KickstarterForum.org

[HarryBraswell]

I am facing the last 2 days of my campaign, and we are at 178% funded.
I spent months researching scholarly articles and quantitative analyses of Kickstarter and crowdfunding in general, but none of it prepared me for the simple truth that my skeptical older brother shared right before I even launched:

Nobody is going to invest in a music project if they aren't personally invested in the musician.

You might THINK you're a great musician - and you MAY be right - but there are THOUSANDS of vastly greater musicians in the world today.
Why should anybody care about you?

Fortunately, more people than you might realize ALREADY care about you.
The ability to successfully crowdfund your music depends on such people:

1. Go through your Facebook friends, email, Twitter followers, etc.
2. Pick people who you've had a personal relationship with.
3. Find a reason to start a conversation that DOES NOT include your campaign.

I cannot stress enough that if you send long, or vague, or bulk, or Kickstarter-related messages asking for help networking or funding your project, people will NOT OPEN YOUR MESSAGE.

Honestly, if you received an email from some old acquaintance asking for money, wouldn't YOU ignore it?
Case in point.

Spend time reconnecting with people. You have to realize that crowdfunding is a facet of crowdSOURCING, and that many people will be able and willing to help your project succeed in ways you might not even know you NEED yet.

When the time is right, after the relationship becomes familiar again, mention that you're working on a project. NOT ASKING FOR MONEY, just working on a project, and giving it everything you have.
Now introduce the notion that they could help - by sharing your link with their friends, or pledging a few dollars in return for a copy of the thing.
At this point, they should feel that your intentions are good, and that they can BECOME A PART of your success by offering support.

Throughout the campaign, treat backers like team members. Say "we" instead of "I," NEVER say "I can do it." or "I've reached 50% of my goal."
YOU are just the captain, steering a ship powered by other people.
And the only thing more rewarding than saying "I did it..."

...is saying "We did it."

[sbriggman]

Great tips! Thanks for sharing!