They got to work making lists of blogs and websites they thought might be interested in their project. Starting with smaller sites they worked their way up to bigger blogs. Eventually it was picked up by Engadge and their project took off.
David had small but interested following, and hosted a podcast about historical computing. He pick a reasonable goal and project. All of these factors allowed him to easily hit his goal and almost triple it.
In the summer of 2012 AJ Leon and his band of professional troublemakers helped the NGO Water Aid raise 2.2M£ to bring clean drinking water to remote villages in Malawi. This goes way beyond what most Kickstarter’s face when trying to raise funds for their creative projects. Thats exactly why I invited AJ on to talk about his experiences.
AJ talked about all the work they did before the campaign to make sure it would be successful out of the gate. He talked about doing things that are BLOD and how to deal with the down periods of your campaign. Over all AJ had some great insights that we can use on our own crowd-funding project.
P.S. AJ recently release a manifest called The Life and Times of a Remarkable Misfit which he talks about in the program. It is excellent and has been downloaded over 30,000 times. Grab your copy here.
Here are some examples of people who pitch their project exceptionally well. As you will see, the videos can be basic or professionally done.
In the video to save the movie Blue Like Jazz, Zack and Jonathan do a great job of explaining all the events leading to their campaign. They answer all the important questions and rally the fans to make the movie happen.
SAVE Blue Like Jazz! (the movie) by Steve Taylor — Kickstarter
Just one look at this video, and you can tell how much he loves his idea and how much work went into creating it. He has a prototype that he has been working on for over a year. You can see he just needs a little help to bring it to life. You can’t help but cheer for him as he has clearly spent a long time on this project.
Capture Camera Clip System by Peter Dering — Kickstarter
The video for The Manual, a magazine about design, is a perfect example of a clear pitch. It is short and to the point. You understand what the project is and what the end result will be.
The Manual by Andy McMillan — Kickstarter
This simple webcam pitch NAILS it. I was blown away by this guy’s pitch and ended up backing him. He shows passion and excitement for his project. My favorite part? The Ask: “I’m asking for your patronage to help me make this book.” He didn’t ask for donations or support. He asked for your patronage, perfect! Just look at how much money he raised.
The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons by Matthew Meyer — Kickstarter
pssst…you can read all of this offline by downloading the e-book.
“80% of Kickstarter projects at this point launch with videos. We are very much a video-driven site. People land on the page, they hit play, they want to see what’s there.” – Yancey Strickler Creative Mornings June 2011
The project video is an important part of the pitch. It allows people to get to know you and connect with your subject matter. There are a ton of things that you can do with your video. You can shoot it cinematically or just use a web camera. You can be funny or serious. It really doesn’t matter, as long as it is a true reflection of you.
One of my pet peeves are videos that don’t have good audio. If I can’t hear you, then I can’t connect with you. If you are going through all this trouble to make a video, then don’t ruin it with bad audio. Find someone who can lend you some good equipment or buy a decent microphone. Either way, make the extra effort so that your video will have the maximum effect.
I think this has to do with how much money you are trying to raise. In my mind, the more money you are trying to raise, the more professional your video should be. This builds your credibility and helps people see that you can articulate your vision.
pssst…you can read all of this offline by downloading the e-book.
