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Welcome to November’s Hang Time recap! Each and every month, Patreon CEO Jack Conte and brand marketing expert Taryn Arnold, get together to bring you all the latest news and special updates in the Patreon community.

This month they were also joined by Matt Kaye from the Membership Experience team and Maura Church, who heads up the Data Science department, to talk about bringing the magic to your creative experience.

You can always watch Hang Time live, but since life happens, we write this recap every month, so you can catch up on all the product and community updates.

Here’s what happened during Hang Time in November…

What Did This Year Teach You?

Running a creative business is bound to give you an education. If you could sum up all the successes and setbacks you’ve encountered this past year with one lesson, what would it be?

Who would be able to answer this better than the creators watching Hang Time? So Jack Conte opened this month’s Hang Time by asking creators to share a lesson that they learned this year.

All of the answers blew us away, but we listed a couple lessons from the community below in case you don’t have time to listen to the entire segment ( if you do have time, it starts around the 4:29 mark).

“You are so close, stay the course just a little longer.”

“I reduced the average time I spend on one drawing, from four hours to one hour, and it has been great to feel that leveling-up.”

As well as being the CEO of Patreon, Jack Conte is a creator in his own right. This year, he said he learned to notice and appreciate the power of small incremental changes. He described how little tweaks and improvements compound over time and lead to to big things later on.

Hear Jack talk about incremental improvements at the 8:12 mark of Hang Time.

Wow, Thank You Patrons Day Was Amazing

On November 19th, Patreon celebrated patrons everywhere with our annual #ThankYouPatrons day. Of course, when this episode of Hang Time went live, #ThankYouPatrons day hadn’t happened yet, so Taryn and Jack shared a bunch of cool ways that creators could thank their patrons.

Even though the date already passed, you can still participate! Just use the hashtag #ThankYouPatrons day and write a message to your patrons. They’ll love you for it.

To watch Jack and Taryn talk about #ThankYouPatrons Day, check out the 9:51 mark of Hang Time.

Thanks Everyone Who Joined Us For Patreon Assembly

We recently had our first digital summit ever. At Patreon Assembly, creators from Paul Scheer to Hannah Hart came together to talk about creativity, community, and running a creative business.

One of Jack’s favorite moments from Patreon Assembly came from Killer Mike. During the rapper’s talk with the Patreon blog’s Managing Editor, Erica Campbell, Mike said: “The key to independence is understanding that independence doesn’t mean alone, independence really is being interdependent amongst other independent people.”

Not to worry if you missed Patreon Assembly — you can watch the entire thing at the Patreon blog! Also, at the same link, you’ll find all our amazing regional panels. We went to five cities across the country to talk to creators where they live, so make sure you give those a watch, as well.

To watch Taryn and Jack discuss Patreon Assembly, check out the 15:29 mark of Hang Time.

Exciting Merch Updates

Offering your followers merchandise is a great way to boost your earnings and market your product, art or brand at the same time. Unfortunately, as Jack describes it can also be a huge hassle to deal with packing, delivery, logistics, customer service and returns.

That’s why Patreon is offering Merch For Membership, which makes getting high quality merch to your fans easier than ever. With Merch For Membership, we take care of all the tough stuff — the shipping, tracking, and support — so you spend more time making cool stuff and hanging with your patrons.

When we started Merch For Membership earlier this year, we started small. But more and more items are being added every day and our delivery networks are also being expanded to Canada, Australia and one day, the world.

We’re still scaling Merch For Membership, so it’s not available for all creators just yet. To see if you are eligible for the rollout, check your tiers.

To hear Taryn and Jack discuss the new developments for Merch For Membership, check out the 19:45 mark of Hang Time.

Creators, Meet Magic Matt

Matt Kaye is responsible for a pretty amazing part of the membership experience. He works hard to get you more patrons and helps to keep your current patrons happy – how cool is that?

At the 25:10 mark, Matt talks about how he wants to make sure your fans are getting a great first impression when they become your patron. Our research and testing show that membership drop-offs happen quickly, usually within the first week or month. This is a vital time to wow your patron and bring on the magic.

Matt reminds us all that first impressions count and encourages creators to make their patrons swoon. He also told us about some new developments and updates that will make that outcome easier, including a personal welcome message that will be uniquely tailored and customized for each of your tiers. His team is also working on the option to pin important posts to your Patreon, so new patrons will be able to find their benefits quickly.

To hear Matt talk about first impressions, listen to the 27:25 mark of Hang Time.

You Ask, We Answer in Hang Time Q&A

We always end Hang Time with a creator Q&A, in case viewers have something they’ve been dying to ask Jack and Taryn.

This month on Hang Time, Jack and Taryn answered the question, where can I see a list of Patreon product updates? (The answer is, click on the “What’s new” tab on the bottom left-hand side of your Patreon page).

Jack also told creators to stay in the loop by connecting with Patreon on our social media channels, reading the Patreon blog, and signing up for Patreon’s Discord server.

To hear all of the questions from the Patreon community, tune into the 34:00 minute mark of Hang Time.

Meet Maura, Patreon’s Data Guru

Last but not least, Taryn welcomes Maura Church, who leads up our Data Science team. Maura came to talk about some insights she’s gained into Special Offers, a Patreon feature that allows creators to run limited time offers to their patrons.

Never heard of a Special Offer? Check out this blog post to learn more.

A Special Offer is a great way to get more of your fans to give your Patreon a try. Maura explains that although bumps in patrons may level off after running a Special Offer, they still typically stay higher than before the offer ran.

Outside of running a Special Offer, Jack asked Maura to share some things creators can do to get more fans to join their Patreon (and to keep them around longer):

• Offer your patrons real value: Add posts, send personal messages, add special benefits and say thank you to patrons. They’re more likely to stick around longer if you do.
• Plug your Patreon on social media: Connect your Patreon page to all your social media accounts, and consider pinning it, so that fans can find your page easily.
• Consider having a higher priced tier: Even if you think nobody will support you at that level, you never know how passionate your patrons may be.

Jack agreed and also encouraged creators to raise their minimum pledge from $1 to $2 (or more).

To get some advice for your Patreon page from Maura, check out the 43:45 mark of Hang Time.

See you next Hang Time

Don’t forget to pencil in next month’s Hang Time live stream and be part of the discussion. Subscribe here to be notified for December’s Hang Time. See you there!