This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
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Hey, what's up, Side Hustle School, friends, listeners, and community. Welcome back. My name is Chris Guillebeau. I have the privilege of speaking to you each day, bringing you different stories of people making money in all kinds of different ways, and often doing something good, or pursuing a mission of sorts, or otherwise just making the world a better place in some way. Today, we're gonna look at one of those missional stories, someone who wants to help a group of people kind of bring a voice or bring some amplification to a group of people who sometimes don't feel as heard as others might be.
And for the Side Hustle portion, because whenever we talk about a project like this, we always like to say, okay, how does it actually make money? That is a core value of the show to kind of peel back the curtain and say, okay, it's fine and well what this person is doing, but how do they actually fund it? If someone else had a similar mission, perhaps for a different topic or focus or group of people, but a similar idea, how would they go about getting money for it? How would they fund it? And so it's in that context that we're gonna talk a bit more about the platform at Patreon, which allows fans or listeners or readers or whoever out there, the general public, to give you money to make something.
And it's not just the technology. There's also the issue of, okay, how do you actually ask for money? How do you get over that awkwardness? How do you actually make a pitch? So I'll tell you how this person does it.
She's an activist, she's got two podcasts, and she's currently receiving over $800 a month in contributions. So let's say thanks to today's sponsor. I guess we could call them our patron. Thank you, sponsor. And then I'll bring you that story.
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In her own words, Kelly Wright considers herself fairly privileged. Her day job as a team lead in a call center pays well, and no one she works with cares about her being queer or trans. She also has a supportive group of friends and family. But not everyone who is queer or trans or is otherwise a minority has the same experience. Kelly remembers going to a vigil for a trans girl who was forced into conversion therapy.
And then at that vigil, hearing a minister say some things that made her feel out of place as a nonbeliever. So she decided to create a space, not just for LGBTQ activism, but for secular activism as well. And she now produces two podcasts, an activist show called "The Gathiest Manifesto" and a storytelling show called "The Queer Side." Her goals with these podcasts are to curate a space where people feel safe, valued, loved, and protected, and also to try to change the hearts and minds of people who still might have negative attitudes towards those in the LGBTQ community. That first show, "The Gathiest Manifesto" launched in 2015. At the time, she was doing production work on the side for a popular atheist show, and she told the host she wanted to try going behind the mic.
Not only did he offer to put her on his network, he also promoted her show. With that support, she came out of the gate getting 300 plus downloads per episode, which is not bad at all, considering it was a brand new show with a completely unknown host. A little over a year into "The Gathiest Manifesto," she turned to her community and asked them to support it through Patreon. Patreon is a platform that helps creators get paid by running a membership business for their fans. Those fans, called patrons, pledge a monthly contribution, Callie rewards them with premium content, and Patreon then delivers that content to the patrons.
In this case, the rewards include early access to new episodes, an audio journal she writes, and a monthly group discussion with her on Google Hangouts. In 2017, Callie added the second podcast, a storytelling show called "The Queerside." This time, she immediately started at Patreon when the podcast launched. Between her two shows, today she receives over $800 each month in contributions. She's also received a dozen speaking opportunities as a result of the shows. Callie says that Patreon helps her curate a community, create content for them, and post it without her having to think too much about the delivery.
And one of the things we wanted to talk to her about was how often she pitches her campaigns to listeners and if she ever feels weird asking for money. This is a question that I've heard from listeners who are thinking about pursuing this model, and she said she pitches on nearly every episode. It was a little weird asking at first, but she had spent some time working for a nonprofit before, so she had experience asking people for money. She just had to figure out how to do it in her voice for her show. And her advice is to make your pitch funny or to make it earnest and heartfelt, or go back and forth between the two.
But one way or another, it should be interesting. For Callie, much of the activism she does wouldn't be possible without her patrons. And she tells them that all the time. She says you should let your community know the things you're doing, tell them what it means to you, let them know by supporting you financially they're a direct part of your efforts. But before you do that, before you even set up a Patreon or record your first episode, be sure you're making something that you really care about.
We also talked with her about what kind of equipment she uses, because people always ask me that too. And she says she's convinced listeners care so much more about the content of your show than the sound quality. Fancy Gear can't make a boring conversation with a dispassionate host more interesting. She also talked about imposter syndrome and how being a social justice activist can be emotionally draining. So how does she deal with it?
Or how might you deal with it if you're on a similar mission? She's got two suggestions for you. First, practically speaking, setting deadlines is important. In her case, she has to have her episodes up by Wednesday and Patreon, and then by Thursday in Apple Podcasts. So she's got this built-in accountability, this built-in calendar that she follows each week.
She also keeps a file of what she calls her wins. And side note, I liked hearing about this because I also have a similar file. For her, that file includes saved emails and Facebook messages from people who let her know how much she means to them. Whenever she experiences that imposter syndrome, she goes back and reads those messages. Thinking about those people helps her not lose heart or give up because of her own insecurities.
So that's her advice. What's next for Callie? Well, she's now hoping to diversify her income further by taking on podcast editing clients. And one way or another, she wants to eventually quit her day job and do podcasting full-time. Pursuing her mission as an activist, getting those emails, knowing that she's making a difference while also paying the bills is her dream.
And she's well on the way to making it real. You know, I often talk about how important it is to understand your motivations, to know why you're doing something, to connect those motivations to your goals, and then to connect those goals to specific projects. So that's exactly what Callie has done here. And I know we have a lot of listeners out there with similar ideas. Like I said, it might not be the same topic or the same focus, but they're on a mission of sorts.
They want to be an activist of some kind. And being an activist that kind of sounds like a lofty thing, but just being an activist means being an advocate or speaking out on behalf of something, speaking up for something you believe in. And you can do that without getting paid, of course. I think volunteer work is wonderful. But here on this show, like what Side Hustle School, our purpose is to look at the intersection between something like that and, okay, how could you actually make money from it?
What if you did need to rely on this to pay your bills? How would you go about doing it? And Patreon can work for a lot of people in that situation. It's essentially recurring revenue, which is also great. So you're not just doing like a one-off fundraiser all the time, you're trying to get people to make a monthly pledge.
And when they make that monthly pledge, if you keep doing what you say you're going to do, you keep delivering the content you promised, you keep building relationship and connection with those people, then that income is going to continue month after month. Like some people will eventually drop off, but presumably new people are signing on. So the point is it can become a sustainable endeavor. And a lot of people who use this model say they like it because it is a direct funding model. In this situation, they don't have advertisers or other third parties.
Like they are basically being supported directly by the people they're serving. Or by people who want to support that community. Anyway, congrats to Callie. If you're interested in these topics, you might want to check out "The Gathiest Manifesto" or "The Queer Side" on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to shows. We will link those up in those show notes, which are at sidehustleschool.com/432.
That's for episode 432. Don't forget, inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is better. Thank you for listening. I'll have another story for you tomorrow. I'm Chris Guillebeau for Side Hustle School.
