More pledge tiers

There are two “perks” that I would like to see you offer. Both of them are tangible incentives. And then I have a third suggestion. 1) To viewers in certain pledge tiers, you could offer the chance to have one of their element samples photographed by you. I'm sure many of your subscribers collect chemical elements, and I’d bet many of them would love to have a favorite sample photographed in a way that does it justice, so that they can use the image as a profile picture, frame it and hang it in their living room, etc. I have taken great pictures of my elements, but some of my samples are too small, too shiny, etc., and they don’t look as good in pictures as they do in person. The visual clarity and sharpness of your videos is outstanding. You use lighting and macro photography very effectively, and you always choose your containers and your camera angles in ways that really highlight what’s going on. It’s clear that sharing the rich sensory experience of chemistry is just as important to you as sharing the science, and the extra effort you put into showing as much detail as possible is a big part of what makes your videos engaging: You make sure the viewer never has to struggle to see what's going on. Any element collector who watches your videos would probably love to own a high-resolution element portrait made (signed?) by you. If you were to choose, say, a winner each month from certain pledge tiers (or from a specific pledge category set up for element collectors), the chance of winning might motivate collectors to pledge, or to increase their current level of support. Eventually, you could start an online element gallery using these pictures; it would be a true collaboration with your subscribers. 2) A second perk you could offer is this: Let a viewer send you an interesting item or substance, and make it the star of one of your videos. Some people will just want to see you identify a mystery substance, maybe the contents of an old reagent jar with a faded label, à la “Antiques Roadshow.” Others may send you a known substance, but they like the idea of demonstrating its behavior in front of many people through your channel. Still others may need help with a real chemistry challenge For example, the only palladium in my element collection is in the form of extremely thin leaf. I haven’t bought a decent palladium pellet or coin yet because someday I hope to extract the metal myself from 5 g of “PALLADIUM DIAMMINONITRITE” that I keep in a tiny jar in my basement since the beginning of time. But I may never do it—I know enough basic chemistry to extract copper from malachite, but this palladium compound is too exotic, and I am not so foolish as to play around with an unfamiliar reagent. So my best hope would be to have someone knowledgeable try to isolate the metal for me. A chance to win that sort of help would be an incentive to pledge. What element collector wouldn’t want a sample with a fantastic back story and a high-quality video showing how it was made? I admit that tangible incentives like these would be tricky to implement. First, they would have to comply with Patreon, YouTube, and Postal Service rules. Second, pledges tied to viewer-submitted requests would have to be declined if the requests are deemed unsafe, uninteresting, or infeasible. Third, you would probably need to take additional safety measures, since no one can really vouch for the authenticity, purity, or quality of chemicals sent by the public. Fourth, the concept of tangible incentives sort of undermines the ideal that knowledge is its own reward. On top of all this, the appeal of the tangible incentives suggested above is kind of limited to element collectors and amateur chemists. However, it seems likely to me that this narrow demographic is actually wide among your viewers, because many of them probably do share those interests. 3) One final idea: As a source of supplemental funding for your projects, consider occasional freelance work for some of the large educational publishers. (I work for one, although not with images or video.) These companies try to avoid commissioning new photos or video, but science programs always need some images that are very specific and have to be staged and photographed/filmed from scratch. With your setup and your experience as a creator of chemistry-related visual content, you have a competitive edge. And if you have lots of images or video that you don’t intend to use, you can try to license them through image databases and stock portfolios like Getty, Fotolia, or Shutterstock. It may take a while for your work to be picked up and generate some revenue, but the odds are better than if it just sits unseen in your hard drive. Good luck!

With what you've outlined I'd definitely be interested in the $3 tier, behind the scenes videos are something I would want to watch after I see the edited one. I think the level of explanation you give currently in your edited videos is fantastic and easier for a layman to understand... basically I wouldn't mess with your current video formats at all. I'd rather see extras in separate videos/content. If it were not cost prohibitive or like... poisonous, I would love the option to have a piece of the exact product you make in the video, like the bismuth crystals, as part of a higher tier. I realize that would end up quickly scaling a lot of these experiments to an unmanageable degree, but if it's ever possible I'd love to be a part of that.

Thanks for the input. All excellent points!

Nile Red

Thats very true.

Nile Red

Im thinking that changing it is the best idea.

Nile Red

Yea, I'd rather do a fixed monthly. I'd give more that way.

Yes I agree with Douglas on the fact that the higher tiers should include extra special perks like behind the scenes, giveaways, more detail regarding the chemistry of the reaction itself rather than simply the synthesis- I am fascinated by it all; as if you think about it, the people who are willing to pay 40$ monthly are clearly very fascinated by your channel and are willing to support you to quite a degree. Im on the 5$ per vid plan but thats all I can do cos I'm only 12 but i think that with the expenses of a new lab then higher tiers should be offered with of course the relevant incentives some of which i suggested above. Love your content man I wanna see you hit the millions of subs :)

I would sign up for a high tier for equipment raffle (or not, either way, would be nice, though), behind the scenes, etc.. I would love to see your prep for various experiments - research, stoichiometry/calcs, setup, etc.. I find it all fascinating.

Neuroskynet

Some great replies so far. Although I’m at best a mediocre chemist, I’ve got a lot of experience running a large consumer subscription business Here’s my take: 1. Is monthly better than per video? Pros of monthly are that it is more predictable and is more familiar to people. Pros of per video are that it has a lower reference price, e.g. it may be easier for people to swallow a $5 price per video vs. a $10/month fee. Mixed is that with a subscription, if you have frequent breaks in video creation you will lose subscribers (but at least you’ll still be getting revenue). So bottom line it depends on your plans around video consistency and whether low reference price or familiarity is a stronger force in driving behavior. I’d time series test the subscription model against per video and decide which horse you want to ride. 2. Should you offer a lower tier? If you do a monthly subscription model, I think the lower tier will just cannibalize the higher tiers. If you do per video it might work, but I still think it might cannibalize. If you want to test this, I’d roll it out separately from the other changes and see how it affects which tiers people choose. I agree with Kenny and others that higher tiers are a good idea. I might even go big and try an even higher tier ($20-40/month) with bigger benefits. 3. What’s the best incentive for higher tiers? I like Ben’s comment about doing something more creative like a raffle for the higher tier. For me the ability to ask chemistry questions was appealing and pushed me over the edge (though I haven’t asked any questions yet). Getting your stronger consideration of video suggestions from high tier subscribers (though no firm commitments) might also be appealing. The stationary credit is ok but I think it is more of a sweetener on top of some other higher tier benefits. I’d package up a few things for the high tier to cast a wider net. Based on the quality of your content so far, and once you get rolling with more videos in the new lab, I think you should aim for 1000s of subscribers. This will of course make the credits too long. Plus the credits give competitors a good idea how much money you’re making. So, bottom line I’d have some fun with this, be creative and treat it as a series of scientific experiments with incremental changes to see what works. Love your content and wish you success.

How does that affect offering "up to" $10 a month / $5 per video vs. $10 per month? I do $5 per video up to twice a month, but I've been thinking about just making it $10 per month regardless since I expect to pay $10 per month anyway per each Patreon I support.

Matthew Wilson

For the highest tier maybe offer them a chance at winning a raffle each month for some beakers or better yet something you make in your experiment like a blue dyed sock or w/e you make if possible

Can you do per video and monthly tiers? I would switch from a per video to a fixed monthly.

James M

Having $1, $3, $5, $10, and $20 seems like a good list.

Michael Aichlmayr

Well Red Nile you should do it. If money is an issue a bigger lab Ouch yes all those chemicals and equipment and recording then yes do it.

Daniel Blake Shoemaker

Definitely think there should be higher level tiers. Some people are generous enough as it doesn’t hurt to give the option of a higher one.