Howdy Folks,

Welcome to my Patreon page! Patreon is service that allows fans to make monetary contributions to creators, artists, and musicians. I’d fall into the Creator category. I create YouTube videos, social media content, blog posts, trail guides, and loads of photos all about hiking and outdoor recreation in the Shawnee National Forest and southern Illinois state parks. And I provide all this content for free.

But it isn’t always free for me. It takes gas to get to places. My cameras and accessories cost money. The video editing software isn’t free. And I’ve spent a lot of time doing things as well. I’ve invested well over $10,000.000 into Hiking with Shawn over the past 5-years.
The problem is that I can’t run ads on my videos, ethically. Ethically because the US Forest Service and the state requires commercial use permits. These permits are not small business friendly. They’re over $100 per person, per day. I’d spend way more than I make. So, because of that, I am unable to make that much profit with my videos. I respect the policies of the Forest Service even if I think they discriminate against small businesses, but they were made for cinematic movie producers not YouTuber creators.

I spend way more than I make. So, that is where Patreon comes into play. I’m giving you, the fan, an opportunity to support each month with a contribution as little as $3 all the way up to $20. No contribution is too small, if you just want to give $3, I’ll love you the same. But if you can’t give anything, I’ll still love you the same. Don’t ever feel obligated to become a Patreon.
So, just to let everyone understand that to me, no contributor is different than the other – all monthly contribution tiers have the same benefits. The only thing different is the amount you want to contribute.

Contributions will be put into fuel to go to the forest and film, camera and hiking gear, software for editing, and Hiking with Shawn stuff. If at some point, this becomes my full-time job, I’ll make sure to always keep it awesome for you just as much as it would be for me.

So, with that being said – I’d love to invite you to become a Patreon supporter of Hiking with Shawn, today!

All Tiers Benefits:

Community Posts
Patreon-only articles
Patreon-only videos
Your first name and last initial mentioned in the video description on YouTube
15% discount code for Hiking with Shawn shop
Free Sticker Pack (all the stickers I give away and sell)
A special gift from time to time
Patreon-Only Giveaways/Contests
Patreon-only photos
Free Itinerary Service
Free Guided Hike (per availability)