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I've been taking a lot of comfort from all the stories about the mid-campaign slump. We had a great start, and got to nearly 50% in the first 5 days, but then it all ... stopped.

http://kck.st/1jJQy16

We're nine days out now and only 65% funded. I've read that its really important to stay positve and upbeat, but I'm not sure how to continue to be genuine and sincere while hiding the panic?

Just checked out your campaign - very well pitched and great story.

Okay, enough flattery, let's get down to business... (it's way past by bedtime)

You're pretty much at the point I was when I launched my first Kickstarter project. It was around 5 days from the end and I had crippling doubts about getting funded (they talk about the "lull" ...but they don't mention you get days where not only don't you get any Backers - but you drop a few hundred dollars too with people "un-backing"!)

Here's my super-stealth tactic (yes, I'm claiming owner ship for this )...

I call it the "Hail Mary":

I stood in front of the camera and told my Backers exactly what I was thinking. I told them this was the first point during the entire campaign in which I had doubts about being funded (which was true).

(It doesn't make sense to pretend not to have doubts about your project. If you're having doubts ...then you can be damn sure your Backers are having doubts! So acknowledging these doubts to your Backers demonstrates to them you are thinking accurately - and don't just have your head in the clouds ...or in a hole in the ground)

Now, my project was a titanium, multi-function pocket-tool - so what I did was offer them a titanium prototype key-holder as an "upsell" and explained it was to guarantee we get funded. I asked them to pledge an additional 'x' dollars and they'd get this prototype.

Did it work? Take a look at the screenshot below...



The red arrow above is the night I posted the video update. Around 25% of backers pledged for the "upsell".

So there's the "Hail Mary" strategy for you.

For your project...

I'd say to focus more on offering something to the high Reward tiers. Taking a look at your campaign numbers I see that nearly half of your funding has come from Backers pledging $50+. Focus on these guys - they're way more likely to pledge even more dollars than the lower tier Backers.

I don't know much about games - but I'm sure you can come up with various things to offer.

You only need to get vaguely close to your funding goal - as you'll get a little "boost" in the last 48 hours anyway.

Also, worst case scenario, you can "bump" the last little bit yourself by persuading a "friend" to pledge a few thousand.

Also, you'd probably want to implement the "Hail Mary" as soon as possible. If you get near the end and you're still quite far away from funding then you're going to get Backers pulling out ...which will snow-ball the situation.

Right, really need to get to bed now. Best of luck!

It's going to be close but I'm sure you'll make it. Projects get a little more interest towards the end.

Thanks, that's an interesting story, and not an approach I'd heard used before. We've got some ideas of things we can offer the higher tier backers, so we'll give that a try.

Magnus with a nice chart.

Here's something to consider, if you intend to follow Magnus' advice.

You've got seven days left in this campaign to raise an additional $10,888 dollars.

Your ace in the hole is the sheer number of backers that your campaign has already attracted - 973, almost a thousand.

Even if you don't net the additional eleven grand, you might raise a sizable chunk of it. If they aren't able to boost their pledge, ask them to support your project with a last flurry of shares of the link to your project.

An additional eleven dollars and twenty cents from each of your existing nine hundred and seventy-three backers would fill that gap. In actuality, it won't happen like that, but some may fund more than an additional eleven bucks.

Phew we made it, with 38 hours to go! Just have to hold on now A lot of backers seemed to wait for the 48 hour reminder emails.

Just keep in mind that some of the pledges may not actually come through, so make a final push to max your funding.

Very nicely played, by the way.

Awesome, congrats! It is so exciting to see it come through, keeping that positive mental attitude will always serve you well