So you built a sleek Patreon page, launched it out into the world and then… nothing. Or maybe you took a much-needed break and are ready to dive back in. Whatever the case, relaunching your page can be a necessary step in breathing new life into your creative career. Not only does it signal the start of something new, it’s also a great promotional tactic for creating buzz within your community.

Not sure how to go about successfully re-launching your page? Here’s how to bring that page out of the depths of despair and into the hands of potential patrons all over the world.

Reflect on what went wrong

Postmortem isn’t just a morbid word businesses use; it’s the important final step to every project where you go over what went well and what didn’t.

Think about how your launch went the first time around. What promotional tactics did you use? What sort of content did you share around that time? What platforms did you leverage? Did you receive any push-back from potential patrons? What was their reaction?

Remember, everyone makes mistakes and failure is just a scary word for learning how to do something well by doing it a different way. You should never be afraid to reflect on your flops – they are important growth experiences that will help you become better in everything you do.

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Try not to sound like a charity (unless you are one)

You are a creator who is providing value to your fans with what you create, so unless you’re a non-profit, you should probably avoid sounding like one. Be confident in the value you provide when you’re pitching your page to potential patrons and you’ll increase the chances of turning fans into paying patrons.

Go through all the text you’ve written on your page and consider removing any use of the words like “donation” or “need.” These words elicit a feeling of a one-way transaction–not a two-way relationship with mutual benefit. Instead, try using terms like “become a patron” and “join my Patreon community.”

Revive your benefits

If you had trouble getting new patrons the first time around, it may be that your fans didn’t feel that you were providing enough value to them with the rewards you were offering. On the flip-side, maybe there were simply too many rewards for them to make a decision in the time they had when they landed on your page.

Go through each of your benefit tiers and ask yourself, “Is this something I would pay for if a creator I loved was offering it?” If the answer is no, get rid of it.

Also, make sure that your benefits are scalable, cost effective and easy for you to make. We do not want fulfilling benefits to be a burden to you as a creator.

Still stuck on benefits? Check out this post for everything you need to know about benefits on Patreon. You can also check out some recommendations for great rewards by vertical here.

Revamp your intro video

If you didn’t have an intro video the first time around, now is your chance to greatly increase your likelihood of finding patrons by sharing a little piece of who you are and what your page is all about. If you already had one, let’s make it even better!

Don’t be afraid to explain why you’re relaunching your page. Any former patrons will probably want to know anyway, so be honest and share what you’ve been up to since you were last on Patreon.

Here are a few other tips that will help make your video great:

Keep it under 2 minutes to ensure potential patrons are watching until the very end!

Briefly explain how Patreon works, how often you’ll release content, and what patrons will get out of being your patron.

Use a site like Snagit to capture the process of becoming your patron so potential patrons are already familiar with the process (note: your page will need to be live to do this).

Share your big vision. What do you want to do with the money you make on Patreon? How are you going to change the landscape for the type of work you produce?

Fill your page with public posts

Don’t be afraid of the “launch” button! Your page is live and discoverable once you click it, but the majority of people who end up on your Patreon page will be coming from the promotional outreach you do on your social networks.

If a potential patron lands on your page, the best way for them to know what they’ll get out of being your patron is seeing work you’ve already posted. No need to spend a ton of time creating new content, though. Go through some of the content you’ve already shared elsewhere and add it to your page.

Your Patreon page should be a good general landing page for anyone who wants to learn about the work you create, so make sure that it fully demonstrates the work that you do and your creative process before sharing it out with your community.

Promote your relaunch

If your first attempt didn’t go as well as planned, now is the time to really double down on getting the word out about your page.

Start with a beta launch that includes your friends and family. Send them an email about how excited you are to get back on Patreon and ask for any feedback they have about your page. This is a great way to get your first round of highly-engaged patrons.

Don’t forget to leverage the power of the social networks you’re on as well. Over a third of Patreon’s traffic comes from social media, so make sure to let your followers on Twitter, Facebook, and other networks know about your page after you’ve got a few patrons from your beta launch. If you know any other creators on Patreon, ask them to give a shoutout about your page to their patrons. About 40% of patrons who pledge to you will already be patrons to other creators, so this is a great way to get new patrons who are already familiar with Patreon.

For more launch day tips, check out our creator launch guide.

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