How does Patreon help you do more of what you love?

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Hey there! The Patreon content marketing team is working on a blog post right in time for Valentine’s Day, all about loving that creator life. Specifically, we want to give creators a chance to share how your patron-driven business gives you space (resources, time, etc.) to focus on what you love.

Are you more chill about money stuff? Happy to create what your heart desires? Do you revel in connecting with your audience, or work from anywhere, or fund your project from your home?

What’s something (or, many things) that you love about your life that wouldn’t be possible without patron support? We really want this to shine a light on how your patrons enhance your life, even if it’s something “invisible” like peace of mind, or confidence to keep creating. If you’re willing, we’d love for you to chat with our writer about your experience, though it’s not required. You can just list your response right here. If we quote you in the post, we’ll for sure link to your Patreon page.

Thank you so much for participating! :slight_smile:

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In my case the biggest thing it gives me besides an awesome community of supportive, respectful people who appreciate me is peace of mind. I grew up in a single, low income household with 4 kids. My family had a home built by Habitat for Humanity when I was 15. I remember worrying about money very early on because any time anything would break down, I could tell my parents were stressed.

My Patreon income has allowed me to save money for those issues. My husband’s income pays most of our bills month to month (something I don’t often share because being a stay at home wife is something kind of frowned on now), but my income is what paid for having our water line jetted when our basement kept flooding and for a new fridge when ours died over Christmas a couple years ago and for me to get a new range when mine suddenly died. Oh and when my phone up and died and I had to pay to buy out the phone so I could get a new phone…

Of course I also invest in things for my creativity like lingerie (I’m a sensual content creator), photo and video equipment and software, file hosting, renting locations to shoot in, etc.

And also… It makes me feel like I have value in the eyes of the world. I can’t work a normal day job due to health/pain issues and some other circumstances. I’m really best at support type things… I’ve always felt if this were still historical times I feel like I’d be good at managing a large household and hosting fancy balls and such, though I’m sure I’m romanticizing a bit. But with Patreon I can take what I’m good at (self portraits, helping people relax, being nice and friendly, modeling, etc) and turn it into a way for me to be a “productive member of society” (though that’s really a whole different issue).

Oh! And I get to support other indie businesses like the lingerie designers I buy from.

Sorry for such a long response and I hope there aren’t too many typos. I’m having a pain flare, but I wanted to answer ASAP. :slightly_smiling_face: Summary: Patreon is literally my dream come true.

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Just having patrons has helped me immensely with accountability and building consistency. I don’t have a lot of patrons, but if I am ever feeling unmotivated or down I just look at my list of patrons and it reminds me I have people who believe in me. My patrons let me know there is value in my art and in the creative learning process. Before I’d go long periods of time without creating anything, but I have been much more regular since joining Patreon. I know once I have more patrons I’ll be able to afford more time, but I’m building those little habits now so I will be prepared when it becomes full time.

As far as financial support, my first goal was $25 for art supplies and every month I either buy something relatively inexpensive, sometimes it’s art supplies, sometimes it’s art reference materials or save up for something I’ve been wanting to create art. I look at the things I’ve been able to get on just that $25 and it is amazing to me. It’s a LOT of things that would not otherwise have been in my budget. I’ve also been able to go on research trips and do museum studies. I’ve even gone to art museums with some of my patrons and become much closer with them building a really positive creator + patron relationship.

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I love that, thanks to my patrons on Patreon, I have the time to go deep into my experiences and bring back what I find. Whether I’m soaring in the heights of bliss or crawling through the crushing depths of shadow, I am able to go there and be there thanks to my patrons. I know that might be kind of intense, but that’s me. I’ve written songs like When The Colours Fade, all about depression, as well as It’s The Little Things, all about the beauty of the small things which make life great…all thanks to the time my patrons on Patreon have gifted me with by their financial (and emotional) support!

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Here’s a short answer - if your writer wants to connect w/me personally for a longer answer or has followup questions, I’m game. :slight_smile:
For a decade, I’ve sold personal growth courses & audios online. I always felt like there was a slight mis-alignment. I couldn’t pinpoint it.

Then when I chose to get started on Patreon, I followed the inspiration of a few other creators and decided to give everything away for free… even my online courses.

Since making that shift, I feel much much happier with my work. I love that I wake up in the morning and just think about how much more I can give unconditionally and that brings me so much more joy than I ever had selling my courses.

On the flip-side, when my supporters don’t have to give money to me to get access to my online courses, and they still choose to give to me, it really reminds me of just how much a difference I make in their lives and in the world.

Honestly, I was getting burned out on my business. I kept looking for something different. I kept looking for the passion again. Little did I realize that the problem wasn’t my work or my industry, but rather, my model.

I’ve completely changed my model since moving to Patreon, and I am SO glad I did! Every day is just another wonderful adventure in how I can give back even more to the world and make it a better place.

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Accountability.

Since starting my (tiny still) Patreon, it’s given me deadlines. No longer is it just ‘oh, whenever I finish the pattern’, it’s ‘well, this needs to be out by March, because I promised my Patrons it will be!’

That said, it still offers flexibility. When things get delayed, I can be honest and tell my Patrons. . and folks have so far been amazingly understanding! So if something doesn’t go up Jan 1, it’s ok if it goes up Jan 15, so long as I remain accountable.

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Thanks for all your incredible answers everyone! Keeping these in my back pocket for a rainy day :blush:

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I write romance novels that would be hard to get published through conventional means. I had some offers to sell them to certain websites and services, but they wanted exclusivity, and their contracts were very stingy with royalty payments and rights management. One example was a one-time $100 payment to sell a novel-length story exclusively to one website.
Thanks to Patreon, I’ve been able to raise the money required to hire artists to create book covers, to buy the tools that I need to do my own editing and to make my own Ebooks, and I’m now able to self-publish. In doing so, I maintain full control over all of the content that I produce, and I can share my stories with anyone that I like, on any website that I like.
I can’t imagine how I would be able to get to this point without a service like Patreon. It has allowed me to turn my hobby into a job, and it has allowed me to maintain full control over my content in a way that even legitimately published authors don’t often enjoy.

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I’d be willing to share more with the blog author.

I love writing creatively, and it’s a contrast to my consulting career in tech. I do get customer-facing interactions, which are helpful for feeling social connection, and outside work and Patreon, I try to get out for yoga, which supplies a healthy activity. However, writing my own content for Prevail offers my own avenue of producing and a minimalist format for presentation.

It’s great to have some patrons following and subscribed. It’s difficult to make time for face-to-face tabletop games. This online platform allows me to write creatively, without a specific schedule for face-to-face gaming or a specific location away from home.

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Making a big monthly income from drawing was a dream, now i’m living it thanks to patreon ;3.

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Patreon has been a big help to me over the last few years. I don’t make a huge sum off it or anything but the extra income has been a big help and allows me to make some physical merch like stickers that I would never have made otherwise. I’ll even be doing my first charm run soon for patrons as a big thank you!

On the other side of things patreon has definitely made me more productive. I’m doing more things as patron goodies such as process recordings, wallpapers, and behind the scenes type stuff in addition to the regular update schedule. The positive support received from the many patrons has been godsend to motivation and helps keep me going!

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Hey there! Do you have a Patreon page we can link to in the post? If you’d rather not be included no worries - but we love your quote!

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Sure thing, although I do produce adult content, so there are some suggestive images and themes. I’d understand if you’d rather not feature it, of course.


Thanks all the same!

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Patreon has created a way for people who move alongside my path to not only honor my creative process, but to directly draw from and be nourished by what I create. The platform is relevant, responsive, and easy to navigate. My personal, professional, and vocational life is integrated in ways I never thought possible because of Patreon.

It’s beyond doing what I love. Patreon has helped me live my life more freely, more openly, and more deeply as ME. ; )

Intrinsic Paths on Patreon

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Years ago, after I graduated from university with a degree in History, I thought I was going to enjoy a lucrative career as a print journalist. I freelanced for a number of magazines and newspapers in hopes of getting a full-time writing job. Sadly, freelance writing just wasn’t going to pay the bills.

The Internet was just taking off and based on the encouragement of my then boyfriend, a computer science graduate, I taught myself HTML (that was the HOT programming language of the day), and launched a magazine online. I started making money off of ads that were running on my digital magazine. Plus, I got A LOT of media coverage because of my “innovation.” Little did I know that one action - launching an online magazine - would open the door to an exciting career in technology. After I got a job at a web development company, I gave up on my dream of being a full-time writer.

Fast forward to 2016. I was growing tired of the tech world. My brain is getting old and trying to keep up with all the new programming languages was taking a toll on my peace of mind. Plus, it’s incredibly exhausting trying to navigate a male dominated field as a woman. Although I had won a number of awards for my innovations in tech, managing software development projects and Internet marketing campaigns didn’t hold my interest any longer. I didn’t know what was next, but I just knew that it was time for me to “retire” from the world of tech.

On January 3, 2017, I woke at 4:30am to write a book of fiction. It had been a dream of mine and I felt that waking early, before the demands of the day distracted me, would be a great time to write. I woke at 4:30am to write for 365 consecutive days. The first few weeks, I focused on writing content for the book. Eventually, I abandoned the book, and instead, used those early morning writing sessions to heal me. It appears the character I needed to develop and explore was myself.

In October 2017, I wrote a blog post that went viral. The blog post contained self-reflective questions I had used during my early morning writing sessions to help unpack unconscious biases. On the advice of another Patreon creator, I leveraged the attention and launched my own community on Patreon. I was still running my digital marketing company at the time and I had no clue what Patreon would do for me. I simply listened to my friend since he was having success with Patreon.

Today, I’m a well-fed independent writer with over 750+ patrons. I research and write and research and write all damn day because of my patrons. I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE my life. This is EXACTLY what I dreamed of doing all those years ago as a new university graduate. It only took 20-years - and being diverted by the lucrative field of technology - to bring me back to my gift. My first love. Writing.

I could NOT be a well-fed writer if it weren’t for Patreon. My transition from being a “digital diva” to independent (and not freelance) writer would not have been possible if it were not for Patreon. Like, how do I count the ways? :wink::wink:

TL;DR: Skim the text that’s been BOLDED

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So many great responses and we were able to use some of them in our article. Thanks so much for sharing your stories with us!

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