Audiophile Man – Now on Patreon

The aim is to secure the future of The Audiophile Man and to provide support for future growth while offering exclusive content in return. The question is – can you help?

I have now launched a new page on Patreon.

What is it? Why now? What’s in it for me and, most importantly, what’s in it for you?

So many questions! Let’s tackle them all one by one. (If you prefer, you can view a video at the bottom of this page, instead.)

QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS 

For those who might not be familiar, Patreon has been compared to Kickstarter. Yet, instead of helping to fund a product to completion, with Patreon you offer support to a content creator to enable them to continue doing what they’re doing, doing those things that you enjoy and to help them grow and evolve into bigger and better things. 

In short, I’m looking for help to secure the future of The Audiophile Man but to also grow it. I can’t do it on my own. I need your help. Which is why I’m looking for support.

So, why am I asking for help now?

Good question.

ANSWERS, ANSWERS

Just over five years ago (five years on September 2019 to be accurate), I decided that I wanted the freedom to say what I wanted to say, when I wanted to say it and how I wanted to say it.  That was the beginning of The Audiophile Man as a concept. 

It began with this Blog, posting 10 items per week. I then launched myself on social media: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Tumblr and Pinterest. After that, I launched a weekly newsletter. I then set up The Audiophile Man group in Facebook which has grown to 4,500+ members, a figure that rises every day. About four months ago, I launched the Audiophile Man on YouTube which features two posts per week. From the very beginning, I have also offered help to anyone who asks for it. 

MORE TIME, MORE RESOURCES

As you can imagine, creating and managing the above takes a lot of time and resources. Resources that include equipment, web-related expertise, related apps and their subscriptions to make sure the site runs smoothly, production facilities and the rest.

Now some of you might say, “Hang on a cotton pickin’…what about those Ads you run on your site? You must be tripping over three of your four Ferraris to get to the computer every morning!” Ahhh, I wish.

Allow me to explain because I’ve already had one person on social media today who thinks I’m rolling in it. I thought, therefore, I should go into more detail.

Freelancers (as opposed to in-house staffers) are not paid a lot of money. We pioneered zero-contract work. To make a living, freelancers work for a lot of people to pay the bills because it all adds up in the end. Ask any of my freelancing colleagues. Sure, to be a freelancer was a choice I made because I still enjoy the freedoms it provides. But still…

When I started The Audiophile Man, I was writing for around eight more magazines than I am today. All paying poorly (because they can get away with it – we have no unions). What I did was to take baby steps. When I started The Audiophile Man, it was just another job at the time. Whenever I made a bit of Audiophile Man cash, I dropped a single freelancing job. Then I made a bit more cash on The Audiophile Man, then I dropped another freelancing job. And so on. I never actually made any money at all. All I did was swop one source of income for another. In effect, my Ads give me time to work on Audiophile Man projects.

But the income from my Ads has reached a limit. Ad revenue for hi-fi websites is very small indeed. a fraction of what hi-fi magazines can demand. Again, anyone else in my line of business will confirm this. The Ads pay for around 18-20 days a month. That is, for 18-20 days, I can produce content as The Audiophile Man. For the rest of the month? I freelance. I still work for other companies. Patreon support will help me to give you 10-12 more days of content every month. More news, more reviews, more help, more everything.

That why I have decided to open a Patreon page. It’s also why I’m seeking investment from you, my readers instead of seeking it from a company and risking my independence and the neutrality of my reviews. If I can keep control of The Audiophile Man, that neutrality will be secured.

FUTURE EXPANSION

In short, I will be able to take The Audiophile Man to the next level.

The idea of Patreon is that you only donate what you want and can afford. And if you do? There are no commitments. You can start and stop at any time.

Don’t worry if you cannot contribute. Your presence here, reading the posts, liking or subscribing on YouTube, being involved, all of that is a great help and much appreciated.

EXCLUSIVE CONTENT

I’ll post a link below to the Patreon page itself but when you get there you will see how you can contribute. What I’ve done is set up a few payment tiers. The process itself is pretty fast and hassle free. 

As a bonus, though, as a sort of thank you for your help, I do intend to offer a range of perks or rewards. These rewards will take the form of exclusive content and giveaways. The only way to access it will be via the Patreon page. There’s lots of information over there about the exclusive content. Why not check it out?

I hope you will find them enjoyable and of use.

CONCLUSION

I didn’t want to start Patreon and ask for help until the right moment, until I really needed that assistance. That moment has arrived. 

If you are able to support The Audiophile Man, to safe guard its future and to help build the service then please check out my Patreon page at the link below. If you have any questions at all, please shout and I’ll do my best to answer.

To access The Audiophile Man Patreon Page, click: www.patreon.com/audiophileman

To view an alternative video which basically repeats the above click the image below: