WEBVTT - Quit Your Day Job

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<v Speaker 1>The website that helps you quit your day job with

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<v Speaker 1>the support of your fans. Mrich Demiro. This is rich

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<v Speaker 1>on Tech. Patreon is a platform for creator. Set up

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<v Speaker 1>a page, tell folks what you do, and watch the

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<v Speaker 1>monthly pledges come in. Fans could give you a buck,

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<v Speaker 1>two bucks or more, so you can concentrate on making

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<v Speaker 1>your content, whether it's a podcast, YouTube, video series, or whatever. Recently,

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<v Speaker 1>the company held its annual Patrecon in downtown Los Angeles,

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<v Speaker 1>where I met up with Jack Conti, founder of the site.

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<v Speaker 1>So how to come up with it? Well, he's a

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<v Speaker 1>frustrated creator himself.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm a creator. I've been a creator for the last

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<v Speaker 2>ten years, and I got sick of opening up my

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<v Speaker 2>app and seeing, you know, three million views and two

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<v Speaker 2>hundred bucks of ad revenue. And I thought, gosh, if

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<v Speaker 2>my fans were to just pay me, you know, a

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<v Speaker 2>dollar a month, that would that would make all the

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<v Speaker 2>difference in the world. And sure enough, fans were more

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<v Speaker 2>than happy to do that. And actually, the average pledge

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<v Speaker 2>per Patron to a given creator is more like seven bucks,

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<v Speaker 2>so it turned out to be like a really great

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<v Speaker 2>source of income. Within two weeks of launching the platform,

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<v Speaker 2>I was making over five thousand dollars a month as

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<v Speaker 2>just a person, just a YouTuber, like making YouTube videos

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<v Speaker 2>and putting them online and reaching people.

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<v Speaker 1>The website works as sort of a liaison between creators

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<v Speaker 1>and their fans. Supporters are called patrons. Creators can rely

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<v Speaker 1>on the monthly check they get. All pages show you

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<v Speaker 1>how many supporters a given creator has, but a creator

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<v Speaker 1>can optionally reveal just how much they're getting in monthly support.

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<v Speaker 1>Patrons can also get members only perks. They can be

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<v Speaker 1>super creative or typical stuff like an ad free version

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<v Speaker 1>of the podcast, bonus videos, or signed copies of books.

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<v Speaker 2>Creators have felt undervalued for so long that we as

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<v Speaker 2>society have actually undervalued them as well, and paying somebody

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<v Speaker 2>one hundred dollars for millions of views is such a

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<v Speaker 2>misrepresentation of what they're actually worth to the world. So

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<v Speaker 2>to me, it's not weird to see creative people making

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<v Speaker 2>a living, doing a great job, building up business, hiring teams,

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<v Speaker 2>and being valued because I felt like creators have been

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<v Speaker 2>that valuable for a long time. The web just wasn't

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<v Speaker 2>set up to properly compensate them for their work. So

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<v Speaker 2>to see that actually happening and to have Patreon be

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<v Speaker 2>a part of that is like definitely the most rewarding

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<v Speaker 2>thing I've ever done in my life. And yeah, it's

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<v Speaker 2>just a sheer joy to send people, you know, their

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<v Speaker 2>their paycheck every month. That's really awesome.

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<v Speaker 1>Glenn Henry is San Diego based. He makes videos for

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<v Speaker 1>his YouTube channel called Belief in Fatherhood.

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<v Speaker 3>I make videos about how great it is to be

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<v Speaker 3>a father and how challenging it is as well. I've

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<v Speaker 3>been doing it for about three years, and I've really

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<v Speaker 3>noticed that I didn't want to be a father until

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<v Speaker 3>I saw proof of what a father could be. And

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<v Speaker 3>once I saw that proof, I wanted to be proof

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<v Speaker 3>of other people. So that's why I kind of started

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<v Speaker 3>the challenge.

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<v Speaker 1>When I asked him how he describes what a creator is,

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<v Speaker 1>I loved his answer.

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<v Speaker 3>A creator is someone who you know, has an idea

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<v Speaker 3>and is brave enough to stick to the idea. Uh,

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<v Speaker 3>and that person then makes something that is around to

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<v Speaker 3>benefit other people. So that can be a song, that

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<v Speaker 3>can be a poem, that can be a drawing, a

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<v Speaker 3>piece of art. It's this whole trusting relationship between your

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<v Speaker 3>brain and your ability. Creators play with this relationship all

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<v Speaker 3>the time is to bring to the ability, and then

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<v Speaker 3>you give it from your ability to your first person

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<v Speaker 3>that you trust, that trusting eyes, and then you give

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<v Speaker 3>it to your audience and then it goes to virality.

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<v Speaker 1>Henry has about five hundred supporters on his Patreon page.

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<v Speaker 3>For the past two years, Patreon has been with us

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<v Speaker 3>paying my mortgage, also gives my family and ie health insurance.

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<v Speaker 3>My wife has quit her jobs. We now have three kids,

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<v Speaker 3>and it just allows me to be a full time creator.

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<v Speaker 3>You know, when you're someone who has ideas as a kid,

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<v Speaker 3>people want to tell you to push your ideas away

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<v Speaker 3>and focus on the real world. Right Patreon allows me

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<v Speaker 3>to tell those ideas to come back because they're in

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<v Speaker 3>a safe space. And not only are they in a

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<v Speaker 3>safe space, but they have the opportunity to actually make

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<v Speaker 3>us money. And so my dreams are safe when I

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<v Speaker 3>have Patreon.

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<v Speaker 1>Katie Mooreton is a licensed therapist who makes videos about

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<v Speaker 1>mental health on our YouTube channel.

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<v Speaker 4>I love YouTube and I have a great relationship with them,

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<v Speaker 4>but a lot of my content just because of the title,

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<v Speaker 4>is not monetizable, and like, for instance, suicide and prevention

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<v Speaker 4>for it, because it has that word suicide, it will

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<v Speaker 4>never be monetizable exactly, even though it's helpful content. It's

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<v Speaker 4>just like black and white with them when I really

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<v Speaker 4>live in the gray. And so Patreon allows me to

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<v Speaker 4>still be able to create what content I believe is

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<v Speaker 4>important and necessary and not worry about the monetization.

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<v Speaker 1>When you think about it, Patreon is kind of like

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<v Speaker 1>a GoFundMe, but for your dreams. The best creators have

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<v Speaker 1>always had sort of an odd relationship with money.

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<v Speaker 4>A lot of us worried that we're, like, you know,

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<v Speaker 4>asking for money, but you're really just giving people an

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<v Speaker 4>opportunity to support you. And I wouldn't have been able

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<v Speaker 4>to continue without it. So just don't hesitate, because I

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<v Speaker 4>actually do have a book coming out and it wouldn't

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<v Speaker 4>have been available. I don't believe I could have kept

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<v Speaker 4>doing what I was doing long enough to make the

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<v Speaker 4>book a reality without my patrons, So you know, don't

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<v Speaker 4>hesitate and don't wait. Well, my book is called Are

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<v Speaker 4>You Okay? And it's a guide to caring for your

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<v Speaker 4>mental health. It's available for free order now and it

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<v Speaker 4>comes out December eleventh. Think of it as like mental

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<v Speaker 4>health one oh one.

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<v Speaker 1>Patreon has over one hundred thousand creators on the platform.

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<v Speaker 1>Founder Jack Conti told me they'll pay out over three

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<v Speaker 1>hundred million dollars this year, and yes, Patreon gets a

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<v Speaker 1>cut of this. But the idea that you can quit

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<v Speaker 1>your job, follow your dreams, and let your true fans

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<v Speaker 1>support you is pretty amazing. But as they say, don't

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<v Speaker 1>quit your day job just yet.

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<v Speaker 2>My general advice is be good at making great things,

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<v Speaker 2>like get good at making great stuff. If you have

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<v Speaker 2>a video business, or if you you know, have a podcast,

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<v Speaker 2>or if you have a webcomic, hone your craft, get

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<v Speaker 2>really good at it. Build an audience, see what people

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<v Speaker 2>like and what they don't, and stay true to yourself

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<v Speaker 2>along the way. Make sure you're making something that you're

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<v Speaker 2>proud of and excited about. And as you do that, yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>it is now possible. Like it's not a dream anymore,

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<v Speaker 2>it is actually logistically possible to make a living as

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<v Speaker 2>a as a creative person. I think five years ago,

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<v Speaker 2>ten years ago, there was no notion of the small

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<v Speaker 2>business creative media company. That just wasn't a thing. And

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<v Speaker 2>now there are so many tens of thousands, hundreds of

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<v Speaker 2>thousands of small business media companies that are thriving creators

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<v Speaker 2>and teams and organizations that are making a living putting

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<v Speaker 2>stuff online, so it is possible. It's a real thing,

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<v Speaker 2>and it's real right now.

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<v Speaker 1>There you have it. Whether you want to create or

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<v Speaker 1>support someone who creates, Patreon can help you do it.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much for listening to the podcast. I checked

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<v Speaker 1>my page. I joined Patreon back in twenty fourteen, but

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<v Speaker 1>I've yet to open up direct to supporters. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>I do have that full time job thing and I

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<v Speaker 1>kind of love it, so who knows, Maybe one day

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<v Speaker 1>I'll go direct to the fans. You can find links

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<v Speaker 1>to more information on Patreon on my website, rich on

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<v Speaker 1>tech dot tv, or you can check the show notes.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Rich Tdimiro. I'll talk to you real soon.