I will preface this by saying this is not directed at any one person, and not meant maliciously. I'm hoping this will clear the air of unspoken expectations surrounding the Patreon service, as well as give content creators insight to what clients like me are wanting from it. I've had a few people ask for my thoughts, as most buyers don't say anything for fear of sounding rude.

Lately I have been seeing a lot of Patreon pages start up, but they don't seem to have a clear outline of what is actually going to be available to patrons other than 'personal projects'. It reminds me of businesses rushing to create their own webpages in the late 1990s, with the false expectation that doing so will somehow increase revenue. But just like a webpage, Patreon can be a great tool if it has a clear purpose.

So what is Patreon? Patreon is a subscription model for content - people can subscribe to you for a monthly fee and get access to all the content you put on the platform. This enables content creators to earn a steady flow of income, a huge boon as commission work pay-cheques are sporadic. For buyers, it's a little bit like subscribing to Netflix instead of buying a movie outright.

The money people will spend on Netflix comes from the same budget they would use to buy a DVD. Similarly, the money people will spend on a Patreon comes from the same budget they would use to buy a personalized commission. This must be kept in mind at all times when creating a Patreon page for yourself. Just like Netflix offers benefits over buying a DVD, a Patreon page needs to offer benefits over just buying a commission to attract people.

Patreon is not a get-rich-quick scheme, a 'gofundme' or a 'break'. If you are struggling to make ends meet through other means, starting a Patreon page is not the magic answer. I believe the hostile attitude several clients have towards the service is due to some Patreon pages appearing to take pledges for granted, as if income through Patreon is deserved, not earned. Having phrases along the lines of "I need a break from commissions because I never have time to work on personal art" does not look good. Instead, saying "I have this great idea for a personal project and here's the beginnings of it, but I can't devote time to it since I need to pay bills" is a much better alternative.

Here's an outline of what I look for in a Patreon page before I consider pledging. I don't claim to know everything or speak for everyone, and I can't guarantee following this advice will grant success.

1)The "Milestone Goals" section
Patrons are promising to give money every month. You need to have a promised minimum amount of content per month to match. Using the "Milestone Goals" section to promise minimums based on total amount pledged by all patrons is a good start. Things like "at $100 I will be able to produce 1 fully rendered piece of art per month" is a good example of a goal. Milestone goals are not a place to say what you will spend the money on. I've seen goals that say "at $500 I can pay rent with Patreon money", while not mentioning any benefits to patrons.

2) The Pledge Rewards
This is definitely the hardest part to stand out in. Biggest rule of thumb is to make sure subscribing to your Patreon is better than just buying commissions. Patreon allows content creators more freedom over their work - but that in and of itself is not a benefit to a buyer over a commissioned piece.
To a buyer, the main benefits of a commission are:
a) A great amount of content control - the buyer can pick what they want
b) A set goal - the buyer knows how much they are getting
With Patreon pledges, you need to offset losing these benefits with things like a greater amount of content per dollar spent, or being a part of content that a commission would not be feasible for - like cameos in a comic or story. If you don't have any big project in mind, you can always offer commissions at discounted rates - enticing people to spend money with you regularly. Private streams, tutorials, and patron-only content polls are pretty enticing as well. Things like one-time rewards and raffles are huge turnoffs - not to mention Patreon does not allow raffles as dictated here: https://patreon.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/204199489-Can-I-offer-a-raffle-for-one-of-my-rewards-

3) CONTENT EXAMPLES
I really recommend having a full month's worth of free content as an example of what a month's subscription to your Patreon will get a buyer. Add notes to each piece saying "You'll see one of these every month if you pledge at least $15", "This is what custom sketches look like for people who pledge at least $25", etc. So many Patreons offer monthly sketches as a reward for pledging a certain amount, but don't have any example of what the sketch will look like. Fully polished examples of what pledging a certain amount, or reaching a certain milestone goal will get a buyer means they won't have to take a leap of faith.

This carries over into any self-directed content you will be making. If you don't make any promises as to what self-directed content will contain, it will look far less compelling a purchase than simply setting aside that money to buy a commission.

If all three of those check out, I'll be interested in pledging.
I hope this helps someone. Feel free to ask me questions about it!