To this day, I still sometimes make the mistake I mention in Kickstarter Lesson #106. Today’s post recaps that post and a few others.
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Over the last 10 years, I’ve written over 1000 articles on this blog to share my thoughts, observations, mistakes, and insights with my fellow creators. That’s a lot of content to go back and read for someone who is navigating the crowdfunding process for the first time, so in this series I continue to revisit my Kickstarter Lesson posts in chronological order, highlighting the core elements of each.
Don’t Copy and Paste (#106): When you run a Kickstarter project, you’ll find yourself saying some of the same things over and over in the comments and over e-mail. You may be tempted to copy and paste your answers, but when you do that, you’re skipping an opportunity to connect with the backer. It’s the equivalent of having a stranger ask you a question, and instead of replying, you play a pre-recorded message for them and then walk away. For me, the simple act of almost pasting that serves as a trigger to remind me what I’m about to do isn’t necessarily sending the right message.
How to Say No (#107): I’m often interested in helping impassioned backers see that a lot of forethought went into the way the project is structured and that it’s not easy or feasible to change things. The key is when a backer makes a request you can’t fulfill, instead of saying no, ask that backer to explain to you how their request would become reality. Ask for step-by-step instructions, and help them fill in the blanks when they’re missing information. This is much more effective than simply saying no or explaining to the backer how their idea won’t work. And the neat thing is, every once in a while, a backer will brilliantly explain how their idea can work, and you’ll learn something from them. It’s also a great reminder to project creators like me that despite all the foresight, research, planning, and budgeting I put into a project, backers don’t have all of that information, so I shouldn’t expect them to know if something can or can’t work.
The Final 60 Hours (#108): A few backers gave me some really good advice after the Tuscany project ended. They said they wished I had contacted them before the end of the project so they could upgrade their pledge or at least double-check it to make sure it was correct. In many campaigns, new add-ons and rewards are added during the campaign, and backers might wait until the end of the project to make a decision about adding those elements. If you’re hesitant to email people who are already backing your project, keep in mind that many backers want the opportunity to add more stuff. They don’t want to be pressured into it, and many of them won’t add anything. But they will likely appreciate the option. Ideally, this message would be sent late in your campaign, but before the “remind me” me email is sent to people who requested it from Kickstarter, so sometime between the 60-hour mark and the 48-hour mark.
Seasonal Timing (#109): I used to think seasonal timing had very little to do with Kickstarter success, but one campaign for a cooler with LED lights proved me wrong. Actually, it was two campaigns. This cooler was Kickstarted in December and also July. Which do you think was more successful? You’re right, the Kickstarter for a cooler in July raised over $5 million (the campaign in December raised just over $100k). Ryan Grepper summarizes this effect: “If there’s a time of year that your product is most used, I’d suggest that’s the time of year to launch your product.” Simple as that. This is particularly true for products that solve a problem. The peak time people will be interested in solving a problem is when they’re currently frustrated by it.
The Shortcut to Kickstarter Success (#110): Spoiler alert: There is no shortcut to Kickstarter success. My mission with these Kickstarter Lessons is to provide a wealth of detailed information about how to run a Kickstarter campaign. It’s a lot of information—that’s kind of the point. I want it to be daunting, because all too often people look at Kickstarter and think, “Oh, that’s really easy. I’ll just throw anything up there and make $100k.” I want them to realize at a single glance when they arrive at the Kickstarter Lessons page that this is going to take a lot of work. However, people digest information in different ways. I really like the idea of creating something welcoming, positive, and supportive that encourages people to read more. Hopefully I’ve struck a nice balance. Feel free to provide feedback in the comments!
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4 Comments on “Quick Kickstarter Lesson Recaps: #106-110”
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“If there’s a time of year that your product is most used, I’d suggest that’s the time of year to launch your product [campaign].”
Does the expected delivery date have an influence? Perhaps people don’t think of when they need the product. Perhaps they don’t trust predicted delivery dates?
I don’t think seasonal delivery dates have much of an influence in the vast variety of products.
Although I didn’t copy-paste in general, I did find that almost all backers had set their profiles to private. As a result, I rarely could write anything truly personalized to each person. Were people less likely to have a private profile when you did your Kickstarters?
Yes, I think all KS profiles were public by default back then.