Channel Update - What do you think?

Hey, all! The channel is growing fast, and it’s so exciting. None of it would be possible without you! When I started this little project, I never thought it would become anything at all, and now, it looks like I might actually be able to make it my job someday. That’s amazing and humbling and just… wow. THANK YOU. I love you all so much.

All the growth means the channel is evolving. I’ve been experimenting with different rewards and perks for Patrons while also trying to expand our community, and I’ve been talking with Rural and others about how best to make this thing a real thing, you know? Of course, your input is vital to this, so I’ve done polls to see what you guys prefer for content and activities, I’ve juggled my IRL job and responsibilities with what I’ve been able to do here, and I’ve tried to get a good feel for what I’m reasonably able to deliver without dropping any of the balls that are in the air. It’s been a tumultuous few months for all of us, but I think I’m getting a general sense of what I can handle. Mostly. Kinda. 

In general, here are my goals for this channel, both short and long term:

1. Stick with a minimum of 3 audios per week with room to add more when/if the time comes
2. Continue to drop in on the server when I can to chat and interact with everyone
3. Keep Foreign Food Friday going indefinitely
4. Work more on bringing in more patrons and growing the channel to a point where I can make it my only job (I have a pretty good idea of where that threshold is after crunching the numbers a few dozen times) - this will include setting goals on Patreon, creating new tiers, and tweaking some perks
5. Continue doing collabs when the opportunity arises (not sure I’m ready to write/edit my own yet because of the time needed, but I’ll stay open to doing them for others)
6. Do a better job of striking a work/life balance and, you know, sleeping - this will obviously get easier if the channel becomes my day job and I no longer have to do other stuff that gets in the way of what I actually like doing

I know a lot of this is pretty ambitious and will probably take a while. It’s harder than I thought to try to think of a hobby as a legit business, and it’s an ongoing struggle to get past the impostor syndrome and remind myself that it’s okay to want to be able to survive by doing something that I put so much work and thought into. But I’m working on it. :)

Onward to the point! I promise I have one.

I want your feedback. I have some ideas in mind for how I want to proceed with Patreon and with the channel as a whole, but I’d like you to weigh in first. Please comment below (or DM me if you’d prefer) with any suggestions you might have. Could be suggestions for new Patreon tiers, suggestions for different rewards, suggestions for the Discord, whatever. I’ll mull your ideas and then maybe we can have a VC to talk more about next steps. I can’t promise I’ll incorporate every idea I get, obviously, but just having the chance to pick your brains will make it easier for me to keep this channel going in a direction we all want. 

Above all, I want to make sure that growing the channel doesn’t compromise the spirit and supportiveness of the community we’ve created. You all are the reason that it’s such a welcoming place. No amount of growth is worth losing that! 

Thank you, as always, for being here, supporting the channel, and bringing such a positive vibe. I can’t wait to see what comes next!