THE INSPIRATION PLACE PODCAST
Aramis Hamer: What can stop us from building certain things is like people seeing us fail. You know, like this fear of, oh, well, she only has two views on that video. It’s like, whatever, just build it. And there’s so many things that you can build on the back end that the public doesn’t even have to see. And so, yeah, I had a Patreon just slowly bacon over there. But then once somebody presented the question, I already had the cake made.
Speaker 2: It’s the The Inspiration Place podcast with artist Miriam Schulman. Welcome to the The Inspiration Place podcast, an Art World insider podcast for artists by an artist, where each week we go behind the scenes to uncover the perspiration and inspiration behind the art. And now your host, Miriam Schulman.
Miriam Schulman: Welcome back to the The Inspiration Place. Today we are going to talk all about Patreon.
Aramis Hamer: It’s great. I’m happy to talk about it. Okay.
Miriam Schulman: So usually when I have clients they want to know what is the first step. It’s like like what do you mean what’s the first step? You open an account. But seriously what like is that the first step or is there something before the first?
Aramis Hamer: I don’t think so. Yeah.
Miriam Schulman: I’m glad you have a good answer for this.
Aramis Hamer: Yep, yep. So I think the first step with anything is building an audience. So I do like to acknowledge different benefits. Okay. So specifically for Patreon are we just diving right in. Are we recording. Oh we.
Miriam Schulman: Are.
Aramis Hamer: Okay, great. Great.
Miriam Schulman: Everything you said can and may be put on. I know right. But you’re that way too though, right? You just get on and start talking. I do.
Aramis Hamer: I do literally rant in the car is my. Yes. So I’m here for it 100%. So I am a YouTube girl. I love YouTube so much, I love podcasts, I love what you are building and so I love to consume content. But I also like to advise people to be conscious consumers of that content. Yeah. And so part of that is like being aware of your personal circumstances and knowing what to sort of like, what rules apply to certain tools. So Patreon is not a search based engine. So for example, somebody can find you naturally on TikTok. Right? Like if you scroll on their like FYP page, nobody’s really going to Patreon to scroll and just like find somebody.
Miriam Schulman: There’s no algorithm.
Aramis Hamer: Exactly. There’s no there’s no algorithm. Now they are trying to build one. Jack Conte is the founder of Patreon. Love him. Those were some of the the links that we were talking about and how he’s talking about like death of the follower and all of that. So with Patreon, they don’t have an algorithm. So what was beneficial for me was that I already had grew an audience on Instagram. So once I had grew that audience, I was sending people to my Patreon. And I also do like to sort of tell people the to sort of schedule of this. Now everybody can can do it however they want to do it. But this is this is how I did it. And this is where I saw benefits from it. Okay.
Miriam Schulman: Okay. So how large was your Instagram audience when you felt ready to start your Patreon?
Aramis Hamer: I might have had around 8000 followers on Instagram, and it wasn’t really about like, oh, a certain number. Or like, you know what I mean? It wasn’t. Because also, now that I say that, I feel like, oh, maybe that was kind of a small, you know, like like somebody might hear them like oh 8000 oh oh, I don’t have to have 100,000. You surely don’t.
Miriam Schulman: But let’s not forget that 8000 followers a few years ago meant something very different than 8000 followers now.
Aramis Hamer: Very true, very true.
Miriam Schulman: Because of what we were saying with the algorithm, the engagement, and also in terms of you may have a lot of followers that really aren’t on the platform anymore. Like they’re still following you, but they’re on TikTok. They’re on YouTube. There’s someplace else. So how long ago was it that you built just to. Yep.
Aramis Hamer: So I started I created my Patreon page in 2019. I had one patron, actually two. Let me give my husband some credit because he helped me test it. I was like, babe, can you just become a patron to see how it looks on the back end? You know, so he was my first patron and then my other dear friend Imani, who, like, opens all my emails. She’s just like the sweetest. But I literally only had two patrons that I knew directly for a whole entire year because I made the Patreon page and didn’t tell anyone. Okay, so that let me know. You can’t do that. You have. The more you talk about your Patreon, the more people will know that you have one and the more people will become patrons. What’s so great is that now Patreon has like a solid brand and people are becoming familiar with the term. I remember, like, I have this little brochure that I would take to events. This like pamphlet that talks more about Patreon. And I would always say, hey, have you heard about Patreon? And people are like, no, no, I’ve never heard of that. I’m like, okay. And so I sort of like, give them, you give them the spiel. But now I’m like, oh, have you heard about Patreon? They’re like, oh yeah, yeah, that’s like where you can subscribe to artists or like support them monthly.
Aramis Hamer: Like people sort of already know now, which gives me which is like so I’m like, yep, exactly. Great. Well, here’s more info about mine and how you can become one at these different tiers. So the learning curve now is so much better where people people just know more about Patreon. But specifically in my case, I had it for a year. Didn’t tell anybody it was I just yeah, so don’t do that. You have to tell people about your Patreon. My Patreon really popped off in 2020, and now that was a pivotal moment for me specifically and for us. All right. Covid, BLM, just a lot of different things. And so because I painted one of the letters in the Black Lives Matter mural out here in Capitol Hill in Seattle, there was a lot of eyes on all of us, on all of the artists who created that. So a lot of our pages kind of blew up from there. So I probably gained about like 10,000 subscribers, 10,000 followers on Instagram. And in a few months during that time specifically, yeah, Janelle Monae had reposted our mural. So like the the whole mural that, that we painted was going viral.
Aramis Hamer: I guess, you know, I really don’t like that word, but yeah, there were a lot of eyes on the mural at that time and a lot of artists. And so people were literally like, how can I support you? I was like, well, I have like a Patreon. And so that’s when people started going there. I actually put Patreon in my link in my bio and was actually sending people there. I sent out a newsletter because people directly was asking like, how? How can we support you as an artist, specifically as an artist of color? And so I’m super grateful that I already had it built, you know. So that’s that’s the thing. Like, even if you don’t feel ready because I felt like I wasn’t ready, I was like, am I? What can I even offer like because and we can talk about that too about like what to quote unquote offer. But I didn’t feel ready. But I was prepared for the shift to online things from the pandemic because I started a lot of stuff, a lot of things, even for my YouTube channel. My first YouTube video I uploaded December 2019. And then of course, March, April of 2020 came and then boom, lockdown came.
Aramis Hamer: So I was like, all right, I’m just going all in on YouTube. Then I get, you know, like, I don’t have nothing else to do. All my art shows are canceled, festivals are canceled. Let me just share my art on YouTube. But the part is getting started. You know, like building, you know, making your YouTube banner, which you can OCD about, about all the graphics and what should my channel be named and what should I do this like? What are the perks for Patreon? Start thinking about that stuff now so that like when you do have hopefully like a sort of big moment or not, you’re still just in like the perfect position to receive, you know? And so I’m grateful for my younger self who was just moving before I was ready, so that when like when like moments came, I already had the systems versus me trying to scramble like, oh, let me, let me build a Patreon. Oh, should I start a YouTube channel? Oh my God. It was like, oh, well, actually, let me just keep doing what I’m doing. Let me just actually share the link to something that I already built 16 months ago, but just didn’t tell anybody because I was afraid.
Miriam Schulman: Hey there, Miriam here. Sorry to interrupt this juicy conversation, but I wanted to let you know about the custom GPT that I built. So it’s called the Artpreneur Daily Alter. And right now there are several functions available inside of it. Yes, the Artpreneur Daily Alter is completely free, at least as of now. My friends keep begging me that me to charge for it. I don’t know why, but I wanted to give it for free. So the way you get it is go to SchulmanArt.com/ALTAR, enter your name and email address and we will send a link to you that has it in there. And also in the Thank you page. There’s a quick demo on how to use it. And right now it will help you start your morning activation with helping you figure out your best action steps. It helps you clear the mental clutter. We have the altar of inquiry, which is how you clean up that mind drama using method from Byron. Katie’s loving what is as well as your own counsel or circle of muses, as I like to call them. And I just added a new feature which is The Mindset Studio. And by studio I mean it’s like a mindset gym to help strengthen your mindset muscles where you can explore Law, what problems you’re having. And if you’re ruminating on anything in there, we help you reframe those thoughts. And also I suggest podcasts you may want to listen to that will help you with those problems. All right, my friend. So if you’re playing with that and you’re having success, DM me. I’m at Schulman Art on the Instagram. I am Miriam at TheInspirationPlace.net. If you want to send me a quick email we would love to hear from you. So again, for the free custom GPT, go to SchulmanArt.com/ALTAR. Okay, and now back to the show. You didn’t share because you were afraid. Is there any part of you that wished you shared it sooner?
Aramis Hamer: Um.
Miriam Schulman: Well, we don’t have to go. We don’t have to do regret. You know, I don’t like to live that way.
Aramis Hamer: Right?
Miriam Schulman: Honestly, I’m sorry I even asked that.
Aramis Hamer: No.
Miriam Schulman: No. That’s okay. You shouldn’t have done anything sooner. You did it exactly when you were. Exactly.
Aramis Hamer: Genuinely, I do feel like the timing was right.
Miriam Schulman: That is the way it was always meant to unfold.
Aramis Hamer: Totally. I am glad I didn’t wait longer, though. You know how we feel. Like we have.
Miriam Schulman: To.
Aramis Hamer: Yes. It’s like. Well, let me wait till I. Till I have this many. Yeah. Subscribers or followers or art shows or whatever. It’s like, especially online. There’s so many. Like, what we almost forget is like, you can build stuff secretly and not even share it. That’s right. You can. You can just have it built.
Miriam Schulman: I’m building some secret things, right?
Aramis Hamer: Yes, yes. Like we’d be afraid of it.
Miriam Schulman: And you know what? Custom gpts are.
Aramis Hamer: Not custom, okay? But you.
Miriam Schulman: Build your. You build your own GPT.
Aramis Hamer: Oh, no. Like where you create your own language learning model.
Miriam Schulman: I, I use ChatGPT.
Aramis Hamer: Yeah.
Miriam Schulman: Okay, I will I will share the link with you because I do want some people to test it and I will.
Aramis Hamer: I would love.
Miriam Schulman: To share that with you. So it’s basically what I’m creating is like this. It guides you through morning ritual questions. And then it pulls in muses. And I decided who I wanted my muses to be. But the way I wrote it, like you can say no, fire her. I’d rather have this other person as a muse.
Aramis Hamer: Oh, I love that. Yeah, there’s so many things that that you can do with.
Miriam Schulman: And then it has like an evening ritual too, which if you don’t answer it, it automatically will start at 6:00. Say, hey, you ready to end your day? Yeah. And then it has like a Monday, a Monday start your week and a Friday. So I’m still testing it, but I’m happy to share it with you because I. Oh please.
Aramis Hamer: Do. I would I would love to I would love to give it a try. That’s sounds so cool.
Miriam Schulman: Yeah. Anyway, that’s that’s my secret project. This is the first time I mentioned it on the air. So. And, listeners, you can’t get it yet.
Aramis Hamer: Right? I mean, look, join the newsletter so that you all can could stay in the know.
Miriam Schulman: That’s true, but isn’t available. I will I will let you know via email all the places. Don’t worry. I won’t keep it a secret. When it’s fully available. I’ll probably share it with my clients first. That’s what I like to do.
Aramis Hamer: Yes. There you go. And that’s kind of part of it. You know, we we build things and we but what can stop us from building certain things is like people seeing us fail, you know, like this, this fear of.
Miriam Schulman: Oh, yeah.
Aramis Hamer: You know, like, oh, well, she only has two views on that video or oh, they only have, you know, 13 followers or whatever. It’s like whatever, just just build it. And there’s so many things that you can build on the back end that the public doesn’t even have to see. And like what I do like to remind people about, just like online things, Patreon, social media, we get to choose whatever we put online, you know? So it’s like if if you don’t want to show your kids, if you don’t want to show your man, like if if you don’t want to tell people what you’re building, you don’t have to at all. People know you based on what you tell them. And so, yeah, I had a Patreon just slowly bacon over there. But then once somebody presented the question, I already had the cake made and it was like, lovely.
Miriam Schulman: It’s like Julia Child.
Aramis Hamer: Yeah.
Miriam Schulman: And here’s the souffle. Here it is. Here it is. Enjoy.
Miriam Schulman: So 2020 is when people said, okay, where is this? And so you said it was from the BLM. Mural. So I’m assuming mid 2020 June 2020 is when that happened. And you had started your YouTube channel in the end of 2019 really ramping it up during 2020. So I’m trying to just get the timeline right. You built it before YouTube, but it really didn’t fully launch until you had YouTube also. Yes. Correct.
Aramis Hamer: Correct. Yeah. I was actually oh, I know, I was actually going back to my YouTube channel because I actually created a YouTube video for my Patreon, just like directly asking for the quote unquote sale. Nice. And just like, directly asking people to become patrons. But yeah, it’s so funny. It’s so funny just how long I had that Patreon built before people even knew.
Miriam Schulman: So how often now do you mention that you have it? Do you mention is it in like, the description of every YouTube video? Do you mention it during? Yes. And you mentioned it during every video or most videos.
Aramis Hamer: It kind of it kind of just I don’t mention it as often as I used to. And that is why my Patreon has declined just because I’m, I’m not mentioning it’s like literally energy grows wherever an energy goes. And so because I haven’t put the energy there, it’s not growing, which is fine. You know, like we have different seasons and I’m yes, I’m shifting towards some other things, but I do put my patrons on the last slide of my videos. So that is just kind of like a Q, a sort of wink to people like, hey, I do have a Patreon, and there’s some people who who are like, just patrons, you know what I mean? Like, I’m, I’m just a patron of people. So if people just I’m like, patron of probably however many content creators and, and artists, you know, maybe like ten, 10 to 15 or something. And so it’s like once you start supporting artists, you start to just support more artists. You’re like, oh, who else can I? Who else can I support? You know, and especially when you have your own Patreon, they take those funds from your pledges. So so some of my it’s not even coming like directly from feels.
Miriam Schulman: Free to you.
Aramis Hamer: Because yeah like PayPal exact. It’s it’s like.
Miriam Schulman: Hard to say to myself that PayPal doesn’t count. Like if I bought something on PayPal, it totally counts, right?
Aramis Hamer: It does count, right?
Miriam Schulman: It totally counts. It’s still money, right?
Aramis Hamer: Exactly.
Miriam Schulman: I just want to pause for a second and bring the attention. So I have been a this is this is your sticker, my friend.
Aramis Hamer: Thanks.
Miriam Schulman: Yes, Yes. I love it. It’s an it’s on my. For people who are listening to the podcast instead of watching on YouTube, what I’m pointing to is I was part of Aramis’s Patreon and I got a sticker, and it has a place of honor on my planner, along with some other things that I have. Anyway.
Aramis Hamer: I’m so honored. I’m so.
Miriam Schulman: Honored.
Aramis Hamer: That like that means so much. That means so much. And what’s awesome about those perks is like, so now I guess this is coming up on six years now that I’ve had a Patreon, but that’s fairly new where Patreon will now fulfill those orders.
Miriam Schulman: Which I think is fantastic. So can you walk us through the perks you currently offer? And then I would also love to hear perks you’ve offered in the past that were like, I have to get rid of this. Like perks that are like good ideas and bad ideas is really my. Totally.
Aramis Hamer: Totally. Okay, so here is so we can we can dive in for super specifics. People can just go to my Patreon, right? So it’s like, I want to like, peel back stuff that they might not know from, just like seeing stuff online. Yeah, peeling it back. I identify as a Seattle artist. A lot of people in Seattle love supporting, quote unquote, local artists. We love local things, local business owners. So there is a bit of a social currency that you get specifically in Seattle for being a local Seattle artist. Okay. So I, I pride myself on that. I have the hashtag Seattle artist in all of my social media. As I started to get on YouTube, I realized how much of me coining myself as a local Seattle artist limited my reach to people, and also a lot of my Patreon perks. Towards the beginning was giving people access to my studio. So people who are in Seattle who could drive to my studio and come see me, you know, I had like open studio hours. So some of the perks in the early days was open studio hours once a week. I think it was like every first Tuesdays or something, I would open my studio specifically to my patrons where they can come and visit my space, see what paintings I’m working on, ask questions, see, like any art that’s available, they could buy it in person. And this was specifically first. It was open to everybody. Then I just made it available to my patrons.
Aramis Hamer: But as I started to grow on YouTube, I got patrons all over the world Netherlands, Switzerland, Australia, Georgia, New York, like just all over the world. And I’m so grateful for that. And it reminded me like, oh, these people aren’t really able to specifically benefit from this perk because they don’t live here. So how can I make more, more things available to them that they can benefit from in these different spaces? And so I did still leave that available, but I had added on more things. Okay. So the other thing that I added on was live streams. I’m like, cool, wherever you are in the world, you can join me for a live stream. We would do create dates, which we still kind of do now. I’ll talk more about that later. But for now it was Create Date specifically with my patrons via zoom. We were on video, so it will be like 30 of us in a zoom call. I will be painting or creating. They would create with me. It was literally just like a vibe session. It was just like so dope. I loved everything about it. We would just talk about like what we personally were we going on like, what’s going on in life, you know, people to like would tell me what surgeries got going on, like what’s going on with their kid. Like just it went everywhere. Okay. It kind of went everywhere.
Miriam Schulman: My mother calls that the organ concert. I said, what do you mean, the organ concert? Yeah. Well, okay, so my mother is a woman in her 70s, so when she gets together with her friends, an organ concert is like they’re getting their gallbladder taken out. Or maybe they’re having a problem. They’re having hysterectomy. Or, like, it’s all about, like, their organs. Like, you know, they’re talking about their problem.
Aramis Hamer: Okay, That’s the.
Miriam Schulman: Organ.
Aramis Hamer: Like the instrument.
Miriam Schulman: To play because that’s what. Right. Of course I know, but that’s what makes that term so funny. It’s like people in their 60s and 70s, they’re talking about their medical stuff.
Aramis Hamer: Oh my God, this is real though. That’s literally real. It was a it was an organ concert.
Miriam Schulman: It was an organ concert. Yeah.
Aramis Hamer: But that’s kind of how it became and but I mean, not, you know, to a, to a certain extent, but we, we got comfortable, we built community. It was beautiful. But it also did show me how difficult holding space can be for, for people when you are like sitting in front of the camera, you’re looking at people face to face. It started to transition into us sort of just talking. So even just like I wasn’t even like painting as much because like if I’m sitting here trying to paint and like talk to you and oh, did you know. And so I found out that a lot of people just kind of wanted to just, like, talk just just.
Miriam Schulman: Want to talk to you.
Aramis Hamer: Okay? I just wanted.
Miriam Schulman: To talk.
Aramis Hamer: You know, I didn’t want they wanted to vibe. If I talked about something deep, maybe in, like, a YouTube video. They wanted to expand on that, or they wanted to share how that made them feel or something that they’re going through in their life. And so it was beautiful, but it did show me, you know, it takes a skill to hold space for people in that way.
Miriam Schulman: Yes it.
Aramis Hamer: Does. Yeah. It’s a it’s an art form.
Miriam Schulman: It certainly is. And not let somebody hog the mic. Yes. Other people, maybe they don’t want them to hog the mic. Like, that’s very delicate. And you never want to hurt the feelings of the person who’s hogging that. So yes, there is an art of holding space for a group.
Aramis Hamer: I learned a lot of lessons. It was beautiful. Like, I’m grateful that there was no, like, big crash moment. That sort of was like, had me cut it off. But just over time, I was just saying, like, hey, I could see how this could get more, how I could probably want a little bit more space between me and my audience.
Miriam Schulman: Yes.
Aramis Hamer: It became comfortable where we were sharing different things and, you know, people feeling more comfortable to ask different questions. And, you know, as we were entering our journey of starting to try some for family and, you know, just when you when you do kind of want a little bit more privacy, I started to realize like, oh, where are some places where I feel like I’m giving a little bit too much of myself, or where I would feel in inauthentic or maybe different, like, oh, she’s switching it up now. You know, I’m like, let me just create the environment for my future self that I would like to have. And so that that did cause me to pull back from the zoom call, like where we were having face to face zoom calls. But now I still do live streams where I’m the only one on video, and they’re in the chat sharing, sharing tips and talking and hanging out with each other.
Miriam Schulman: In the chat rather than being on camera. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s much easier to manage.
Aramis Hamer: It really is. It really is. So I do want to encourage people like, you know, switch it up like you don’t have to throw something completely out. Like, what I just love about technology now is that we can customize so many different things. You know, we can we can make it whatever we want. And so yeah, so I realized that because I did just like shut it off, like, hey, got counting down. This is our last three. It was towards the end of the year I’m like, yeah, next year we’re going to cancel the create dates. It’s our last. Our last one. Okay. Two more left okay. Like one more left. I was sort of just counting down.
Miriam Schulman: So you basically manage your expectations so nobody would feel like what happened? I joined for this, and now it’s gone.
Aramis Hamer: Exactly, exactly. So we did do a countdown. We did communicate to the audience and let them know for sure.
Miriam Schulman: Okay, so in the beginning it felt expansive. But as your audience grew, it was not energetically in alignment.
Aramis Hamer: Yeah. No. Totally. Totally. I feel like that. That sums it up perfectly and just is so funny. The the healing people pleaser in me is like, well, I don’t want anybody to feel like I would. Well, if any of my patrons are listening, it’s like, it’s fine. That is a that is a beautiful sentence because it’s very true. If something is not energetically aligned, it doesn’t mean that there’s any issues with. That’s right. Anything in particular. So yeah. So I do feel like it’s a full sentence 100%. Yeah 100%.
Miriam Schulman: Okay. So now your live streams, you still go live. But it’s you’re the only you’re managing the energy of the room because it’s just you. You don’t have to manage everybody else’s energy in quite the same way because they’re just in the chat. That’s beautiful. That was a beautiful solution.
Aramis Hamer: I totally and I felt like I could connect with people who were international, you know, like, if folks weren’t able to meet me in Seattle, they’re like, oh, well, hey. So he was still my way to connect with them, you know, which was so beautiful. And then the other thing I started to do was mail out greeting cards. So now this was before Patreon had their fulfillment center. So now I was manually packing orders. I was packing orders for my shop and for my patrons. And of course, that led to burnout. And that led to me doing too much. And even my patrons say they were like, I’m patrons of so many people. You give us the most like you, your Patreon is the best. So it’s it’s interesting hearing that. That’s very affirming. But at the same time it could be like, oh well, wow. Like, am I doing too much though? Like, if you saying that I’m giving you all this and like other other people’s Patreon isn’t like that. Let me, let me figure out what’s like what’s what’s like really going on. And also it helped me when I became a patron of of other people because I was like, I don’t even she kind of giving me this exclusive behind the scene video. I’m not even watching it like I’m I’m kind of I’m kind of working. I’m like, I’m pregnant, I’m married, I’m managing the house.
Aramis Hamer: I’m editing my video. I’m not even watching what she doing. I just want to support her, you know? Yeah. So being in in the position of a patron and being in the position of an art supporter in general, I don’t like as a fan. I don’t want to overwork or stress the person who I love or support. You know what I mean? Right. And then, you know, you see creators like, oh, sorry, guys. Like, oh, I just had to take a, you know. Oh, sorry. Like, you know, just this guilt around maybe not being consistent or, like, not showing up as much. And you always just see in the comments people are like, oh girl, take your time. It’s fine. Like, you know, it’s just your true supporters are incredible, amazing, supportive people who are super patient with you. And sometimes we can be our own worst critic, you know, just like beating up on ourselves, feeling like, no, we gotta be. We can’t miss a day. What’s beautiful as artists is that we are artists, but sometimes we try to force ourselves in this, in this business mindset. I have a talk where I was talking about I had to stop listening to to business podcasts because they, they are different. I, I know we like to overlap entrepreneur and artists because there is genuinely overlap 100%. But there is still a difference though. You know, there’s a there’s.
Miriam Schulman: A different depends on which business podcasts you’re listening to.
Aramis Hamer: Yes.
Miriam Schulman: If it’s like the bro fraternity. Right. You know, the fraternity. There’s the fraternity one. There’s the sorority version. So, yeah, it depends which ones you’re listening to.
Aramis Hamer: Absolutely. So it’s about curating, curating, curating the vibe, getting the people who are on the same alignment. But yeah, there was a I was I, I, I, I, I tend to listen to it all. You know, I tend to get a big, a big variety of things. But I was sort of putting a lot of pressure on myself, as if I do have to scale like a business or, or be like this or show up this way or have this marketing, whatever. I think what also makes us unique as artists is that we are a little different from business. It’s like, you know, Beyonce isn’t just forcing stuff on us. Like we aren’t seeing her ads and her, you know, it’s just like, oh, it’s like, oh, right. Her music, you know what I mean? Like versus Says the ads. That’s that’s interrupting us in a YouTube video. They’re like, can I can I help you build a Shopify website? It’s like it’s a completely different tone than one of my favorite artists. You know what I mean? And so I feel like as artists, we sort of felt this pressure to like business ify our art, to make it this, make it this thing and putting this pressure on ourselves. But our, our supporters genuinely want us to make art and to make it in a way that feels in alignment for us. And they give us a lot of grace, especially patrons. So I like to encourage people with that. Like patrons are different from customers. And I was treating my patrons like customers, like I had to okay, I have to I have to give them this and this and this and this.
Aramis Hamer: I already had customers. If you just want to buy something from me, if you just want to print or a greeting card, you can go to my shop. But a patron is somebody who was there for the long term who’s like, I want to help you build something bigger. I want to help you create what you want to create. So. So customers. I feel like people feel how they feel about Amazon. Right? But Amazon is like, customer obsessed. Amazon doesn’t really I mean, you can there’s a lot of thoughts around Amazon. But Amazon specifically wants to make things like convenient for the customer. Like for years they were they were they were losing money doing things in the best interest of the customer. So for artists, it’s a you can have that similar approach as as a business owner, like how do I satisfy my customer? But a patron is different. A patron is like somebody, I want to help you build what you want to make. If you want to paint blue people, I love blue people, so I love the way your brain works. I love how your imagination works. I love your creativity. I’m not really particular on what I want to see you build, I already love whatever you’re creating, so I just want to help contribute to that. Versus my customers who I have, I have completely different emails from they’re like, hey, can you paint me this? They are very particular about.
Miriam Schulman: And bless them, they should be bless them.
Aramis Hamer: Exactly. So I have I have the collectors. We have client who I’m painting commissions for. I’m painting a mural. They’re like no, submit a draft. Sorry. Change that. Submit another one. We actually want this to be here and to be there. Nope. Don’t like that one. Submit. You know what I mean? Like, now that is a custom I need to satisfy versus a patron is somebody who’s like, I, I am a fan of the world you are building. How can I be a part of helping you build what you’re already creating? And it’s a, it’s a it’s a different energy in that way where they actually they actually want to support your well-being.
Miriam Schulman: All right, my friend. So we’re about to wrap up, but I just want to remind you to check out the new AI tool that I built totally free for you to use the Artpreneur Daily Alter. Just go to SchulmanArt.com/ALTAR. I hope you have a lot of fun chatting with your muses and having it help you get into inspired action. Let me know if you play with it and what successes or any insights you’ve gotten from it. I’d love to hear from you. So again, you can find that at SchulmanArt.com/ALTAR. Okay, let’s get back to the show. Tell us again where we can find your Patreon so we can really see what it is you’re offering right now and have the option of supporting you.
Aramis Hamer: Sure, absolutely. So it’s Patreon.com. And that’s like hammer, but with one M a.m. so pretty much a hammer. That’s me on everything. Tiktok, YouTube, Instagram. And that’s where I share what I’m creating.
Miriam Schulman: Beautiful last words of advice for anyone considering starting their Patreon.
Aramis Hamer: Yeah, I would say just do it. Like just do it. Just start. Don’t overthink it. Don’t over compare either, because sometimes we can look at other people’s Patreon and be like, oh well, maybe I should, I should do this. But it’s like, okay, you’re completely different artist. Like, you’re you’re a singer, so maybe you can’t make greeting cards available. You know what I mean? It’s stickers. Right? You don’t need stickers. You’re like, you aren’t in the in the sort of visual artist category. So. So know thyself. Okay. Know what type of artist you are, know what type of community that that you are trying to build. Put your blinders on and build what you want to build. And the sooner you do it, the sooner you’re going to be able to have people support your vision. I love.
Miriam Schulman: That! Thank you so much for generously sharing your wisdom, your time, your energy and your presence. We were just so grateful that you’ve come. Thank you for having me, The Inspiration Place. Absolutely. And hopefully we’ll think of another way to collaborate again.
Aramis Hamer: Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me.
Miriam Schulman: Okay. All right. And I’ll speak to you before I’m sure I’ll speak to you before the baby’s born. But yes, we’re wishing you a very good pregnancy and an easy labor.
Aramis Hamer: Thanks so much, Summer, baby. So you’ll you’ll see some of the pics.
Miriam Schulman: All right, my friend, thank you for being with me here today. And I’ll see you at the same time, same place next week. Until then, stay inspired. Bye for now.
Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to The Inspiration Place podcast. Connect with us on Facebook at facebook.com/schulmanart, on Instagram @schulmanart and of course, on SchulmanArt.com.
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