KickstarterForum.org

We are about to launch, however, i fee like the initial user base is a must!

Yes I agree with the poster above, having a userbase is a must (mailing list, people you know, influencers list etc.,) but also it's getting comments on your campaign and product, this is like a test run before the campaign goes live.

- What did people think about it? What comments they made...and so on.
With this valuable feedback, you can change your approach and your campaign, even delay the campaign whilst these issues are addressed.

The thing is, just make your campaign "honest". What I mean is tell as much as you can about the project/product. Show work in progress photos, show the product working, people using it and their comments. Explain what will happen with the money coming in, show timelines, show the people involved in the project and their background, show detailed photos too...

I could explain alot, but will save this for whoever wants to hire us! All the best with your campaigns.

I have learned not to rely on a marketing company to drive traffic to your site because even if they have had success with others they may not have success with yours You really do have to start prepping 9-6 months in advance and build up a following before launching.

I've learned that people are naturally very skeptical and untrusting. Remember that crowdfunding is all online and it's much harder to sell people on your idea when they have no physical interaction with you or your product, so you must work twice as hard as a to bridge the gap to earn people's trust.

That it is very hard work without a strong community behind you! I am not doing too badly now, but it is getting harder as time goes on. I had quite a few backers from the recently launched section on Kickstarter but that has dried up and I am now utilizing all my social media networks (Google+, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, DeviantArt and some forums I am involved with). I have a few more areas I can explore but it is a lot of work to get each and every backer. I timed it so that this project fell over a holiday I had, so I can focus on it, but it would be difficult if I didn't have so much time during the day to promote it.

This may seem like a silly question, but you mention the "recently launched" section on Kickstarter, do other crowdfunding sites have that too? The reason I ask is because I launched a campaign on indiegogo and the only traffic I got was from my own family and friends. I don't think other random people even saw the campaign. But I am working on a press release now (I just had not got that far yet).


Pamela
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/proj ... ven-farm#/

I am only 21% funded with 19 days to go and realise that a LOT more work needed to be put in to the preparation of our campaign prior to launching. We have a great product, but our crowdfunding campaign preparation has let us down.

This members drlouisechughes reply is very interesting.

We can only talk about what we see. 90% of many interesting projects fail. The others that are successful are the ones that spend hundreds and thousands of dollars in advertising buy making their projects successful with 100% backing.

Where is the true essence of "kickstarter"? Its become commercial rather than genuine support for start ups.

I've learnt that preperation is key. Interacting with influencers and potential backers is a must too.

headpal wrote:I am only 21% funded with 19 days to go and realise that a LOT more work needed to be put in to the preparation of our campaign prior to launching. We have a great product, but our crowdfunding campaign preparation has let us down.

You will only see more disappointment if you feel you should be 100% successful first time.
We have seen projects successful 90% and still fail.
Most of the 100% funded projects, you need to know the real inside story before thinking "wow how could they have done that?"

Please look forward with a positive note, this was a learning curve.

Found very nice inputs from the experienced crowfunders.