Patreon and Podcasters

Lisa Woolfork uses Patreon as a podcaster. That might surprise you and guess what? It surprised me too. I didn’t know that podcasters could use Patreon. Patreon is an online donation platform that allows patrons (or donators) to support you with money every month. This sounds great, sign me up, right? Not so fast. You can have a Patreon account and get no patrons, supporters, donors or haters. Patreon is more than a Go Fund Me account which has been used for a LOT of different things.

So what’s the point of Patreon? Podcasters will find Patreon useful if they are not ready for (or have not found) sponsors. Most creators will include exclusive content on their Patreon account; behind the scenes images, video or audio clips that are not shared anywhere else.

I was aware that YouTubers and bloggers have used Patreon, especially travel bloggers. While they are exploring the world, they have their patrons donate money to them to use for food and leisure and they share those experiences with us. However, a podcaster using Patreon? This is still a surprise to me (even as I write this), but I understand why Lisa chose to use Patreon.

When we spoke, Lisa explained that she sees her Patreon account as a way for the podcast audience to support the podcast. Lisa considers herself a community leader and Lisa created the larger organization, Black Women Stitch, as a place for Black women, girls and femmes in this creative space, where they can discuss stitches, history, sewing, and textiles. The Stitch Please podcast is an extension of the Black Women Stitch group and the Patreon account is in the name of Black Women Stitch.

Lisa is very protective of the Stitch Please community and Lisa is particular about what ads are shared on the podcast. Lisa created the Stitch Please podcast as a love letter to Black women, girls and femmes who could not find a safe space to be themselves and discuss the things they loved, so Lisa created that space. Read more about Black Women Stitch here.

All of that background is important because you have to understand why people donate to Lisa through Patreon. Lisa said that most messages that she receives from her Patreon donors mention that they are supporting Lisa, specifically. These donors appreciate Lisa’s dedication to the podcast and give money on a monthly basis as a way of supporting Lisa’s vision. The Stitch Please podcast audience and Black Women Stitch community show their love for Lisa by supporting Lisa through her Patreon account.

Doesn’t that sound a lot different from how I understood Patreon? Yeah, exactly. But I can see reasons for both types of creators to have a Patreon account. I just didn’t know that podcasters could do this. Lisa created the Patreon account in 2019, shortly after the podcast began. But how did Lisa grow to 320+ patrons? Lisa created a shared goal for the podcast and Lisa advertised her Patreon account.

Lisa was approaching the 100th podcast episode and wanted to celebrate this milestone with the podcast audience. In order to celebrate, Lisa asked for 100 Patreon donors to support the podcast by the 100th episode. This appears to be a simple request, but this request got the audience excited. You listened to the podcast, remembered that you liked Lisa, remembered

that you enjoyed Stitch Please and now Lisa had a job for you! Let’s do it. I will sign up and tell my friend about Lisa’s Patreon to ensure that Lisa gets at least two people. Great now that Lisa has two other people, let me tell one more person in case one of them doesn’t follow through. Suddenly, asking for Patreon donors became a goal for everyone who heard the podcast episode. This goal was shared and discussed and Lisa met the goal of 100 Patreon donors by the 100th episode with flying colors.

Now, earlier I said that Lisa got an advertiser. Doesn’t that work against the Patreon account? Not if you are advertising about the Patreon account. Lisa was her own advertisement. For a couple of weeks, Lisa would include an ad in the middle of the podcast where Lisa asked people to take a minute, visit the Patreon page and support the podcast. You see, Patreon has taken the ickiness out of asking people for money. Most Black people grow up hearing that asking for money is considered tacky. But it isn’t tacky to ask someone to donate one dollar every month to support your podcast, is it? No. Because people do not know what you need until you tell them and if what you need is money to pay the editors, promoters and other people who work on your podcast, then you need to ask for the money to support the podcast. Lisa’s Patreon account is proof of that.

Lisa thanks the Patreon donors with a lot of bonus content. Lisa is a fan of working smarter, not harder. Because Lisa is recording the audio for a podcast episode, Lisa also records the video from the episode and uses that on Patreon. If Lisa creates a worksheet for a friend, Lisa can share that worksheet with the Patreon donors. All of this bonus content keeps the Patreon donors engaged and happily donating to the Patreon account every month.

Lisa has over 100,000 podcast downloads in less than two years. Lisa had the opportunity to bring on paid podcast sponsors, but she wasn’t interested. Lisa wants to control what the Stitch Please audience hears and that means that Lisa was hesitant to take money from just anyone. Sponsors pay you money to boost their brand. A sponsor will have you sign contracts, tell you what to say, ask for retakes or rerecordings until the content is the way the sponsor wants it. Your favorite big box store could be selling yarn to the Stitch Please podcast, but Lisa had another plan. I would say that Lisa had a better plan because Lisa is able to protect what is said on her podcast and pay for her podcast related expenses because of Patreon.

Now that you know what Patreon is, you may not think it will be the best choice for your podcast audience. That is okay because you are the boss of your show. But as you wait for advertisers or maybe you aren’t enjoying your experience with an advertiser, consider finding support for your podcast from Patreon.

You have the option to control every message that comes from your podcast. You have the ability to allow sponsors or reject sponsors. You can choose to promote your Patreon account and build a community or you can enjoy podcasting as a hobby. The power in Losa’s story is that Lisa doesn’t play by anyone’s rules other than her own.

I wrote a lot of notes when I spoke to Lisa and I will put a lot of Lisa’s advice to use with my own podcast. Of those notes, the biggest lesson that I learned is to remember that I have control over my podcast. You have control over your podcast. Period. I challenge you to ask for what

you want! Create your own ads and ask the podcast audience to use your Patreon account and support your podcast.