Welcome to Lesson 21 of 30 Days To Your Profitable Blog challenge! In the previous lesson, you learned that people may be willing to pay you for your knowledge through subscriptions to your membership site. You can take this idea further by asking your fans to contribute on a regular basis specifically to support your work.
In particular, accepting donations through PayPal or services like Patreon is becoming a popular way for creatives to make a living from their work. Though it may seem too good to be true, people are likely to want to donate to you if they like what you create and want to see you provide more good content or art. Read on to discover more about accepting donations and the ways in which you could do this to create cash flow for your blog.
It’s Ok to Accept Donations
You may feel a little strange asking for money. That’s where a shift in mindset comes in. You aren’t begging, and you aren’t accepting cash for nothing. People may actually be willing to contribute to your cause once you’ve established yourself as a blogger, content creator, or artist of any kind. If they like your work, people will see their donation as a way to sustain it. This gives you time to focus on creating and providing more of what you do best, rather than putting forth effort trying to keep up with other aspects of running a business behind the scenes.
Take Donations On Patreon
Patreon may be the best known service of this type, but there are others. Patreon is a website that lets individual supporters contribute to artists of their choice on a monthly basis. Creators of all types provide content to their patrons on the platform. There are artists, musicians, authors, poets, and more. Bloggers, YouTubers, and podcasters are also among those who make money through the service. Creators set project goals to encourage people to contribute. They then may offer rewards to patrons who donate at varying levels. One downside to using such sites is that you’re putting your eggs in one basket and are at the mercy of the platforms should they decide to implement changes in their formats.
Take Direct Donations on Your Blog
You can forego such sites altogether and create your own patron campaigns directly on your blog. Many bloggers do this and set up a PayPal donation button to collect payments. This option doesn’t come with some of the program offerings a site like Patreon can provide, and you may need to manage some aspects on your own – such as declined funds – but at least you would have more control of the terms using this method.
No matter which route you choose, accepting donations for your blog and writing work can be a significant way to monetize your blog. I highly recommend giving this option some consideration.
Donations can be for a variety of different projects so take your time to put together a proper offer for your readers. Have you considered asking for donations on your blog? Comment below.
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