Presscheck Consulting Patreon – “Sharing What Works”

We recently spoke with Chuck Pressburg of Presscheck Consulting about a variety of topics, ranging from his opinion on recent internet discussions around AR magazines, his new partnership with Sons of Liberty, to the launch of his new website and the Presscheck Counsulting Patreon.

We’ve been members of the Patreon page for a few months, and for a few dollars a month, it’s a great way to gain unique perspectives and support one of the industry’s most experienced and unique voices.

Q: I’ve been following your Patreon page for a while now, it’s really a tremendous resource, and it seems like a logical next step for Presscheck Consulting…

Chuck Pressburg – Presscheck Consulting:  I think I have a loyal “fanbase” or whatever you want to call it. There are guys that have been following me and the content I’ve been putting out since late 1999. The original Primary & Secondary forum on Facebook was actually a migration from the Lightfighter forums I participated in. The core of the people that created Primary & Secondary all met each other there before Facebook was a “thing.”

Around that time, during the second half of my military career, I was able to get gear, and because the war was going on…I was able to operationally use a lot of equipment.

Whether it be the heyday of the “evil” Blackwater contractors, regular soldiers spinning up for their first combat rotation, or cops looking for the best stuff, I saw that forums like Lightfigher were a place where people could come to find answers about where to make educated gear purchases. I really appreciated that, and the ability to share what I had learned.

When I got out, I continued to share what I knew, and what I had learned about what worked and what did not work in the actual world. My gear had evolved just like everyone else’s gear as new equipment became available.

My Presscheck Consulting Patreon started because I was contributing a lot on Primary & Secondary and in other places. Over time, I had people behind the scenes that were telling me that my intellectual property has value. I might not have been able to “sell it” when I was a soldier, but now I was not hindered by that. There was the thought that I should perhaps be compensated for the value of the information that I gained through hard-earned experience.

A lot of people don’t know that I did not trademark the term “Roland Special” or lock into any agreements with anyone. I did not make a penny on the concept or on any of the subcomponents that were bought by people to make a gun in a similar configuration.  

Q: I’d imagine someone did, though…

Chuck Pressburg – Presscheck Consulting:  There are companies out there that got rich off of people wanting the parts and services they were providing, but because I did not enter into any type of business agreement with them, there was no obligation to compensate me for coming up with the configuration of parts, or pushing the market in that direction. 

The bottom line is I saw nothing for the Roland Special, but I also wasn’t expecting anything for it. It was a thing that I did, it resonated with some people, became really popular, but it was not a business venture on my part. I never looked at is as such. I’m not overly upset that I didn’t get rich or get a cut for every comp KKM barrel that was sold…although it didn’t exist before I asked the company to make it in that configuration.

Q: You’ve got a unique voice and great insights…it’s great that you now have a direct outlet to share information and ideas. However, you mentioned offline that the Presscheck Consulting Patreon page wasn’t actually your idea.

Chuck Pressburg – Presscheck Consulting: I had a friend who was tired of telling me that I needed to be somehow compensated for my content. He said, “hey, people will actually pay to hear your opinion about various things…”

I kept putting him off because I was more motivated by getting the knowledge in the hands of guys that were still in the arena…I’m living vicariously through this younger generation because I am not an action guy anymore. The guys that are still carrying guns every day, those are the guys that are still doing what I wish I could do. Helping them out has a large amount of personal satisfaction for me.  

So, no, to answer your question, I did not actually set up the Presscheck Consulting Patreon. My friend set the entire account using my email address, and then he emailed me and said, “You have a Patreon now. Here is the login and password. Go on there and change it. You’re welcome.” That’s how the Patreon page got started. Someone actually built it for me, and forced it on me (laughs).  

Q: What has the reception been like?

Chuck Pressburg – Presscheck Consulting: As of today, we have over 700 guys on the network. I’m doing nothing more than what I have been doing since 1999, which is giving my opinion on stuff that I think people might want to know about and putting it out there. I let guys take the information, and answer any questions that they might have along the way.

I find that sometimes I don’t know what other people don’t know…but I have all of this knowledge rattling around in my head. What’s good about the Presscheck Consulting Patreon and the Q&A style format that I use for the live sessions I put on there, is it gives me some direction to let me get information out there, and it also creates a back and forth collaborative process with the guys in the community.

Q: In addition to the Presscheck Consulting Patreon, you’ve got a new website as well, correct?

Chuck Pressburg – Presscheck Consulting:  The new website has been a long process. I have an outstanding web developer, but my wife and myself, we have competing schedules, so we migrated the URL over to the new web service, and I am getting the classes populated on there. That has been a really, really exciting process for me because it is going to help me out on the admin side of my business since I am a one-man show.   

The new website uses an algorithm designed for yoga instructors, and when you buy a class on my website, the software groups you into that service at that location for the purposes of communication. So, every person that clicks on the Mead Hall No Fail Pistol course is sorted with other people who have that course. It creates a group, and they can opt into text and email notifications.

So, if on the day of the event, there was something catastrophic that happened and I needed to move the class 25 miles to another location, my ability to send out a group text to everyone is instantaneous. I can also send out reminders and alerts, specific course instructions or specific packing lists that are unique to that group alone, I do not have to go into a spreadsheet and find the dudes who signed up for that class amongst the dudes who signed up for other classes. The software takes care of it for me. This will enable me to be more responsive and have better access to everyone who takes my classes. That’s’ very exciting for me.

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