Advice on Monetizing

[chainmailbikini]

So I'm kinda in a spot where I'd like to focus on my webcomic/art more. Recent happy changes in my life, including a new job, have propelled me back on this path. I've reached a point where I'd like to start setting up my site to eventually monetize my arts a little.

I'm trying to get in on this Patreon thing (I have no illusions of making money hand over fist here, but any little bit would help). So I checked out the patreons of three different comickers so far, one small, one big, and one modest. All of them were using a monthly pledge, but I feel like a small per page pledge (would 5 cents a page be too much?) might be better suited for my site since it's entirely possible I might go more than a month without producing a new page and I'd hate to charge people for nothing (Not that I -intend- to do that anymore, but shit happens). When I was working super hard on my comic in the beginning, the best I could easily do was four pages a month, so I don't think there will be a danger to anybodies bank account.

Does anyone have experience with this? Do patrons just tend to prefer a monthly pledge?

Would a 'Donate' option be better for a webcomic no one's ever heard of?

Sorry if there's a thread about this kinda thing elsewehere, I did try to search but only got mentions of Patreon in passing.

[LibertyCabbage]

I've been considering doing ads or Patreon too, lately, although I don't have any concrete plans yet.

I'm trying to get in on this Patreon thing (I have no illusions of making money hand over fist here, but any little bit would help). So I checked out the patreons of three different comickers so far, one small, one big, and one modest. All of them were using a monthly pledge, but I feel like a small per page pledge (would 5 cents a page be too much?) might be better suited for my site since it's entirely possible I might go more than a month without producing a new page and I'd hate to charge people for nothing (Not that I -intend- to do that anymore, but shit happens).

The minimum pledge is $1. Per page seems better because pledgers can set a monthly cap anyways, so it basically leaves the choice up to them how they want to do it. I guess monthly might be better for the bigger creators because it gives them a reliable income, and they can set stretch goals to reward pledgers.

Anyways, it seems like there's really no disadvantage to signing up for Patreon versus doing direct donations other than their 5% fee, and you should be able to make up for that and more via recurring pledges and stretch goals.

[chainmailbikini]

I guess I could always do both!

For the patreon, I was thinking of doing a drawing as a reward for my first tier, an ink for second tier, and a color piece for third, but then I realized that someone could just sign up, pay once, then discontinue their patronage, cheating me of 24 dollars or more that I would have got for a commission piece. But, I don't know, maybe I'd just have to take my chances on that. It's not like I have a lot else to offer prospective patrons at the moment.

[LibertyCabbage]

For the patreon, I was thinking of doing a drawing as a reward for my first tier, an ink for second tier, and a color piece for third, but then I realized that someone could just sign up, pay once, then discontinue their patronage, cheating me of 24 dollars or more that I would have got for a commission piece. But, I don't know, maybe I'd just have to take my chances on that. It's not like I have a lot else to offer prospective patrons at the moment.

I'll look into Patreon more later, but from what I've seen so far, commissions and special requests are typically in a $25+ tier and don't happen until payment's received. So, you could use Patreon for commissions, and you can set a tier limit so you can't get overwhelmed with requests. And people can use their credit cards to pledge, so it might be less of a hassle for people who haven't bothered to set up a PayPal account yet. As far as incentives go, some of the less obvious I've seen so far are providing a PDF download for the comic, and adding pledgers into the comic as background characters.

[chainmailbikini]

Hmm, good ideas. Thanks a lot, LC!

[genzharp]

But isn't Patreon just for donations?