Top 3 Must-Reads
The 10 Reasons I’ll Back a Kickstarter Project
Anatomy of a Great Kickstarter Project Page
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These lessons are roughly in the chronological order that you’ll need to reference them.
To Kickstart or Not to Kickstart: The Top 10 Reasons to Launch a Product via Crowdfunding
Kickstarter Lesson #39: Anatomy of a Great Kickstarter Project Page
Kickstarter Lesson #1: Starting and Submitting Your Project Page
Kickstarter Lesson #194: Charities, Nonprofits, and Kickstarter
Kickstarter Lesson #123: How to Give and Take Tough-Love Feedback
Kickstarter Lesson #172: Should Your First Project Be Epic or Humble?
Kickstarter Lesson #3: Art and Design
Kickstarter Lesson #162: When to Use a GIF Instead of a Static Image
Kickstarter Lesson #87: Custom Art
Kickstarter Lesson #129: Picking the Right Name for Your Project
Kickstarter Lesson #160: The Main Project Image
Kickstarter Lesson #6: The Project Video
Kickstarter Lesson #166: Creating a Polished Project Video
Kickstarter Lesson #157: The Gameplay or How-to-Use Video
Kickstarter Lesson #165: The Whiteboard Video
Kickstarter Lesson #7: The Funding Goal
Kickstarter Lesson #117: The 3 Funding Scenarios You Must Plan for
Kickstarter Lesson #8: Reward Levels
Kickstarter Lesson #113: Why Every Project Should Have a $1 Reward Level
Kickstarter Lesson #63: Stay Focused or Lose Backers
Kickstarter Lesson #103: There Is No Perfect Pickle
Kickstarter Lesson #62: Early Bird Pledge Levels
Kickstarter Lesson #54: Reward Levels: The Premium Option
Kickstarter Lesson #142: Selling Existing Inventory
Kickstarter Lesson #177: The “Everything, Forever” Reward Level
Kickstarter Lesson #183: Epic-Level Rewards
Kickstarter Lesson #65: How to Get US Backers if You’re Running a Non-US-Based Kickstarter Campaign
Kickstarter Lesson #180: How to Register Your Business in the US from Anywhere in the World
Kickstarter Lesson #116: The Magic of Automatic Currency Conversion
Kickstarter Lesson #187: The Best Time to Announce Your Project
Kickstarter Lesson #9: Timing and Length
Kickstarter Lesson #109: Seasonal Timing
Kickstarter Lesson #84: Coordinating Staggered Launch and End Dates
Kickstarter Lesson #73: The Art of Pitching
Kickstarter Lesson #77: The 10 Reasons I’ll Back a Kickstarter Project
Kickstarter Lesson #96: Give Credit Where Credit Is Due…Including to Yourself
Kickstarter Lesson #11: Stretch Goals
The Current State of Stretch Goals (2016)
Kickstarter Lesson #145: Achievements vs. Stretch Goals
Kickstarter Lesson #75: Include at Least One Must-Have Component
Kickstarter Lesson #60: Exclusive Content
Kickstarter Lesson #12: Shipping
How to Offer “Free” Shipping Worldwide on Kickstarter: A Comprehensive Guide
Lessons Learned: Insights, Mistakes, and Solutions for Offering Worldwide Shipping on Kickstarter
Kickstarter Lesson #47: This Project Is EU Friendly
Kickstarter Lesson #13: Explaining Why You Need the Funds
Kickstarter Lesson #44: How to Kick It Forward Without Kicking It Forward
Kickstarter Lesson #14: The Value of Add-Ons
Live-Blogging Lesson #5: External Add-Ons
Kickstarter Lesson #35: Kickstarter Limitations and How to Work Around Them
Kickstarter Lesson #154: Hip Surgery, Organization, and Customer-Facing Service
Live-Blogging Lesson #4: The Value of Agonizing Over Your Project Page
Kickstarter Lesson #64: The Psychological Benefits of Showing Your Face
Kickstarter Lesson #66: The Psychological Benefits of Framing Your Project’s Potential
Kickstarter Lesson #92: The Psychological Benefits of Ending Price Points with the Number 9
Kickstarter Lesson #163: The Power of Certainty
Kickstarter Lesson #125: Risks and Challenges
Kickstarter Lesson #104: The One-Week Checklist
Kickstarter Lesson #15: Finishing Touches: FAQ and Preview
Kickstarter Lesson #68: You Don’t Need to Launch Today
The 7 Mistakes Crowdfunders Make the Day Before They Launch
14 Comments on “Create Your Project”
Leave a Reply to Jamey StegmaierCancel reply
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I think I’ve read just about every post on here, but I haven’t watched any of the videos. Do you have a list of video posts?
Terry: I think I actually only have one video post. The rest are written. :)
Hi, I am currently writing my kickstarter which is planned for release next year.
With regards to the stretch goals and achievements , do you think it is best to have them based on:
A. Funds raised e.g. £10,000
B. Total backers e.g. 2,000 backers
C. Both e.g. £10,000 or 2,000 backers (which ever comes first)
Terry: I don’t necessarily think there is a right answer to this, but I think you’ll get some insights from this article: https://stonemaiergames.com/the-current-state-of-stretch-goals-2016/
My answer would be to use funds raised as the benchmark, but if you’re excited about B or C, I don’t think they’ll hurt. If you’re choosing between B and C, I’d go with C.
Thanks for the answer.
Jamie, have you ever done a lesson that explicitly lays out the bounderies that Kickstarter uses for projects and their connections with non-profit activity? I saw and read the guest post on non-profit crowdfunding but haven’t seen one that addresses the finer points of how Kickstarer deals with project creators who aren’t trying to directly fundraise for a nonprofit but who may have some connection to one or who may have an interest in using the results (product or capital) of a funded project to help a nonprofit in some way shape or form.
I found the project for This War of Mine seemed to walk a line with it where they never mentioned any nonprofit directly during the campaign but afterwards did mention Warchild (nonprofit helping children in war torn parts of the world) and explicitly stated in a video how they planned to continue supporting them.
Joshua: That’s a great question. I’ve never quite understood the line Kickstarter draws in those regards. I’ll reach out to them to see if they’ll explain it more in depth.
Awesome, thanks!
Few questions:
1. I am not based in any country that can do a kickstarter, what are my options?
2. For kickstarter you can basically have an idea of how much you can make after deducting all the fees and retailer discounts. If I approach a publisher, how does that work when it comes to sharing proceeds.
I can probably find out the rest by going through the rest of your lessons.
Thanks
Moe: Sure, you’ll need to register your business in a country where Kickstarter is based (there are details on their website).
Kickstarter and Stripe charge a total of 8-10% of your funding total. You can see a full breakdown of what that looks like in my lesson about the funding goal. If you sell a game to a publisher, it depends on the publisher, but you’ll get roughly 6-10% of revenue (depending on your design pedigree).
Hi Jamey and thanks for all the hard work you do to help the industry grow. You have inspired me to go back and make games again (i used to make board games when I was 12!) I do have some questions because that are related to where I live. Would love to get your thoughts on how best to tackle these issues.
Moe
Moe: That’s great! I hope you enjoy getting back into the game design process. Feel free to post any questions you have in the comments of any blog entry here, and I’ll reply soon!
[…] Create Your Project […]
So I have an idea for a board game, in its basic format quite humble, but plenty of room for additional parts either at the start or supplements. You can choose big or add 1 or more extras in set up or even part way through game. Advise please
Mark Ziff