Hello! I have been on Patreon since 2018 and yet, I’m having trouble attracting patrons to sign up for my account. I had tried the special offers option to see if I could attract some patrons, but it hasn’t quite worked out.
For anyone who has patrons for their accounts, how did you managed to get patrons to come to your account?
Hi there–Anna from the Creator Success Team, here! Great question. So I took a look at the social accounts you’ve linked on your creator page, and it looks like your fans currently have the greatest presence on your YouTube channel. Working to convert your YouTube subscribers into patrons would be the first goal I would set for you. Here are some things to consider as you move forward:
Those are my thoughts for the moment! 
I was thinking about doing requests over at Patreon. Like tell the viewers to go over to my patreon account to check out their requested videos early. But, how do I tell my subscribers about my Patreon account without making it seem like I am begging them for money? Also, I tried to do the special offers thing where I would give out blog buttons to the people who became patrons of my account, but that didn’t quite work out. What would be the most effective special offer that can attract people?
It’s all in the way you position Patreon. I invite fans to join my exclusive community on Patreon if they want to go deeper in a supportive and safe environment. That’s the language I use. It doesn’t feel like selling or begging to me. Perhaps you could adopt language like mine - just tweak to fit your voice.
I read a blog post on Patreon (can’t find it, but will link when I do) that advised creators to use the term “exclusive community” when inviting people to join you on Patreon. Saying, “Sign up for my Patreon” or “I have a Patreon” doesn’t work. Instead, saying “Join my exclusive community on Patreon” or more simply, “Join my community” tends to draw people more.
I haven’t done special offers as yet, so cannot comment on that feature. I did, however, do quarterly challenges which helped boost my numbers (one month I got over 230 new patrons), but I no longer do challenges because I get a TON of new patrons quickly, but within 90-days, most have deleted their pledge.
If I were to do a challenge, I’d try it as a special offer - just to test. You can read more about how I used quarterly challenges to boost my patron numbers here.
I completely avoid the hard sell.
But, I release almost all my content for free. I am of the philosophy that those who support you because of a special offer, or something they get in return, won’t stick around for long after receiving their reward.
Of anything I’ve learned about attracting Patrons over the past 3 years is this - be patient.
Stop with the hard sell, but mention it every video - it never hurts.
Don’t sell people on what you can give them - sell yourself and your personality.
I might not be the best person to listen to because I don’t have a huge number of Patrons or make a lot of money. But I will say that my Patronage has been solid and consistent enough for the past 3 years that I know how much income I will have every month without fail.
My dips and waves are much less drastic than the horror stories I sometime hear about. My income has remained solid no matter what mistakes Patreon itself has made or myself.
The point is you should worry less about raw numbers and shoot for stability - it’s much less stressful.
I’m not a big time creator here but for me, most of my patrons come from simply engaging with my community. With a few exceptions I know all my patrons on a more personal level than I do most readers of my comic. I believe it’s because I’ve gotten to know them that they became- or stayed as- a patron. Of course this is harder for larger viewer bases. I use discord for most of my involvement with the community. As for advertising on other sites… it’s mostly just easily visible links and the occasional mention when there are changes or special offers in the patreon!
On another note I find most of my patrons aren’t very reward oriented- some are- but most aren’t. I still try to offer as much as I sanely can cause they’re pretty awesome people and I want to thank them for that!
Thanks for the advice!! I just changed up my intro to my account. What do you think of this:
Hey everyone! I’m Rabbitearsblog and I love watching movies, TV, cartoons and playing video games! So, in honor of the television, movie, video game and animation industries, I had created two channels dedicated to these industries which are Rabbitearsblog and Animation Bliss! On these channels, I would do reviews and discussions about the various movies and TV shows I come across and give my honest opinions on them.
Here, we are a friendly and supportive community that enjoy talking about movies, TV shows, video games and especially cartoons! If you are a huge fan of movies, TV shows, video games or cartoons and you want to express your thoughts about these industries with other fans, then I would like to invite fans of these industries to join this exclusive community on Patreon if you want to go more in depth with your thoughts in a supportive and friendly environment.
Thank you all for supporting this community! Without you guys, we wouldn’t have a community that is so dedicated to the wonderful world of video games, movies, TV shows and animation!
~Rabbitearsblog
I have to ask this - why two channels covering almost the exact same topics?
In your pitch, there seems to be very little difference between each channel, and it feels confusing, as I don’t know which to subscribe to. Does one cover less or more than the other?
Aside from animation being in the title of one vs. the other, can I assume one is solely about cartoons?
If I become a Patron, do I get access to both channels?
What’s the point of separating your content like this, and fragmenting your fan base?
I’m confused because you could roll this all into a single channel, have less confusion, and consolidate your fan base much better. It seems overkill to have two channels for the same thing.
What you’re also trying to do here is sell yourself on your content.
But, there’s a lot of other folks providing the same content.
What makes you different?
Stop trying to sell fans on your content. Sell you, yourself, and how YOU do it.
Animation Bliss is the channel that focuses exclusively on animation, while my main channel Rabbitearsblog focuses on movies, TV shows and video games in general, with the occasional animation topics thrown in, if requested on my main channel. But now that I think about it, would it be better if I just focus on my main channel Rabbitearsblog for Patreon instead of trying to put both of my channels in Patreon, especially since I would earn enough money for both of my channels if one of my channels get some focus? The whole goal of this was for patrons to be subscribed to both channels, without having to pay for each channel separately. But, maybe it would be best to focus on one channel in order to not cause any confusion. What do you guys think? Should I just focus on one channel for Patreon or still continue to focus on both channels?
Here’s my revised statement for my Patreon page!
Hey everyone! I’m Rabbitearsblog and here’s my YouTube channel:
On my main YouTube channel, I make videos about television, movies, animation and video game news while also doing reviews on various TV shows, movies and video games. I have also started a review series called “Reviews 2.0” where I do in-depth reviews (which are mostly over 10 minute reviews) of all the movies, TV shows and video games that I have seen and played.
One of the main goals of this account is to establish a friendly and supportive community where patrons get the chance to talk about movies, TV shows, animation and video games in general with me and other fellow patrons! If you are a huge fan of movies, TV shows, video games and animation in general, then I would like to invite the fans of these industries to join in this exclusive community on Patreon so we can all express our opinions and love for these industries in a supportive and friendly environment!
So, if you want to support this channel, please feel free to check out the Patreon rewards to your liking. Every support here would mean so much to me and it would help me push out more quality videos that deals with movies, TV shows, animation and video games!
Thanks for the support everyone! You guys ROCK!
They already know the genres of your content from your opening statement. I personally would shorten it to something like…
Just an idea 
Thank you so much for the heads up!! I had revised the statement, so you could check out my account to see if everything looks alright here:
Also, would live-streaming be the best option in gaining new patrons? If so, which live-streaming service would be the best to use and is also free?
@Rabbitearsblog use twich (with obs). I dont have enough money to pay for crowdcast (thats so expensive!!) and I wouldnt use it that much, so twich. You also would use Picarto (but lately its not getting enough visitors).
Edit: ahh! I forgot that pixiv also has a streaming platform and its pretty smooth (except for the annoying robovoice on the chat, but you can mute it)
Thanks! I have a Twitch account and I might use that!