Getting started with Patreon
First, congratulations on deciding to be a creator on Patreon! This platform is very intuitively designed, and it’s a wonderful way to reward your supporters for being an active part of your online creative community. Let’s begin this step-by-step DIY with something to motivate you to succeed at this, shall we? I have a challenge for you.
THE ART RESOURCERY / PATREON CHALLENGE
If you can:
1. Sign up as a Patreon creator for the first time by clicking through the red banner below, and…
2. Get 20 patrons within your first 30 days…
You will win: $50! (Paid directly into your Patreon account). How about that? You came here looking for tips on starting your Patreon Artist page, and now, if you do what you were already planning to do, you can win 50 bucks. Not too shabby, right?
✵ Are you ready to accept the ART ReSOURCERY / PATREON CHALLENGE? Cick the red banner below to accept:
Once you accept the Getting started with Patreon challenge...
A page will open in a new window, and in that window, you will be gently guided through the set-up process. Patreon’s getting started procedure is very simple.
PRO TIP: Remember that you don’t need to have millions of tiers and rewards right away. Between 1-3 is enough to get going. If you can’t think of clever names right now, just use the price as the tier name. Lots of creators do that. The most important thing is to start.
Before you can add Analytics to your Patreon creator page, you will need a free Google Analytics account.
- After you get your account, remember to save your login info. We made a gift for you to help: Claim your free Password Keeper.
Connect Google Analytics to Patreon
Log into your Google Analytics dashboard in one tab, and your Patreon account in another.
Step 1. Get a tracking ID for your Patreon Creator Account.
In your Google Analytics dashboard…
Click create account. If you don’t see that option, click the little blue cog icon at the bottom, left-hand corner of the screen, then click CREATE ACCOUNT.
For Account Name, use your Patreon shop address in this format: patreon.com/ArtResourcery and click NEXT.
It will ask What do you want to measure? : Web > NEXT
Click + Create Property
Choose: Web
Website’s name: Patreon – [your page’s name here]
Website’s URL is the URL for patreon account: https://www.patreon.com/yourpagename
Choose industry and time zone > CREATE.
Terms of service will pop up: accept.
Now you will see a tracking ID in this format: UA-XXXXXXX-X
Copy it. [Highlight it with your mouse > right click > copy].
Step 2. Put your Analytics Tracking ID into Patreon.
- Logged into your Patreon account, go to https://www.patreon.com/edit/about.
- Scroll down to ADVANCED INTEGRATIONS.
- Where it says Google Analytics ID, paste [right click > paste] that Google Analytics Tracking ID that you copied (the one in this format: UA-XXXXXXX-X).
- Scroll to the top of the page and click Save Changes.
The button will turn gray when your code has been successfully saved.
And you’re all set! Well done!
Posting from inside Patreon
It’s a good idea to have a few Patron-only posts already on your page before anybody sees it so your future Patrons understand that you plan to create content specifically for them.
Log into your Patreon dashboard, and click POSTS > NEW on the left. You’ll have these options:
Give 'em the good stuff!
From there it’s just as intuitive as writing an email.
- Add your content. Try to include some sort of gift to your Patrons (This could be anything, really. Digital downloads or music or behind the scenes access to something you’re doing, etc.)
- On the right of your post screen, under WHO CAN SEE THIS POST?, you can choose who will be able to [you guessed it…] see your post: public, all Patrons, or the tiers of your choice.
- When you’ve filled out all the areas, click PUBLISH NOW. If you click the little arrow to the right of the PUBLISH NOW button, there’s also an option to save your draft, or schedule the post for later, but why wait?
Want to hook up (Patreon with WordPress)?
If you followed our free tutorial on how to build your own creator website with WordPress, you’re probably wondering if there’s a plugin that will give special perks to your Patreon patrons from within your website. And of course the answer is yes! You can read about the Patreon WordPress plugin here.
WHAT WE’VE ACCOMPLISHED:
You’ve set up your fabulous Patreon page, it’s connected to Google Analytics, and if you have a WordPress website, it now has fancy gated posts for patrons only. Excellent! Now you’ll need to tell people that you have a Patreon page and would very much appreciate their support. It’s nothing to be shy about. People are happy to support creators who give them things they like or need. You can just work it into a post on your website and social media like this:
You’re ready to share your Patreon page with all your friends!
And what better way to understand the Patron experience than by becoming a patron yourself? If you pledge just $1 to Art Resourcery, you’ll get to see what your friends will be doing when they show you their support and appreciation. And of course, you’ll then get all sorts of wondrous Art Resourcery perks!
See what I did there?
That’s it, you’re ready to fly!
- If you created a Patreon page using this tutorial, feel free to let our readers see what you’re offering! You can post your Patreon link in the comments below!
REMEMBER: YOU NEED 20 SUPPORTERS IN YOUR FIRST 30 DAYS IF YOU ENTERED THE CHALLENGE, SO START SHARING EVERYWHERE!
- One more prize available for anyone who entered the ART RESOURCERY PATREON CHALLENGE: post with the hashtag #ARTReSOURCERYpatreon to be entered once a year in a surprise featured creator give-away! (We’ll check for entries into this raffle on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter).
- Do you have any questions? Need any help? Ask in the comments or join our private Facebook community, where artists can ‘talk shop’ about the business of online wizarding. When you share your page on social media, remember to tag us @artresourcery so we can like and share our fellow artists!
And as always, have a magical evening!
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