Learn from my mistake
Posted: 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.
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.
