One of the great puzzles in my life lately is what to offer on Patreon. When I was in the middle of my album review run, I hit about 150$ Canadian a month from Patreon. I learned a few lessons about value during that run and in the end we stopped doing album reviews.
The main problem was that we were selling podcast episodes for 5$. At the time I was so excited to get anyone to pay to support us, I didn’t consider things like how much work would go into actually sustaining that. Three people talking for more than an hour is probably more expensive than 5$ to produce had I thought about it at all.
Now in theory the idea was to grow so big all the money came in. Instead we went from picking albums we wanted to review to Patreon fulfilment. Ultimately the passion for it died. Today we need to create Patreon schemes that support what we want to do, not sell the creative direction for far too cheap.
On that note, for just under a hundred dollars, anyone in the city needing content could currently force me into an album review at patreon.com/behindthatsuit. I will update that soon, but if you tap in now I’ll lock you in with legacy rewards. I’ll make you sound real good. You can quote me on your press kit.
What is Patreon?
I get that question here and there and I’m confused how anyone in the content game doesn’t know what Patreon is. However that attitude has blocked my blessings for years, no one likes a pretentious me. Still, how did you get this far without hearing about Patreon? I get the same feeling when people act like Zoom is something new.
I know that is judgey. I will answer the question because not everyone lives the life I do and there are plenty of areas of life where I don’t know things. I have no skills at building things with my hands without instructions.
Patreon is a platform that lets people donate to you. You create reward tiers. These can be subscriptions or one off items. There has to be a clear exchange that happens, the person must definitely receive what you are offering. The things you can offer could be:
Money for nothing (they can just give you money)
Access to you in a private community
Private content that the public doesn’t get
Merch
Polls that influence content
Custom content
Access to Movie nights like over at PRSPCTVS, the last Monday of the month over on our Discord.
Basically to follow up on yesterday’s blog about asking businesses for money, it’s a way to ask regular degulars for money.
Rewards and Justifications
You will need to come up with some cohesive, on brand, rewards. I can sell video reactions to artists because I have my music reviewing life that is easily Googleable. I can 100% say some fire stuff about your song. This should probably be a one-off reward.
I can also create a poll in patreon for Our PRSPCTVS where we let people vote on what topics we cover. We can do something like let the Patrons suggest topics, then we pick the 3 we like the best. Once we choose what we like, we let them vote on that topic. It becomes a segment on the show called “Patreon Picks” or something.
The main thing is the rewards need to make sense. As they cost more you need to give back more. As an example, at 25$ a month, you should probably be giving out a couple of merch items. If they spend 300$ on you, then giving out a mug, hoodie and toque is a good idea for retention.
People also need to know what they are paying you for. Ideally you create a series of wishlist items/services that will help improve your platform. As an example here are some justifications I can think of:
Better gear such as lights, microphones, etc.
Additional resources such as editors and social media managers
Down payment on merchandising (where your Patreons probably get free merch).
You look at your plan and go to what costs more money than you can afford. Pick a few items from that list. Then let the Patrons know that as you hit certain revenue goals. At 200$ per month we’ll get better lighting. At 500$ per month we’ll invest in a part time editor. Show them the money will help you in ways you need.
Come up with a focus for your community
Everyone who previously subscribed to my Patreon was interested in album reviews. It was a group of music nerds that liked the longest album reviews on YouTube at the time. It was clear what the community was about.
Once Bridge The Gap started, the community shifted. Now there was a group for album reviews and a group for underground Montreal Hip Hop. Generally they all loved discovering new music. The focus on Montreal as a bigger mission helped, it did not hinder. However when I stopped doing reviews, all the Patrons left. Shoutout to the one Montreal music manager dude who gave us 25$ a month USD for a while to just exist out of gratitude for our work building culture here.
Overall I failed at engaging with the community. I have the bad habit of filling my schedule so much trying to work multiple jobs and keeping it all together that I suck at consistently doing some of the basics. That’s why my vlog was inconsistent. Some days I’d film, other days I did not. Arguably some days I just sit there all day at my computer, not that stimulating to watch.
In the future I want to focus the community on DIY hustlers both in and out of art. Yes we still will focus on Montreal Hip Hop and all the core tenants of interest that built up the brand from the beginning, but we need to be forward thinking. While I do want to dabble in some reaction content on TikTok, the reviews are long gone unless people pay me. The interviews are on a hiatus.
I want those who follow the Behind That Suit content to join a community of people interested in exploring their potential. The PRSPCTVS community will be similar, but have that blend of Flacko that morphs it in a more personal direction. I expect us to have more fans and researchers there. With the Trainman Report the community is NDG. It’s built into an existing one, so we need to focus on how we can help NDG to attract numbers.
Once you know the core of what your community is. The rewards and everything else will fall into place. There are people in my community who may want to pay to watch me eat pickles. So That will cost you 6000 USD once the reward tier is up. For you that may be preposterous, but someone may just pay for it. Never be afraid to ask.
Live Long and Prosper Everyone
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