kakosindustries.com/patreon

Hello, Kakos Industries Shareholders. Conrad here. I wanted to give you some updates on some interesting and exciting news that I have to share. 

A few months ago, I got the idea in my head that I would benefit from going to grad school. I have really enjoyed traveling in the past especially visiting Europe so I got the idea in my head that I would look abroad. After shortening the list of countries to those with relatively inexpensive tuitions, I arrived at Germany, a country that I have spent two days in in my life. 

At the time of writing this, I have one application submitted and one acceptance letter. Not a bad ratio. It is a private school, though so it doesn’t benefit as much from Germany’s zero tuition at public universities. Still, all in, the price is significantly less than almost any University in the United States. This is great news because the program is for an MA in Digital Narratives. 

So, here’s where you come in. Were you expecting the squeeze? Here comes the squeeze. And in my defense, I haven’t really pushed the Patreon all that hard since before the pandemic. 

So, during the height of the pandemic, the Kakos Patreon was at around $1200 per month. Since then I’ve had a similar experience to a lot of creators and my income from this project has dropped by around 40%. That is a troubling number for any business owner, especially in our growth obsessed economies, but it is not uncommon for creators to have seen a downward trajectory like that. I’ve been able to supplement my income by being what some people have called the greatest trivia host in the world, but there is a bit of a ceiling on how much you can earn running bar trivia, and in addition to that, I won’t be able to take that work with me. 

To quote Tom Waits, “I know things are tough all over, ain’t getting any better.” So I understand the gravity that comes with The Ask. 

If you’ve made it this far in the podcast, I would certainly appreciate your financial support. 

I want to give you a rundown on how to make your money matter the most because you know I wouldn’t bullshit you. 

First of all, if you’re  using the Patreon app on Android or especially iOs to support creators, stop that immediately. iOs in particular is taking a significant cut for the privilege of doing business in their walled garden. Open your Web browser, head to kakosindustries.com/patreon and become a member that way. If it tries to open the app, don’t let it. It’s a wildly irresponsible policy, but you basically shouldn’t buy any service through an iOs app. I believe that affects Netflix and stuff like that too. But also cancel Netflix and support Kakos Industries. 

The second look behind the curtain on how money works on the Internet. You kind of need to pledge more than a dollar. We’ve taken Apple to task, now let’s talk about credit card companies. Every credit card transaction you make costs the vendor a minimum of 50 cents. Then there’s a percentage on top of that, and then there’s Patreon’s fees, which in my case are a legacy rate, which is slightly cheaper than other people. Remember that Twitch takes 50% of just about everything, and Patreon’s 5-10% is much more agreeable. So the lowest recommended pledge is $3. It’s different if you’re a member of multiple Patreon campaigns, but if you’re just doing one, $3 is where it starts to tip in the favor of the creator. 

So the next thing, the pledge level. I’m not asking anyone to pledge $500 and get the bonus episode written about them. I’m not even really pushing you to get into the credits at the $20-30 level. I am humbly requesting that you consider the $3-5 tiers. I do need quite a few of you to do this, but it is the level that signifies the most income security for me and allows me to plan and make decisions. 

So why I am asking? It’s probably pretty obvious, but I will need the money to pay rent and eat food. I’m hoping for a scholarship, that may not be all that likely for my particular situation. 

German laws around education residency permits prevent me from working too many hours in addition to going to school. I would rather spend those hours making this podcast for all of you to enjoy rather than whatever job I can get with my limited German language skills. This isn’t a threat, it’s just a reality of the situation. If Kakos can’t feed me I may need to make some difficult decisions. 

So, that’s The Ask. For one time donations, there’s kakosindustries.com/PayPal. PayPal takes their cut too, believe me. You can also grab the Kakophany soundtracks on Bandcamp (KakosIndustries.com/music). 

Then there’s the merch. I have a certain amount of physical merch still in my possession and I will be discounting it on store.neverrad.com. If you have any trouble with the store website please send me an email and I will do my best to fix it. The print on demand stuff will still be available, but I obviously can’t keep the physical items on me in Germany. This might be your last chance for a while to get a shareholder certificate, just saying.

My goal is to get the Patreon over $1000 monthly again by the time I leave in August. I know this is a way off, but I know it’s possible. It is going to become more important than you know to support the artists you care about in the coming years. That’s just a fact. KakosIndustries.com/Patreon p-a-t-r-e-o-n.

If you’ve listened this far into this, then thank you. You’re the real ones. I appreciate you listening and sharing. And if you live in the Köln area and have a casita to rent out, let me know. I don’t think that’s a thing in Germany, but still.