Platforms that can strengthen your community and make you $$$
Kait Richmond is a writer, producer and contributor to the M.T. Deco Blog
Picture this: you’ve done the work to create your digital strategy, and it’s thriving. Your audience is growing, engagement is up, and you feel passionate about the content you’re creating. The next logical step, you might be thinking, is when will I see this work literally pay off?
Today we’re talking about the platforms dedicated to putting money directly in the hands of its creators. Yes, social media is a great place to start, and we’ll touch on some of the ways those companies are helping people earn $$$, but our readers and clients know the value of owned platforms, and that value extends to earnings.
It’s no surprise that more of these platforms are popping up, but the big ones are Patreon, Substack and OnlyFans (hold your judgment on that last one - we’ll get into why shortly). These platforms let creators control what they earn for their content, while taking a cut (5-12% from Patreon, 10% from Substack and 20% from OnlyFans).
We’ve selected successful creators from each platform to highlight how you can think about branching out from social media. But first, let’s run through how some of the social platforms are paying people - which seems to always be a work in progress:
Since launching a subscriptions program in 2022, Instagram has been rolling out the feature to more accounts. Eligible creators must be at least 18 years old and have more than 10,000 followers, which is prohibitive to those in the early growth stages. Features include subscriber badges and exclusive posts, and there are eight monthly pricing tiers, between $0.99 and $99.99.
TikTok has long tested the best way to pay its creators, one recent method being to pay those who create filters and effects. It’s also allowing some of them to collect commission on the TikTok Shop; the New York Times reported “TikTok said that it had already signed up 200,000 sellers to TikTok Shop and that more than 100,000 creators could make videos and livestream with shopping buttons.”
Video creators have long known that YouTube pays through the Partnership Program, but to compete with TikTok and Reels, the company has sought to pay people to make Shorts. So far, the income doesn’t seem to be significant. (Not to mention, the Financial Times recently reported that some senior staff are worried that the emphasis on Shorts will damage the core business.)
While it’s worth testing out these options - if you’ve got the bandwidth - your energy might be better spent on other platforms that put the reins in your hands, and give fans direct access rather than relying on an algorithm.
Here’s a quick cheat sheet if you’re not familiar with the platforms we’re talking about:
Patreon: If you’re a big fan of podcasts, you’ve probably heard some of your favorite hosts encourage listeners to join their Patreon. The platform gives them and other creators the opportunity for fans to subscribe for exclusive content (podcasts, videos, etc.). Forbes recently reported that “there are currently more than 200,000 active Patreon accounts and millions of patrons who support these members.”
Substack: This email newsletter platform (which has recently started hosting podcasts) is a popular choice among writers, despite some ups and downs since launching in 2017. Many writers offer at least some free stories, pushing readers to subscribe for a full suite of content. [Subscribe to M.T. Deco’s #ForYou Substack!]
OnlyFans: Believe it or not, OnlyFans isn’t just for NSFW content. While the platform does cater to sex workers, there are many others who are trying it out, including athletes and chefs. And the company started OFTV, which highlights OF creators through strictly safe-for-work series.
Now that you’ve got the lay of the land, let’s talk about the creators on these platforms.
Patreon: Patrick Hinds and Gillian Pensavalle
The hosts of the True Crime Obsessed podcast used Patreon to take their show from side hustle to full-time job.
"I coined the phrase 'Patreon is freedom,' because within four months of us launching our Patreon, both of us had quit our jobs," Patrick told Business Insider in 2021. "Gillian has a family. I have a family. It's not a thing we did lightly. But we knew it was sustainable."
TCO started as an ad-supported, free podcast on Apple and Spotify. When the hosts started their Patreon account, subscribers paid $5 per month for about four extra ad-free bonus episodes a month. Today, there are pricing tiers (up to $20 per month), and the content has expanded to include videos, chats and livestreams.
At the time of publishing, TCO had more than 42,000 paying subscribers. Patrick and Gillian have built this impressive community by promoting it on their free episodes and on social media (the podcast’s Instagram has 135,000 followers).
"It really has enabled us to try new things and bring more people into the fold," Patrick said of Patreon. "Years into it we've been able to hire project managers, editors, and mixers ... The money is spent on making more podcasts and bringing more people in."
Substack: Alisha Ramos
Alisha gained notoriety in 2017 as the founder of the popular Girls Night In newsletter. It quickly became popular thanks to its self-care recs and supportive community.
A year after launch, Alisha secured funding and started hiring people to help with content, partnerships and more. She took a step back from what she loved - writing - to be a true founder and CEO, and grow the brand. In 2021, she told Today.com that GNI had around 180,000 subscribers.
Recently, Alisha made the decision to revamp the newsletter, calling it Downtime and moving it over to Substack. There are already 140,000 subscribers, and Alisha was mentioned in Vanity Fair as one of the platform's heavy hitters.
“Based on our reader survey, LOTS of you mentioned missing the community feeling of the newsletter, so I'm excited to try out Substack, which has some classic blog-like features that can help like comments, discussion threads, and more,” Alisha wrote in the Downtime announcement post. “You’ll still get the newsletter in your inbox like always, but readers who want to be a bit more involved can now do that.”
Alisha is offering a paid tier with the goal of making Downtime a majority reader-supported newsletter, and plans to share more personal writing with paying readers. Free subscribers get the weekly newsletter on most Fridays.
As for paid subscribers, Alisha shared that “on top of getting every Friday send, will get bonus newsletters…that'll feature a rotating mix of essays, interviews, and deep dives on topics ranging from career, balance, style, books & reading, and more. (And all paid-subscriber content will be ad-free.)”
Since the Downtime announcement, Alisha has already expanded the content in the newsletter, which now includes the return of her book club and audio posts.
OnlyFans: Whitney Cummings
What better place for a comedian to push boundaries than OnlyFans? Whitney Cummings saw the opportunity and jumped on it in 2022, and remains active today.
When OF announced that Whitney would be joining the platform, she told Variety: “I know people like to make fun of [OnlyFans] because there are naked ladies on there… I just decided, if the audience is going here, as a comedian there’s something worth checking out here.”
OF brought her on as part of their efforts to create SFW content with OFTV. Whitney hosts and produces the “Unfiltered Original Roast Series,” which saw her as the first roastee (check out the highlight reel on YouTube). On a more regular basis, she shares comedy bits and whatever else is on her mind for a subscription around $10 per month.
“I want to experiment with jokes,” Cummings told Variety. “I love the idea of writing and performing incendiary jokes… and talk about what is happening right now. On Twitter, people will want to take it out of context.”
For creators comfortable with finding their own way in, there’s clearly money to be made on this platform. According to another Variety story, OF reported $5.55 billion in total spending by users for the fiscal year ended Nov. 30, 2022, up 16% from the year prior, with creators taking home nearly $4.5 billion of that.