Public Posts versus Patron Only

Get More Patrons
1

Many creators and HangTime updates/recommendations have stated that more PATRON ONLY posts lead to more patrons.

Even if posts are patron-only, sometimes the content (for me, generally a new song to listen to or a new video to watch) becomes public later. I like to mention in the public share that patrons got it first, etc.

This said, I am still torn about public versus patron-only posts. I want my patrons to feel special, because they ARE, of course. But my patron community is SMALL as are my other followings…

Here are my numbers for perspective:

–Patreon: less than 20…again…still…after about four years)
–YouTube: 200-ish
–Soundcloud: 268
–Spotify: 32 (released first singles last year)
–Facebook: 350-ish
–Twitter: 6k-ish

Should I be making EVERYTHING public? I did that for a while (2 years? 3 years?) and only recently (1 year? 2 years?) closed it up to more patron-only stuff based on the two points in the preamble…

Asking for advice here, experiential evidence much-appreciated. If you take the time to interact on this post thank you in advance, and please include your audience numbers for perspective and how long you’ve been using the Patreon platform.

1 Like
2

You say you are torn about it, but why?
The advantage of hiding posts is obvious. It should encourage people to become a patron to see the exclusive content. What speaks for making it all public?

I am in the same boat by the way. Just a one-digit figure of patrons. Creating “exclusive” content feels weird in this case. But still: I see no advantage in making it all public. Especially on this platform. The public content can appear on all the other platforms already.

1 Like
3

well, for me, works better to show more stuff , and hide the very best

at start i though i would just have the patreon to just ask people for money if they are interested,
tho, i had public lewds on my pages, that patreon told me to hide them all, soooo yeah, by something like that, on a trivial way, a change in the system, i can say , yes, you will get more interest on people by hiding real gud stuff,
of course, try to make the real gud stuff accessible for a few bucks, i suggest up to 10 ~ 20 ish tiers,
even at the 5 usd tiers would work fine

the thing is, you need to talk with people, the more of them enjoying you, more of them could say “you know, i want to help you” sorta ways.

but that is, most people wil only join a few months, and then leave, they even comment or so, so dont get down by that, will happen, a lot, even if you do the best possible, it will happen

personally i would just post stuff and wait if people really wants to pledge,
but patreon also aids you to be more, mysterious when working >wo~ <3

1 Like
4

I will add that right now, you’re small.
It appears as though your growth is quite slow, and small.
So, first thing you need is exposure.

By pay-walling your content, you are reducing your exposure. By reducing your exposure, you don’t get as many Patrons, make less money, etc.

What I think you need to consider is what you can give your Patrons that is extra.
Patrons are already fans, so give the true fans something else. Like, behind the scenes, preview tracks, unmastered early releases, etc.

There’s a lot you can do for Patrons that doesn’t involve actually putting your content behind a paywall. The more exposure you get (ie. free content), the more fans you will attract, and the more that will become Patrons.

I am of the opinion that the more you make fans pay for, the less fans you will have. Release your content for free right now because you need a larger audience. Give your Patrons something else for their money, in addition to early releases, etc.

You’re essentially cutting yourself off from a larger potential audience by not allowing yourself for more exposure.

As for stats, I have 77 Patrons, and this is my third year.

2 Likes
5

I’m going to chime in from a slightly different perspective. More public posts is great if you’re a creator in the type of field where fans just want to support you and they’re not concerned with getting anything in return. They just want to see you succeed. I think the latest Patreon U stream I watched called this “support based” patronage.

However, there is another type which is “benefit based” patronage. In some cases it can be like being a VIP at a club or event (I also manage events so I’m very familiar with this). These people like feeling special and they want exclusive access to things others don’t and they’re willing to pay/pledge for that privilege. A lot us of enjoy feeling special and for some it justifies them spending the money. Not everyone is willing to support art just because they want to see the artist succeed, unfortunately. Side Note: I’m not explaining this very well or at least I don’t love how I’ve worded it, but I’m hoping my point is still coming across.

NSFW/adult creators deal with this a lot. If we post too much for “free”, people won’t sign up. That has a lot to do with the “norm” for our field of work. We have to create a paywall for content or we’re simply not going to make any money other than the rare few who genuinely do just want to see us succeed. Again, I think that has a lot to do with the field you’re in and I’m sure there are variety of reasons I haven’t touched on or am not in tune with for why some types of creators see more benefit based and some see more support based patronage.

I think the tricky part is knowing what works best for your Patreon community. Of course some communities will absolutely benefit from more public posts and I think you definitely do need some so people can get a feel for what you post. But how many is where is varies. Currently I’m experimenting with more Patrons only posts. I’m making some posts that would normally be pubic as Patrons only in addition to my normal Tier specific posts. So far this has been a great month, well above last month, but January tends to be a good month for me anyway. I’m going to see how this goes over the first quarter of the year and then re-evaluate.

1 Like
6

That’s amazing that January tends to be a good month for you! Why is that do you think? --January has in the past been a month where my patronage dropped – although not this year (knock on wood) which I’m so grateful for! – Thank you so much for your perspective and taking time to comment on my post. Appreciate it!

7

Yes. I agree with all these thoughts. For the first several years, I made almost everything public. When the BETA on pre-released content came out, that seemed like a good idea. And maybe I need to use that more. I have been trying to share my pay-walled content on socials more than I used to which is so uncomfortable and feels like oversharing, but probably isn’t…I hope…cringe. I definitely do always have the tiered exclusive patrons extra content too…Struggling with a consistent practice I guess. You sound like you’re rocking it. Do you make some public-focused promotional content that draws people into your patreon funnel?

8

@CelestialBlueMusic I’m not sure. Logically, I’d expect it to drop as people tend to re-examine their finances around this time. However, I do think I noticed that I drop more at the end of December/beginning of January, but I seem to be gaining more back. That’s relevant to note, I think. It might be because I ramp up my promos for the new year as well. I’ve also seen a lot of growth on Instagram and a bit more than usual on YouTube (my two biggest Patron sources) so it may be that as well. Another note is that previously February has been one of my lowest months (last year I had a drop from about $1.4k to $1k between Jan and Feb) so I’m curious to see if that happens again.

Here’s what I do: I’m a nude and lingerie model who also makes videos focusing on mainly show and tells of hosiery and whatever I"m wearing so for many people it’s sort of relaxing or mesmerizing. One of my biggest “draws” are my Sensual Selfies where I wear a set of lingerie and shoot 50 to 100 selfies (on a tripod usually) of myself. Often I shoot some nudes out of the lingerie or partially in it as well. Then I upload all of those photos to a DropBox folder for my $10+ Patrons. Then I choose around 5 of the lingerie photos as “teasers”. I add my Patreon URL as a watermark along one edge.

I usually make a public post on Patreon with one of the SFW images . Then I share one of those photos on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook and mention that they can find more or include a link to the public post where I talk about that specific batch of selfies. I do a similar thing for my photoshoot photos from other photographers.

For videos I film a PG version for YouTube or IGTV and then direct them to Patreon for me.

Oh, and I utilize Instagram Stories a LOT to promote my content.

So yeah, that’s pretty much my process. Lately I’ve been making some of the normally public posts as Patrons only posts instead, but I still link to those so anyone going to check them out is directed to pledge to see the content. So I do still have some public posts, but I’m not trying to make a public post for every single photo set now.

2 Likes
9

90% of my content is free, and released to the public. I’m also dead-set against heavy marketing, or the hard-sell.
I mention it at the end of my videos in passing, and put a link and that’s it. I share on Twitter, FB, and LinkedIn, and that’s about it.

I’ve come to the conclusion that folks are either going to support you, or they won’t. The hard-sell and marketing spam is annoying, and 90% of the time, ignored. I prefer to let people make up their own minds in regards to support, and is not something I will ever push.

I make instructional videos, so I can offer more than just my content for Patrons, which is why this works for me. But, like I said in my previous post, give your Patrons extra for their money instead of the content. It depends on what you’re making as well.
That said, Patrons get access to me and my feedback all day, every day on my Discord.
I release a couple extra videos just for Patrons a few times a year.
I put up exclusive Work In Progress shots at least once a week.

The main thing my Patrons get in return though, is more of me, and access to me. Which is what fans usually want. My marketing is "I can help you paint!’ instead of help support me. I give teaching, motivation, and direct feedback for what Patrons pay me. In addition, they get advance viewing and ad-free videos for the duration of that advance viewing.

I’ll say one last thing; stop trying so hard.
Do what you do. Put it out there (for free). And fans that want to support you, will come.

2 Likes
10

@Ghool, I think it depends on the type of content you produce and your fanbase. If I don’t promote, I don’t get any new Patrons. I always see any uptick when I promote more. But if letting people come to you without promotion works for you, I’d say that’s great. It sounds like you’ve found what works for you. :slight_smile: We’re all a little different and it takes some experimentation to find out what works for each individual creator.

11

I release a video every week, or every second week.
Releasing my content to the public for free is promotion.

It might not be the type of promotion most are used to, but it’s promotion none-the-less.
This is what I’m getting at - your content is your promotion. If your content is behind a paywall, you’re stifling your own growth.

12

@Ghool, sorry I misunderstood/missed that part. I agree that publishing content is promotion. That’s what I do too. However, I’m a NSFW creator so much of my content MUST be behind a paywall as per Patreon’s community guidelines.

13

But that doesn’t stop you from sharing a photo or two on Twitter, FB, or any other social platform, as long as you’re within their ToS.