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Bi-weekly blog #1: Road to Patreon (Patreon)
Published:
2016-08-08 22:01:50
Edited:
2016-10-17 15:34:44
Imported:
2021-12
Content
Hi, Christiaan here. Welcome to the bi-weekly blogposts that we'll be starting today.
Either Abel or I will write these blogposts, depending on the subject. We'd like to use this blog to delve into some topics related to our company, Wooden Plank Studios, and/or our online presence. To give you an idea of what you can expect: lots of blogposts will probably be about our comics (statistics, milestones, reactions), certain problems we run into while running a company, equipment or software we use and why, or an insight into a particular process, like in this case: our Patreon.
We decided that we wanted to integrate Patreon with our webcomics about three months ago. We wanted to create a place where our fans can gather and read news about us, next to www.woodenplankstudios.com. We also wanted to be able to interact with these fans some more, as communication was limited to an occasional Reddit-comment before we launched a Patreon. Also, we can't deny I'd be great to make a living with these comics. So Patreon it was.
Preparations
While Abel was busy drawing comics, it took me about four weeks to figure out which direction we wanted our Patreon to go and the rewards we wanted to offer. Naturally, we decided to focus our Patreon on our webcomics. We specifically aimed our Patreon towards webcomic readers and fans, instead of other aspiring (comic) artists. However, we also wanted to keep our options somewhat open, and that's why you can still unlock PSD's and progress pictures in the $5 tier. We figured that the first Patrons we'd reel in wouldn't necessarily be (aspiring) artists, hence the current rewards. If you'd like more art-related rewards, let us know! We're growing and changing and we'd like to grow and change in the direction you prefer.
Reward tiers
At first, we had reward tiers ranging from $1 up to $50, offering (somewhat extreme) rewards like physical prints, commissioned work and a direct line of communication with us, but after thinking it over, it didn't feel right to start our Patreon with these tiers and rewards.
Following some research, we decided to go back to the drawing board and focus on four specific tiers: the tiers ranging from $3 to $10. These tiers usually represent about 75-90% of one's Patrons.
We also decided to change some high-tier-rewards to goals, to make these rewards accessible to everyone, instead of just people in the high tiers. Check out, for example, the $5 tier and what will be included once we reach all of our goals.
This is a short summary of how we decided to use our current reward tiers. We have some cool ideas for the (upcoming) $15 and $20 tiers, but first we want this Patreon to mature a bit and gather some feedback from you guys. After then, we'll roll out new rewards and eliminate rewards nobody is interested in (or move them to goals, we'll see).
Launching Patreon
Last week, we soft-launched this Patreon. We haven't made much noise yet, but from this week on, we'll start promoting this Patreon in the footer of the comics, on social media and to our friends and family. We hope to create an "early-bird" group of Patrons in this way. The results of these efforts will probably be shared with you in a blogpost next month!
If you can't wait to see how well/badly we're doing, check out our statistics on Graphtreon (which we also used ourselves to search for similar comic artists for inspiration). Graphtreon themselves also have a Patreon to improve their free service, so definitely check them out!Next blog will be on Monday the 22th of August. Till then!Christiaan
Either Abel or I will write these blogposts, depending on the subject. We'd like to use this blog to delve into some topics related to our company, Wooden Plank Studios, and/or our online presence. To give you an idea of what you can expect: lots of blogposts will probably be about our comics (statistics, milestones, reactions), certain problems we run into while running a company, equipment or software we use and why, or an insight into a particular process, like in this case: our Patreon.
We decided that we wanted to integrate Patreon with our webcomics about three months ago. We wanted to create a place where our fans can gather and read news about us, next to www.woodenplankstudios.com. We also wanted to be able to interact with these fans some more, as communication was limited to an occasional Reddit-comment before we launched a Patreon. Also, we can't deny I'd be great to make a living with these comics. So Patreon it was.
Preparations
While Abel was busy drawing comics, it took me about four weeks to figure out which direction we wanted our Patreon to go and the rewards we wanted to offer. Naturally, we decided to focus our Patreon on our webcomics. We specifically aimed our Patreon towards webcomic readers and fans, instead of other aspiring (comic) artists. However, we also wanted to keep our options somewhat open, and that's why you can still unlock PSD's and progress pictures in the $5 tier. We figured that the first Patrons we'd reel in wouldn't necessarily be (aspiring) artists, hence the current rewards. If you'd like more art-related rewards, let us know! We're growing and changing and we'd like to grow and change in the direction you prefer.
Reward tiers
At first, we had reward tiers ranging from $1 up to $50, offering (somewhat extreme) rewards like physical prints, commissioned work and a direct line of communication with us, but after thinking it over, it didn't feel right to start our Patreon with these tiers and rewards.
Following some research, we decided to go back to the drawing board and focus on four specific tiers: the tiers ranging from $3 to $10. These tiers usually represent about 75-90% of one's Patrons.
We also decided to change some high-tier-rewards to goals, to make these rewards accessible to everyone, instead of just people in the high tiers. Check out, for example, the $5 tier and what will be included once we reach all of our goals.
This is a short summary of how we decided to use our current reward tiers. We have some cool ideas for the (upcoming) $15 and $20 tiers, but first we want this Patreon to mature a bit and gather some feedback from you guys. After then, we'll roll out new rewards and eliminate rewards nobody is interested in (or move them to goals, we'll see).
Launching Patreon
Last week, we soft-launched this Patreon. We haven't made much noise yet, but from this week on, we'll start promoting this Patreon in the footer of the comics, on social media and to our friends and family. We hope to create an "early-bird" group of Patrons in this way. The results of these efforts will probably be shared with you in a blogpost next month!
If you can't wait to see how well/badly we're doing, check out our statistics on Graphtreon (which we also used ourselves to search for similar comic artists for inspiration). Graphtreon themselves also have a Patreon to improve their free service, so definitely check them out!Next blog will be on Monday the 22th of August. Till then!Christiaan