pouët.net

A few weeks ago i had an epiphany that had been building up for a few years now. I re-concluded that i fucking hate working for end clients and that i would be much better off not working for them ever again in my life. They always have their mind set on asking for outdated things that make no sense, they don't listen when you explain what is possible and what isn't, they always doubt your realistic budgets, demand unrealistic delivery times and expect the greatest thing ever, you end up spending allnighters stressing your mind away to meet their fucked up expectations and then spend double that time trying to get them to come through with the agreed payment. I always hated the bullshit market side of things and the annoying cluelessness of most people. It was stressful like hell and i felt like i was always explaining obvious things to stupid people, only to be allowed to work on an uninteresting project that was being directed the wrong way. Not having any real impact on the world. Not making me feel accomplished. So i finally gave up and swore never to work on someone else's project unless it's completely under my terms and aligned with what i want to be doing for myself as an engineer, artist or content creator. This is not something that is compatible with working for a small-sized services based company, so i talked with my bosses and downgraded my time schedule to 4 hours a week, just to do simple consultancy and emergency project management / firefighter coding work.

Which leads me to why i'm creating this post: Now that i'm free from the shackels of corporate life I decided to spend the next 2 years doing fulltime the things i love doing which i was already doing part-time and try to make a living out of them. If i can't make it in 2 years i'll reconsider working for the man.

The only issue is that all the things i enjoy doing have always been done and shared for free online. And i want to keep them that way because i strongly believe that that's what life and culture is about, sharing things openly with others.

So i started putting together a schedule to do more regular livestreams, creative writing sessions, creative coding sessions, demo making, music making, netlabel promotion, line drawing, etc.

I setup a monetized youtube to cash in on adviews of material that is 100% my own, and now i setup a patreon page with some rewards.

So if you consider yourself a fan of mine of some sort, this is most probably the best timing you will possibly ever have to demonstrate it, by supporting me on patreon on this launch phase. The public launch is the most critical phase of patreon, it determines entirely if it will ever pick up "to the general public" or not. So every dollar counts, even if it's just for one month. I could also really use your regular feedback on this adventure of mine to figure out what i should be focusing more or less on.

I'm quite scared of the demoscene backlash regarding the patreon topic to tell you the truth, since it's always been more or less a non-profit hobby, this might come across as some sort of a sacrilege way to fund demo making.

Rest assured that regardless if you decide to contribute or not i will carry on making demos and promoting the demoscene as i always have.

https://www.patreon.com/psenough

hey filipe! i still have to figure out how this patreon thing works, but i'll try! good luck with your plan, and hope to see you at evoke again finally!

I know two artists (although non-sceners) who have been using patreon for a year or so. One of them has gotten one patreon (who gives him $13 per month), the other zero. Hopefully you will have more success.

All the best man, hope you see success with this route! <3

At least he learned how to spell "beautiful" correctly, so that's good.

Gargaj: The spelling beautifull was an alternate in the 15th and 16th centuries (e.g. see Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy) but hasn't been accepted for 150 years or so.
(rofl...)

ps: good luck, will be supporting you when I get a job :P

Okay EviLL, if you say so.

On a more serious note:

We've discussed this on IRC a while ago, and I was honestly waiting to see who'd be the first one to do it. In my eyes, sure, why not, if it works, more power to you.

I personally am staying off the Patreon train both as a creator (lol no, please don't pay for stuff I can barely tolerate making) and as a supporter (I've been broke for far too long to be comfortable with recurring payments), but as a concept, I see the value in it and I hope people who give it a shot succeed with it.

Admirable decision. One that I genuinely hope you will succeed with. Good luck on the hard startup and fingers crossed you'll make it ;-)

thanks for the support guys!

I hope it goes well and you have plenty of "fat" to live off in the lean times.
I hate to be that guy but.... you may find that patreon isn't your platform (unless you're keen on getting your kit off).
[url=https://www.reddit.com/r/PatreonGirls/][/url]

well, i already have the hair for it! just missing a couple of other key qualities...

triss<3

I joined patreon recently and am only up to 6 supported people. I'm more than happy to throw a few bucks at people who make content that I find informative, inspiring or entertaining.

It might be a hard road to get to a level of funding you find sustainable. A big part will be getting a small initial library of content together, then trying to get your name out there without seeming spammy or begging. But hey - you don't know where it could go. If some shirtless mute from Queensland can get $5k every time he goes bush and lashes some sticks together, or a couple of tea-swilling poms earn $4k for working on their mini, or you know...

Best of luck and I hope you reach sustainability!

so instead of working for the man, you're gonna work for the microfunding men!

What's next? Selling code like BITS? Just kidding :D

I wish you success!

psenough: you are surely delivering with Mysterious Demoscene Theater, so why not patreon for that. It's quite a bit of work I can imagine.

For making demos: of course everyone would love to get some $ just for his hobby, but I share opinion with Gargaj here. However, if people would want to pay you for that - I would be more than happy for you!

A side note on patreon in general: even if you are on Inigo level and gets like what 600$ a month, it's still a lot of work to please and caress your supporters, respond to e-mails, send updates, etc... Is it really worth it? I guess it is a lot of stress/responsibility and can easily become yet another hated job as well.

That depends I guess. Some Youtubers I watch have jumped ship from relying solely on YouTube ad-revenue to Patreon and seem to be perfectly happy - it's a bit more reliable in terms of income, and as long as they lay out their rules in the perks clearly and don't overpromise, it can be much more convenient. Thing is, if you need 30000 views per video to make a living, you're trying to please 30000 people. With Patreon, you can score $3-4000 a month with just 300 people to please, and those 300 people are opt-in who checked in $10 a month simply because they like the perk of being able to talk to you on Discord or something (i.e. they watch you because of you, not necessarily your content specifics), not randos who will stop watching your good videos if you don't play more of a certain game you decided you don't like. So the power dynamic is very different.

Highly unlikely. There's one dude, who makes almost 11 dollars per patreon on this list, but the average for most people is 1-4 dollars. Patreon in general works great for a few professional Youtubers, podcasters and webcomic people, but not really for someone who's doing "a little bit of this and a little bit of that" in pretty obscure niches. Also: hearts (and pledges) can change quickly. You better be good, fast and unique enough in what you have to offer.

I was taking a specific example with 339 patrons and $3,150 per month, but I did note I was talking about professional Youtubers with established audiences and extremely well positioned perks.

I personally see the patreonage thing as a support for someone who actually did what most of us dream of doing, yet don't have the guts (or financial freedom) to do. The perks thing is more or less irrelevant. Had the MDT9K had a donation possibility, that allowed for a monthly payment to be placed without me having to actually do anything, that would have worked equally fine. And it really isn't all that important if the show is weekly, monthly or quarterly. I don't see it as paying for a product, but more like providing a small contribution to try to make a dream come true.

Punqtured: with all the respect,but that's bs. In the first world countries, you can really pursue any dream you want. Of course you still have to be realistic about it - I'm pretty sure you can do A LOT while still having a decent daily job. Of course, with kids not so much,but then even patronage doesn't help.
The recipe is usually simple: stop wasting time, stop watching yt and tv series, stop posting on pouet and other forums, stop following other's dreams etc... you will be amazed how much spare time is left;P

On the other hand: maybe I'm just trying to convince myself that it's the case, so please read it with a grain of salt ;)

Heh, it's like the doctor trying to convince his patient, that he should quit smoking, drinking and having exhaustive sex. The patient then asks if that new healthy lifestyle will make him live longer. The doctor then answers: "not necessarily, but it'll definitely feel like it" ;-)

Riiiight.

The best thing is to have a job that leaves you enough time to pursue your personal interests.

Just inheriting a lot of money is not ideal in times like these where we (Eurozone) have a weak currency and high inflation.

Fortunately as people who know how to handle computers there are plenty of decent jobs for all of us!