Before you launch, do your homework

Before you create your project on Kickstarter you will want to do some research. You need to know how much it will cost to execute your project and produce rewards. And you need to know who your audience is going to be. I will examine each of these aspects in more detail, starting with audience since it is often the most overlooked.

Without an audience, a project will not get funded. You will want to have a good idea about your audience before your project launches. I often find people searching for an audience while their campaign is running. I certainly did this the first time around, and I don’t recommend it. If you are lucky enough to already have an online audience, then you probably already know how to reach them. This section is primarily for people who don’t have an audience and are trying to build one through a Kickstarter project. For those of you with an audience, you may want to read it anyway. It just might help you appeal to an even larger group of people.

One aspect of the project that you probably already have in mind is how much money you’re going to go for. It’s time to dig a little deeper and figure out exactly what it’s going to cost to do your project. Your costs will come from the project itself and in fulfilling rewards. You will want to have a good idea about how much money you will need for each of these areas. They will play an important role during the next phase when you must set your funding amount.

For the product, look up different prices related to the item you are trying to produce. For example, if you are making a book, look online at all of the different printing options. What is the cost of a hardcover? What is the cost of a softcover? How much does it cost to ship the item? How many do you need to produce before you get a discount? What supplies or materials do you need to complete the project? Do you need specialized instruments or tools? Make a list of everything that you will need and how much it will cost. You will need to come back to this list later.

For rewards, make sure you research shipping costs as well as production costs. If one of your rewards is going to be a T-shirt, then you will need to know how much it costs to make and ship the item. Often people don’t factor in the cost of rewards into their funding and then are left without enough money to complete their project.

One example of someone who might not have put enough time into researching her costs is Paula Patterson. According to a New York Times article, On Kickstarter, Designers’ Dreams Materialize, her V-luxe iPad entertainment accessory ended up costing a lot more time and money than she originally thought.

You may already have an idea of what your project is going to cost in total. However, now is the time to refine that estimate.

A Kickstart’s Guide to Kickstarter TOC:

pssst…you can read all of this offline by downloading the e-book.