Hi everyone - Andru Edwards here from Gear Live. As you probably know, I run Gear Live editorial and news content, make video reviews, pioneered unboxing videos, and love bringing you the latest on the world of consumer electronics and gadgets. Now, we are kicking off a Patreon campaign, and wanted to explain a bit about why we are doing it.

You may be wondering "Why don't you rely on ads and sponsors like you've been doing for years?" The problem is that, over time, ads on YouTube have become much less lucrative, and bringing in sponsors requires a lot of time and sales skill, neither of which I have too much of. I'd much rather spend my time making great content for you, than chasing companies to pay for it. I want to focus on our fans and followers.

Think about it this way--imagine your favorite comedian or band is coming to town, and they're selling tickets to their show. You can pay whatever you want to enter the venue and enjoy the show, or you can pay nothing. Everyone gets the same show, so you are basically able to choose to support the artist, or just come in and enjoy. That is what we are doing here...except, for our backers, we will have some really great perks to make it worth your while, and you'll be helping us not just continue what we've been doing, but we will be able to do a lot of new and improved things here if we get to the appropriate backing level!

You are able to contribute any amount you'd like on a monthly basis, whether it's $1, $100, or anywhere in between. Check out the backer perks (my way of saying "Thank you!") and choose how much you can do, and we will do the rest and keep making the best tech videos that we can.