by salamandersauce » Wed Apr 23, 2014 1:40 am
We have learned a ton!
I pulled the first campaign because I didn't realize how much time and energy is required during the campaign, it's basically a full time job. The second campaign was much smoother for several reasons, first I had a TON of help on the social media front. Second we reached out to bloggers and reviewers before we launched so we could start getting some press when we did launch. Third, we used a media/marketing agency that would take money from the back end if successful, which it wasn't. I feel that if you are going to use an agency use one that takes from the back end if it succeeds otherwise you have no guarantee that they will actually do work during the campaign. There certainly were issues working with them towards the end of the campaign mostly in that they were willing to do anything to succeed regardless of how it might affect Salamander Sauce. While I understand where they were coming from I wasn't about to ruin a reputation before I had even built it.
While the last campaign failed to hit we still gained from it in terms of exposure and building a following. It also opened the doors for some private funding that has taken us to this point. I also learned that a never quit attitude is necessary because most campaigns won't hit and it is certainly not the end of the world if it doesn't. Take whatever you can from a campaign and apply it or utilize it in the next one!