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CLS: A Week in Review (May 04, 2018) + Patreon Survey Results in Podcast Form! (Patreon)

Published:
2018-05-05 01:12:58
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2026-06
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Content

Hey All!

I hope you’re all doing fantastic, and that your week went swimmingly.

You likely already noticed that this update is a little different, in that there’s a podcast attached to it. Earlier today, I sat down and recorded a solo show in order to go over the results from last week’s Patreon-exclusive survey. Hundreds and hundreds of you took the time out of your day to answer my questions, and so I figured it’d only be right to reveal what you had to say. I hope you take the time to listen to it when you can. (You’ll especially want to listen to it if you want concrete details about CLS Prime’s return.)

As always, you should keep the feedback coming, day and night, whenever you want. I’m always a message away.

Otherwise, there’s little else to report at current. I spent two days in San Francisco earlier this week, hanging out with Patreon folks, so that was fun, but it also kinda destroyed my schedule a bit, so I need to get back to work this weekend on Side Quest, et cetera. But before I do...

Here are this week’s new shows!

Side Quest, Episode 21: The First Party Studios Sony Shut Down (Audio)
Fireside Chats, Episode 35: A Real Canadian Hero
KnockBack, Episode 12: Movies We Shouldn’t Have Watched as Kids
KnockBack Let’s Play: TMNT Arcade Game

In case you missed ‘em, here are last week’s new shows!

Side Quest, Episode 20: Underrated Games of the Decade (Audio)
Fireside Chats, Episode 34: How to Survive a Disaster
KnockBack, Episode 11: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Side Quest Let's Play: Colin and Erin Play Detroit
Patreon-Exclusive Fireside Chat: IGN's Mark Medina
April 2018's Q&A Video

Next week, you can expect the first round of voting to begin for both Side Quest and KnockBack topics, as well as some other miscellanea. In the meantime, I’ll keep things brief, as the podcast is going to keep you busy enough.

Thank you for your love, kindness, and support. Have a great weekend! -Colin

P.S. If you were at the $50+/month level last month, you are getting two TMNT prints from Dagan in the mail. These will not go out until early June (at the same time as this month's yet-revealed art). This is simply due to logistics that are easiest to overcome in person, and I'll be seeing Dagan in early June, so we'll get it all sorted then. Thank you for your patience!

Files

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Comments

Megan Gierlach

Thank you! This was a treat, because I saw the title and thought it was your usual week in review post, until I looked closer. :) Thank you again.

Dav9834

I can edit :photoshop:premiere:after effects:

Marius Skarsem Pedersen

This was a very interesting listen! Fun to hear what people think. And, hearing you talking about all of CLS and the different shows just made me really excited, and I want to go catch up on the things I haven’t had to time to watch or listen to yet.

Brett Medlock

I was just pacing around my basement listening to this. Getting a (sorta) one-on-one with you was pretty great. Just made me wanna say I’m super proud of you and hope I get to see you in person again one day. Keep it up!‬ Also, MORE DAGAN. ♥️

Aaron

Thank you for presenting these results to the patreon group! I'm excited to hear CLS Prime will be reemerging in the near future. Don't let numbers draw you away from the content. Given the overwhelming interest in the topics (history/politics) and interest in bringing it back, why not keep it going even if the numbers aren't the same as more mainstream offerings like Side Quest?

Jordan Falduto

This was an awesome one-off Colin. I appreciate you being so open with us, because I too am curious where my opinion lies with the rest of the community.

Tyler

Colin, I've got to ask... You left KF and games media to do something you were passionate about, which was videos on history and politics, and the further you get away (time wise), the more this chanel starts to feel like your own spin on some KF content. In this you say something to the effect that... Prime is dead if it doesn't perform. And I seem to recall that you made mention months back that the money you make on the Patreon is way higher than you'd ever thought... anyway, the point I'm slowly getting to is... are you sure you want to kill something that you're very passionate about just because it under performs? For the record, I'm here for Knockback, so I'm not saying this because it's something I care a ton about, but that did seem to be something you did out of passion. EDIT: Just finished and you actually address this. I should note... I'm appreciative that you're listening to the fanbase. My comment merely comes from a desire to not see you burn out trying to please all of us!

Owen

Do you have a number in mind that you need to hit for Prime?

Will Caldwell

Very cool of you to share the results. Really enjoying all the content. Look forward to cls primes episode in June or July and hope those us of passionate about history and politics share it with others to keep them coming quarterly :)

Will Hahn

This feedback podcast was great! Colin, you are doing exceptional work and it is such a privilege to hear your voice (and Dagan’s) on the internet! I wish you all the more success to come!

Tony Colton

Great to hear this feedback and your thoughts on it all. Just to say that when you said you don't understand why people would say they haven't seen an improvement maybe it's because they weren't here from the start and all the content they have seen is all on same level of quality?? I look forward to the future of CLS. Have a great weekend

Peter Campbell

Terrific response podcast. Regards to those complaining about your audio in podcasts, I do production work at a radio station. Your audio is fine. The zoom recorder you say you use for it is what we use for outside recording. It's industry standard. The only way to get better audio is to build a soundproof studio, which is impossible if you are travelling to interview people. If think its people who don't understand audio.

BM

I'm not a sound guy, but with survivalist guy I felt like he was too far from mic and caused the sound to be all over the place. I would recommend keeping an eye on the mic position and try correct the guest.

Shane Bradley

Hey Colin, I'm usually a silent listener, but your call to action caught my attention. I'd love the opportunity to speak with you about editing CLS Prime. I'd be more than happy to answer any questions you have. Cheers from Philly, Shane Bradley

Jamaal Bushara

Hey Colin, I just wanted to expand on why I, personally, support via Patreon and maybe some insight into why your numbers may be going down. I support on Patreon almost exclusively because I like you. You engage with your audience on a personal level that is pretty rare. You also have introduced me to new people and topics that genuinely interest me. In terms of the Patreon perks though I don't really think I'm getting as much compared to some other outlets. Your podcasts don't tend to have timely subjects so the "benefit" of getting them early isn't as important. I do enjoy the voting as that goes back to you engaging with your audience. I don't have any specific ideas for you, but I do think your engagement is your strong point and maybe building off of that could assist in your growth/stability.

Erik Peterson

More than happy to take the time to give feedback. As a fellow introvert, constantly in my own head; I know how valuable honest feedback can be. Happy to hear that Erin was the one who floated the idea of Lets Plays. Bring on the 3hr Knockback!!! F the haters! As far as Patreon base concerns go, if you would be willing to do the rounds a bit on other LA area podcasts(Your Moms House and Adam Carolla would be my first choices) you may see some growth. I think both those audiences and hosts, Tom Segura especially, would enjoy you. I know you have zero time so maybe not. Do you and keep up the great work!

Taylor Laduron

Listening to the results of this poll and seeing how much you interact with your audience is what made me decide to support the Patreon today! Can't wait to see what happens in the future.

LastStandMedia
>>12090490

I'm glad to hear that this has a positive effect, in getting you to check out some stray content. =)

LastStandMedia
>>12091877

Well, the reason is at least partially because there's a contradiction in the statistics: 90% want me to bring the show back, but 25% don't want me to kill anything to bring it back. The numbers don't add up. I also don't want to shoot things into a void where no one is watching. My time is better spent catering to the greatest possible audience, no?

LastStandMedia
>>12092811

In a way, CLS is a spin on what I hoped KF would become, so I can't deny that that's baked into the cake. That said, glad the podcast could answer your question, for the most part.

LastStandMedia
>>12093284

After a couple of weeks, I'd like to see it settle around 50,000. Anything less than that, and I'd say it's time to roll credits.

LastStandMedia
>>12095543

Yeah, it's not a common complaint, but I wanted to address it. I'm actually surprised by how many podcasts are totally blown-out. You want to leave head room (as you know) so you can adjust the audio; I'm not recording any higher than like -6db, and usually lower.

LastStandMedia
>>12096053

He was just actually soft spoken. Some people have a hard time staying on the mic (you'll find that with some upcoming guests), and it's hard for me to tell them to stay on without feeling like I'm being rude. It's something I'll aim to improve at.

LastStandMedia
>>12101304

I'm sorry to hear that you don't feel like you're getting much out of Patreon. In studying other Patreons (and in being a part of another one from 2014-2017), I feel like what I'm offering is pretty high end/high volume, but I could see why others don't agree. I'm not sure how to build off of engagement alone, and I don't want people to feel like THE ONLY way they can get my attention is to support me on Patreon. I dunno. I guess the lack of timeliness is a bit of a double-edged sword.

Ryan Lynch

Hey, Colin. Listening to this convinced me - finally - to sign up and support on Patreon. I really like and appreciate so much of what you do. I guess I don't have too much to say aside from that except my opinion on Prime: in short, I think that you're doing the right thing and reacting to the fact that 1) an audience for exclusively history based stuff is limited and already spread very thin across many "pop-history" outlets; and 2) there's only so much you can do as a non-expert with these things to pull that limited history-audience away from outlets like Carlin etc. Doing "real history" is time-consuming - unbelievably so. There's a reason why graduate students spend literal years reading and writing to create new research that is then engaged with by a very, very small specialist audience. I think trying one more time in the short-term with Prime to see if the audience is really there is a great idea, but I hope that you won't take it too hard if it isn't, either. Because I think there's a very good chance that it isn't. I think there are definitely other ways you can bring your passion for history to the part of the audience that is craving that while not needing to create a formalized YouTube video.

LastStandMedia
>>12112601

Hey Ryan, thank you so much for signing up and supporting me. I appreciate it. I think you're right. You seem to understand that doing a show like CLS Prime is inherently so much more complex than even Side Quest. I want to do it right, but I also want to do it for an audience, and I need to make a living, so... it seems like all might not align. I want to see how the next one-off does in June or July, and go from there. If there's demand, by all means, I'll make more. If not, I may have to accept that there's no market for me there, which is fine! That's the way it goes. Thank you!

Jason Stafford

In listening to this, I'm starting to realize that I may be really simple and too easy to please! I hear some of these complaints and I just scratch my head thinking some people really just like to bitch. Anyway, having listened to you for a couple of years, I know that we don't align on everything, but I really trust your voice and opinions and feel a sense of kinship with you. As a result of that, I just want to see you happy, healthy, and fulfilled. I intend to support you in my meager way no matter what. Thank you Colin for the survey, and for casting the results and your feelings to us. I think you're doing an amazing job, and I really appreciate the information, comedy, and heart without the cult of personality and inanity so common elsewhere. Love you dude!

BettyAnn Moriarty

Hi bud. Hope you’re slowing down this weekend - just a tad - to re-energize. I want you to know how many ch I appreciate your voice and your transparency in all things. It’s so very refreshing. And I’m so proud of you and of your passion and hard work. It shows in all you do. I love you. ❤️😘👏🏻

Ian (616Entertainment)

Just gave this a listen, and I have a few things I want to see now that I've done the survey and you've read through all of the results. First, dude, as long as you're getting a good deal, I say monetize the shit out of your work. Go ahead. I think I speak for all of us when I say we're not going anywhere. And like you said, Patrons won't even notice. So I would like to encourage you, if it gets you a few extra dollars, make it happen. On a similar note, you're so shy as far as self promotion goes, and I respect it, but none of us are going to tune out if you ramp that up. Self promotion can be WAY too much and borderline offensive, but you're so careful with it as it is that you could double your output on that end no one is going to be upset. I think we all understand that its a part of this sort of game, ya know? Another thing this podcast had me thinking was that if you ever want to do solo episodes of Fireside Chats or whatever, you're more than capable. Bill Burr is probably the best example of a solo podcast, he's fantastic, but dude you're great solo. You can pull it off any time. None of us would complain if you had a solo podcast with your thoughts on anything under the sun. Shit, make it a Patreon tier. I'd bump up a bit for it, and I'm already at $10. It'd be more than worth it. I will do my god damndest to support CLS Prime when it comes back, as I miss your voice in the historical and political landscape. The only thing I question with CLS Prime is your comments on its performance and whether there's a market for it. I see most of the CLS Prime videos are between 25,000-35,000 views. The performance comments are confusing because those videos outperform most of what Kinda Funny are doing every week. I haven't watched KF since you left, but I compared the two channels, and their videos are averaging around 11,000-15,000 views. So is the difference the effort? Not shitting on what they do, I'm just taking into account that you're researching, writing, recording VO, editing video, and release one episode a week, whereas they can just press record every day. I understand if that's the difference, the churn/turnover rate. Either way, much love. Thank you again for listening to your audience.

Megan Gierlach
>>12129543

I agree that I would still listen and support, Colin, if you had ads or promoted more, but that is your choice!

LastStandMedia

Thanks for the comprehensive feedback. I'm gonna see what's what with monetizing Fireside Chats and KnockBack; I should have more details in the coming weeks. It's a situation that's in flux, and I only want to do it if it makes sense and isn't too intrusive. And, as you said, those already paying for the show directly will never hear the difference, as there won't be ads on those. Fireside Chats actually began solo, as you might remember. Not sure I wanna go back in that direction, but I may. We will see. As for how Kinda Funny is doing these days, I can't speak to that. All I know is I'm super proud of how my videos and podcasts are performing. I'm just one dude working out of a home office, so I see every view and every download as a blessing.

Ian (616Entertainment)

I made the KF comparison just to try and get a feel for numbers. The CLS Prime videos, from an outside perspective, look like they do pretty well. I just want Prime to thrive, I guess I’m trying to encourage, haha.

Anonymous

You rarely see a content creator who seems to care as much about his community as you do, so it is refreshing to hear all of this. I look at this as a strong community, and we are here to lift you up and support you as well, so keep the communication open, and I know all of the problems that you mentioned will work themselves out. I have a degree in cinematography, and have been editing for several years, so that is a way that I can help support you if you ever need advice, or help on that front. Like I said if we all just keep these lines of communication open I don't see this channel going anywhere, in fact, I could see it growing. Thank you Colin!

Mike Chandler

Hey Colin! I'm really digging the content! I do video editing and would love to help out in any way I can! (Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Illustrator)

Michal Dudic

I somehow missed the survey so I'm just gonna drop my quick two cents here. I think your content and the way you engage with your patrons is exemplary as far as one-man patreons go. I feel like I'm getting absolute bang for my buck, and I'm not even taking advantages of most of the patreon perks because podcast apps don't do early access. the volume that you put out fits perfectly into my week next to other shows and podcasts I follow. The quality is incredibly consistent and the topic variety keeps me alternating between learning things, pondering things, and nerding out about things. So I’m just gonna keep supporting. out of all my patreon pledges, I feel by far the best about giving it to CLS and if I needed to cut my monthly spending for some reason, I’d cut CLS last. regarding patreon going down little by little, I think it’s the case of „cool but what have you done for me lately“, which I suppose must be incredibly frustrating for creators who bust their backs daily. But in reality, attention wanes and just consistency doesn’t really cut it long-term. I’ve seen things like pledge drives work wonders, or one-off projects that are kind of out of the left field. In your case, the occasional CLS Prime could do it but who knows. I’m not a business developer by any means, I just observe. If growth is the objective, I think that may be hard without some of the slimier tactics like ads, sponsorships, partnerships, and shameless self-shilling.

LastStandMedia
>>12141058

Hey Mike! A few people have already reached out, so lemme see if/what I can work out with them first, and then if I'm still looking for help, I'll put out another public plea. I appreciate you!

LastStandMedia
>>12141581

Yeah, it's a tough balance. You're right, maybe CLS Prime will do it. A pledge drive of some sort could be fun, too, but I dunno. Is that really my style? Like I said, I'm just not a natural (or comfortable) promoter, and I kinda need to get over that, I think.

Oakley Waldron

Hey Colin! This was really interesting to listen to. Keep uo what you're doing, I'll always support you buddy.

Derek

Attack on Titan Knockback is gonna be awesome! Can't wait for that. Hope you and Cory Barlog is something that happens, I'm really looking forward to that! He seems like such an awesome guy, and you two will feed off each other I'm sure. Also, acquired Wild Arms based on your enthusiasm, and am planning on slowly making my way through it on night-shift when things are slow! Love CLS Knockback

Michael Morris

Sad I missed this survey, long and short of how I feel about the channel: let it be what you want it to be. Your personality is why I pledged support and all I really care about is that you are being true to your vision and yourself, that’s when the content is the best. I love the fact that it’s grown and evolved from what it was to what it is. The organic/eclectic nature of your shows, especially the two audio shows, is why I love this channel. Colin, just keep on learning.

Rick Lewis

I realize I'm over a year late to this one, but I'm catching up on your backlog, as well as trying to stay current. If you ever see this, I just wanted to comment that one of the things people said was working about the show was that you communicated well with the audience. I'm glad that that's still the case. Thanks for all the great work. And next Sacred Symbols please ask Chris to use his voodoo magic of willing games into existence to get us a Nightmare Creatures remake by From Software.