This is the Creative Funding Show, a podcast for authors, YouTubers, and podcasters who want to fund the work they love without selling out. I’m Thomas Umstattd Jr., and with me is Bremner Morris, the head of Patreon’s Creator Partnership and Success Teams.
Today, we’ll talk about newbie mistakes people make on Patreon. Bremner consults with a lot of creators. In fact, his main job for several months was helping people take their pages to the next level. Just having a page on Patreon is not enough.
How does a creator know when they’re ready to start a Patreon page?
Thomas: When do they know their fan base is big enough to justify it?
Bremner: It depends on the individual creator. Some creators only have a few thousand fans but do really well on Patreon because they have a deep and unique relationship with their audience. Others have millions of fans but lack that connection, so the outcome is different.
From our perspective, it’s about whether you’ve developed a deep enough relationship with your fans that they would want to support you on an ongoing, recurring basis. You also need to consider if converting, say, 0.5% to 10% of those fans would be a compelling return on your investment.
We help creators see what their potential earnings could look like. We typically explain it this way: you have your total addressable audience, which is people who’ve maybe seen your show once or a few times. Then a smaller portion of those become actual fans. From that fan base, a smaller group (between 0.5% and 10%) might convert into paying patrons.
Thomas: Do you have an online tool where people can plug in their numbers and get an estimate?
Bremner: Not yet, but that’s one of our opportunity assessments for our product teams. We want to build something like that so creators who are thinking about launching a Patreon page can get a sense of the potential return.
It’s important to remember that launching a membership business is an investment. You’re not only marketing and educating your fans about your membership but also committing to fulfilling rewards on a regular basis. That recurring relationship comes with responsibilities.
Thomas: One mistake is launching with just five backers and suddenly feeling obligated to do a ton of work to keep those five backers happy.
Instead of charging monthly, you could charge per piece of content and set a rule that says, “I’m not going to charge anyone until I have at least 50 backers.” That helps protect against overcommitting too soon.
Bremner: Yeah, that was our earliest business model. When Jack first launched Patreon, it was based on pledging per piece of content. So when he released a video, fans pledged a set amount per video, often with a cap like 10 videos per month max.
But we realized that many creators were essentially turning it into a monthly subscription anyway. So we built that into the platform. Now, most creators use the monthly membership model. It’s more predictable and easier for patrons to understand. They know exactly what they’ll pay each month. And it aligns with how the industry is shifting.
Thomas: Yeah, it’s scary to say, “I’ll charge per YouTube video,” and then realize you’re posting 10 videos a month. Even though you can set a cap, I get the impression that not many people actually do.
Bremner: We don’t have specific data on how many people use the cap, but most patrons are your most loyal fans. They want to support your work no matter how much you create. So I’d guess a lot of folks don’t bother setting a cap.
What are some common mistakes creators make when launching their Patreon?
Thomas: Let’s say someone has a solid base of maybe 300 loyal fans or 10,000 casual ones, and they think they’re ready.