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Hello Everyone!

I'm in the midst of my fourth campaign and reached goal on Day 4 (first two successful, third one unsuccessful).

Summary of current campaign: The DaVinci Notebook

The Da Vinci Notebook is a revolutionary eco-friendly notebook/sketchbook made from stone - as in rocks! No kidding! And no trees, no bleach, and no water are used in its production. It's the perfect notebook for people of all kinds and can be configured with virtually unlimited combinations of lines, blank pages, music ledgers, graph paper, foldout pages, and more, to suit whatever your creative or note taking need may be.

The paper is silky smooth and works with tons of inks. It is inherently water resistant (watch the video at the 1:10 mark where I throw it in water), tear resistant, grease resistant, mold resistant, and acid-free.

"Get Stoned!" And view the campaign here:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/38 ... ok?ref=ama

Feel free to ask me anything.

Nick I am getting ready to launch my very first campaign, one that has been on the drawing Kickstarter board (literally) for over a year. Before I click the "Launch" button I would sincerely appreciate feedback, especially from someone with 4 campaigns under his belt. Thank you in advance for your time! Inga
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/12 ... n=5abf2681

Hi Inga,
Thanks for your question. Firstly, congratulations on getting as far as you have thus far. Anyone that has undertaken a project that starts with a thought and has the gumption to translate it into a tangible item, has performed a monumental task indeed, as you know. So kudos for getting this far, the samples look great.

Okay, now for my insight - prefaced with a disclaimer: these are just my straightforward opinions, and nothing more. I don't know the answers. No one does. That said, I see a few things that could be improved.

I believe you're going to have to bring the backers to this campaign. I'm not sure this will resonate with the KS community. KS has not published their demographics, but based on my experience in 4 campaigns, seeing and interacting with thousands of backers and project creators, I believe the audience is around 65% male. In that group, it would be difficult to imagine your solution to short nail brush applicators being in high demand. One step further, if you're thinking the men on KS will get this for their girlfriends, wives, etc., I think this is a stretch. So, be prepared to embrace a massive campaign off Kickstarter to drive people to your project - press release, blogger outreach, friends and family, etc. This is not a cool gadget that will get easily embraced just by showing up like some KS project do.

Your video is entirely too long - 7:27 - you have 10 seconds to get my attention, and if you go over 2 or 3 minutes for the whole video, you'll probably lose the majority of your audience. If you study a number of campaigns you will see the first section shows the "wow" - the problem and solution (for problem solving items like yours), followed by the backstory section, concluding with the "why I'm on Kickstarter" - where the funds will go, what the backers will get, etc.

I don't see the 'how and why' behind your product until 2:32. The demo doesn't start until 4:10. And I don't see anyplace that tells me why you need the funds. Backers want to know what you plan to do with their money.

For the backstory and the 'where the funds will go section', since your husband is the machinist, you have a wonderful opportunity to get interesting video footage of things being made, the drawings, etc., and through this, you can tell an interesting story of your struggles to get where you are, how you make your item, etc. This is the magic ingredient to draw us in to want to help you.

For the opening, you'll need to intrigue people with your story (watch this opening from my current campaign for an example: http://kck.st/1mjrFc2 OR you'll need to jump into the demo quickly. Watch the opening to my first video: http://kck.st/14t3Syu Get us excited. "It all began one day when I realized my $30 bottle of nail polish left about $15 in the bottom that I couldn't reach." Or, start with a conspiracy angle. "Do you want to know a secret? Did you know nail polish companies make their brushes short on purpose so you buy more nail polish sooner." Or shock us: "Every time you buy a bottle of nail polish you might as well pour half of it in the garbage." Intrigue and tempt me to want to know more....

Random thoughts:
~ I would ditch the erroneous info so your video doesn't come across as a business plan. IMHO, the KS community won't be interested in your product's potential in other markets. They're looking for something cool - that they want or need.
~ Overall, you'd benefit greatly by quick cuts - or "step-outs" - for your demo, especially in places where you currently are doing mundane things like unscrewing caps, etc. You could make it interesting by even speeding up the demo like they do in those whiteboard drawing adverts or like I did in my first campaign with the demo and the backstory.
~ Story section needs a "How I will use the funds."
~ The bold text is a turnoff - use bold to get our attention - true places you want to highlight.
~ You might want to consider making your applicator fit all those other industries you show in one of your graphics. This might broaden your audience.
~ You mention in your video that you got tired of holding bottles between your legs but you don't show the nifty device you created to solve this problem. You have a nice graphic for it in the story section though so perhaps you might want to add it to your video.
~ You have a lot of typos in your written section.
~ Music - consider adding some. It will help pacing.

At the end of the day, you need a great project/product, a compelling story that draws us in, and you need to entertain us in 2-3 minutes. You're in show business!!!

Well, Inga. I hope this helps. It's to the point, I know, but I hope you see my intention of wanting to help you craft a better campaign. Good Luck!!!

Nick I ABSOLUTELY DO! And you will never know how much I appreciate not only your time to review my project but the time it took to share with me all of these important flaws that need to be corrected! I'm so glad I didn't launch it as is! I will do my best to address every one of your points as best I can, as in my mind you are the demographic I am trying to impress! Looks like I have a lot of work to do so I am going to get busy! Thank you again so very much for all of your time and consideration! I hope someday to be able to pay it forward.

Inga

You are very welcome Inga. Glad I could help.

My film is so appealing to so many people and I'm in the process of locking down a number of A list celebrities but in Toronto and my circle no one feels comfortable giving money through a website. This is my minimum survival goal my realistic one is twice that.

I am doing a documentary film about a 35 year old virgin with a curfew that goes on an epic quest across the US to lose his virginity and discover adulthood.

Our campaign: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/19 ... old-virgin

I dunno the first day and a half are so stagnant none of my vast number of friends are backing me and I'm starting to get worried already.

Congrats on the successful campaign! I've just recently launched my first kickstarter campaign. I'm anxious to see how it goes. I hope this is the first of many to come!

Hi Nem,
You've embarked on what I believe is the toughest category on Kickstarter - raising money for indie films & doc's, and you're past the 'honeymoon period' so buckle up for some hard work.

Video: I think the video and the project page are fine for the most part. You have a main ingredient to draw people in - sex. That said, you're missing a very key ingredient in your video - conflict. Show us your poor friend Tom interacting with the "villain" - his strict parents, i.e. the dramatic opposition, and you will not only have us feeling for Tom and his plight, but you'll switch us from thinking your project is about funding your cross country party to strip joints and the like, to empathizing for Tom.

Something to consider: Pull out of your project now, shoot the film, then come back to KS for post production funding. People generally prefer to help after you've shown that you've already put your skin in the game - and blood, and guts. You would have the added benefit of being able to show us how funny it is, and that you're inches from getting it out there.

Marketing: Many people think once they launch on Kickstarter, they'll instantly get funded. This hardly ever happens. Kickstarter does have a honeymoon period (when your project can be found in the recently launched area) that could send your project into orbit, but if you don't resonate, you won't be found on 'popular' pages and won't benefit from the KS community because no one will see you unless they drill down forever.

I think you might have to reexamine why you didn't resonate. The other option is to embark on a mission to find bloggers, twitterers, and others of influence to get behind your mission.

There's something peculiar to me about your statement "…in Toronto and my circle no one feels comfortable giving money through a website." You're young, and your generation buys on the web all the time. That's possibly all they know, so I don't buy it. But if it's true, then perhaps educating your short armed friends about Kickstarter will get them to reach for their pockets. It could also be that you are not framing your pitch to them properly. Certainly you have friends that would buy you a beer, right? If you do, then certainly you're only asking them to back you for the cost of a beer - or ten!

Big Reach Marketing: Look for lists of blogs that would write about your setup. Have you heard about girls auctioning off their virginity on ebay? Shocking, right? You're doing the same thing, essentially, so frame your pitches to bloggers and news outlets in the same way. Perhaps even go back to those same blogs that covered those stories and tell them, now here comes Tommy…. There are thousands of press releases out there that don't introduce anything new, and if you don't angle your pitch to bloggers and the like as 'news worthy' you're just a filmmaker looking for money to make a film - boring.

So, craft your pitch so that it resonates with people or intrigues them to want to learn more. "If you think your parents are strict, then you haven't met my 35 year old friend Tommy's parents. They're so strict, he has an 11 o'clock curfew. If you think this is crazy, then you'll never believe the rest of this story (the x-rated part) click here to see what's happening right now…..

Target blogs about parenting - "When strict is too strict…." - could be a headline.

I'm just rambling here now, but to resurrect your campaign, you have to work it every day, pitching to everyone you see, and everyone you can find online. Hard work is in order but hopefully you can get on the popular pages and reach a 'tipping point' of support.

~Nick

Nick,

Just wanted you to know how much I appreciated your feedback and that your time spent was not in vain! I have spell checked the entire project and caught all my typo's (I hope) I have taken out the BOLD except where I want the statement to stand out. I am working on re-vamping the video - that will take me a couple of days as I really want to encompass all of your suggestions and I am still reviewing your videos for inspiration. And I am going to my husband's machine shop to shoot a little clip as well. THANK YOU AGAIN SO MUCH! I have always tried to "Pay It Forward" in my life and it's nice to know other people live that way as well!

Hi Inga,
Thanks for your kind words. Good luck with everything.