You may have come across your favourite YouTuber, Game streamer, Online artists, or other online personalities and content creators, in general, requesting you to “pledge to their Patreon.” Have you ever wondered what Patreon is? Why do they need it, and how does it work?

Today, we aim to answer just that. let’s get started.

Why do they need your money?

Artists online have always found it difficult to earn as it’s hard to market and stabilise earnings from Ad-revenues and other sponsorships due to stricter policies in place by various websites like YouTube, Tumblr and others. They now also have more stringent policies which give them the power to demonize, ban, and block content it has become even harder for content creators to earn a living and hence services like Patreon come in.

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What is Patreon?

Patreon is an online platform where anyone who’s willing can sign-up to support their favourite content creators financially; it also serves as a social platform where content creators can connect and interact with their fans and Patreons.

Ads and other online revenue formats are often insufficient and unreliable especially for content creators with smaller fanbases and often hinder their capacity to make content and even make ends meet for those who solely rely on Ad-revenues. Hence, Patreon provides a more secure and reliable source of revenue for the content creators allowing them to focus on their craft for their fans.

How does it support your favourite content creator?

It’s quite simple really, Patreon takes a pre-designated donation from you every month and gives it to the content creators of your choice. Patreon opens up the monetary possibility to many categories of artists to earn cash for their efforts which is pretty cool.

Not only that, people are also encouraged to pledge for a chance to connect more closely with their favourite creators and personalities — think of it as a backstage pass to your favourite artist’s concert.

Patreons more often than not also get exclusive access to some other goodies, content, and merchandise too, which is a nice touch. Creators can also set up multiple tiers of benefits to their supporters based on how much support you’ve offered them.

You are aiding in the progress of your favourite content creators

Not only are you providing financial support but some content creators also post new ideas, polls and interact with their patreons on the platform where you can suggest and shape the discussion. They also post long time goals where you can contribute to help them achieve their goals and shape the future — pretty powerful stuff.

The golden era of amateur content creation has taken a turn for the worse in modern times as stricter copyright laws, inaccurate content ID bots, and stringent demonetisation practices have taken over significant content outlets. Fun, intriguing, and genuine content have become harder and harder to come by these days, but services like Patreon and even YouTube’s join feature is starting to help creators keep their craft alive and kicking.

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