You may have thought of creating a Patreon account if you’re an artist, writer, filmmaker, or even a fan. But how does Patreon work, and is this well-known crowdfunding platform worthwhile? You will find everything in this article. For both creators and patrons, I will lay out the basics of how Patreon works in this post.
Patreon is an easy way for artists to earn funding from people who appreciate their art. It’s basically like Kickstarter or GoFundMe, but instead of raising money for one big project, Patreon allows creatives to make money on an ongoing basis by getting paid in small amounts each time they release a new piece of content, whether it’s writing, music, or even just posting an original tweet once a day.
In this article, I will show you how Patreon works and explain how it could help your career as an artist. Let’s get started!
In This Article
What is Patreon?
Patreon is a platform where creators get donations from patrons and rewards in return. Patrons can donate as much as they want. Creators create rewards and pledge levels that grant exclusive content in exchange. This could include anything from behind-the-scenes footage to tutorials to even live streams of the creation process. Patreon makes it simple for creators to receive payment.
Patreon’s site has a database of all the different projects and what each one offers in return for pledges. In addition, there’s a search function that allows you to find what you’re looking for within your niche. And if you’re not sure what to pledge towards? There are suggestions based on how much someone wants to donate – $1, $5, $10, etc. Depending on how much the person donates will determine how often they get rewards from their chosen creator (ex: pledging $1 a month may mean every video update).
How Does Patreon Work?
The objective is to make money on the side while creating your work. To begin using Patreon as a creator, create an account and post stuff like videos, artwork, or literary snippets. Followers of your work can turn into patrons by agreeing to a monthly or one-time payment for each post you produce.
Since Patreon creators get compensated for their work, it is up to them to locate their own supporters. To attract patrons, creators could choose to advertise their Patreon page on social media or get in touch with their fans, friends, and family. Patreon isn’t really meant to broaden a creator’s reach but rather make it easy for an existing fanbase to show their love by pledging.
Moving forward, let’s know how does Patreon work and what you need to list on Patreon to get your income from it.
What Kind of Products can be Listed on Patreon?
Once you have created your account on Patreon, your next step is to know list your art, creation, talent, work, and other supported products on Patreon. Here’s what could be sold on the site.
Go to your Patreon profile, and tap on Post. Under the New post, you can upload anything supported by Patreon. You may publish a variety of content on Patreon, such as text postings, photos, videos, and sound files. You can also post live videos. You may also control who sees your posts. Members of a certain membership tier may only have access to certain content, for example.
A selection of customizable merchandise can also be sold on Patreon. Design your own stuff and make it attractive. Offer it to your patrons as an incentive according to your desired membership tiers. Which kind of stuff is ideal for your members of different tiers will be suggested by Patreon.
To sell your customizable merch, go to the page editor on your Patreon profile and select your type — posters, shirts, caps, cups, stickers et cetera — from the list under Create New Merch, after selecting the Merch tab.
You can also use the social media integration option to create some revenue. It is the easiest and most useful feature offered by Patreon. It is simpler to share material, such as live streams, posts, and like, between your social media accounts and Patreon when your accounts are connected.
You can connect your Facebook account and give Patreon access to share whatever you will upload on the FB profile.
About Payments, Charges, and Withdrawals
You, as a creator, can ask your supporters — fans, friends, and family — to pay for an item or to subscribe to your monthly plans. You can set membership levels for your patrons. For each tier, set different offers. For instance, if you create three tiers charging $1, $3, and $5, respectively give the least access to the cheapest level and ultimate access to your content and offers for the $5 plan.
To make a list of membership levels, go to your profile and hit Edit your page. Click on Tiers and then set up each tier under the Add tier menu.
You can make your payout method as per your preference and needs. You can withdraw the received amounts anytime you want.
Patreon charges you a percentage-based fee varying from 5% for the Lite plan, 8% for the Pro plan, to 12% for the Premium plan. There are other charges as well, which are based on other factors — locality, pledges, and more.
Why You Should Use Patreon?
Though you can, rather you should monetize your content on other social media accounts — Facebook, YouTube, and like — and earn perks from them, but that is not sufficient. The monetization feature pays you after a gap of a month. For instance, if you see great revenue and traffic on your site or profile in April, most of the sites will pay your earnings in June.
Here is why you should use Patreon along with monetisation on your other profiles. It makes your content valuable and lets you withdraw your earnings anytime you want. You get engaged with your real supporters as well.
Wrapping Up
I guess you have learned how does Patreon work and other related stuff. I am sure this article is easy to follow and understand. I would love it if you share this piece of writing with your friends and family, the way you are going to appreciate your supporters on Patreon.
So, that is all for now. Keep surfing more articles about Patreon on Path of EX and other How-Tos.
