Transitioning From Free Content to Paid Content

[AdrenalineShots]

Appreciate that I'm very far away from this goal, but for those who have moved from free to paid would love any experiences being recounted, what works and what doesn't work...

Is it better to keep the previous content free then make only future content pay as you go / behind a pay wall (e.g. Patreon) or start a new series that is Patreon exclusive?

Is Patreon the best way to monetise your comic?

Just intrigued, any tips on how to position yourself so you are in a good position to monetise later would be great for those of us much lower down the ladder!

Cheers

Danny

[TGping]

I'm just starting out with my webcomic, and I made a patreon for it. However the comic itself is still free, patrons get other exclusive stuff.

I feel there is nothing wrong with at least setting up a patreon, for now, I'm not heavily advertising it, just have a link on forum signatures and stuff. Once I have more pages to look at, and a proper intro video(got some laryngitis slowing that down) I'll go ahead and advertise it once a month and try to direct people there. I think for a good long time, my focus is improving my craft, interacting with an audience to keep my motivation high, and the other stuff will happen naturally or not, lol.

Just my plan ymmv

[AdrenalineShots]

Thanks for your thoughts. Cool series by the way, have subbed. Knights and dinosaurs are a pretty good combo...

[NiLukka]

I don't think I've ever seen a comic that's Patreon-exclusive - some creators upload extra comics to their Patreon but keep the comic itself free to read. Also patrons usually see updates earlier than free-readers (that's what I do, but I'm new to Patreon, too). But if someone knows any successful Patreon-exclusive comics, I'd like to hear about them too!

[AdrenalineShots]

Yeah it's an interesting one. If there is a series that you can only read on Patreon that may create some interest in terms of patrons, but as you say not sure if others have tried

[TGping]

Thanks Danny! I think I've seen your personal site, looks like you have some good ideas for monetizing stuff on it.

You have two Adrenaline shots series? the one shots thing could be the exclusive to patreon comic...

From my own experience, I wouldn't have the time, at this point, to update two separate comics at the same time.

Also, not patreon related, but have you tried conventions? I know if I saw a graphic novel of Adrenaline, I'd totally stop and pick it up