Hola! A year or more ago I agreed to charge my patrons up front. âMy business model will never change!â I thought to myself. Well, here I am wishing I hadnât made that permanent change since my community now makes more sense as a âper creationâ account and I canât switch over!
What would you suggest? I tried seeing if there was any possible way to switch and the email I got back was a very firm no. They suggested starting a brand new page which is a nightmare to start to consider since I have about 400 patrons and would shudder to start from scratch. I also donât want to lose my username! Any ideas?
Patreon has innumerable one-way trap doors and once you go through them, youâre stuck. Fundamentally, there really isnât a way to simulate âper creationâ that I can think of, so youâre pretty much stuck with either creating a new account, or adapting your business model to your circumstances. Leaving Patreon creates the same problem as creating a new accountâŚ
Hi @Ariel_Bissett, thanks for reaching out! Unfortunately, you are not able to switch your account from âmonthlyâ back to âpre creationâ, but I understand you donât want to start a new Patreon page either.
Could you tell me more about why you feel like âper creationâ makes more sense for your page? That would help me understand your needs and make appropriate suggestions!
A few suggestions off the top of my head:
Have you polled your patrons to understand what theyâre looking for from your page?
You could also revamp your tiers. Weâve found that revamping your tiers when youâve hit a bit of a plateau can lead to huge impacts on your earnings growth if you strategize it. Laura hosted a great workshop walking you through a few simple tweaks to help you revamp smoothly: Workshop: Revamping your membership for growth
Hope this helps! Feel free to send me a DM if youâd like to share more about your experience. Iâm always happy to help.
Oh, @Ariel_Bissett, Iâm so sorry. Are you in a situation where youâd like to be able to charge per item because you are abruptly in a life situation where you have time to be more creative and finish more items? (The classic being losing your day job!)
One of the reasons I love per-creation, as opposed to monthly, is that itâs way more flexible in the face of the vicissitudes of my other commitments. In particular, it meant that months my other gigs were slow, I could increase my output through Patreon and earn more money here; it also meant that months when I was dealing with a family health emergency, I could cut back on my Patreon productivity, or take the month off entirely, without worrying about leaving my patrons feeling ripped off.
I could imagine during a pandemic and associated economic upheaval the flexibility of by-item might be super attractive to creators in a whole bunch of trying personal situations.