Just curious if any podcasters on Patreon are providing any additional audio/video for patrons and if so what kind, how long, etc. My show is generally interview based with a different guest on each week.
I usually only record the “interview” portion, but have recently thought about perhaps recording more of the before and after interview chat. So many times this ends up being great conversation, but not necessarily on topic so to speak.
In these cases I’ve been thinking it might be cool to add that few minutes of conversation to the patrons only stream. I’ve also thought about just adding like a 5 questions segment to the interview, but only posting that on Patreon for patrons and encouraging listeners to head over and become a monthly patron to hear.
Initially it doesn’t seem like this would really take a lot more time or effort to pull off.
Any thoughts or feedback from anyone on this? Or someone who may be doing something similar?
Hi Jody. I do provide extra content for my backers. It is labeled Behind the Scenes content (BtS for short). All of my backers receive this and it is backer only content. It may be extra blog posts (delivered via Patreon). I also have done photos, video, and audio.
Sometimes I’ll leave the recording running after my episode officially ends and will share that extra audio with my backers. The key there is to let any guests/co-hosts know you do this before you do it. They may not be wild about it if they think they’re having a private chat with you only to find out later that it wasn’t private after all.
One thing I do if I wish to offer extra audio is to record myself giving some extra insight into the episode. To do this I most often use my iPhone 6s. There are several apps one can use to do that. Have been known to record myself while walking, sitting in the car, or commuting (naturally only when someone else drives).
My backers like to receive insight into how an episode is recorded, who the guests are, things I may not be able to share with a wider audience, advanced info, etc.
Once that extra content is created I release it to my backers through Patreon. The audio file can be attached to the Patreon post so that backers will receive it when they open their e-mail notification.
As to length that becomes trickier. It really depends on whether you are providing video or audio. Video should be much shorter perhaps 5 minutes long as most although 1 or 2 minutes is more ideal.
For audio I think you could go longer. Let’s pretend your show is 1 hour long. A 10 or even 15 minute audio recording is likely the max you’d want to do. Longer than that and you almost have enough content for another normal episode.
One thing in which you may be interested is knowing that I’ve had several backers become backers because of my behind the scenes content. They said my doing that along with a couple other things I provide to all backers made them want to become backers. They felt all of this provided a lot more value to them.
One of my mottos is to give more than I receive. If a backer is giving me $1 each month I want to give them $3 or $5 worth of content for that dollar.
That’s exactly what I was thinking. Its encouraging to hear that it has worked well for you too. Super helpful to know. I’m thinking I’ll give this a go as well in the future. Thanks @jreinhart
Technical question on this. I’m planning to do the same thing, but I’m not sure how best to deliver the bonus content. I was thinking of making a youtube private link for it, but then they have to watch a video, and that’s hard to do on the go with a phone.
I see you mentioned attaching the audio file to the Patreon post. Is that effective, and so listeners like getting the files that way?
Libsyn will do a privately branded app for you that allows for paid content (I believe) but they want a 50/50 revenue split for it, which is pretty steep.
Hi Erik. Not sure what you mean by effective. The content gets delivered to my backers. They can access it at their leisure. They can even download it to their computers if they so choose.
That’s not necessarily possible with an unlisted Youtube video or an app.
If people are backing you on Patreon, then it is being used as a crowdfunding platform and a social media site at the same time. Putting content on Patreon is good as it is a central location for backers to access while also serving as a location to place public content to entice potential backers.
I have tested out three ways for bonus audio content…
Just a link to the file on mediafire or dropbox or google drive
Private Soundcloud Link
Upload the file right into the patreon post
Right now I’ve been doing #1 and 3. If they have the Patreon app then they can download and listen in the app. If they are on the Patreon site they can stream the audio there and if the are a digital collector then then can download the file for later via mediafire.
The Soundcloud player does look great on Patreon and I still use a soundcloud link for Free Posts I put up.
I had thought about a Libsyn app but taking them out of Patreon and then having to figure out a whole nother payment system is a lot of work. Now with the Patreon app and the fact that it has offline listening I’m wondering if I would ever make an app at this point…at least for bonus stuff it seems to make sense to keep your Patrons in the Patreon ecosystem so they keep getting good “feels” getting your stuff and connecting it with the platrom they are supporting you on.
Hey @erik I would definitely agree that since the bonus audio is for patrons backing you on Patreon it should be found on Patreon for them to access. I would also say that (unless you are a YouTube creator) in general private YouTube links seem to carry less of a professional/authoritative quality to them so I generally try to avoid them. But I do think that if someone’s audience is on YouTube primarily it would seem very much appropriate to provide content this way to those not backing you on Patreon.
We just doubled the allowable file size limit on Patreon from 100MB to 200MB. I figured this was especially relevant for you since podcast audio files tend to be larger than most other files.
We’re not currently announcing this anywhere, so just wanted to give you a heads up in case this helps you share longer bonus content on Patreon.
That’s good news. Does this apply to the Patreon app? It would be super
handy as a podcaster to be able to record and upload audio directly to a
Patreon post by using the app instead of a clunky 3rd party option.
“The greatest of all our American institutions is our system of public
libraries. No country has anything like it. If you’ve tried to do
research or work with libraries overseas and abroad you are immediately
reminded how fortunate we are. We just take it for granted.”-David
McCullough
That’s what I was afraid of. Not very user friendly for those using the
app. Hopefully Patreon will make an adjustment since they’re doing lots of
rebranding and redesign right now.
I’ve played around with this as well, and offered unedited episodes ala On Being, if you’re familiar with that NPR podcast. My patrons like them, but they were not enticing enough to draw in new patrons though.
I like your idea to add a few minutes to the patrons-only stream, and also your idea for posing a number of questions. That way, it creates a nice break in the editing process too.
Thanks for opening up this topic, because it’s one that I’m greatly interested in exploring more.
