November 12, 2018 • 7 mins
Patreon is a website that allows creators to get paid for their work through the support of their fans, who pledge one time or monthly contributions. We catch up with founder Jack Conte at the site's annual Patrecon Meetup in Downtown Los Angeles. We also talk to two inspiring creators who work full time to deliver original content to fans.Watch the TV segment:https://ktla.com/2018/11/12/patreon-a-platform-where-creators-get-paid-by-fans-of-their-work/Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/homeGlen Henry, Beleaf in Fatherhoodhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UC91hwYeQmsqOPsKGwzrt6uwKati Morton, Therapisthttps://www.youtube.com/user/KatiMortonFollow Rich on Social Media:Facebook: http://facebook.com/RichOnTechTwitter: http://twitter.com/richdemuroInstagram: http://instagram.com/richontech Easy ways to listen on your phone or smart speaker:"Hey Google, Play the Rich on Tech Podcast""Hey Siri, Play the Rich on Tech Podcast""Alexa, Enable the Rich on Tech Flash Briefing"
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
The website that helps you quit your day job with
the support of your fans. Mrich Demiro. This is rich
on Tech. Patreon is a platform for creator. Set up
a page, tell folks what you do, and watch the
monthly pledges come in. Fans could give you a buck,
two bucks or more, so you can concentrate on making
your content, whether it's a podcast, YouTube, video series, or whatever. Recently,
(00:25):
the company held its annual Patrecon in downtown Los Angeles,
where I met up with Jack Conti, founder of the site.
So how to come up with it? Well, he's a
frustrated creator himself.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
I'm a creator. I've been a creator for the last
ten years, and I got sick of opening up my
app and seeing, you know, three million views and two
hundred bucks of ad revenue. And I thought, gosh, if
my fans were to just pay me, you know, a
dollar a month, that would that would make all the
difference in the world. And sure enough, fans were more
than happy to do that. And actually, the average pledge
(00:55):
per Patron to a given creator is more like seven bucks,
so it turned out to be like a really great
source of income. Within two weeks of launching the platform,
I was making over five thousand dollars a month as
just a person, just a YouTuber, like making YouTube videos
and putting them online and reaching people.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
The website works as sort of a liaison between creators
and their fans. Supporters are called patrons. Creators can rely
on the monthly check they get. All pages show you
how many supporters a given creator has, but a creator
can optionally reveal just how much they're getting in monthly support.
Patrons can also get members only perks. They can be
(01:32):
super creative or typical stuff like an ad free version
of the podcast, bonus videos, or signed copies of books.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Creators have felt undervalued for so long that we as
society have actually undervalued them as well, and paying somebody
one hundred dollars for millions of views is such a
misrepresentation of what they're actually worth to the world. So
to me, it's not weird to see creative people making
a living, doing a great job, building up business, hiring teams,
(02:01):
and being valued because I felt like creators have been
that valuable for a long time. The web just wasn't
set up to properly compensate them for their work. So
to see that actually happening and to have Patreon be
a part of that is like definitely the most rewarding
thing I've ever done in my life. And yeah, it's
just a sheer joy to send people, you know, their
(02:22):
their paycheck every month. That's really awesome.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Glenn Henry is San Diego based. He makes videos for
his YouTube channel called Belief in Fatherhood.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
I make videos about how great it is to be
a father and how challenging it is as well. I've
been doing it for about three years, and I've really
noticed that I didn't want to be a father until
I saw proof of what a father could be. And
once I saw that proof, I wanted to be proof
of other people. So that's why I kind of started
the challenge.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
When I asked him how he describes what a creator is,
I loved his answer.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
A creator is someone who you know, has an idea
and is brave enough to stick to the idea. Uh,
and that person then makes something that is around to
benefit other people. So that can be a song, that
can be a poem, that can be a drawing, a
piece of art. It's this whole trusting relationship between your
(03:12):
brain and your ability. Creators play with this relationship all
the time is to bring to the ability, and then
you give it from your ability to your first person
that you trust, that trusting eyes, and then you give
it to your audience and then it goes to virality.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Henry has about five hundred supporters on his Patreon page.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
For the past two years, Patreon has been with us
paying my mortgage, also gives my family and ie health insurance.
My wife has quit her jobs. We now have three kids,
and it just allows me to be a full time creator.
You know, when you're someone who has ideas as a kid,
people want to tell you to push your ideas away
and focus on the real world. Right Patreon allows me
(03:51):
to tell those ideas to come back because they're in
a safe space. And not only are they in a
safe space, but they have the opportunity to actually make
us money. And so my dreams are safe when I
have Patreon.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Katie Mooreton is a licensed therapist who makes videos about
mental health on our YouTube channel.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
I love YouTube and I have a great relationship with them,
but a lot of my content just because of the title,
is not monetizable, and like, for instance, suicide and prevention
for it, because it has that word suicide, it will
never be monetizable exactly, even though it's helpful content. It's
just like black and white with them when I really
live in the gray. And so Patreon allows me to
(04:28):
still be able to create what content I believe is
important and necessary and not worry about the monetization.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
When you think about it, Patreon is kind of like
a GoFundMe, but for your dreams. The best creators have
always had sort of an odd relationship with money.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
A lot of us worried that we're, like, you know,
asking for money, but you're really just giving people an
opportunity to support you. And I wouldn't have been able
to continue without it. So just don't hesitate, because I
actually do have a book coming out and it wouldn't
have been available. I don't believe I could have kept
doing what I was doing long enough to make the
book a reality without my patrons, So you know, don't
(05:02):
hesitate and don't wait. Well, my book is called Are
You Okay? And it's a guide to caring for your
mental health. It's available for free order now and it
comes out December eleventh. Think of it as like mental
health one oh one.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Patreon has over one hundred thousand creators on the platform.
Founder Jack Conti told me they'll pay out over three
hundred million dollars this year, and yes, Patreon gets a
cut of this. But the idea that you can quit
your job, follow your dreams, and let your true fans
support you is pretty amazing. But as they say, don't
quit your day job just yet.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
My general advice is be good at making great things,
like get good at making great stuff. If you have
a video business, or if you you know, have a podcast,
or if you have a webcomic, hone your craft, get
really good at it. Build an audience, see what people
like and what they don't, and stay true to yourself
(05:52):
along the way. Make sure you're making something that you're
proud of and excited about. And as you do that, yeah,
it is now possible. Like it's not a dream anymore,
it is actually logistically possible to make a living as
a as a creative person. I think five years ago,
ten years ago, there was no notion of the small
business creative media company. That just wasn't a thing. And
(06:14):
now there are so many tens of thousands, hundreds of
thousands of small business media companies that are thriving creators
and teams and organizations that are making a living putting
stuff online, so it is possible. It's a real thing,
and it's real right now.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
There you have it. Whether you want to create or
support someone who creates, Patreon can help you do it.
Thanks so much for listening to the podcast. I checked
my page. I joined Patreon back in twenty fourteen, but
I've yet to open up direct to supporters. You know,
I do have that full time job thing and I
kind of love it, so who knows, Maybe one day
I'll go direct to the fans. You can find links
to more information on Patreon on my website, rich on
(06:52):
tech dot tv, or you can check the show notes.
I'm Rich Tdimiro. I'll talk to you real soon.
The website that helps you quit your day job with
the support of your fans. Mrich Demiro. This is rich
on Tech. Patreon is a platform for creator. Set up
a page, tell folks what you do, and watch the
monthly pledges come in. Fans could give you a buck,
two bucks or more, so you can concentrate on making
your content, whether it's a podcast, YouTube, video series, or whatever. Recently,
(00:25):
the company held its annual Patrecon in downtown Los Angeles,
where I met up with Jack Conti, founder of the site.
So how to come up with it? Well, he's a
frustrated creator himself.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
I'm a creator. I've been a creator for the last
ten years, and I got sick of opening up my
app and seeing, you know, three million views and two
hundred bucks of ad revenue. And I thought, gosh, if
my fans were to just pay me, you know, a
dollar a month, that would that would make all the
difference in the world. And sure enough, fans were more
than happy to do that. And actually, the average pledge
(00:55):
per Patron to a given creator is more like seven bucks,
so it turned out to be like a really great
source of income. Within two weeks of launching the platform,
I was making over five thousand dollars a month as
just a person, just a YouTuber, like making YouTube videos
and putting them online and reaching people.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
The website works as sort of a liaison between creators
and their fans. Supporters are called patrons. Creators can rely
on the monthly check they get. All pages show you
how many supporters a given creator has, but a creator
can optionally reveal just how much they're getting in monthly support.
Patrons can also get members only perks. They can be
(01:32):
super creative or typical stuff like an ad free version
of the podcast, bonus videos, or signed copies of books.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Creators have felt undervalued for so long that we as
society have actually undervalued them as well, and paying somebody
one hundred dollars for millions of views is such a
misrepresentation of what they're actually worth to the world. So
to me, it's not weird to see creative people making
a living, doing a great job, building up business, hiring teams,
(02:01):
and being valued because I felt like creators have been
that valuable for a long time. The web just wasn't
set up to properly compensate them for their work. So
to see that actually happening and to have Patreon be
a part of that is like definitely the most rewarding
thing I've ever done in my life. And yeah, it's
just a sheer joy to send people, you know, their
(02:22):
their paycheck every month. That's really awesome.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Glenn Henry is San Diego based. He makes videos for
his YouTube channel called Belief in Fatherhood.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
I make videos about how great it is to be
a father and how challenging it is as well. I've
been doing it for about three years, and I've really
noticed that I didn't want to be a father until
I saw proof of what a father could be. And
once I saw that proof, I wanted to be proof
of other people. So that's why I kind of started
the challenge.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
When I asked him how he describes what a creator is,
I loved his answer.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
A creator is someone who you know, has an idea
and is brave enough to stick to the idea. Uh,
and that person then makes something that is around to
benefit other people. So that can be a song, that
can be a poem, that can be a drawing, a
piece of art. It's this whole trusting relationship between your
(03:12):
brain and your ability. Creators play with this relationship all
the time is to bring to the ability, and then
you give it from your ability to your first person
that you trust, that trusting eyes, and then you give
it to your audience and then it goes to virality.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Henry has about five hundred supporters on his Patreon page.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
For the past two years, Patreon has been with us
paying my mortgage, also gives my family and ie health insurance.
My wife has quit her jobs. We now have three kids,
and it just allows me to be a full time creator.
You know, when you're someone who has ideas as a kid,
people want to tell you to push your ideas away
and focus on the real world. Right Patreon allows me
(03:51):
to tell those ideas to come back because they're in
a safe space. And not only are they in a
safe space, but they have the opportunity to actually make
us money. And so my dreams are safe when I
have Patreon.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Katie Mooreton is a licensed therapist who makes videos about
mental health on our YouTube channel.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
I love YouTube and I have a great relationship with them,
but a lot of my content just because of the title,
is not monetizable, and like, for instance, suicide and prevention
for it, because it has that word suicide, it will
never be monetizable exactly, even though it's helpful content. It's
just like black and white with them when I really
live in the gray. And so Patreon allows me to
(04:28):
still be able to create what content I believe is
important and necessary and not worry about the monetization.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
When you think about it, Patreon is kind of like
a GoFundMe, but for your dreams. The best creators have
always had sort of an odd relationship with money.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
A lot of us worried that we're, like, you know,
asking for money, but you're really just giving people an
opportunity to support you. And I wouldn't have been able
to continue without it. So just don't hesitate, because I
actually do have a book coming out and it wouldn't
have been available. I don't believe I could have kept
doing what I was doing long enough to make the
book a reality without my patrons, So you know, don't
(05:02):
hesitate and don't wait. Well, my book is called Are
You Okay? And it's a guide to caring for your
mental health. It's available for free order now and it
comes out December eleventh. Think of it as like mental
health one oh one.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Patreon has over one hundred thousand creators on the platform.
Founder Jack Conti told me they'll pay out over three
hundred million dollars this year, and yes, Patreon gets a
cut of this. But the idea that you can quit
your job, follow your dreams, and let your true fans
support you is pretty amazing. But as they say, don't
quit your day job just yet.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
My general advice is be good at making great things,
like get good at making great stuff. If you have
a video business, or if you you know, have a podcast,
or if you have a webcomic, hone your craft, get
really good at it. Build an audience, see what people
like and what they don't, and stay true to yourself
(05:52):
along the way. Make sure you're making something that you're
proud of and excited about. And as you do that, yeah,
it is now possible. Like it's not a dream anymore,
it is actually logistically possible to make a living as
a as a creative person. I think five years ago,
ten years ago, there was no notion of the small
business creative media company. That just wasn't a thing. And
(06:14):
now there are so many tens of thousands, hundreds of
thousands of small business media companies that are thriving creators
and teams and organizations that are making a living putting
stuff online, so it is possible. It's a real thing,
and it's real right now.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
There you have it. Whether you want to create or
support someone who creates, Patreon can help you do it.
Thanks so much for listening to the podcast. I checked
my page. I joined Patreon back in twenty fourteen, but
I've yet to open up direct to supporters. You know,
I do have that full time job thing and I
kind of love it, so who knows, Maybe one day
I'll go direct to the fans. You can find links
to more information on Patreon on my website, rich on
(06:52):
tech dot tv, or you can check the show notes.
I'm Rich Tdimiro. I'll talk to you real soon.
Host
Rich DeMuro
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