501 PATRONS: A HUGE MILESTONE!

As of this morning, we’ve hit 501 Patrons. That’s a mad, mad number. I’ve heard that you can expect 1-5% of your audience to sign up to a Patreon, but there are way more than 1-5% of you on here, even if you do combine Digitiser and BYAMPOD.

I keep saying it, but Digi has a relatively tiny audience compared to many of our YouTube mates. Yet, we seem to have more Patrons than most of them. Why that is, I dunno, but something about what Digitiser has always been – whether in its Teletext incarnation, or more recently – seems to generate passion and loyalty in its audience.

In fact, the audiences we have now with BYAMPOD and Digi mean so much more to me than the 1.5 million we used to get, purely because it seems more personal. I know more of you by name. We interact more. I’d always take what we have right now over those 1.5 million anonymous people.

Sometimes we do get a bit disheartened when a video we’ve made seems to struggle, but it’s coming back here and seeing how many of you want us to keep going - to the point you'll contribute financially - that ensures we do. I cannot stress how much I appreciate it.

And then there’s BYAMPOD, which is the very definition of a labour of love. We’d do it for nothing, of course, but it’s beautiful that some of our listeners do want to support us.

What we make on here isn’t exactly a living wage – certainly not compared to the work that goes into what we do – but over the past couple of lean Covid years, I’m not sure we could’ve survived without it. Coupled to the Digi Level 2 Kickstarter, and two sell-out live shows, your faith keeps whacking us in the face.

I think the fact you’ve been there for us through all that has given me – and us – a confidence to continue with the direction we’ve moved in. Yes, we get moments of insecurity and doubt – show me a creator who doesn’t – but we’ve stayed the course, because you’ve shown you believe in what I make. It’s a gift. Honestly. You’ve given me, personally, something very special.

It seems daft now that I was so reluctant to even ask for money in the first instance. All those years ago, a core of you – many of whom are still Patrons, insanely - badgered me to set up a Patreon, and I did so very reluctantly at first. It felt wrong to be asking you for money. Which is weird, given how my favourite band literally made crowdfunding a thing.

So, whether you’ve signed up for Digitiser or BYAMPOD, or the new Writer’s Club – currently my new favourite thing, so if you fancy hearing me talk about my day job with searing honesty, it’s worth signing up – I thank you. A million times over.

Paul (and Sanja)