KickstarterForum.org

Hi everyone!

My name is Charles Coates, I'm an artist living in San Jose, and I've been given the opportunity to study Japanese Woodblock Printmaking in Japan. There is so much helpful information on this forum. I've already taken advice from other posts, and would like to ask some questions regarding my Kickstarter does not seem to be moving so fast (if at all).

Almost a week in, and the project seems to be dead in the water, and I have a few theories as of why. I'd value your non-biased input.

The rewards aren't specific enough, even though I provide some images.

The description page is too long.

This is my second project, and my friends don't want to donate to a second project (this is a deep-seeded fear, depsite the fact that my friends made up a small portion of the success of the first campaign, and the ones that did donate loved the rewards.

The project is selfish, and I am not exactly bringing anything new into the world, except honing my experience as an artist to create new innovative works (another deep-seeded fear).

I've started using Buffer and Tweetdeck to send out timed tweets in good taste (about four times a day), but they aren't generating the traffic numbers I'd like. I'd be grateful for any input. Below are links to my Kickstarter project, Twitter, and facebook. Thanks again.

Kickstarter: http://kck.st/1fRYwSo
Twitter: @cwoodruffcoates

The project is selfish, and I am not exactly bringing anything new into the world, except honing my experience as an artist to create new innovative works (another deep-seeded fear).

Definitely don't think this is the case, as you are providing tangible rewards for your patrons. Also, becoming an artist that changes the world doesn't happen over night, so any new techniques you learn go towards creating innovative future works.

I will let other users provide some feedback on the other points.

Thanks, Sbriggman.

One thing I noticed is that my project has yet to appear on the front of the "Discover" page. During my last campaign, 65% of my donations came from kickstarter, with the project skyrocketing in the very beginning. The chief reason for my worry,is that this has not happened, yet. Any idea on how to appear higher up on the popularity page?

Cheers,
Charles

Good question. I think I might devote an article to this topic.

Did the category with this campaign differ from the first by the way?

Yes. My first project was listed under "Art",and rose fairly quickly to the popularity page. This second project, was categorized under "art, mixed media". I've just switched the category to "art", to see if there is any change.

One thing I did notice: As soon as my first project reached it's goal of $800, there was a spike in activity, shooting the dollar amount past $3,000 in two weeks. With this project, I seem to be be stuck at 25% of the goal and flatlining.

Now that I've changed the category to the more generic "art", perhaps it will gain more views... statistically, very few people on the kickstarter site actually saw the project. Fingers crossed....

Very interesting. Did you notice any differences from the Kicktraq stats (Example: number of comments between the two projects?).

How do your video plays and social media shares compare to your last project?

This most recent project is not getting quite as much exposure. For my first project, I did not do too much social media advertising probably no more than ten tweets/facebook posts overall, and I received 68 backers (65% came from the kickstarter "discover" page). With my current project, I am using buffer to send out tweets 4 times a day, with hashtags like #art #artsale #crowdfund. According to analytics, only one or two people actually click on the link. (my twitter is @cwoodruffcoates). This is all very ironic.

This morning, I emailed my previous backers, letting them know I have a new series of artwork I am working on. 15 minutes later, a backer returned with the highest pledge! Finally kicking the project past the $1000 mark.

One week into this project, I have 86 plays on my video, with 34% completed. By comparison, my previous project had 1,056 video plays, with 42% completed.

My takeaway from all this is being on the "discover" page, or "staff picks" is key.