Brellom
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[Blog] Current Status & Future Changes (Updated)
🕑 Added 2022-02-21 23:27:11 +0000 UTCThis is probably one of the heaviest blog posts I've made in a while; just some thoughts I've been having regarding my career and the changes my life will soon undergo.
Blog Contents:
- Apartment Status
- Financial Decline
- My Plate is too Full
- Stance on Voting Polls & Sketch Requests
- What if I lose money?
- 3H Content Strategy
- What do I want to create?
Apartment Status
I’ve found an apartment and plan to move around March 1st.
Monthly rent will cost $1,375, which is more than I’m earning via Patreon. This does not include regular bills such as food, internet, Dropbox, car payments, or even taxes. I’ll need to earn another $2000 to make ends meet, so I need to take commissions every month now.
In preparing for 2022, I’ve planned bigger projects and tossed a whole mess of new responsibilities onto my plate. But I’m worried that I’m putting way too much on my plate; I don’t think I can do everything.
UPDATE: Change of plans, the Apartment won't be ready until March 15th.
Financial Decline
I’m earning less money than I was 2 years ago. This may be due to poor advertising, but I think the issue runs deeper. I’ve watched my income slowly dwindle over the last year, so it isn’t sudden either.
For the last few years, I’ve tried to add more features to make my Patreon more appealing, but I don’t think it’s working. I feel like continuing this path may result in further decline, forcing me to work even harder until I’m too exhausted to create anything anymore.
My Plate is too Full
I feel like I just don’t have enough time to do everything… All these new comic & illustration projects, commissions, monthly voting polls, patron sketch requests, basic community interactions, etc.
With everything that’s happening, I need to make a lot more money. That means I need to work harder and create more opportunities for growth, and I really haven’t been able to do so for a while. I have, in just about every respect, failed to progress in any meaningful way for over 2 years…
Perhaps I need to simplify & focus on creating art that people will actually care about, opening more avenues to draw people to my Patreon in the first place.
Stance on Voting Polls & Sketch Requests
I think these perks are fun and would still like to do them, but I don’t know if I can reasonably do so every month. These activities necessitate rigidity in my content format, preventing me from spending time on other, more profitable projects. But the idea of removing these features makes me nervous…
They have been a great way of promoting community engagement and giving you influence.
What if I lose money?
In simplifying, I’d have to strip my Patreon down so I can focus on creating better art and growing my viewer base, but I worry how these changes will affect you – and I worry about losing money too.
Let’s take the $10 Reward, for example. This reward has been associated with Voting Poll functionality, but if I remove this feature… What value does this tier have? What will prevent patrons from reducing their pledge or outright leaving? How can I still promote a sense of community?
Although a part of me thinks this direction is for the better, I’m still nervous about it…
3H Content Strategy
Having said all that, I’ve been rethinking my overall strategy as an artist. In my research, I’ve stumbled onto something called the “3H Content Strategy.” This strategy is used by Google to maintain relevance. Fortunately, these strategies can also apply to illustration since it is a type of content.
The “3H” is comprised of 3 types of content:
- Hero: Content for a huge audience designed to reach as many people as possible, like fan art.
- Help: Content that solves a problem, like tutorials and guides.
- Hub: Content for people who are already fans of my brand, like a comic series.
This format allows me to gain followers while providing more meaningful content, which, unfortunately, hasn’t been happening with my current strategy over the last 2 years. This seems like it could be a good way to keep the masses happy while also letting me do my own thing, even if it means less pressure & direct influence through Patreon.
What do I want to create?
Ultimately… I just want to focus on making cool artwork. I want to work on comics and other kinds of stories, seamlessly moving from project to project without other stuff interrupting me. It would also be cool to play with more fetishes and draw more gender swapped characters, with sexy pin ups like all of the other online artists you enjoy.
I previously mentioned my plan to create 2-3 projects this year, which means I’ll have to produce 6-8 images every month to hit my deadlines. That becomes harder if I’m juggling a lot of stuff…
Slightly related: I’ve been outlining a comic featuring Female Link (which I’ve talked about wanting to do for a few years) and have finalized said outline. All the major story beats have been decided and the first volume has been outlined in detail, meaning it’s technically ready to be turned into a story. I don’t know when exactly that will be but having more time to work on it would certainly help.
Anyway, those are some of the thoughts I’ve been having lately… Let me know what you think if you have any opinion at all.
Don’t forget to eat & sleep.
Comments
Theokgatsby
I can only speak for myself, but I will keep supporting you no matter what you decide on. I don't really need to have a say in what you're making, so if you're drawing more commissions then that's fine by me.
megamanfour
I want you to do whatever you need to do to survive and thrive. If that means more commissions and/or less features to accommodate them then that’s what you need to do. I support YOU, not trying to get anything out of you.
