You have a passion for singing/helping people/teaching languages/playing guitar/or whatever but you are not making a living out of it. You would like to become a full-time artist but because it doesn’t pay off, you are going to your 9-5 job. Would it be possible to get funding for your project on the Internet?
Today we are going to have a closer look at an ultimately interesting movement called Patreon. Is Patreon a scam or legit? Let’s analyze it!
Patreon Review
Name: Patreon
Website: www.Patreon.com
Founded: In San Fransisco in 2013 by Jack Conte
Field: Crowdfunding
Overall Rank: 80 Out of 100 (Check Out My #1 Recommendation, 98 Out of 100)
What Is Patreon All About?
Patreon was created around 4 years ago by a musician Jack Conte. One reason why Jack wanted to create Patreon was because he was struggling to make enough money by his music and he saw many people struggled as well. Then he created a platform where musicians can share their passion and other people can support to achieve their dreams.
If you know a talented musician and you love to listen to his music, would you be ready to help him with $1? I guess that you would be ready to support if you really like the music.
Patreon is not only for musicians but there are also language teachers, translators, online gamers, programmers, podcast hosts, stand up comedians and anything you can imagine.
I got to know Patreon more through Francais Authentique when I was studying French. I was following Johan’s channel on Youtube and I saw that he created also a profile on Patreon. I think it was in 2016. As you can see in the picture below, nowadays Johan is making $1,235 per month through Patreon. Not bad extra income, huh?
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How Does Patreon Work?
The idea is very simple:
1.Create a profile/project:For example Johan is creating a new way of learning French.
2.Invite Patrons = Supporters: Share your project for your friends, family, in the social media and on your website to get supporters.
3.Earn money: When you have supporters, you will get money for your project. Quite simple.
Even though the process is very simple, it’s easier said than done. Steps 1 and 3 are very easy. Creating a profile doesn’t take so long. Of course, you may want to style it a little bit to make it look better. Anyway, you can finish it in 5-30 minutes if you want. Once you have supporters, you just see how the money flows to your bank account.
But how to get those supporters? That’s a crucial question.
How Easy It Is to Get Followers on Patreon?
It may sound easy when you see Johan making +$1,200/month side income on Patreon or Pentatonix making around $20,000 per music video. Why wouldn’t you just create your won Patreon channel and start making $5,000 per music video?
I always like to say, anything worthwhile in life requires hard work and effort. You won’t earn $1,000/month on Patreon without any work. I remember one guy who had millions of followers all around the world but he still struggled to make any income on Patreon.
Many people get even stuck on 0. Some people say the hardest part is to get from 0 to 1. That’s why I have seen people “supporting each other”. They promise that I am going to pay $1 monthly for you if you become my supporter as well. Then they have 50 supporters on Patreon but they are supporting 50 other members which means they aren’t earning anything.
The idea of this is that when people saw that you already have supporters, they are more likely to support you.
If you are hungry and you walk along the street in a city where you have never visited before. Then you see two restaraunts. The other one is empty and the other one is half-full. Which one you are going to visit? The studies and experience shows that people want to follow what other people are doing.
If you already have lots of followers it’s easier to get supporters but if you are starting from 0, then it will require lots of work.
Patreon Fees?
If people are supporting you for $100/month, will you get them all or will Patreon take some fees?
Patreon is taking fees. They say on the website that for each $1 you will get around $0,90. So if your Patrons support you for $1,000, you will get around $900. In my opinion, the fee is not very bad because their platform can be very helpful for you.
Signing up to Patreon is completely free and it takes only around 10 seconds. You can also sign up with your Facebook account if you want. It’s possible to make even +$10,000/month through Patreon but have a look how these 5 ordinary guys are making $10,000/month online.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Easy to get started
- Their platform is very user-friendly and good-looking
- You can earn extra income through Patreon
- You can support projects that you find important
Cons:
- Their service is still quite new (4 years old) but much older than Smashfund, for example.
- It may be very challenging to get supporters in the beginning
Conclusion – Is Patreon a Scam?
Even though Patreon is still relatively new, it’s not a scam. They are paying people money as they have promised. But remember that you will not get the money every day but once in a month. You get supporters who will pay you monthly instead of a one-time-payment. This can be a positive or a negative thing.
When people pay you every month, they may eventually support you even more than they’ve planned. On the other hand, it can make it more challenging to find supporters because some people don’t want to commit into monthly payments. Of course, it depends on the person.
After all, Patreon is not the easiest or fastest way to make money online but it’s a very interesting idea.
If you want to make a living online, I recommend taking a closer look at Wealthy Affiliate. It’s also 100% free to get started and you can make a living through your passion. Whether you like to play guitar, sing, dance, have fun with your friends or whatever, you can make a living through WA.
Wealthy Affiliate step-by-step training teaches everything you need to make a full-time income online with your passion. It’s not a “get-rich-scheme” and you need to work at least in the beginning. But it’s also fun and exciting.
You will get 20 interactive video lessons and 2 high-quality websites right away when you join Wealthy Affiliate for free.
Patreon at a Glance…
Name: Patreon
Website: www.Patreon.com
Founded: In San Fransisco in 2013 by Jack Conte
Field: Crowdfunding
Overall Rank: 80 Out of 100
What do you think about the idea of crowdfunding?
Have you ever tried Patreon or other crowdfunding platforms?
Thank you for reviewing this particular online program — I had looked at it once, but had not taken the time to look into as thoroughly as I wanted to and therefore had not signed up. But after reading your review, I don’t think it would be the best program for me after all!
I do, however, think that I am going to look further into your suggestion of Wealthy Affiliate! I like the fact that they do not ask for any money down and they give you a chance to experience the training with no obligation! Who knows? Maybe we will see each other there!
Hi Kristin,
I think that Patreon is an interesting opportunity but for sure it’s not for everyone.
Wealthy Affiliate provides a great possibility to make money online even without any prior experience. One of the great aspects in their service is that you can start it for totally free.
They give you 20 interactive video lessons and 2 free websites as a gift for joining.
Cheers,
Roope
I don’t think that patreon is a scam at all. In fact, they seem like a decent education platform for aspiring artist. You get to keep 9 out of every 10 dollars ? that’s a good deal for sure.
They could easily charge that fee up front but it don’t seem like they do.
Hi Yunier,
yeah, 10% fee is not that bad. Afterwards I found YouCaring and I saw that they have even more smaller. I think that’s the best crowdfunding platform that I have found so far.
-Roope
I personally haven’t seen much that will influence to say that patreon is a scam. In fact, they seem like a pretty decent educational platform. On top of that, you get to sign up free and get to keep 9 out of every 10 dollars. It’s not bad at all, I’m surprised they don’t charge some sort of membership or do they ?
Hi again Yunier,
yes, they are a very decent platform. They don’t charge any fees of the membership. That’s a great benefit.
Cheers,
Roope
Thanks for this review, Roope.
I have seen several YouTube channels where the channel owner lists a Patreon account. Now I know exactly what that is.
It seems like a good idea. I is kinda like the online version of street performing. Street performers perform for free, but people can give them money if they like. Patreon has the added benefit of a much larger audience.
It sounds like you need a large amount of traffic for Patreon to be worth your while. If you have a YouTube channel or blog with just a few hundred visitors a month, it may not be worth it.
Hi Andy,
that’s a great parable! You are right that Patreon works better if you have a large amount of followers.
Of course, one option is to start already when you don’t have so many followers. Then little by little grow over the time course.
-Roope