If all goes according to plan, we will launch a Patreon page for the blog in early March. This will hopefully monetize this blog after nearly 10 years (see The Challenge: Monetize the Blog).
Patreon is a crowdfunding platform that lets enthusiasts of a particular artist (blogger, in this case) contribute regularly to projects and content. Patreon patrons pledge to give a small amount regularly (anywhere from $1 to however much they want) to support an artist or writer and his/her ongoing creativity.
Artists have a couple of options in providing “things,” items of small value sent to patrons for their support. We like this, as we feel like we’re actively offering something for people’s contributions.
Particularly, I like a feature we’re calling A Place at the Table.
The cover image for our new Patreon feature, A Place at the Table (Photo: Mark A. Zeiger).
For A Place at the Table I plunk a microphone onto the center of our dining table, and Aly, Michelle, and I sit around and talk. Our first “episode,” which we’ve already recorded and edited, discusses the pros and cons of starting the Patreon page in the first place. It came out to about 30 minutes.
In the future, we’ll reminisce about seeing the homestead for the first time, discuss our reasons purchasing the homestead originally, the decision-making processes of buying the property, then deciding to move here, interspersed with more current concerns. A Place at the Table is the “thing” that excites us the most, as it’s brand new, and it’s a family activity. It will be an “upper tier” benefit, exclusive to patrons at a higher pay rate than the basic rate.
The basic rate patrons will receive an opportunity to purchase the offered “thing” each month or more. “Things” we have in store include blog posts that don’t quite relate to the homestead (along the lines of this old, non-homestead related post, Thoughts on Britain’s “Weaponization” of Classical Music). We’ll also offer short stories, essays, high resolution photographs, videos, art work (Aly’s latest project, Medieval monk-doodle style dinosaurs, are amazing!) recipes, even knitting patterns. Patrons will help us in more ways than monetarily, by providing us a new outlet for our creative impulses that don’t relate directly to the homestead.
In the past, the closest we got to this sort of thing was when we created a Christmas tree for the annual auction at our local library (see A Home Craft Christmas Tree).
Some Patreon artists offer “things” that can be mailed. We hope to restrict our offerings to work we can send electronically, rather than add the job of posting items through the mail. Anyone who’s expected a package from us knows how annoying that wait can be—the old standard “allow 6 to 8 weeks for delivery” still applies very much to our outgoing mail!
Another benefit will be early access to blog posts. Not always, but sometimes, we actually get ahead of our posting schedule. February’s Monthly Movie, for instance was ready to go about a week before it posted.
(Image: Patreon.com)
Patreon allows flexibility for patrons: the sign up page lets patrons tailor their giving, set limits on the number of per-creation charges per month, raise the minimum payment, or even set up a monthly support payment at a chosen amount.
Watch for our announcement in an upcoming post. In the meantime, if you have suggestions or questions, please use the comments section below. We’ll answer publicly or privately, as the situation dictates.