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Learn from my mistake
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    Justyna-sensei
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    Learn from my mistake

    by Justyna-sensei » Wed Jul 27, 2016 2:02 pm

    Hello!

    I’m new here and launched my first Kickstarter campaign a few days ago. I just wanted to tell you my story. My mistake is quite obvious, but maybe I can still help someone here.

    My product is a game for a very specific group of people. The target audience is relatively small, but usually enthusiastic and active. I’m the sole creator, so I’ve been working on the assets and demo for a couple of months. I finally finished it and showed it to everyone I knew. Let me add that I’m from Poland, so there was a very slight chance my friends would back me up. But at the time it wasn’t important. All the people who saw it told me how funny and awesome it was. So, I thought, “Woah, I have a really good product, time for Kickstarter”. Oh, how wrong I was.

    Even if you have a great product, it doesn’t matter if no one has ever heard of it. When I launched the campaign, I had one US-based partner with a big Fb page, so I thought I was all covered. But when I saw the results the next day, I was horrified. Not that it was my partner’s fault. They were doing awesome, advertising on their Fb page. It was MY fault. I didn’t build up my community.

    Now, I’m doing better. I started spreading the word and actually talking to people I didn’t know before. My supporters are the kindest people in the whole world. When I hear them praise the game, I feel it’s all been worthwhile. But I wish I had done it before. Now I work all the time, just writing to places/people. I could have done it gradually and at peace. But next time, I’ll do better. I do want to make games all my life from now on.

    This is it. I hope my experience will help someone here. The campaign's link is in my signature.


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    Cristina
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    Re: Learn from my mistake

    by Cristina » Tue Aug 02, 2016 8:15 am

    This post has been moved to the General Chat + Introduce Yourself section.
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  • getnewdesign
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    Re: Learn from my mistake

    by getnewdesign » Tue Aug 02, 2016 1:50 pm

    Thanks for sharing your story. Preparation is key- I wish we had known more about that as well. It has been very tough to try and find support outside of our network of friends/family.
  • Vanessa
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    Re: Learn from my mistake

    by Vanessa » Wed Aug 03, 2016 10:50 am

    The longer you prepare for your campaign, the easier things will get. Check out this Crowdfunding check list https://www.krowdster.co/blog/crowdfund ... klist.html
    Last edited by Vanessa on Wed Aug 10, 2016 12:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
    #1 Crowdfunding Campaign Optimization, Crowd Building & Promotion App https://www.krowdster.co/
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    Justyna-sensei
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    Re: Learn from my mistake

    by Justyna-sensei » Wed Aug 03, 2016 11:28 am

    Thank you for the input! I'll make sure to be fully prepared before/if I decide to do the next campaign. Now I know that the first day is very important.
  • Prew
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    Re: Learn from my mistake

    by Prew » Wed Aug 03, 2016 11:34 am

    Hi guys. I'm going to launch my first campaign in a month. Do you think it's a bit late that I started thinking about doing my homework? I've created a product, but I didn't build my community as it was said above. How would you recommend to build this community?
  • taitai
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    Re: Learn from my mistake

    by taitai » Fri Aug 19, 2016 3:12 am

    Thanks for telling your story. it's definitely true. We ran a giveaway competition to build a following - it worked well for everyone :)
    tinytowerlaptopstand.com
  • Vigilus
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    Re: Learn from my mistake

    by Vigilus » Sat Aug 20, 2016 4:37 pm

    I've just launched my campaign and i'm learning on the fly. I am 3 days in and if you aren't actively advertising every day, you are selling yourself short! It's not easy, yet its so rewarding!

    Thank you for sharing, a great read.
  • AllShapeUp
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    Re: Learn from my mistake

    by AllShapeUp » Tue Aug 23, 2016 7:27 am

    Thanks for the advice and congratulations on reaching your target goal! Did you find one form of networking better than another?

    I'm launching my project on Monday and trying to do as much possible research as I can. I've put a lot of effort into building up an audience however you never feel like you've done enough!!

    Many thanks,
    James
    AllShapeUp
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    Justyna-sensei
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    Re: Learn from my mistake

    by Justyna-sensei » Tue Aug 23, 2016 10:20 pm

    Prew, I don't think it's too late. I didn't build a community at all and launched in the worst month to launch (according to the study found here). I still managed to get the game funded.

    Vigilus, yeah, actively advertising every day is very important! Even if people yell at you haha.

    AllShapeUp, thank you and good luck with your project :) Fb was a good way for me because I have a partner with a big website. But over 1/5 of my backers came because their friends recommended the game to them. So, at the end of the day, you just need to have a good product, I guess :)
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