Platform Question
Added 2022-02-28 21:44:29 +0000 UTCUPDATE: Again, nothing is decided and nothing is changing anytime soon, but I think what it will end up looking like is offering both options (Patreon or my website) and letting people choose whatever is most convenient for them. Nothing else will change, everyone will still get the same content. I hope that that's a solution that can make everyone happy!
Hey everyone, a bit of a different dialogue today. I'm going to preface this with 1/ Nothing is decided and 2/ Any changes will not be happening for a while, but I wanted to check in and get your feedback on some things I'm considering.
After doing a bit of math and months of conversations with other artist friends, we've concluded that Patreon takes quite a chunk of creators' money in exchange for its platform and processing fees. I haven't minded until now, where there are many other subscription plugins available for other platforms that range from taking zero money (and just credit card processing fees), less money, etc. These plugins are available for integration on WordPress, Substack, and other places where folks often host their portfolios and websites. In fact, WordPress just released its own subscription add-on without the need for a third party plugin. Subbly and Moonclerk are just some of these plugin options.
In short, the option I (and many others) have been considering is going fully independent from Patreon as a platform and just hosting a subscription service with all the same benefits, tiers, email notifications, etc. on my personal website (http://koh.money). I'd love to know how y'all would feel about that, and I'm all ears to comments, suggestions, recommendations, etc. Again, nothing would really change except the platform, and PayPal being an available payment option would be a must on my checklist.
Thoughts?
Comments
I only check patreon when i get an email notification so personal website instead has no downsides for me. At least keeping both makes sure you don't lose patrons and if you had annual suscribers here that might make it more complicated? Anyway I'll be happy to switch!
Xavier
2022-03-06 11:14:01 +0000 UTCI'm happy giving less money to Patreon and more to you. My only requirement would be that whatever plugin you use works with Paypal (or some other equivalent that also converts from β¬ to $ automatically, because I'd also rather give less money to Paypal).
Alex N.
2022-03-01 08:05:52 +0000 UTCYep, no problem! (I apologize if anything came over overly...lecture-ey, or rambling, wasn't my intention, I was focused on compiling notes, and belatedly realized it might be less friendly than intended)
epyon_avenger
2022-03-01 05:40:38 +0000 UTCI appreciate the advice! Thank you!
Irene Koh
2022-03-01 05:34:31 +0000 UTCSo...to steal Legal Eagle's pseudo-catchphrase: "It depends." If your site can do email notifications of new content, or RSS feeds, or other ways to have updates pushed to me, can stand up to hosting the content (and/or link to it on Google/Dropbox/Mega/whatever), and make it easy to make sure I've seen all the things and gotten all the things, _and_ can process payments easily and reliably, then I say rock-on! Move it to your own site. That being said, I have been a part of several Patreons that moved off-site to their own platform, and some have been successful, and others have gotten mired trying to provide all the features and things I listed above. So. It's your content, do as you wish, but if I might make a suggestion, I would say try to run both in parallel for a while till you iron out all the kinks with your site, and then complete the transition. An additional concern, mostly because I work in technology... Making sure your site's security stays tight is not a job to take lightly, and depending on where your customers/patrons live, you are taking on some amount of risk any time you perform financial transactions (even if you don't handle them directly), so also keep that in mind if you bring stuff over to something self-hosted. (not trying to spook or scare, just have had to deal with a lot of compliance stuff, and wouldn't wish that on anyone else)
epyon_avenger
2022-03-01 05:11:28 +0000 UTCOne thing that Patreon provides as a platform is a good way for to track and centralize all of the artists that I'm supporting so that I can just review it every once in a while in case I want to change my pledge. Long-term having too many individual platforms just makes me lose track of who I'm supporting... (I'd probably still move just so more goes to you, but it definitely feels a bit less connected for me, ironically enough)
Aria
2022-03-01 04:56:47 +0000 UTCthat is actually a great idea.
Vendovi (Old account)
2022-03-01 01:53:36 +0000 UTCI only follow you and Pat so if yall both go I'm totally down!
DiscJems
2022-03-01 00:53:03 +0000 UTCCould it be possible for the artists to construct their own shared platform to more or less replicate patreon's functionality but without the corporate profit skimming? I like patreon because it centralizes a lot of creators whose work I enjoy and, critically, might not invest enough effort to track down the majority of their output otherwise, which I recognize is a personal failing but I think might not be an uncommon one.
Churlington Beesecoat
2022-02-28 23:49:03 +0000 UTCThanks for your input! I think what I might end up doing is just leave the Patreon as it is and let people choose whatever is more convenient for them, but still receive the same content on both sides. Would that work for you?
Irene Koh
2022-02-28 23:33:17 +0000 UTCI'd love for you to make more money. However, I kind of treat Patreon like an extra social media platform. Every once in a while I'll just scroll through what everyone's made and move on with my day. A personal website wouldn't provide me with the same kind of perusing type access. Is Kofi any good?
Simon Peterson
2022-02-28 23:08:02 +0000 UTCIβm only on Patreon because thatβs where the artists I care about are; Iβd just as soon move to another platform, go straight to a website, whatever the artists prefer! I donated to help get comradery.co off the ground so people could have democratically-controlled alternatives to systems like Patreon!
Corbin Lee
2022-02-28 22:45:23 +0000 UTCDo what's best for /you/
Fox
2022-02-28 22:13:17 +0000 UTCIf it's better for you to do it somewhere else, do it!
Breezejester
2022-02-28 22:03:37 +0000 UTCI'm a patron of you, not Patreon! π
Enuje
2022-02-28 22:02:04 +0000 UTCI also joined Patreon to support you, so I have no problem switching to something else :) get it girl!
ShoeBoot
2022-02-28 21:54:38 +0000 UTCI joined your Patreon to support your work, so if I can do the same thing but it supports you *more*, then all the better
Trevor
2022-02-28 21:51:10 +0000 UTC
