why I'm leaving kofi

this is why i left kofi
Socials:
✿Website: shannonnichols.artstation.com/
✿Instagram: / sketches.of.shay
✿Shop: ko-fi.com/sketchesofshay/shop
✿Sign Up for My Email Newsletter: 2e065ac8.sibforms.com/serve/M...
✿Business Inquiries: [e-mail]
Equipment
✿Camera: iPhone 13 Pro
✿Editing Software: Adobe Premiere Pro
Music:
Chillpeach - Dreamy Mode : • [no copyright music] '...
TIMESTAMPS:

[@sketchesofshay]

I hope my experience can help you in your own journey! btw I’m still working on setting up my Patreon/Discord (February has become an unexpectedly busy month) but it is DEFINITELY coming soon💖 thank you all so much for the support!

[@KurtFaustyn]

Ah if needed you think you’ll open mod applications? Id imagine a server could get big very fast

[@brendaluv2017]

So would you say kofi is a good place to start selling stickers?

[@fannidoodles]

In your personal opinion with the experience you had kofi is still good for the budding artist but once you grow to a degree its hard to manage and you might have to move on elsewhere? I know kofi could make changes over the years to counter these kinds of things but it is still really nice to see videos like these that give us insight into the heavy load of success on platforms so thank you!

[@sketchesofshay]

I might limit the amount of people at first and slowly grow (the discord will be patreon only because i gotta allocate my work week time for it), but that sounds like a really good idea, thank you!@@KurtFaustyn

[@sketchesofshay]

exactly@@fannidoodles . I think it's a good choice for a beginner/casual selling experience, but if you really want to grow in the future and make it a big income source, I would say other platforms like Squarespace would be a better option

[@MiaDraws]

The content guidelines on KOFI are very strict, which is something that people will need to watch if they want to use that platform. I have spicier content, so I can not sell, link, or promote that part of my work on Kofi. Even accepting money for spicy coms that you don't show can get your account suspended. Just something for people to keep in mind.

[@sketchesofshay]

I completely forgot to mention that! thank you so much for pointing that out Mia! As someone who is interested in exploring more mature themes in my artwork possibly in the future, this is an extremely important thing to point out.

[@MiaDraws]

@@sketchesofshay Patreon is a good platform for that exploration but be aware of there guidelines for NSFW content as well! 😊

[@christinaedwards7072]

Super helpful! Thanks

[@KaterynaM_UA]

it's unbelievable how there is not a single platform out there that is normal about nsfw content. It's like we are in middle ages.

[@MiaDraws]

@@KaterynaM_UA It really becomes difficult for the different platforms when the people who process the money are cracking down on NSFW content. Paypal, Apple Pay, and Google Store all have very strict guidelines for what apps can have or promote on their platforms. I think it comes down to the payment companies not wanting to be liable for what content is getting bought through them. It sucks but that is something to consider when making spicy content. Patreon for now is the only one allowing it but they have their own hoops to jump through.

[@islanddryad]

My biggest issue with Ko-Fi is it’s not international friendly. I live in Jamaica and neither of Ko-Fi’s payout options (PayPal and Stripe) work in my country. I know it’s probably not as simple as “just support international artists!” but does seriously suck because it meant I had to give up being a career artist seeing as I would have to cut myself off from a worldwide audience. Yes, there are work arounds but they cost a lot to use and as a small artists without a steady income it just didn’t make sense

[@sketchesofshay]

thank you for pointing this out, wow, I had no clue that this was an issue. I am so sorry that you're unable to pursue business ventures because of this. I would really recommend reaching out to Kofi's support and feedback page and submitting your issue. help.ko-fi.com/hc/en-us/requests/new I hope they expand their accessibility to international payment processors, wishing you the best

[@anniyahvive]

Don't give up your dreams, definitely try something like KZbin..literally anything free to get your work out there. Trust me, there's always an audience out there for you. ❤❤

[@astrawbearrie]

Random but what's your kofi or any other socials you may have? I'd love to see work from other Jamaican artists!

[@caramelfrappuccinos]

do u have insta? I would love to support as well!

[@user-bl9hq2gf6i]

I get your point and Im also somtimes frustrated that lots of webservices ar not international-friendly, but to say that is the reason you HAD to give up for dream of becoming an artist. that's ridiculous. it's a lame excuse. you do realise that there is a million ways to create your own website and sell your own art?? there's lots of tools that dont even require alot of knowledge on webdesign. there is also many more only services like kofi ! it's hard being a career artist I asume, but THAT is not the reason, that's just lack of knowledge or time or willpower to pursue it.

[@SubscribeOrIThrowShinyObjects]

All i saw was why i was leaving and i got so scared 😂

[@sketchesofshay]

you guys can't get rid of me that easily hehe I am here to stay!

[@SubscribeOrIThrowShinyObjects]

@@sketchesofshay YAYYY

[@Therisibledeer]

Matpat and tom scott have scarred us lol, ( love them tho!! No hate, they deserve their retirement)

[@SECRETGRAVlTY]

I didn’t know full time artists relied so much on their audience for support… I’m definitely supporting more artists from now on ;w;

[@sketchesofshay]

I really appreciate you doing that! a lot of artists have multiple income streams that stem from an audience base, so it's really crucial to our success, but this is different for everyone! Some artists have industry jobs or other fulltime jobs and supplement their income from an online audience, but some other artists are completely funded by their audience. but there are so many things you can do to support that are free! liking posts, commenting, sharing art, sharing videos, reposting shop updates. Any little bit helps and we artists truly appreciate any form of support

[@SECRETGRAVlTY]

@@sketchesofshay that’s actually news to me 😭 I always thought they just got paid through the platform full time (influencer?) artists posted on, like KZbin and tik tok or even sponsors… I didn’t know even interacting mattered that much, I feel so bad… I’m glad there’s free ways of support though, because unfortunately I can’t buy every artists’s merch and stickers 😭💗 I’ll definitely do as much as I can then!

[@sketchesofshay]

that's completely okay! yeah, content creators don't really have a "fixed income source". We do get paid through ads on KZbin, and negotiate deals with sponsors, but it's based on our view count which can fluctuate greatly on a daily basis.@@SECRETGRAVlTY

[@troublestarter6033]

@@SECRETGRAVlTY in many countries, TikTok and instagram creator bonuses aren’t available so a lot of artists outside the us actually don’t get paid for their content at all (if they don’t take sponsors). I’m in Italy and I know us creators who have been paid 2k monthly for like half of the views some of my reels got, but I don’t get paid cause reels play bonus is us only 😭

[@starsanddinosours]

i completly understand your decision! Also, it's AMAZING seeing you grow as an Artist!!

[@sketchesofshay]

thank you so so much!! it defintely feels like growing pains right now but I'm staying positive that I will get better at managing things.

[@BlobbyAdventures]

I've wanted to sell art for a while now, but have been too intimidated to start. I'm not even sure if anyone would want to buy my art. But Kofi might be a good start. Even if you switch later on, it seems good for starting.

[@nextombz]

I would, if I had money

[@sketchesofshay]

you never know if you don't try! start small and as low of an investment as possible, I wish you the best

[@starlucanyaart]

Your work is great, you should try :) me too i'm a drawer and i have difficulty to start to sell something. I was on ko-fi, and despite the big amount of videos on my channel about my art, no one ever paid. And i had not a lot of views or followers. So i have removed almost all my artwork on my channel (i just let fews videos about gouache painting). But i'm not really at my ease, because i'm not popular in artistic community, and its like you could have support only if you are popular :(

[@speckledblender5495]

Wow that sounds very chaotic hopefully you were able to figure everything out. The digital painting of Saul is so beautiful I love the way you drew the grass and the wings very fluffy looking makes me wish that is was the summer time. Im so sick of the snow. I'm still not sure where I'd like to make a Shop for my art yet but I'll figure that stuff once I've graduated. I'm very grateful for the tips that you have shared they have really helped me with my art. As always keep up the AMAZING art and hope that you have a fabulous rest of your February. Can't wait for more amazing drawings and videos from such an amazing artist and person. ☺️

[@sketchesofshay]

thank you so much ember! so happy you like the artwork and found the content informative. i hope you have a great rest of February as well! last video of the month coming out next week, hope to see you in the premiere!

[@speckledblender5495]

@@sketchesofshay Super excited for it!!!

[@OlivrzCorner]

Your art makes my heart flutter please never stop that, this drawing in the bg was so bright and so full, like, boom. Hard to focus on listening but I got the idea, GROW STRONG!

[@sketchesofshay]

omg thank you so much!! wanted to have something nice for you guys to look at as I ramble on hehe thank you oliver!

[@realherutastic]

Consider that in Patreon content leaking is super easy, there is a TON of leaking and Patreon is doing NOTHING about it.

[@sketchesofshay]

OMG I didn't know this was a thing??? holy cow

[@lusciousmilk13]

So happy for you that your audience has expanded and that your business is growing! Totally understand why you are leaving Kofi! Do whatever makes your job easiest! We all want you to be able to keep creating!❤ Beautiful art as always by the way! 😍

[@sketchesofshay]

thank you so much for this comment! ;-; your support means everything to me as a growing creator!

[@lusciousmilk13]

⁠@@sketchesofshayof course! Thanks so much for being an inspiration to all of us! ❤

[@foxgloveandfennel]

Thank you so much for this info! I recently launched my sticker shop on ko-fi for the exact reasons you mentioned - it is very easy to create item listings and set up a store that is secure and looks good- BUT - it is also a little clumsy. The one thing that really gets me confused is that there are no order numbers or linear identifiers for your orders - only dates and names. The receipts are also not downloadable or even viewable on single lines, so it makes fulfilling orders hard to decipher when there are variations, and collecting data for record keeping is also really difficult. I think I am going to keep going with it for a while as I am so small right now it is all manageable, but this is such helpful food for thought! Thanks again, your artwork is wonderful and thank so much for the help and insight!

[@sketchesofshay]

EXACTLY omg you explained it way better than me! Searching for a specific order is always a headache right? Kind of clunk, not streamlined at all with the info you need to get organized. Wishing you the best in your continued shop endeavors

[@MS-dw6zu]

Your art is ridiculously insane. In a good way. It hasn't been that long since I found your channel, but now I look forward to your videos ever since I did. Such an inspiration 🥰

[@sketchesofshay]

ahhh thank you so much! I am so happy to have you as a new viewer!

[@froggistudio]

I completely understand why you left Kofi! Thank you for making this video. I want to eventually start my own shop and sticker club, so this information is very valuable. Thanks Shay!! :D

[@sketchesofshay]

so happy I was clear and was able to help you in your own journey! best of wishes to you froggi!

[@bxwieknxfe]

I’ve been debating what to use for my sticker club, so I appreciate the insight dude!!

[@bxwieknxfe]

WHOA THE CANCELLATION THING IS SO SCARY HUH???

[@sketchesofshay]

BYEAH so happy that they ended up fixing it! it was so frustrating and confusing, so happy that other creators won't go through the same things I did

[@sketchesofshay]

so happy i could help! I considering moving to patreon for my own sticker club so maybe I can make a follow up video after a couple months to share what I learned.

[@bxwieknxfe]

@@sketchesofshay I can’t wait to hear! Best of luck, I’m excited to get into the club this time :)

[@x3AnimeFanXD]

5:50 ty for making it clear that this job isn't possible to achieve for many people. It is a dream job and I'm sure many young aspiring artists still hang on to that dream but are not capable of making it reality due to multiple factors like financial status, time, acceptance from family members etc. I think being a full artist is easier AND harder with social media nowadays. Either you were lucky enough to be blessed by the algorithm or not. Can't advertise your stuff far enough if only a handful of people can see it.

[@ChantelleArts]

I hadn't actually heard of kofi until you started yours, thanks for sharing more information about it, it's all really interesting 🥰

[@yaelbegel3357]

i truly love your content, i never get tired of it !

[@sketchesofshay]

that means so much to me, thank you!

[@ditacynosurecoffee]

Hi there! Was just scrolling thru and found your video, I really appreciate your insights on ko-fi's pros and cons! I absolutely agree on how easy-to-understand it is as well as the nitpicks. I've been offering memberships on kofi for 2 years now and over time I found it frustrating to work on in its interface to provide the same kind of stuff you pointed out- blogs and gallery NEEDING to be separate and no real way to tag artwork. I do believe they have a great vision when it comes to assisting creatives (and I will still use them for dono's assistance!), it's just a hassle when wanting to keep organization smoother. Anyway, more power to you and thanks so much for the video! 😄

[@Puzzleking14]

I’m so glad you’re growing!! Can’t wait to see the new shop!!

[@sketchesofshay]

hehe thank you so much puzzleking! it's definitely a little chaotic right now but I am so happy and comforted by viewers like you. thank you for supporting my work!

[@djsadbean]

This video was so so helpful

[@sketchesofshay]

So glad you found this video helpful, and it feels good to not be alone. I wish you the best in your shop journey!💕

[@cornflakes-does-stuff]

Thank you so much for making a dedicated video about this with so much info of the pros and cons and your experience with ko-fi, it's super helpful for folks like me trying to decide on platforms to use for monetization! Also I love the art you were working on in the video, I love when the sunsets paints everything pink and you portayed it so well , the soft glow of the wings is so beautiful yet relaxing or how should I say this!

[@sketchesofshay]

I am so happy you found this video helpful!! and thank you so much

[@WaffleWhale-]

I haven't heard of KoFi before but thank you so much for all the insight on it! I'm working on starting up merchandise soon so this will definitely be something to look into. Also! I generally love your vibes so much you're honestly my go to channel to watch when I'm drawing. Thank you for the videos

[@sketchesofshay]

thank you so much! you're so sweet omg so happy this video was helpful to you

[@Peepingowl549]

Its awesome you outgrew ko-fi! congrats ! I hope to outgrow it someday too

[@dogwearingawig]

This was really insightful, thank you! I plan to sell my art in the future so this was so helpful

[@Crypticzoe]

Hey that's me! I'm actually still not entirely sure of what I wanna do for my store, but I think this cleared things up a little so thank you! I really want to work on upgrading my store, but shopify (starting out) is so hard to keep up with especially if you aren't making the income to pay for it every single month. I'm not entirely sure still since everything takes a percentage off orders.... Ahhh this is such a hard decision haha. Hoping to grow this year! Thank you again Shay for the vid!

[@TheBlackHatOutlaw]

I never understood why people would get onto creators for sharing their issues. Yes these may be nitpicks, etc, but you are trying to run a business. There is and should be no shame in making changes to the way you do this for better time management. The less time needed for the grunt work and behind-the-scenes tasks, the more time granted to do what it is you wanted to be doing in the first place. There has to be a balance or you risk burnout eventually. So, in short, I support this change and took it as no slight to Kofi.

[@sketchesofshay]

Thank you so much for understanding! I think I just don't want to come off as too demanding or pretentious. And the simplicity of the dashboard is what drew me to it in the first place, so I am wary of critiquing the platform BECAUSE of that fact. That can come across a little hypocritical, so I wanted to be clear that my goals changed as a business, rather than the platform being inherently bad/flawed. I hope that makes sense lol glad to see a comment from you black hat!

[@TheBlackHatOutlaw]

@@sketchesofshay To me you were very clear, I just had a moment of being ... hmm.. annoyed? Not sure what word to use. But, annoyed that people on the internet can be so quick to judge that one HAS to speak abundantly clearly to even hope to be understood. Does that make sense? I feel you shouldn't HAVE to do that is all. I know it is what it is and commend you on making sure you were clear.

[@kodesart1251]

If i understood correctly, you won't have the sticker membership open for international customers, which does make me a little sad bc i would love to be part of the sticker club! too bad the shipping would be higher...

[@sketchesofshay]

I am working on something like this for Patreon! don't worry, I still want to include my wonderful international supporters in future drops and launches. Just needs a bit more tinkering on my end. thank you so much for your interest and patience kodes

[@captainjuno1242]

After the video i do understand your decision quite well. I am a hobbyist artist slowly reaching out to more professional work mindset. I am already self-employed so i can use my company and experience on this new journey. My current platforms where I share art are instagram and my LinkedIn. I also have an Shopify shop which is currently running as handmade craft shop. I also do event selling anyway so will start to bring some prints and other art stuff. Next project is to go ArtStation After that no idea yet 😅

[@chikkenhawke]

this is a really neat look into your experience & thoughts on kofi!! very understandable how it wasn't working for you. i'm glad they seem to be pretty receptive to feedback!

[@sketchesofshay]

yeah the kofi team really seem to want to improve their platform! glad you found this video insightful

[@jessmarie6680]

Incredibly helpful video, Thankyou so much

[@williameverett9866]

I clicked on this thinking "ko-fi" was a spin-off from the lo-fi genre of music, thought I was about to go down a rabbit hole

[@lluminescenttl]

That does sound like a lot, but im glad you're comfortable enough to make this decision! It's interesting to hear your perspective on the store and how your mind works when creating and managing everything like blog posts vs image posts

[@sketchesofshay]

thank you for the support Lance! it was definitely a learning curve but hopefully this year I can get a better handle of things 💪

[@DoomBloomArt]

I feel this video so much! Initially I thought Ko-Fi would be improved in quick iterations and sticked to it despite the inconveniences, but their platform being so versatile means that they have a loooot of features to work on and they're often not the ones you need :')

[@sketchesofshay]

you hit the nail on the head! it's great that they are working on so many things, but that also means there is a long list of things to do that take time to do well.

[@mlmetz87]

Yeah, I just don't trust Ko-fi for what they did to Duchess Celestia where they basically got hacked, and Ko-fi never notified them and was just like "Are you SURE you got hacked? Or did you just FORGET you changed your PayPal?" and just was eventually like "Ok, here's the money you lost, shut the fuck up," smh, basically just shit security and the way they handled the situation was just gross so I just don't like Ko-fi for that tbh

[@sketchesofshay]

I had no idea that happened omg... thank you for letting me know! I will make sure to mention this if I do a follow up video

[@mlmetz87]

@@sketchesofshay ofc, ofc, np

[@PandorraAAAAA]

I've been considering shifting over from Etsy to Ko-fi but this video helped me understand better that with a larger scale shop, Ko-fi would not be the platform for me. I do think using Ko-fi for digital items is definitely worth it at least, as well as donations. Would definitely be interested in hearing how your experience with taking commissions through Ko-fi fares, as well as how creating and running a online shop with square space . Thanks for such an informative video

[@taurusgirlproductions]

I have debated about getting a Kofi for commissions when I first heard about the platform. I only decided against it when I heard about what happened to Duchess Celestia with her Kofi account (TL;DR, someone hacked into her account and stole $700, she never got notified about it nor was there a Two-Factor Authentication from what I could remember, and both Kofi and Paypal kept giving her the runaround about whose fault it is/what to do about it.) However, with creators like you and PartyCoffin, I've been debating about making a Kofi shop (I didn't know shops were a thing til I found you) and doing stuff like you did - a lil sticker/print shop for myself! I'll have to listen to your reasons again and think about it, since this stuff isn't as easy as people think.

[@sketchesofshay]

first, hello fellow taurus ! second, OMG that's crazy?? I wasn't even aware of that happening, that is so scary. I am not sure if they have changed anything, but I am always aware of my payment processor cash flow and transactions to my business account. I used Stripe, not Paypal, but I hope Kofi figures out better security, that's actually insane. thank you so much for pointing that out !

[@taurusgirlproductions]

@@sketchesofshay No problem, I've mostly been on the lookout for stuff like this as an artist, especially since i don't get commissions often, and Duchess Celestia is pretty good with reporting stuff like this. They've done a video about the PayPal situation back in Aug '22, but I was caught off-guard when they discussed about their Kofi account situation. They made a video about it, and unfortunately I haven't been able to keep up with their content to see if there was any sort of updates on the whole thing now. P.S. I've never heard of Stripe as a payment app/platform. Is it a recommended payment platform for artists? If so, I might look into it soon!

[@meikoluvv]

You’re very hardworking, so inspirational! :D

[@senink]

It’s very easy to use for people with learning disabilities and people who get easily overwhelmed Really easy for me, however I rarely get commissions. Right now I redoing some of my listings cause before I feel like I rushed through all of them without putting in much thought. There’s like 2 listings right now But I’m struggling on advertising my shop, any suggestions based on your experience?

[@sketchesofshay]

I agree! The simple interface is really intuitive and easy to get comfy with. For advertising your shop, I would really recommend sharing it on all of your social media!! Make sure you are actively posting to your accounts and just casually post your commission listings every once and a while to get the word out 💖

[@thinkerdreamersketcherspy]

Thank you for this honest review of the platform! I think it's very natural to develop and change your processes as your business grows and sometimes that also means you're outgrowing certain modes of operation. But what's great, it's that there are platforms for people in different stages of their business -- and I do hope that Kofi will stay as easy and 'barebones' as it has been for beginners. Personally, and things staying same, I'm still going to go with Kofi when I get to that point. I'm not expecting much business/transactions so I appreciate easy to use and affordable over more customisation and bells and whistles. I've been building websites for 25+ years so I'm fine with making my own static site and implementing the simplest way to sell. If for some reason my business exploded, I'd consider a more integrated, full-service platform like Squarespace -- but for it to be worthwhile to me, my revenue (and volume) would need to be substantial. Maybe, if I'm in a position to offer memberships, I'll start a Patreon as well. Or maybe look at other options out there. When/if I get to that point.

[@sketchesofshay]

that sounds like a great plan! I think as creators we need to find what works for us best and stick with it. It is so important to consistency and growth, and I am happy you found that it works for you!

[@Probbly]

I will probably use kofi soon lol. Probably because i am a beginner artist on the internet and will definitely make some small commissions

[@sketchesofshay]

that sounds great! I wish you the best, kofi is super easy to use

[@artisticgarbage07]

This video is very helpful, even if I'm a minor and still can't really sell things like my art for actual money, I'm looking for any kind of way I could try to do so in the future when I get the opportunity, and I'm probably gonna try kofi out. :)

[@ameliaroseillustrations]

So inspiring to hear that you've been able to grow and succeed as an artist!! ✨ As a small artist/creator, i've been thinking of trying something like Ko-Fi. So its good to hear that it can be beneficial for small creators.

[@Crunchytoes189]

Thanks for informing! I planned on using this site. 😅

[@sketchesofshay]

So happy I could offer some insight. I still recommend it to kind of "test-run" a shop or membership tier. It's a great low commitment way of figuring out what will work for you as a creator.

[@bbadperson594]

@@sketchesofshay How do you do "test-run" of a membership tier?

[@leoterrell9848]

Have you thought about getting a cricut machine?? I think it would make things a LOT easier for you with your stickers! That way you don't have to cut them all by hand.

[@RACOONAFIED]

Expensive, they are very expensive

[@sketchesofshay]

I actually have been using a Silhouette Portrait 3 since last year for my stickers! I found it to be perfect for my needs and I talk about it more in this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/bWLUgoKriNKHgbssi=yLeFO3qJWpnQQYK9

[@sketchesofshay]

Yeah cricuts are really pricey! and that's why I waited so long to save up for a cutting machine and getting a more affordable alternative, the silhouette portrait 3

[@leoterrell9848]

@@sketchesofshay oh I’m sorry! This is my first video of your channel so I didn’t know lol. I’m glad you found one that works for you! It was painful watching you cut everything by hand in this video 😅

[@maxsoop]

as someone who is starting out in taking comms and getting a monthly 300-600dollar icome ratio i can not relate to the "suffering from sucsess burden" quite yet. But i do have friends who are full time artists with like 200 K followers on twitter or whatever and they always complain about it i get it though, its like this with any job rly, even if you love doing art and all of that stuff i had this in my first year of UNI where we were only really drawing for class, i couldnt do anything but draw for class and not really for myself wich had a serious toll on me and led to me hating art for the entire summer after youre doing amazing!

[@sketchesofshay]

I think it’s just sometimes really difficult to juggle all of the income sources I have. It would’ve been fine if I was just doing shop stuff, but in order to make a livable wage, I have to also do other things like KZbin/sponsors/etc.

[@kamukoma3080]

thank you for the insight!!!! this is really helpful as someone whos trying to get into selling and stuff of that ilk.... can i ask what brushes youre using in the speedpaint or where i could find them ???!

[@sketchesofshay]

I mainly used the default gouache brush and turpentine brush in procreate, and I think I used a pencil brush I made. I also used the uzumaki brush a little bit from crvptozoology.itch.io/brush-pack-1

[@kamukoma3080]

@@sketchesofshay thank you !!!!!!!! much appreciated

[@RipVanWinkle_II]

I made a ko-fi literally last night and this is just wahat i need 😭

[@michaelpeters8615]

What a great concise over view, thank you so much.😂

[@acluelessstar]

a little unrelated but how long did the illustration in the video take you? i am obsessed with the rendering and colors and just want to get a grasp on how long it takes other artists! thank you and awesome informative video :D

[@sketchesofshay]

I listed the time in the outro on screen under the illustration! I hope this helps

[@acluelessstar]

@@sketchesofshay help exposed myself not watching the outro HAHA sorry and thank you!!

[@ElinCamellia]

I've had such a hard time finding a job and I've had to rely on art and it's not working out, I'm told my work is good but nothing sells and I'm selling dirt cheap.

[@arynnenicholson8867]

oh wow I met you! thats unexpected! you were at awesomecon last year! i hope you'll be there this year! this is my first year of trying to become a fulltime artist!

[@sketchesofshay]

I was not at awesomecon, it must have been a different artist with a similar style! Sorry for the confusion :’)

[@coinopanimator]

A couple of things I would like from KoFi. Collections and discounts for collections. Printify integration. Have a bulk options (open, close, apply discount etc). Better Newsletter email list support (a zero tier for new letters)

[@Brittanysplittany]

For the address issues, did you ever try putting addresses through USPS address lookup? It might not be practical for the volume of orders you take, but I work at a bank and we use that to make sure we input an address correctly. Sometimes people don’t realize they’ve been writing their address wrong. It might be helpful!

[@sketchesofshay]

thank you for the tip, I could see this being really useful for smaller shops! I would use Pirate Ship (where I typically print off labels) to double check some addresses, but it would take so much time to individually check hundreds of addresses ;-;

[@fiercefreesia]

Frankly, I dropped Ko-fi as soon as I saw an artist on Twitter (can’t remember their name at the moment, oof) explain how they had $2,000+ stolen from them because the website has crappy security measures; and the Ko-fi staff did absolutely jack in helping her get the money back.

[@sketchesofshay]

omg that's horrible!! I will defintely keep that in mind if I talk about Ko-fi in the future, I really hope they enable better security in the future. thank you so much for sharing that insight!

[@lourissa]

I'm really confused... I want to sell my art and the only place I can sell is Ko-fi because the payment options on other websites aren't valid in my country. (Or maybe they are, but I missed it.) As a beginner would it be easier for me or should I look into other sites? I hope you can help me with this 🥺❤

[@gem9535]

"The numbers scared me." Relate, haha.

[@puccarts]

A bit offtopic but can you let me know what printer you use to print your stickers please?

[@sketchesofshay]

I list all of my supplies in this video ! kzbin.info/www/bejne/n6S5qoqbqpJ7iLssi=l_am0U1B1IHobR7p

[@puccarts]

@@sketchesofshay awesome thanks Shay!

[@avtfol]

can you make a kofi tutorial on how to use this site; I don't know exactly what to put on there that doesn't overlap with patreon since I'm making both.

[@panickytheartist]

Hi! I started using ko-fi because I really liked the idea of one off donations, instead having to subscribe BUT I started adding some things to the shop, and i realized taxes is a thing. Idk if you have any experience charging sales tax on kofi, but I was wondering if you had any insight. It seems like I would have to go in and set one for every state individually.

[@sketchesofshay]

I am no tax expert but because of the state I live in, I only needed to collect sales tax from my state and remit that tax by myself. It's kind of tricky, and I may recommend switching to etsy since they handle all of that tax stuff for you.

[@Gegegelu]

Can someone plz tell me why they leaving kofi? I watched the video but english isn me first language so it was difficult from hear and understand without the English subs ;_;

[@sketchesofshay]

So sorry for the confusion! I mainly left Kofi because of the lack of shop management tools. My audience was growing a lot in a short period of time, and I quickly learned that Kofi is better suited for smaller creators selling at a small scale. I also left because I didn’t like the way they set up membership tiers. There was not sort function, and the lack of post types compared to Patreon was frustrating.

[@user-jh9bb6xo5g]

I'm not familiar with patreon. Will your shop still be available even if you aren't a member on there?

[@sketchesofshay]

I am actually moving my shop to my own site! it will be completely separate from my memberships.

[@Inarab3ar]

What drawing apps do you use??:3

[@sketchesofshay]

for this artwork I used procreate!

[@Inarab3ar]

@@sketchesofshay THANKS!!

[@Komelikus]

PRO TIP: If you use postybirb you can create posts with longer text, however you won't be able to edit them later if you do a typo.

[@potatoempress5731]

wow... $1000 a month seems like a dream to me 🥴

[@sketchesofshay]

It is a lot of money! But it’s not an amount you can live off of. As a full time artist who is fully self employed, this was great to have as an income stream, but it’s better to have multiple streams of income to sustain yourself (just in case you were wondering !)

[@Linnytic]

♡

[@fishfish7985]

I have recently stated on Kofi , it's good for stating , I have saved this video for later 😅

[@SleepyBeeASMR]

why you dont use a print on demand service so they make and ship the orders for you so your audience dont have to migrate

[@sketchesofshay]

most print on demand services take a huge cut of the revenue and you can't control the quality or customizability of the item. This is different to any artist, but it makes more sense for my shop and business goals to manage my own design, production, and shipping. I get to keep all of the profit, a have control of my product quality, and I get a more personal connection to my customers, which is really important and one of my favorite aspects as handling things myself :)

[@SleepyBeeASMR]

@@sketchesofshay ok! thank you for replying!

[@100_collection]

Is It in Sri Lanka

[@MagnusM_OldACC]

i hate the strict rules about nsfw content, i usually draw nsfw stuff from just plain nudity to ~spicy~ and no matter how tame it is they take it down. so i can only post small updates and sketches on there. which makes my use for it kinda useless. so idk if anyone has better alternatives for nsfw artist to post pls tell me!

[@sketchesofshay]

Maybe Patreon? but I’m also not sure of their NSFW terms.

[@darkzeroprojects4245]

I personally tried to give Patreon and such a go, but thinking maybe like Patreon just forget using Ko fi or Subscribe star.

[@hellbreakfast1590]

This video is great and really well thought out! I'm glad to have heard the pitfalls of using ko-fi, as despite having one, I'm still getting used to it. However, the last part about them being receptive to feedback rings very hollow. I'm sure they listen to people with thousands of followers on various socials, but the average user can't expect the same treatment. We aren't going to be equal in their eyes, which isn't an attack on Shay here, it's being a realist regarding how corporations work. That's literally the only criticism I have of this video, otherwise it's wonderful and very informative!

[@sketchesofshay]

Thank you so much for pointing that out! Due to my ambassadorship, I could directly email my contact at Kofi my complaints. I had a direct ear for my feedback. It really sucks that it takes someone with a bigger platform to change things, I’m hoping they listen to their users more, at any size 🫂

[@nolwazi3076]

i never even got success from it XD but imma watch this video anyway!

[@sheepberry.crafts]

As an artist wanting to grow my Ko-fi, this is such a great insight!! It's so telling how they were open to, and actually implemented change from your feedback! As a more 3-D artist (crochet), I think my orders would naturally be slower anyway. Thanks so much for a great video!

[@sketchesofshay]

so glad you found this helpful and applicable to your own journey, best wishes in your own shop endeavor!

[@drawingsnwordz]

Do you think your KoFi experience helped prepare you for switching to Patreon? Or do you think you would have similar success by starting with Patreon in the first place?

[@sarahuchoa4018]

I clicked to find out what's Kofi, and I was kinda right. A facy way to spell coffee ☕😅

[@moonlxss]

I THOUGHT YOU WERE GONNA LEAVE I GOT SO SCARED😭😭😭

[@sketchesofshay]

don't worry! I am here to stay for a long time :)

[@critiqueofthegothgf]

suffering from success dj khaled era; i don't think you need to apologize for wanting to optimize your workflow as much as possible. it's extremely important and switching to squarespace just makes the most sense for you. like you said, those extra 5-10 minutes for each task, trully does add up and can quickly become an hour of time gone from your workflow in an instant. also, the speed sketch here is freaking amazing. i think it might be my favorite one yet! saul with wings is something i didnt know i needed untill now

[@sketchesofshay]

thank you so much for understanding critique! and thank you so much about the art! I really like how it turned out as well, hoping to get some time to make more art like it hehe

[@emidoquinsicecream5279]

Ah shoot, halfway through the video and I just realized that this basically only applies to successful kofi users 😅 I barely make a 100 a year and school has been horrible to us here recently, so I barely get to grow my kofi and other art accounts But congrats to ya

[@sketchesofshay]

even though we may be in different places, I hope this video might have helped you for any future plans if you plan to grow and give you some insight about the platforms features💖

[@DocTIM-VoidLogic]

A lot of people tend to forget that being an "online content creator" is proprieting your own business. Companies that publish designs have things like public relations, legal reperesentation, human resources, you literally have to do all of that yourself.

[@sketchesofshay]

exactly!! it's kind of insane, I don't know how some artists are able to juggle video creation, instagram, online shops, and still have time to actually create. pure passion I guess!

[@DocTIM-VoidLogic]

@@sketchesofshay in my experience it's passion and Adderal (I take Vyvanse, a different ADHD medication I am allowed to make this joke)

[@SoulStaceStudio]

omg my name is shae too lol

[@3llephant]

first? wow!

[@christinaedwards7072]

Tbh I wouldn't be surprised if they don't make the changes you were looking for. Being a small business platform is great but if they're losing the artists that are actually making money? They're going to want to fix that.

[@sketchesofshay]

true, that's a great thing to point out. it's a shame that it takes a larger creator to make changes :/

[@Cartoonicus]

At 2:33 you say "When I started using Platform..." What is that? Is that a product printing business of some sort? You say you started selling stickers.

[@sketchesofshay]

i was talking about Kofi. Kofi is just a shop platform, a place to sell your products. I make my own stickers and used Kofi as a way to list my products and process orders.

[@Cartoonicus]

@@sketchesofshay Oh.

[@Ihavezeroideas]

Whats Ko-Fi 😭

[@sketchesofshay]

kofi is a shop and membership platform! you can sell digital and physical products, take donations, take commissions, and offer memberships

[@OwnyOne]

Having to quit a platform because you're too successful so it becomes too small of a place for you 💅 Can't relate

[@MusicForMyDemons]

stop yapping so much and get to the point

[@sketchesofshay]

sorry if this video was annoying!😞 I really wanted to make sure there was enough context before I listed my issues so that there was better understanding of where I was coming from, and so that viewers could compare their own situation to me. I will do better with being more concise with sharing my experience in the future. Thank you for the feedback 💖

[@ArtificiallyIdiotic]

ive had beef after beef with kofi. its not nsfw artist friendly at all, and even if you dont have anything in your page thats nsfw, a link to a nsfw page triggers the guidelines, a link to a linktree that has a link to something nsfw also triggers the guidelines. so yeah, i didnt want a third strike to hit a third page i would attempt to create and risk loosing my paypal for it, so i moved to buymeacoffee. its much moer chill there.

[@sketchesofshay]

I'm so sorry you had that experience, thank you so much for sharing that insight. how has buymeacoffee worked for you? I am really interested to hear your experience if you don't mind sharing!