How To Launch Your Kickstarter Like A Rocket
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Art by James ToogoodWhat makes one Kickstarter campaign flop and another launch like a rocket? This week, Jake Parker, Lee White, and Will Terry share the secret sauce to making a Kickstarter fund quickly, beat the algorithm, and deliver big time, based on real world experience and hard-earned lessons. This podcast episode was recorded before Will’s latest Kickstarter launched -- keep an eye out for upcoming content about Will’s newest Kickstarter success!
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I agree with Jake about the videos. I almost always ignore the videos, and when I don't, it does nothing to suade me, and sometimes I wish I hadn't watched it at all. (I can think of one time I was persuaded into not supporting the product because of the un-agreeable delivery, and because I had just read all that was said in the description) The opportunity cost of making a video probably isn't a great investment.
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They talked a bit about reposting old work, and how it was ok to repost stuff that's a year or two old.
Mannn I repost stuff on twitter that is like two months old
I should probably not do that... But some people haven't seen it due to the algorithm or whatever -
I haven't looked at Kickstarter much but was curious about the video debate. I looked at some of the projects and watched some of the videos but never got beyond 1 minute before I moved on. I did watch the funny ones until they got serious, and stayed a little longer with the videos of projects that benefited from a demonstration of how the product worked but other than that, I usually moved on to read the description because it was faster. So from my quick unscientific study, I'm with Jake on this.
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I'll admit, I struggle with this idea of "Great work always rises to the top". I'm not sure I agree that's necessarily true. There are plenty of artists that I don't find particularly dynamic that have HUGE followings that dwarf some other artists that are incredibly talented. Subject matter plays a pretty big role as well. As a rule of thumb, scantly clad anime girls will garner more attention than stylized butterflies. You can either utilize that for your benefit and ride that wave or choose deliberately not to go down that path, but it's a reality.
Nathan Pyle's Strange Planet is interesting to me because Pyle has been doing comics for quite some time and a lot of earlier work was very similar but didn't really hit a cord. A lot of those ideas were adapted to Strange Planet's format after it went crazy and viral. The observational aliens concept really brought it all together and had he not found that viewpoint I wonder if it ever would have taken off.
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I forget who said it on this episode, maybe Lee or Will, but someone said that projects open up doors. That is so true. I can’t say how many times I’ve worked on a project that I thought was just something fun and cool to do in my spare time only to surprise me by either being asked for a custom drawn version of it on a poster to ending up being added in a conference swag bag.
On another topic: in terms of generating subscribers for your email list, Jake mentioned a tip of offering a PDF download (I think the example he gave was of the first chapter of a book being worked on). What if people who have already subscribed want the same item? Is it ok to advise them to unsubscribe then resubscribe? Sounds a little risky
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Another great episode, guys. I'm a bit skeptical about the advice to lower the funding amount to game the algorithm. Is there an article or something that back this up? I've heard from Kickstarter staff in the past that it's not a thing. I've had 3 successful kickstarters and I'm planning another this year, so I'd be really interested to find out if it's true!
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@danielerossi Personally, I just send the new giveaway item to everyone already subscribed in an email.
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@Rene-Pfitzner I think you must very confident in the quality of your product to do that, or have some kind of recognition already (people know they're getting good stuff). It is quite risky and kickstarter is risky enough not to add financial stress to my opinion...
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@Rene-Pfitzner I was thinking of the same thing. Perhaps send ahead of time? Something like a heads up I’ll be doing this but you get first dibs!”
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Love your episode art James!!
I like the idea of Kickstarter, but definitely not ready to pursue that path at this time.
