KickstarterForum.org

Hey guys,

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/108 ... ature-film

My campaign for "War Path" is ending in 2 days but I was wondering if any of you noticed in your own campaigns a drop in the last day or so of a campaign. Where people who pledged early on ended up changing their mind after you hit your goal or had a bill come up? It hasn't happened to me but I could foresee instances where someone donated at the start to help me out but now that I'm accomplished, them deciding to change their mind on it. I don't hear about it too often but has anyone noticed this in the last days? Like I said, it hasn't happened to me but with it being the holidays, I can see a person or two doing it.

Hi WarPath - a few creators were talking about this in the "lessons learned" thread (what-have-you-learned-from-running-a-kickstarter-campaign-t814.html), except it happened throughout the course of their campaign. Wouldn't pay too much attention to it, unless it starts to become large numbers. Usually people just change their mind.

Since you only have 100 backers. Give them a Thank-you note for backing you and maybe ask them to post a link on Facebook or give a tweet. That might stop the bleeding, but most people will leave just because they can't afford to back at this particular time.

As mentioned, this actually hasn't happened with me but I was curious if it ever happened with other campaigns especially ones that pass their goal by a big margin

I am worried about this also? I have a personal 15% cushion in place when I crunch my numbers to account for this--thankfully I passed that $333 extra I need to account for possible backed out backers....

But I have backed several campaigns and know how RELENTLESS Kickstarter is with reminders if your funds are short. I do not go too much into it on here, I am in sales and we call it the "broken winged pigeon close" it is a unique and odd human behavior--say, when a salesperson busts an ankle or comes back from back surgery--that clients buy more from a hurt salesperson. We often discuss the possible reasons behind the sales bump. Is it that the clients feel sorry for the hurt salesperson? Do they seem less threatening? I am a pigeon champion (working title of a novel I am writing is "Don't Feed the Pigeons") because they are considered vermin (rats with wings) and yet a simple father change and they are released at weddings and signs of peace. . .

ahhh, another Uly tangent--sorry!!

Anyway, I do not get too much in my recent spate of petty retail sales politics. But I had to swerve to avoid a wall that I nearly slammed into that would have made my financial life a living hell. I feel if I did, some may feel I am trying to beg for pledges. . .

When a campaign recently ended that I had pledged a large (for me) amount on and I did not have the funds--both KS and Amazon blew up my inbox with notices--even on my dashboard their was a yellow bar saying there was something wrong with my payment with Amazon.


Perhaps, those reminders will stop backers from backing out and not paying. But dropping out before funding ends is a fear of mind. I guess some people realize that they pledged on a project that will actually be funded and they only pledged to help what they thought was a hopeless cause? Who knows, human behavior is almost impossible to pin down--when money is involved the complexity compounds --that is why I love sales!! Each person views money in so many different ways!!

@uly would be interested to learn more about the different types of sales techniques you employ. Have you used any of these when attempting to raise funds? I also come from a sales background and have found it to be very helpful in launching new products.

The one thing that increased my take home pay was reading "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion" by Robert Cialdini
http://amzn.to/1ipafZq

It is simply amazing.

I would love to start a thread if you would like, Sal--I could just keep posting to it--links, and things I have learned. I have always been a top writer wherever I sale. No matter what any crowdfunder may think--a campaign is a 30 (or 35, 60.. .) "fire sale." The reason it works in a limited time frame is that a sense of urgency is created. Another factor that makes KS preferable to Indiegogo in my book is the all or nothing model. This heightens the sense of urgency.

Before I sold furniture, I sold high end home theater at a now out of business (Best Buy crushed them) store called Tweeter. I was so excited when I saw that my new electronic store sold Martin Logan speakers. The electrostatic tower speakers were 5k a pair and at my discount model store they are 2k a pair. When I was at Tweeter it was back in 2001. There was no high def television other then HDnet and we sold 4k rear projections and 8k plasmas with the DVD of shrek.

The customers back then were early adopters and I learned to enhance the exclusivity of the products.

Money means so may things to so many people. This is why I think a project should always have a $1 option. Now, thanks to Vaporstarter's awesome pledge drive, the dollar option has another angle for the project to benefit from. But having a dollar also allows almost anyone to help and be part of the creative process and the small community that surrounds every campaign.

Below are some sales tips I have used:

1. Passion.
Where can you display your passion? Why does it matter? If you believe in your project you will show it in your voice and body language in your video. The video should be a place where you can speak directly to your backers and enable them to connect to you. yes, many campaigns never feature their project creators, but it is an easy way to display your passion. Have you ever been shopping and ran into a really awesome salesperson? Have you ever bought ONLY because of that salesperson? Well, if it is possible, try BE that salesperson for your campaign. Maybe it does not have to be in your main video-perhaps you can add it as an Update.

2. Persuasion.
This is a tricky one. Being persuasive does not mean you are being manipulative. Many salespeople--once they realize they have the Force--always switch to the Darkside when they develop truly powerful skills of persuasion. All you need to focus on is this: people buy with emotion and justify the purchase with logic. Your story page should allow potential backers to understand that the Reward is loaded in their favor. If you buy something on discount, the company has persuaded you that you have gotten more for your money then you should have. This often is used with the Darkside force when stores jack up their prices, then lower them--but perception is reality. The customer walks away happy. This is why I know understand how Stretch Goals can be used very effectively.

3. Firming Up the Sale.
If you were my client I would save the best for last. If I knew I could give you a free $100 pillow with a 500 mattress purchase, I would not use that as an opener. I would save that as i was walking you to the door. If I know that there is some awesome feature of a surround sound receiver--again, I would save that for last. When I get to ship my rewards, I will include a secret gift. I had this idea during the first campaign. But I want my backers to know that I truly appreciate what they have done. This is this engrained in me. Again, buyers remorse is very powerful. I read a sales book--for the life of me I can not recall the title--that mentioned that one third of people who spend over something like $500 (the figure may be off) would never make the same purchase again. I want all of my backers to feel overjoyed and not feel a twinge of "backers remorse."

I have more, Sal...I can just add to this thread!

So here's a little bit of irony concerning the Kickstarter I ran and me posting this topic:

On christmas eve, I got notification that a previous donor upgraded his pledge from $600 to $2500 and put us at exactly the goal. I was thrilled and happy, everyone celebrates, and the campaign ends with us $520 over our goal. Well, it's been 8 days since it ended and apparently, his pledge didn't go through :/. We still get what was raised beside it but my estimated $11,500 becomes $9,100. Still not sure what I'll do in this case

Great information!

Wait, KickStarter allows you to collect even when people bail out last minute?!