paul's patreon stuff got his videos and podcasts running again!

thanks :)  i don't know of anything Peter and Donkey have for sale, but i bought The Wisner book!

Ernie and Erica, authors of "The Rocket Mass Heater Builder's Guide" are offering a free three day "off grid rocket kitchen" workshop.  Indoor and outdoor rocket cooking, plus rocket hot water.  Also, the massive solar food dedrator, the barrage of solar ovens, the rocket oven and bicycle powered blender from free cycles will be part of this.    Three people will be selected because of their past support to kickstarters/patreon/deep-roots.  And three people will be selected because of the skills they will bring.  

https://permies.com/t/rocket-kitchen

The schmoozaroo will be happening at about the same time.  People at the schmoozaroo will get some opportunity to peek at projects and visit with the celebrities that gather for this event.

https://permies.com/t/schmoozaroo

Participants in the bootcamp will probably be directed to help with these builds in a variety of ways.  But there are only two spots left:

https://permies.com/wiki/bootcamp

This event is about preparing for the upcoming "Peasant PDC" for which there are still openings:

https://richsoil.com/ppdc.jsp

Permaculture smackdown starts in 40 minutes.  It is open for everybody to watch, but my patreon peeps get to give feedback during the show!

Smackdown in about 90 minutes.   Full access to my patreon peeps https://www.patreon.com/paulwheaton

Today's show will be about the permaculture movie "gracie's backyard."

I just put podcast 399 up for patreon folks to have early access.

Thanks to the patreon folks, the podcasts are getting some new life.  Not only through their support, but also through their helping out behind the scenes!  

Podcast 399 is up for patreon peeps:  Fred and I talk all about the hugelkultur here at basecamp.  The structure, the age, the growies, the mulch, the soil.

Podcast 400 should be up soon for patreon peeps:  all of our rocket oven tests over the last few weeks.

Podcast 401 will be recorded later today:  a bit of review of the current PDC for scientists and engineers.

Hey! Live YouTube happening on Paul's channel tonight!  https://www.youtube.com/user/paulwheaton12

Dan Ohmann (grass-fed homestead channel) and I will be doing a youtube live Q&A tomorrow (wednesday) at 6pm mountain time.  We will be doing the live thing on my channel!

The patreon peeps now have early access to four videos and 2 podcasts.

I am enjoying the feeling of getting the podcasts and videos going again, and the patreon stuff fuels those things.  

What do I do to upgrade patreon?

A patreon video?  What would that look like?   What are some good examples of patreon videos?

What would be some good patreon rewards?

Some of the YouTubes i am suscribed to use patreon. At the end they thank them for supporting the video series and a list of the patreons is displayed.

If this were on every video you had on youtube it would give the thousands of viewers an opportunity to join and contribute. You get a lot of views.

I probably watch 30 youtubes to every one podcast.

One possible thought is to declare a "patreon day" where all sorts of goodies and candies and whatnot are handed out to the top patreon contributors for the year.  ??

wayne fajkus wrote:I probably watch 30 youtubes to every one podcast.

I was thinking that maybe i should look into setting up three patreon accounts.  One for videos, one for podcasts and one for articles.

I would switch to youtube contributions. Actually, need to update cc on patreon.  I fell off. Will fix it.

Think about it like PBS (made possible by generous viewers like you). We would pay to keep the channel going, creating an obligation on your part to keep making them. A win/win for both. No further incentive(candy) is needed. People pay for content everyday (hbo, netflix,etc). This is no different.

wayne fajkus wrote:youtube contributions

??

paul wheaton wrote:

wayne fajkus wrote:youtube contributions

??

Contribute per video via patreon. Im assuming they would be  published on youtube.

wayne fajkus wrote: Contribute per video via patreon. Im assuming they would be  published on youtube.

Please help me to understand how what you are suggesting is different from what i do now.

I just watched your last utube. Your hugle berm. I saw no credit for your patreon supporters. I usually see something at end of video(from other people vids). A patreon logo with a list of those that supported that video. It may be 5 names it may be 50.

That is what i am equating to pbs. Made possible by......

I didnt see that on yours. Having that could magnify the exposure to other people that might pay to support your channel. They watch, they like, they join.

Im trying to link to a vid that has this but im in bad internet area and im unsure which series had it.

Paul, unless it’s private, can you tell us the $$ goal for each podcast to be in the black?  

I actually like podcasts more and would like to see a 50% funded or 75% funded marker and then patroons could step up to help. Maybe that adds a lot of work for the $$ though.

I bumped up to $3/artifact with 4x monthly max. Doubt that does much but maybe we can get patrons to bump up to cover the loss

To clarify "switching to utube contributions", i would support the videos over the podcasts. I think it was confusing the way i stated it.

I'm pledged at $3/item, with a limit of 3 or 4 per month.  Did you get half of what you expected because it was item #5, and lots of the supporters have similar limits?

I also had a limit on the number of artifacts per month that I would support.  I think it was something you suggested in a podcast when trying to get the patreon train rolling.  I've increased my limit to 10, but without knowing how many artifacts you are going to put out every month I'm hesitant to go unlimited.

Other suggestion; make a podcast feed for patrons so it's easier to get the early release podcasts into our podcast players (or if someone could write a tutorial on how to do this, I have not been able to set it up)

What do I do to upgrade patreon?

My favorite patreons are a flat monthly fee to separate people into bonus levels, while giving away the primary artifacts for free. For example, one patreon I support is a podcast where the bonus level gets you a special poster. From my perspective right now, your patreon is way too complicated. I get the rationality of the libertarian inspired "pay per artifact" model, but I think it ends up being in pretty direct contrast with how people like to spend money (most people prefer to know how much a thing will cost than to get the absolute best value). Plus, it's pretty confusing. Heck, your first sentence is a defense of this complexity.

I think your initial structure was good to see what people are most interested in, and now to upgrade it I'd double down on the most popular form and make it a monthly fee to support you. You can keep posting articles, videos, or podcasts — whatever you wish, but maybe just focus the patreon on one of those. Support paul at $5/10/20 per month to create regular podcasts about permaculture.

From a view of upgrading the artifacts, the thing I'd most like to see is better audio equipment for podcasts. Some better mics, and maybe someone to help edit and master them to sound a bit better.

I have bumped up the amount of artifacts I can pay for. However it was low because there was lots of uncertainty as I hadn't used Patreon before. There is 20% VAT (sales tax) on letting them fondle the money (which I really hope you can claw back somehow!). Plus I had some extra charges (from my bank) due to a Kickstarter, so I was overly cautious despite Patreon using Paypal.

I'd second the question about how much more would you need per person or per artifact to bring this back into the black (if it's OK to get that info?)

And does it seem like you ran short because of there being lots of artifacts in one month and people had smaller limits on how many they would support or was it other issues?

That would help, with my brainstorming at least, to know the best way to help get the Patreon funds up to where they need to be.

I, personally, don't care about being in the credits and prefer the podcasts that I can listen to while I'm driving or doing other chores over the videos (2nd choice) or articles (3rd choice). Although, in the interests of infecting the most new brains, I would think that the videos would reach the most new people. That's how I first found you.

Maybe splitting it into 3 Patreon accounts would be a good idea though to give you a better understanding of where the most interest lies and then would help the people subscribed to those particular artifacts understand the costs associated with them more. Like I would assume the the articles and podcasts are less expensive to make than the videos.

I'm boosting my pledge and increasing the number of artifacts each month. Hope that helps a little.

wayne fajkus wrote:I just watched your last utube. Your hugle berm. I saw no credit for your patreon supporters. I usually see something at end of video(from other people vids). A patreon logo with a list of those that supported that video. It may be 5 names it may be 50.

That is what i am equating to pbs. Made possible by......

I didnt see that on yours. Having that could magnify the exposure to other people that might pay to support your channel. They watch, they like, they join.

Im trying to link to a vid that has this but im in bad internet area and im unsure which series had it.

Ah!  I see!  

I do put the $3 peeps in the description.   But I suppose if there was something a bit more in the video itself, then it is possible that more people would support.  

I know that we have something at the top of the microdocs that lists everybody's name as it goes along.   I suppose we could do something like that?   Maybe the left side can say "thanks patreon peeps:" and the name to the right can change every few seconds?  

I'm not sure if it is allowed, but how would people feel if I set up two patreon accounts:   one for podcasts and one for videos?   I haven't registered an article yet - I write bloggish things, but I feel like those don't count as much as the full articles at richsoil.

M Johnson wrote:Paul, unless it’s private, can you tell us the $$ goal for each podcast to be in the black?  

I actually like podcasts more and would like to see a 50% funded or 75% funded marker and then patroons could step up to help. Maybe that adds a lot of work for the $$ though.

I bumped up to $3/artifact with 4x monthly max. Doubt that does much but maybe we can get patrons to bump up to cover the loss

There is a per-podcast expense for processing and stuff.   And then there is that once a year shit storm of something isn't working and it takes a huge amount of time to figure out and repair it.  

I think that if we had $75 per episode then we could plug along.  

And now you say "dammit paul!  You get more than that now!"   --- which is totally true if I do just one podcast or one video each month.   People put limits on their patreon stuff.  So for the first thing in july, I got $135.  Then it dropped to less for each item until the last item was $26.

I have to say that there was a glitch in the system last month and I was told that the last item was gonna bring in $310.   I started making plans to record a lot more podcasts and put out a lot more videos.   I could actually pay people for their help and pay for some things to happen.  So I thought I was gonna get something like $3500 two days ago, and I was laying out some strong growth stuff and making plans.   And then the patreon payment came - $500.  Don't get me wrong, it's great to get $500 for this stuff.   But it does leave me running in the red - so I have to carefully measure how much I am going to pay people and stuff - let's not get too carried away making podcasts and videos.

I've been thinking about patreon.   On the one hand, it seems contrary to my values.   On the other hand, all of my stuff seems rooted in me giving stuff away, and then the patreon peeps are then giving me stuff.   It smells a bit like a gift economy thing.  

And when I thought i was getting more than $300 per thing, I was feeling super great.  

There are 19 people that have now supported me on patreon at a level of $100 or more for all time.   10 of those have racked up more than $200.  

I have an idea on how to express my gratitude to these folks.  I just wrote to devaka to see if it is possible.  

Julia Winter wrote:I'm pledged at $3/item, with a limit of 3 or 4 per month.  Did you get half of what you expected because it was item #5, and lots of the supporters have similar limits?

I think that the reduced amount was due to an error showing me that I was going to get something like $310 per artifact when, in reality, i was about to get $26.

Ben Veenema wrote:I also had a limit on the number of artifacts per month that I would support.  I think it was something you suggested in a podcast when trying to get the patreon train rolling.  I've increased my limit to 10, but without knowing how many artifacts you are going to put out every month I'm hesitant to go unlimited.

I think the limit stuff is very smart!   And depending on how much limit people do, then I can see a report that says "your next artifact will bring in $11" - so then I think that that artifact can probably wait until next month.  So definitely put those limits in there!

Other suggestion; make a podcast feed for patrons so it's easier to get the early release podcasts into our podcast players (or if someone could write a tutorial on how to do this, I have not been able to set it up)

I don't know what that is or how it works.  It sounds like something where I could easily spend $2000 to pay somebody to set it up, only to find out that it isn't set up correctly, and then spend $500 to find a person to set it up correctly and that person charges $3500 to set it up correctly.   And then it needs further refinement for $800, and a year later, your feed changed the way it works, so there is a new $2000 to be spent to change things on my end.  

$8800 + about 40 to 60 hours of my time.  

I'm just guessing - but these guesses are based on my experience so far about getting this sort of thing to work.  

And I'm not really a podcast consumer, so a huge part is simply understanding what it is that you are asking for.  

Paul, what do you mean by names in the description? Is this the permie thread that announces it is available?

I see your stuff through utube and have never seen the list of names.  It could be assumed anyone that finds your stuff through utube never see the names. If the names are on a thread here i can assume most of those people know you have patreon.

If my assumptions are correct there are tens of thousands of people watching your videos that are not on the forums. The sheer numbers means 1/10 of 1% of those peeps could add a measurable amount of coin.

There's something about seeing your name as somebody that supported the creation. The whole pbs thing i described. Decades ago they were the gardening, crafting channel. You prob remember.  Those people are helping to build a better tomorrow. No other candy is needed.

Kyle Neath wrote:

What do I do to upgrade patreon?

My favorite patreons are a flat monthly fee to separate people into bonus levels, while giving away the primary artifacts for free. For example, one patreon I support is a podcast where the bonus level gets you a special poster. From my perspective right now, your patreon is way too complicated. I get the rationality of the libertarian inspired "pay per artifact" model, but I think it ends up being in pretty direct contrast with how people like to spend money (most people prefer to know how much a thing will cost than to get the absolute best value). Plus, it's pretty confusing. Heck, your first sentence is a defense of this complexity.

Libertarian:  that's a political thing and I'm pretty much not political.  

The key is that if I did nothing in a month, but i got money - that would seriously poison me.   For this to work, I really gotta do it "per artifact".  

I agree that it seems too complicated.  So I am checking in with patreon to see if i can create two patreon accounts:  one for the podcasts and one for the videos.   I think that will make things simpler, and then I think I can do better too.

I think your initial structure was good to see what people are most interested in, and now to upgrade it I'd double down on the most popular form and make it a monthly fee to support you. You can keep posting articles, videos, or podcasts — whatever you wish, but maybe just focus the patreon on one of those. Support paul at $5/10/20 per month to create regular podcasts about permaculture.

From a view of upgrading the artifacts, the thing I'd most like to see is better audio equipment for podcasts. Some better mics, and maybe someone to help edit and master them to sound a bit better.

I rarely listen to them, but what I have heard makes me think that the quality is good when i use the zoom mic in my office.  Not so?

Maybe I need to raise some coin to get an electric car - so i can record on trips and it improves the sound quality.  :)

Henry Jabel wrote:I have bumped up the amount of artifacts I can pay for. However it was low because there was lots of uncertainty as I hadn't used Patreon before. There is 20% VAT (sales tax) on letting them fondle the money (which I really hope you can claw back somehow!). Plus I had some extra charges (from my bank) due to a Kickstarter, so I was overly cautious despite Patreon using Paypal.

Thanks for the bump!

VAT:  maybe patreon hides that from me?

Penny McLoughlin wrote:I'd second the question about how much more would you need per person or per artifact to bring this back into the black (if it's OK to get that info?)

And does it seem like you ran short because of there being lots of artifacts in one month and people had smaller limits on how many they would support or was it other issues?

That would help, with my brainstorming at least, to know the best way to help get the Patreon funds up to where they need to be.

I, personally, don't care about being in the credits and prefer the podcasts that I can listen to while I'm driving or doing other chores over the videos (2nd choice) or articles (3rd choice). Although, in the interests of infecting the most new brains, I would think that the videos would reach the most new people. That's how I first found you.

Maybe splitting it into 3 Patreon accounts would be a good idea though to give you a better understanding of where the most interest lies and then would help the people subscribed to those particular artifacts understand the costs associated with them more. Like I would assume the the articles and podcasts are less expensive to make than the videos.

I'm boosting my pledge and increasing the number of artifacts each month. Hope that helps a little.

Thanks Penny.  

Where the funds need to be ...   that is a bit infinite.    

I kinda feel like for a while, many years ago, I was putting out one artifact every day.  I would like to get back to that.   I would also like to do a podcast review of the last chapter of gaia's garden.   I would also like to finish the chapter-by-chapter review of Art's greywater book, and I would like to crank out a book a month with this format.   And I have some ideas about being able to add in the patreon peeps to some podcasts.  

wayne fajkus wrote:Paul, what do you mean by names in the description? Is this the permie thread that announces it is available?

Each podcast has a permies.com thread.  The names are listed in the first post of that thread.

Every youtube video has a description.   The names are listed in the description.  Follow this link and look about an inch below the video.   It says "Paul takes the viewer on a walking tour around the basecamp hugelkultur bed" and there is a "show more" button.  Click on "show more" and you will see a lot of things including the list of patreon peeps.

Its not there (smartphone). There was a down arrow. I clicked it. The description then showed. First time i ever clicked to see it. I never see that using a smart tv either.

Embedding, there's nothing to do.

Here's an example i found. He just listed the new supporters he has, not all of them. This could mean he has a lot of them. Others listed all of them.

Watch "Throwing Small bottle neck egg shape" on YouTube
https://youtu.be/-9lrKEUUKKY

Embedding guarantees its seen. It kind of makes it self explanatory(wow, these common folks helped to make this happen), and creates a pathway to participate(google patreon). Right now theres nothing to know it exists by the 10,000's of people watching, except clicking something they don't click.

Its extra work though.

I rarely listen to them, but what I have heard makes me think that the quality is good when i use the zoom mic in my office.  Not so?

I wouldn't say it's bad, it's just that most podcasts I listen to now-a-days have "radio-quality" recording. Yours sound like "everyone in a big room". I'm not proficient enough to tell you if it's the mic, the mixing, or what have you. But I do listen to quite a few amateur podcasts that end up with really great sound quality.

Some examples for sound:

https://www.relay.fm/roboism/19
http://dobyfriday.com/

My current mic has some small issues, but it has a lot of miles on it now.   So when the kickstarter funds arrive (in a week or so) I was planning on getting this

https://amzn.to/2APzYeC


What I have now is this

https://amzn.to/2OkYG8j

I just sent a gift-gift to the top 10 all time patreon contributors.  

I sent each person 5 gift codes for the World Domination Gardening 3-DVD set.   They can give all five to friends, or maybe keep one for themselves.  

So: "gift-gift".

Thanks to all my patreon peeps for supporting me!  Some fun changes are coming soon!

paul wheaton wrote:I just sent a gift-gift to the top 10 all time patreon contributors.  

I sent each person 5 gift codes for the World Domination Gardening 3-DVD set.   They can give all five to friends, or maybe keep one for themselves.  

So: "gift-gift".

I am hoping to get some feedback.  Did anybody exercise the gift?  Did it all work okay?  Did any of you give them out?  

I was thinking of doing another round of this, but in a slightly different way.   Devaka even made a slight change to the software for me.