You know, I often let you guys know I am not monetizing this blog even though no one’s asked. But with the amount of posts I write on the subject, it sure seems like I want to. I don’t. At least not yet. But I do see people talk about the subject a lot and the information available is really more general and rarely suited to our specific needs. See how I snuck myself back into the group!
I have no experience with this issue either so I can’t teach you anything here. Teaching in general is not one of my strengths. But I am pretty decent at data mining and gathering. I thought we could do that together today. If you’ll be so kind as to humour me here, I have two simple questions with pertinent polls for you to take. These are some of the basic questions most bloggers tend to ask themselves when going the monetization route.
First, if you were to give money to a blog, would you prefer the option to give one time sums with options such as Kofi, do you like the idea of more long term subsidizing which will provide you with some reward in exchange, basically Patreon, or do you have no preference?
Second, and this is a slightly more tricky question: is there a specific type of content you are more likely to subsidize. Even if you are not currently in a situation where you can afford to pay for something like this, what type of blog would you be most likely to pay for under other circumstances.
For instance, do you look for hard working bloggers who post often and consistently? Maybe you’re the type that reads blogs as part of your daily/weekly routine so you really appreciate someone who can stick to their release schedule. Maybe you’re less comfortable paying on a monthly basis if you can’t be sure anything will be published that month.
Or it could be that you favour originality. Perhaps what you look for is a blog that provides the types of posts you can’t find anywhere else and that’s why you want to encourage them to keep going. Of course coming up with something new and unique takes a bit more time but you think it’s worth the wait.
Are you a lover of the written word and do you look to blogs for literary prowess (clearly not if you’re here)? Perhaps you really would like to be a patron of the Arts and as such you’re actually looking for writing talent and skill and are less interested in the substance of posts.
Then again, maybe you’re the type that looks for a personal connection? You want to know who you are sponsoring so you’re more likely to go for blogs with personal posts and a more intimate tone. Not necessarily bloggers that do diary entries but those that put a bit of themselves in their writing no matter the subject. And you don’t mind that these tend to be subjective, less researched or informative since they’re restricted to first hand experience.
Finally, you might be the practical type, and you just want your money to go to whoever needs it most and will use it best? You like your bloggers to let you know why they need the dough and exactly what they’ll do with it before you can commit to anything.
Or maybe you prioritize something completely different I had not thought of at all. You should let me know!
I know you guys hate taking polls but I do hope you participate in good numbers to this one. I am quite sure that this information will interest a few bloggers. I also think it may help some of us to figure out how we want to proceed with our blogs. That’s a worthy cause!
The more data we can get on this the better so please feel free to share, repost or write your own post on the subject. Just let me know the results so I can compile everything together and we can get the best idea of what anime blog readers like. I’ll leave this pinned here for a couple of weeks and try to get people’s opinions through my other platforms as well. I’m not very popular there so success may be limited. I figure we can reconvene in two weeks and see what we got? Does that sound good?
Oh and here’s a super bonus question for those extra special readers who are nice enough to answer in the comments. What types of Patreon rewards would you be most excited about. A lot of bloggers offer special posts or patron only reviews, but is there something else you’d like. I don’t really know what. A chance to podcast with your favourite blogger? A face reveal? A recommendation list tailored to your specific tastes? I’m grasping at straws here so help me out guys. Gimme some ideas!
Well totally missed this one, but when I start earning on my own is support creators who give unique content. Patreon seems a great option, though I suppose Kofi would be less demanding and get more takers?
As for rewards, tailored lists would be personally nice Rin-san, though some featured content specially for patrons also sounds cool.
*I’d not is geez
Honestly, when it comes to finding blogs where people share thoughts an opinions, you can find copious amounts for free online. Given the amount of free content online, I think the best approach is quality over quantity. I can’t really say one way or the other what platform would be best between Ko-Fi and Patreon, but if I’m going to pay for content, I do so with an expectation of excellency (otherwise I may as well just find the free stuff). But if you can offer unique and fun pieces that are also well written and well researched, then it becomes something worth paying for. Of course, that takes a lot more time than just a simple hobby, but if you’re monetizing it’s really more of a business anyway (even if it’s a small one).
Like you, I have no plans to ever monetize. I am not a professional writer and I don’t have a technical skillset for evaluating what is objectively good or bad about anime, so I made the decision that I have no need to monetize (though for me, personally, that stems from a lack of confidence in my ability to create content worth paying for). But if you’re seriously considering and want to know what kind of content to provide, the above is my personal opinion.
Hope that helps.
It does!
I’d say the blog I’d pay for would be The Crafty Musician just because Anitra, the host of the the site, has been really helpful in giving me confidence, if not helpful tips, for my dream careers. Not that I actually had to PAY to see that blog, I just stumbled upon it after looking up tips. I call Anitra my singing and songwriting mentor now.
I’m just ‘liking’ everything… even though I don’t know what a lot of them are saying… If I had to pay for any blog, I’d say The Crafty Musician (not that I had to pay to get in) but it helped to find both of these websites. I’m glad I stumbled on the Crafty Musician website though. From now on, I’m calling Anitra (the host of the site) my singing & songwriting mentor because she’s been giving me confidence if not helpful tips for my dream careers.
Those sound interesting, what are they?
Oops, duplicated just ’cause I didn’t see this comment I already made.
I have donated here and there with KoFi but not as much as I would like to give away.
I have one myself but no one has donated so I am considering shutting it down as it is kinda embarrassing.
Oh noes. I wouldn’t be embarassed. These things take time and it’s because most people have no luck monetizing that there’s so much questions on the subject.
Very true.
I don’t really support online creators for the simple reason I can’t afford to. I wish I could but as I am living more or less paycheck to paycheck I can’t do much. There are a lot of YouTubers and Bloggers I would love to support but ye olde wallet says no.
I have gone back and forth about monetizing Nerd Rambles but the fact that I would have to pay a lot to do so and there is no guarantee I could even cover that expense I haven’t.
You can still use services like KoFi, can’t you?
I only ran across your blog today from a twitter recomendation, and this is a topic that I have been doing a lot of thinking about myself. I’ve been considering patreon, and its tricky coming up with rewards.
I think it’s a question that’s on a lot of people’s minds. I’m looking forward to seeing the results myself
Those sound interesting, what are they?
Aimed at crazyidiot78…
That’s a tough one! I support only three content creators on Patreon; AmaLee who does music, Good Bad or Bad Bad that usually hour long discussions on a movie they cover, and Bobsamurai who does anime. Each provide me something different for what I pay for. AmaLee for instance will sometime send out psychical rewards such as a physical CD whenever she releases a new cover album. Recently, she been sending them out exclusively to Patrons of a certain level. She will also asks for suggestions, and get Patrons to vote what song they would like her to do. I’ve been listening to her stuff for years which is why I support her. She prove to be consistent with her uploads, and open when she needs time off.
Good Bad or Bad Bad does exclusive Podcasts, some exclusive videos, and whenever possible get to see the uploads earlier than anyone else. I consider my support of them more than worth it with the amount of work they put into their videos. Also, with 5$ being the highest tier, and improving their equipment over time demonstrates to me they know how to be responsible with the money given to them.
Bobsamurai is the only one where my feelings fluctuates on. He use to do a thing where every month he would gather up nominations for anime to review if below 26 episodes, and try to cover it the next month. There were restrictions which hindered part of the point for it, but he was committed to it for bit. There were also group watches, but he stopped doing that too. There’s also the podcast he does with Patrons, but I personally don’t consider that much of a reward given that I’ve appeared on a friends anime podcast 4 times for free. I (and probably some others) would be more at ease if he told us more about why he ain’t producing any videos at all at the moment instead of leaving everyone in the dark. He voices his concern letting people in private chats, but he doesn’t make a video to keep regular viewers in the loop of things.
The one type of rewards I don’t like seeing be exclusive is a Discord server for Patrons only. I feel that needlessly divides part of the community a content creator builds around them. If the content creator also wants to pursue something that’ll take up more of them time like publishing a book about say the history of Madhouse Studio, or an original story I would be more incline to offer support through Ko-Fi. That I wouldn’t mind supporting since it’s a lot more ambitious than just doing a book of your own work you already posted online.
Rewards I wouldn’t mind seeing would probably be a group watch of anime like Bobsamurai use to do. There’s services like Rabbit that makes it easy to watch anime in a group when it decides to work. It’s distracting if you want to watch something seriously, but it can be fun to do. Patreon exclusive is something I’m fine with too. They can be about anything related to the blog, or something of another topic they normally wouldn’t write about.
Before I write a dozen paragraphs, I’ll expand on what make me finically want to support a content creator. It’s not necessarily the amount of content, or how unique the work is, but the passion I feel demonstrated through their work. Personalities that come across as real to me not hidden by some played up facade. Asking myself does it feel like they’re treating what they’re doing purely as a business? If the answer is no, and then I’ll consider the thought of supporting them in my. Preferably while not going broke either myself!
That’s a very interesting point about discord. I hadn’t considered it at all.
And watch-a-longs would be a great reward. I find the quality on rabbit a bit sketchy but I haven’t played that much with the app.
This is great insight. Thank you
I wonder if Twitch would work for a watch-a-long?
It could methinks.
Ko-fi is an awesome way to support and I myself donate to a lot of ’em. But as for Patreon, that’s a bit trickier. I think it depends on if you have some exclusive, yet creative rewards you can give to the partons. Like perhaps the podcast idea, or a look at the writing process that goes into how the articles are I guess, comed up with? Couldn’t find a better word for it.
Conceived? Those are always super interesting posts
A face reveal?
I guess that train left the station on my blog a long time ago. Along with all the cars and the caboose.
It was a joke option.
“What types of Patreon rewards would you be most excited about.”
I know you said that a lot of bloggers do this, but I think I’d like sponsor-only content. Some things, like a face reveal, might be dangerous in today’s climate. Of course, I work in computer security, so I’m suspicious of everything…
The idea of a pin or other kind of merchandise is interesting, though it would require an up front investment. Tailored lists have an appeal — it’d be an “Ask Irina-Sensei” sort of thing.
Allowing for a sponsor to be a guest blogger automatically has the potential to damage your brand. However, you could allow sponsors to compete for one post spot a month, with you choosing the winner. That could drum up interest.
Can you tell I’m not in Marketing or Sales?
Not at all – you seem to have thought this through!
I like the idea behind Patreon but not sure I bring myself to do it. It feels like trying to get people to sponsor you (I do know that’s exactly what it is), which gives me chills as memories of trying to get sponsorship for whatever random challenge the school has got everyone doing, ie swimathon.
I have novellas and short stories available on Amazon, and hopefully soon some full length novels, and I’d rather convince people to buy them rather than sponsor me.
I wouldn’t say I’d never do it, I just think there would need to be a plan in place with suitable rewards for the different tiers. Trying to get people to pay for blog posts is a tricky sale because there’s just so much free content available.
That’s true. Competition is rough
Interesting idea, but from past experience, I never had any luck with Patreon and donations with my blog compared to my open source projects. While it’s nice to have income from a blog so one can invest back into it, but it’s not necessary. Anime blogging is mostly to me just a hobby that provides me with some leisure. I don’t expect to make anything off it. Even with advertisements, at best I earn a few dollars every month.
On the other hand, I had better luck receiving donations and patron contributions for the open source software I develop. I guess in that respect, it’s easier if you have something such as creations such as artwork or software. With blogging, one has to be creative and put in the time in deciding what the rewards to do and work on them.
Generally – written works are less attractive too general audiences right now. But a little is better than nothing!
The blogs I would be willing to pay for consist of consistency, uniqueness of voice, and how much I feel they deserve to be paid based on their output or enjoyability of their content. I’m a patron of Karandi because she’s amazing at what she does and feel she absolutely deserves it, if not for her written content or passion for her subject then the lengths she goes to to post three articles a day and constantly adhere to a rigid schedule. I answered the second poll with “All of the above,” as I feel everything you listed is an important aspect to a blog that I think should be monetized, but don’t see any of them specifically as THE thing that I would be most willing to pay for. If I had to choose, it would probably be consistency of posting, with a second choice being a personal connection to the author.
At this stage, I would likely become a patron of yours, too, Irina, seeing as you qualify for a majority of the things I look for in a blog. And as for the final question, I care very little for the typical patron awards of getting a shout-out, accessing an exclusive Discord, or being involved in some way. However, I’ve always been intrigued with people behind blogs on a more intimate level, dependent on just how personal various bloggers get, so a face reveal would personally be enticing to me, as would a more detailed look into the life of the author of a blog.
I also patron Karandi, She works hard for it
I think Patreon is an amazing idea, it isn’t something I have ever looked into doing myself but I think it is worthwhile. I love Ko-Fi myself, I find the idea of people being able to give a small tip if or when they feel like it is a great idea!
As for content, I think regularly posts would attract me. Knowing that someone is putting work in regularly is something I admire! I think having more of a connection with that person too, if they can share more personal posts about themselves or their hobbies then I feel like I know that person better and would feel happy in supporting their content more!
I like Ko-Fi as well. It’s a nice way to show appreciation without tying you down to anything
Yeah, I love that fact about it!
Great idea. Am really interested in this results too
Yeah – can’t wait to see what comes of this
This is really interesting! I’m not really into Patreon, but would love more of the bloggers I follow to have a Kofi. In terms of funding Kofi isn’t as useful to the blogger as you don’t have guaranteed income from it, but I often read amazing articles and think ‘Wow, I really want to give the author something back for writing this because it is awesome’, and I have done that a couple of times.
My problem with Patreon is that it feels too much like business. I write a very small blog and I read lots of other blogs, some bigger some smaller, but at the end of the day it is just a hobby to me – I’m not here to help someone grow a business, I’m just interested in their thoughts. With Kofi I feel like I can really show my appreciation and encouragement to other bloggers without tying myself into anything, especially since they will still be reading my stuff for free.
That’s an interesting view and you’re right – Patreon does feel like you are giving to a company and in a way you are
I’ve been very tempted by patron for webtoons. I wish I was in a place to support them more. Maybe someday!
I think at this point in my life I would pay for something that would help my future author career and that would be marketing. If I had money in the future I think it would be nice to pay and donate to blogs every so often. I don’t think I would be able to subscribe to something since in these last few months my life has been so erratic.
I’m not very helpful am I? haha
But you’re dleightful. It’s a fair tradeoff
It’s not quite as relevant to blogs, but I have insight (sort of) here! Bear with me.
So I talk on the internet a lot about Geek History Lesson Podcast (it’s amazing, all should listen), it’s my favourite podcast and it’s the only thing I sponsor on Patreon. I follow a few other providers (https://www.patreon.com/user/creators?u=8382250) but they are the only ones who really go the extra mile so far as I can see. Also, them being my first even Patreon-age really spoiled me and set that standard so high no one seems to be able to measure up.
Jason & Ashley set a really amazing business model any online creators should take note of – check out geekhistorylesson .com – especially on their Patreon, their rewards are great. I donate at the $15 level and I got a GHL enamel pin in my first month, free content, extra podcast episodes, sneak peaks into their comic book projects, early access, membership to a few ‘clubs’ including the exclusive Mind University Facebook Group which affords the best part of the Patreon – direct access to the presenters themselves. I can suggest episodes, content, and questions as well as just chat geek stuff with them in the FB group. All for a measly $15!
They’ve done loads of other stuff in the past too, not least of all upgraded all their podcast equipment to offer a better quality product and sent out free teas & Gift boxes. Every now and then I also get a personalized/designed postcard and they do random giveaways of comic books.
It’s A-grade monetisation for sure in my book, and most of it could be applied to blogs.
Interesting – I would love to have a blog pin!
What’s a blog pin?