Kickstart Your ProjectThe Art of the Ask

What is Contra Dance?

https://vimeo.com/67428955

Assumed sales would pay for it Lost $6,000

Used Kickstarter to pay for printing

Goal of $7,000

Raised $8,262

182 Backers

Asked for $11,200

Raised $11,416

227 Backers

Asked for $11,500

Raised $13,055

248 Backers

Presold 550 Calendars

Kickstarter Factoids Total pledged to date on Kickstarter: $1.4 Billion Annual support to artists is greater than the NEA

Kickstarter is the biggest, but there are others IndiegogoPopular with filmmakers GoFundMeFor heart wrenching stories Patreonfund individual artists on an ongoing basis

And about a hundred more

Average supporter is 42 years old

HatchfundJust artists, lots of support

Kickstarter FactoidsMost projects fail

Only 43% success rateBiggest predictor of successyour network

10 Facebook Friends9% success rate 100 Facebook Friends20% success rate 1000 Facebook Friends40% success rate

Building your fan base Your fans are not people you want something from.

They are people you feel connected to. It takes a shared passion

It takes years to build Its a relationship

Amanda Palmer: The Art of Asking

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMj_P_6H69g

Preparing the soilHow to be a good Social Media citizen

Engage. Comment. Like. Share cool stuff. Credit and tag. Post frequently. Aim for daily. Post your own content, but make it the minority of your posts. Give freely. Be authentic. Forget Pages. Do this on your Personal Timeline. Share. Share. Share.

Kickstarter Operating PrinciplesIts not about you.

Its not about your project.

Its about your community.Its about your fans.

Its about your story.

Kickstarter PrelaunchCampaign Description

Tell the story of the project. Tell why you have the passion for this project Tell why this is important to your fans Be succinct. Viewer should get it in the first paragraph.

Kickstarter PrelaunchThe Pitch Video

Yes, you have to be in it. Slickness is not required. Authenticity is. Ad libbing is OK. Tell the story of the project. Tell why you have the passion for this project Tell why this is important to your fans Be succinct. Viewer should get it in

the first 10 seconds. Maximum 5 minutes. The shorter the better.

The Pitch Video

http://youtu.be/PY598xsuZhw

Kickstarter PrelaunchPledge Levels

Make a low level that anyone could pledge. Most pledge levels will be for the thing. Add on rewards is how you make your goal. Add one or two lottery level rewards. You never know.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/plummer/the-2015-contradance-calendar

Kickstarter PrelaunchHow much do you ask for?

Production cost of your thing. Production costs of your reward extras. Shipping costs for everything. Dont forget the cost of boxes for shipping. Order from uline.com 8% more for Kickstarter and Amazon fees. Taxes on the income from Kickstarter. Retail sales tax for in-state rewards.

Kickstarter PrelaunchUpdates

Plan your updates before you launch. Prepare 2 or more videos. Update ideas: BTS, new pledge level, in depth story.

Kickstarter PrelaunchCampaign Length

No longer than 28 days. Time it to end on a weeknight evening.

The CampaignPrelaunch

Teaser posts. Email friends and family.

The CampaignIgnition!

Front load as many backers as you can. The more $ you raise in the first 5 days, the greater likelihood of success. Post every few hours in the beginning. The half life of a Facebook Post is between 30 to 80 minutes.

The CampaignFacebook tips

IMPORTANT FACEBOOK HACKPost an image with the campaign link. Keep the same image for every campaign post. Use a custom bit.ly shortcut. Mine was bit.ly/contracalendar2015 Every postask to share. Way more important than asking for support.

Post and tag your recent supporters. Change up the content. Say it a little differently each time. Dont bother with advertising.

Post a minimum of 2x a day.

The Campaign

Most of your backers will come at the beginning and the end of the campaign.Fear not the Valley of Despair.

Time the campaign so that you can drive traffic in the last hours. Late midweek evening is good.

After The Campaign

Success!

Now the fun begins!

After The Campaign Love your spreadsheet!

After The Campaign

Throw a work party.

After The Campaign

Continue the updates.Feed and water your fan base.

After The CampaignGo dancing!

https://vimeo.com/89062043

Resourceshttp://www.ianmack.com/howto-crowdfunding/resources/ Good resources from Ian MacKenzie. Take his workshop when he comes to town.

http://www.nathanielhansen.com/film-fundraising/the-ultimate-crowdfunding-to-do-list-before-you-launch/ Another good list of Kickstarter tips.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMj_P_6H69g Amanda Palmers TED talk on The Art of Asking. A must watch.

https://www.kickstarter.com/help/stats Kickstarter stats.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/plummer/the-2015-contradance-calendar My Kickstarter project.

http://www.dougplummer.com/ My site.

http://contracalendar.com/ Get your 2015 Contradance Calendar here! Share this!