by Charles » Sun Aug 24, 2014 4:30 am
How do you communicate that you need a half a million dollars and get heard?
Well, I'm pretty sure that I don't have the answer for that stuffed into my pocket. In fact, you probably would come closer to knowing the answer to that than I would. If you're scared of asking for a half a million dollars, then that denotes a lack of confidence on your part.
The very worst that happens is that your project doesn't get funded.
It's a romantic comedy, so women should be a major target, here. I haven't watched your video, yet, but it strikes me as a chick flick. So, don't shy away from that. It will haunt you, if you do. Embrace it.
Because you are asking for a lot of money, don't rush into it. You want to present a refined package. If you rush it, then you will end up half-assing it.
You need more than one person involved. Once you launch it, you don't want to let up. You will need to sleep and rest and eat. Pursuit of the big money typically doesn't allow such luxuries. For one person, it might be overload.
One thing that always sells is quality. So, your project needs to be quality personified. Not excess, just quality.
The world is full of money. It's everywhere. People part with it every single day. Kickstarter is a big player, these days. Big enough to handle your project.
You're making a film (as if I know anything about making a film). But, you're seeking money from people, from human beings. Your project has a story to it. You need to present that story to the world. The solution to problems is always in the details. The devil is in the details, as they say.
Your project page has to wow them. It's not an issue of whether people will give you more than one chance, or not. Rather, you need to make certain that you only need one chance. If you fail, then you can simply relaunch a new project, and it can be identical or similar to the old one.
But, you don't want to fail. Then don't.
You need a LOT of people involved. You want a big initial movement on the money meter. You want an even bigger initial movement on the backer meter. The more important of the two is the backer number. Get that number big enough, and the money will follow. You want to be heard, so that requires awareness. More people equates to greater awareness. Ideally, you want your funding to exceed your goal, the more the merrier. You're going to need people, to make that happen.
You have some great talking points - chocolate, sex, romance, and comedy. You want people to showcase your project, by sharing it. So, how better to do that than by showcasing them. Each person is a story. Each connection to your project is a story. Again, I know nothing about making films. But, you're not just making a film. You're engaging and interacting with people. Do you want them fully engaged, or partially engaged?
You want them to invest a part of themselves into your project. It's not just their money that you're after. You want them to share, to become advocates, to become champions for this film.
If you can't interest a large crowd of supporters with chocolate, sex, romance, and the laughter of comedy, then you're in pretty bad shape. That's about as perfect a set of core concepts as one can build a project around. People love all four of those things.
I haven't tried Kaipapal. I've never heard of it, in fact - but, again, I'm somewhat new to digging into it all.
Build up a big tribe of people, supporters, before you launch. You want the project to be in motion, with momentum, before you hit the launch button on your Kickstarter to start the countdown clock. Otherwise, much like a rocket, you have to lift off from a dead stop. Ever watch a shuttle or rocket launch? They move slow, at first. They get faster, later. Be moving fast, before you hit the ignition button.