Creative Funding Show 016 How Mary DeMuth Doubled Her Patreon Backing in 4 months
This is the Creative Funding Show, a podcast for authors, YouTubers, and podcasters who want to fund the work they love. I’m your host, Thomas Umstattd, Jr., and with me again is Mary Demuth. She’s an international speaker and podcaster, a novelist of both fiction and nonfiction, and has published over 35 books. Her latest, The Seven Deadly Friendships, is coming out in about a month.
Mary loves to help people re-story their lives. She lives in Texas with her husband and is a mom of three. When Mary was on the show last time, we talked about her Patreon and brainstormed ways to improve it. After the episode, we kept brainstorming, and I joked that once she doubled her revenue, we should have her back on the show. Well, she contacted me and said, “Hey, I doubled my revenue!”
So true to my word, I’ve invited her back.
What is “Pray Every Day”?
Thomas: Tell us a little bit about your podcast.
Mary: I have a podcast called Pray Every Day, where I pray for people based on scripture. I usually go through books of the Bible in order, like Philippians, James, Psalm 119, and the Sermon on the Mount. In my next episodes, I’ll be praying through relational verses from The Seven Deadly Friendships. So if you’ve got some broken relationships and would like some prayer, you can check it out.
What did Mary’s Patreon look like before the changes we brainstormed?
Thomas: What were you doing on Patreon before our last interview?
Mary: I had shared my Patreon with my email list and got a few subscribers that way. These were diehard fans who supported me no matter what, which was really humbling and sweet. At that point, I only had one reward level. Anyone giving over $5 a month would receive an original art piece from me each month. People loved it because they had already asked for it in the past. And I enjoyed doing it; it wasn’t a burden at all.
That’s how it started, but we’ve added more levels since then. I also started promoting it more on the podcast, and that’s when I saw real change.
What difference does a big promotional push make?
Thomas: One thing we talked about was borrowing a strategy from CBS or NPR and having a focused pledge drive instead of a constant slow drumbeat. CBS, for example, does an intense pledge drive once or twice a year. Wikipedia does the same around Christmas. They don’t ask for money every time you visit, just during that one period. You tried something like this. Tell us what happened.
Mary: Initially, I sent it out to my list and did a big push. That brought in the first wave of patrons. But then I started doing what you call the “drumbeat” of mentioning it regularly. Every few days, I’d see another $1, $5, $10, or $20 come in.
I also added several new levels in addition to the Art Level. One was called “The Brick.” I created a graphic that looked like a wall of bricks, similar to the donor bricks you see at libraries. Anyone who sponsors the podcast gets their name on a brick, and that wall appears in all show notes and on every podcast episode. It’s like advertising year-round.
Then I followed your advice and added an exclusive audio podcast for $20-level patrons. I don’t have a ton of patrons at that level, but I’m grateful for the ones who are there. I record a casual, heartfelt update about what’s going on in my life, what I’ve learned, and answered prayers. It’s about 15 to 20 minutes long each month.
Why offer higher-level Patreon tiers?
Thomas: One thing Bremner Morris from Patreon mentioned is that people want to give at higher levels. A common mistake creators make is only offering low-tier options.
We saw this on Novel Marketing. Our highest level was $8, and someone still donated $20. That told us we needed a $20 level. People want to give more, and we should make that possible with appropriate rewards.
When I pulled your Graphtreon reports (you can see public stats at graphtreon.com), I could see that your revenue stayed flat for five or six months. Then suddenly, it shot up. You went from 20 to nearly 60 patrons, almost tripling your number of patrons.
Your revenue is up 481% since October. Your earnings per patron are up over 20%, and your total number of patrons is up 383%. That’s massive growth. And what you’ve done is very reproducible.
How did you create sustainable reward tiers?
Thomas: You expanded your offerings in a smart way. For example, the digital brick wall isn’t a lot of work. You only update it monthly.
Mary: Right. Otherwise, it would get chaotic. When someone joins, I email them and say, “Thanks! I’ll add you to the brick at the beginning of next month.” I usually include a free painting download as a bonus. I try to give more than they expect.
Thomas: That’s smart. Patreon doesn’t charge new patrons right away. They’re only charged at the end or beginning of the month, so delaying the reward works well. It also prevents abuse. People could sign up, grab the perks, and cancel before being charged.
Your approach follows good reward design because it’s simple and scalable. Sending a unique piece of art to each person doesn’t scale. But creating one piece of art and sharing it with many patrons does. Same with the bonus podcast. It’s special now with just a few listeners, but you could easily handle more higher-tier patrons without adding extra work.
How did you implement the funding drive idea?
Thomas: Another great move was your big funding push in July. Normally, you don’t talk about Patreon much on the podcast, but that month, you mentioned it every day and gave a personal shout-out to 30 different patrons by name.
That’s powerful. People love hearing their name on a podcast. It creates loyalty. Once someone hears their name, it’s harder for them to cancel because they feel connected.
These were all really smart strategies. Your growth hasn’t plateaued yet. You might hit $1,000 soon, or even $1,500. You’re still climbing.
The beauty of Patreon is that as your audience grows and you apply these principles to better monetize that audience, your income can keep increasing.
What else have you changed on Patreon?
Thomas: What else have you done with your Patreon that’s changed in the last few months?
Mary: Those are the main things. Occasionally, I mention Patreon on social media, and it’s linked on every post and on my website. But the most effective tactic has been consistently mentioning it to the people who actually listen to the podcast.
Is it okay to ask for support to pay yourself for your time?
Mary: I’m hoping to start providing transcripts for Pray Every Day. Our mutual friend Tricia Goyer, who is now one of my patrons and an enthusiastic fan of the podcast, suggested it, and I thought it was genius.
Of course, I’ll have to pay for transcription. However, I struggle to ask for money for myself. I’m comfortable asking for funds to cover production costs or services like transcription. But is it okay to ask for money to compensate myself for my own time? For example, if it costs me $800 a month for transcription and other services, is it acceptable to set a goal of $1,500 to help pay for my time as well?
Thomas: Absolutely. Many Patreon pages include a $1 tier with no reward, just to say, “Hey, I support what you’re doing.” It’s important to remember that people on Patreon often aren’t backing you for the rewards. Some love the exclusive content or goodies, but many just want to support your work. They want to make sure you can eat, pay rent, and keep creating.
If you look at creators pulling in $50,000 or $75,000 a month, that’s far more than their production expenses. They’re funding their lives, and that’s okay.
Phil DeFranco, for example, earns something like $100,000 to $150,000 a month on Patreon. He also has a big team and other income streams, but that Patreon income helps cover payroll. A million dollars a year is nothing to sneeze at.
Transcripts are expensive, especially if you want quality. Even if you use automated services like Sonix (which has partnered with Patreon), you still need to clean them up. It’s not just the little words; the problem is when it gets a noun wrong. If it says “pears” instead of “bears,” the whole sentence becomes confusing. It’s easy but time-consuming to fix.
Why offer transcripts at all?
Thomas: The upside of transcripts is that they open up your podcast to people who don’t listen. Listening is a skill, and not everyone prefers audio. Some people read much faster and find listening tedious. My wife is like that; she can glance at a page and take it all in, but she finds listening slow and frustrating. There are many others like her, especially among writers.
Transcripts also help with SEO. Google doesn’t usually transcribe podcasts on its own because it’s too expensive in terms of computing power. The only way Google knows what your episode is about is if you provide the transcription. That makes your podcast page more searchable and indexable. A page with just a play button looks empty to Google.
That said, transcription alone won’t magically make your page rise in Google search results, but it does help make your site more index-worthy.
One idea is to set transcription as a goal on Patreon. For example: “Once we hit $1,000 a month, transcripts will be unlocked.”
The challenge is that the people who love your podcast right now are already happy listening and may not care about transcripts. The people who prefer to read and would care aren’t hearing your message. So it’s a communication challenge. Fortunately, you have a blog, books, an email list, and a social media presence, which gives you other ways to reach potential supporters.
Is it okay to raise money to hire help?
Mary: I think this ties into something more philosophical. For years, I’ve done everything myself. A couple of weeks ago, I was speaking to about 150 writers, and someone asked, “Who handles this or that in your business?” I had to say, “You’re looking at her.”
There’s value in raising money through Patreon to hire help for the time-consuming tasks that take me away from my deeper mission. I’d love to get to the point where I’m not bogged down by the little details and can focus on the bigger picture.
Thomas: You’re right at the tipping point in your career. As you grow, it becomes easier to afford help. But hiring isn’t a silver bullet. You still have to manage people and make sure things get done right. That’s a job in itself.
Still, there’s a powerful principle at work here. When you delegate your weaknesses, you can focus on your strengths. That leads to more creativity and productivity.
Phil DeFranco doesn’t worry about cameras anymore because he has a team. Early on, he was both in front of and behind the camera. That’s tough. The same is true with podcasting. Post-production, transcription, and graphics all take time and people.
As you get more patrons, you’ll be able to outsource that work. I suspect you’ll double your Patreon again soon. Maybe once you hit $2,000 or $2,500, we’ll have you back on the show for a “Mary DeMuth journey.” I really believe you’re going to get there. Your consistency and connection with your audience are going to pay off. The growth may not be a straight line, but it will trend upward.
Do small tweaks really make a difference?
Mary: I hope that’s encouraging for your listeners. These weren’t big hacks or major overhauls. Just small, consistent tweaks that made a huge difference.
For example, I have an Etsy shop for my watercolor art because readers asked for it. The other day, I posted a piece on Instagram and got $100 worth of orders. I realized that Instagram works well for visual items.
You start to learn which social platforms work best for which kinds of outreach, whether it’s patronage or podcast promotion. It’s been an interesting journey, and I’m always learning something new.
Thomas: It’s about figuring out which platforms work best for your audience. Some audiences aren’t on YouTube or Pinterest or Instagram. Others are thriving there.
Pro tip: Don’t try to be on every platform. Focus on what works for you and lean into that.
Remember, you can follow creators for free on Patreon. Just click the Follow button to get free updates. Even better, support them with a dollar or more.
As I said in our last episode, spending $10 to back 10 different creators is a fantastic education in how Patreon works. But even following is helpful. If you want to watch Mary’s journey from $200 to $2,500 on Patreon, I highly recommend following her. I feature her often on the show as a test case. If you want to see cutting-edge Patreon strategies in action, follow Pray Every Day on Patreon.
Connect with Mary De Muth
Mary DeMuth is an international speaker and podcaster, and she’s the novelist and nonfiction author of over thirty-five books, including the latest: The Seven Deadly Friendships (Harvest House Publishers 2018). She loves to help people re-story their lives. She lives in Texas with her husband of 28 years and is the mom to three adult children. Find out more at marydemuth.com.
Use Novel Marketing’s Patreon Affiliate Link to make an extra $50 for your first 30 backers.
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