Hi,
I am confused with tier benefits and the access of patrons to content.
Basically I want to create two tiers. Each tier should have access to the content I have created for that tier across all history. I tried to read all tutorials but still confused how to set up the tier. What benefits I should add to the tiers?
Thank you for help.
r.
What kinds of content are you offering? That would be the starting point to figure this out.
Alright, so there are two layers to the topic. First is creating tiers and making posts that apply, or are visible, to specified tiers. Second is creating benefits and attaching the benefits and tiers to one another.
I will not be adding screen captures, but if you would like to discuss further, maybe I can be convinced.
I see you have two tiers for pledge-makers, or patrons, to subscribe. Both describe weekly posts of photos, patron-only posts, and access to all photos. IMO, this can be improved. You could look at my three tiers as a potential example, but there are probably loads of other photographers who can serve as better examples.
So, you created two tiers, and added text descriptions of the benefits from pledging at those levels: photos each week and posts. It so happens that the two tiers share the portrait or picture of world (landscapes? urbanex? photojournal?) as well as patron-only posts and access to all photos, yet the two tiers differ in that the higher tier also promises fine art nude (nice).
I’ll mention the photo access first; this is strange. If the lower tier has paid a lower pledge, but gains access to all photos, this seems a bit excessive in nature. Does that mean they also gain access to the fine art nudes they did not pledge for? So, I suggest revising that line of text in the pledge description to better define the photo access, such as “access the archives as long as you pledge.”
Next, I would suggest creating a body of work that is fitting to the lower tier, such as landscapes, clothed portraits, and topical posts (patron-only) giving photography ‘stuff’ from your perspective. That ‘stuff’ might be lessons, guidance, critiques, journaling your progress, comparative analysis of artists, photog world news, etc.
Then, I would suggest creating a body of work that is fitting to the higher tier, such as urban exploration and adventure, fine art nudes, and topical posts (patron-only) giving more advanced or exclusive photog ‘stuff’ from your perspective. Well, maybe not; just having that lower-tier content included as a higher-tier perk is probably fine as well. That’s something I do! The middle tier content from my three tiers is also published for the highest tier of my three tiers so that the highest pledge gets different and the same content as the middle or lowest tiers. The middle tier is gaining the content intended for the lowest tier so that’s similarly giving different and the same content.
I’m sure you have already seen when creating a post that you can select which tiers have visibility of the content in the post. That’s probably not something I can give additional insights; I see also you are using tags in your posts.
So, the benefits exist as an internal tracking tool. It’s a feature for you, and the patrons do not really see it. When creating or editing your tiers, you can create or edit the benefits–and the same benefit can be shared across other tiers. For example, I have three benefits currently: Topical Post, Sample Cards, Sample Folios. Each is attached to only one tier, respectively: Inner Circle, Lore Masters, Game Masters. When patrons are charged each month, I am due to deliver one of each benefit to each patron. In my case it is all downloadable, so as I post and attach the downloadable content, I return to the benefits tracker to mark them complete for a month. It also helps to see the benefit tracker telling me if I am behind (which I am for topical posts).
So, the tiers are for pledges, the text describes the benefits and rewards, the benefits as a feature is a creator tool, and the benefits are tracked against pledges so that you have a running inventory of the paid-for rewards.
You may also need to consider how and when you use free content to provide marketing of your content. I’ve tried to keep above one piece each year that becomes a public-tier post with the downloadable; although I also have decided all topical posts are public-tier.
In the case of the topical posts, I’ve attached those to the lowest tier (behind the scenes) to empower the benefits tracking feature and give myself a reminder (it’s how I know I’m behind on topical posts). These are going to be public-tier content, but having that tracker is very helpful for my schedule.
Looking at your page, you might consider attaching a photo benefit to the lowest tier, maybe named Supporter Photo Share, then attaching a photo benefit to the highest tier, maybe Patron Photo Post. The title of the benefit is not something patrons see ever; it is only a back-end title, so you can use any title you intend. You can then have a tracking reminder (when you have pledges) that will help your content planing throughout a month. For example, if you intend a weekly photo, that’s great, but Patreon mostly works in months, not weeks; you could revise your tiers to promise no less than once a month photos per tier. Using the benefit naming (that only you will see), you could name several benefits, such as Photos Week 1, Photos Week 2, Photos Week 3, Photos Week 4, and see that you have benefits tracked for each week for each tier.
Also, you could go without using that feature at all. I did not use it for several months when I was beginning. I wasn’t sure I could deliver even monthly content, so I just didn’t see a reason to attach a monthly reward. Now that I’m more established and have my own content schedule, I really appreciate that feature being available.
Thank you for your extensive advice. It is building on several topics that I consider advanced for me right now. Please allow me to ask further questions on very basic things.
My intention is to build “Supporters” tier that have access to the portfolio of photos created for “Supporters”. The essence of this is that this portfolio of photos (lets call this Supporter’s Portfolio) is expanding every month as I am adding new photos. I want “Supporter” patrons have access to the whole “Supporter’s portfolio” immediately as they become Supporters. I am writing this to make clear that I do want to make them access not only new additions from the time they join, but the whole “Supporter’s portfolio”. At the same time I do not want to make them access the other portfolios of photos.
Similarly, I want to create the tier “VIP” that will have access to the portfolio of photos called “VIP portfolio”. Again the VIP patron has access to the whole “VIP portfolio” not just to the new additions.
As a special thing I wan to make “VIP” patrons to be automatically supporters so “VIP” has access to all photos as being also “Supporter”.
I am still confused hot to set up the operations to achieve this. I do understand that the Patreon allow much better way how to work with patrons. However, at this moment, I am not ready for more sophistications. Can you advise me how to achieve this minimal level?
Thank you.
r.
There are a few things from Patreon that will assist this, but you will also have to consider a third-party solution for a portion.
So, Patreon as a platform will allow you to upload photos with a bit of text, or a text post with a downloadable file attached, or a link post leading to a URL pre-established as a landing zone for that post. There are a few other ways to create a library of photos; it seems a photo post or a text post (you can insert images inline with text) might be a best-case depending on how or whether you are making the image downloadable.
For ex, I have a few posts with artwork commissioned, but I only set the resolution to 96ppi with limited dimensions to optimize for the web. This allows the audience to download these images, but it was not the intent. I have other posts that are text posts with downloadable .pdf files attached; those files have artwork I created myself. I don’t intend the audience to reuse those images elsewhere, but they do get to download the files, which are optimized for printing.
In this way, all the posts create a library and are marked per tier, so pledged subscribers can view older content. But also, I delete older posts during the year following poll results; this allows me to selectively remove older content for revision or my imagination around scarcity. Like, patrons who want a full library collection need to stay pledged to get the most. However, if you want a long-term library for patrons, you could consider a third-party solution like Dropbox or some other solution that allows you to create a URL for sharing. I don’t know about using that; because it is not the model I wanted to use. You could simply keep up all the posts from the beginning to the current which allows all designated tiers to access that library of older work.
If you keep it all in Patreon, the permissions work fairly well, but if you use a third-party solution, I do not know how to link permissions.
I’ll mention why I delete older posts again with a bit more clarity. I create sample character/gear/landmark packs and sample modules for game masters, so I feel some sentiment that I should remove older content after around a year, and consider it for revision and reissue at a later time. I use the public poll results to determine some of my content schedule and priorities. So, I do not have data to prove it matters to patrons, but for myself, it is a means of recycling work without as much of a burden to create new work (which includes creating artwork).
You might find there are reasons to remove older works from circulation and/or consider having special polls for reissuing a limited print from your older works. I don’t know the photography creator realm very well, so don’t take my advice too seriously compared to having advice or insights from fellow photographers. You might find there are several fellow photographers using Patreon who can provide much more insightful responses on how to model your content creation and presentation.