing content on a regular basis.

Creator Photo

Your creator photo is an important way to connect with your audience. It should either be a great representation of your own personality, or a great representation of your talent.

If you are mostly known for your personality, such as if you’re a comedian, actor, teacher, or if you have a YouTube channel or social
media channel that showcases you as a person, you will probably just want to use a really great photo of yourself.

But if you are known more for your talent, such as if you are an artist, writer, filmmaker, or other area where people see your work a lot more than they see you personally, you might want to use your talent to create your photo. You could draw yourself in caricature.

Cover Photo

Your cover photo is another spot to showcase what you have to offer. Make sure it shows off your best work and represents exactly what
your Patreon is about.

For example, put some delicious looking pictures of food you’ve made if you have a cooking channel, or your best art pieces if you’re an artist. If you’re an entertainer, just put some pictures of you into a collage! Your cover photo should ideally be 1600x400, as that is the largest size it will be displayed at.

Description

Your description should not be some robotic, programmed response that you think people will want to hear. Your personality should shine
through. After all, many people sign up to support you as much as they do your work! In your description, you should do two main things:

• Describe who you are and what you do
• Tell people exactly why they should sign up to support you, and what they will receive if they do

Try to approach the writing of your description from the viewpoint of a visitor. Let people know how much value they will receive if they sign up to support you, but do it in a way that doesn’t make it seem like you’re greedy. You’re just a passionate creator who wants to be able to spend their time creating, right?

Milestone Goals

Milestone goals can either be focused on something for YOU or something for your PATRONS. They’re a very good way to encourage
people to subscribe at higher levels, especially if they see you’re getting close to your goal and they’re interested in seeing you meet that goal.

Personal milestone goals would be something like getting a new laptop to help you process videos faster, or a new set of expensive paints. You can make a personal goal seem like it will also benefit your patrons with creative wording. For example:

“If I reach this milestone, I will purchase a new laptop that will help me process videos faster, which means you’ll get to see new videos more quickly and I’ll be able to produce them more often!”

Milestones that benefit your patrons would be more like: “If I reach this milestone, I will start posting two new paintings per week instead of just one!”

You may think people won’t care about such milestones, but if people are paying to support you and your work, they DO care! So be sure to set a couple of realistic milestones to help encourage people to pledge as much as they can.

Rewards

The rewards you offer are generally the most compelling reason people have to support you, so they should be valuable and appropriate for your audience.

I can’t give you specific suggestions for rewards, because they will vary wildly based on your industry. Just try to think about what your fans might be interested in.

Perhaps they would be interested in downloading your custom brushes if you’re a digital artist. Or if you’re a musician, they might like to get access to your new songs early, or even songs that aren’t available anywhere else.

Think along the lines of offering either tools they can use, special tutorials, or exclusive or first-look items. You will probably want to have multiple levels, with better rewards for each level.

For example, at the $2+ level, they might not actually get a reward, but you could have levels at $5, $10, and $25 that would offer increasingly better rewards. You can check out what some other people are offering in niches related to yours to get ideas.

Creator Video

Having a creator video isn’t essential, but it really helps, because you can express through video a lot more personality and talent than you can through a simple text description.

While you don’t have to appear on camera or even use your voice, I recommend doing so if possible, because most people who sign up to support people on Patreon do it to support the creator as a person, not just the end product.

You can check out other pages similar to the one you want to create to get ideas for your video, but try to be as original as possible.

Thank You Video

Technically you don’t have to create a thank you video. It can be just a message that thanks them for their patronage and reminds them about the rewards they will receive. But a thank you video will have a lot more impact, and will be a lot more personal.

Remember, each month people will need to decide if they still want to keep supporting you. They can cancel anytime. It’s important to make a personal connection with as many of your patrons as you can, because this is your most powerful tool in retaining those monthly pledges!