On April 15th of 2014, we launched our first crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter.com for simple genetics-themed card game. We set a funding goal for $3,800 and project length of 35 days. Our campaign ended on May 21st of 2014, after raising $12,055 (that’s 317% of our funding goal) with the support of exactly 616 backers.
Our next campaign is for a similar style genetics game called Peptide: A Protein Building Game and is planned to launch on Kickstarter on October 15th.
We did a few things right on our first Kickstarter campaign but we also made a TON of mistakes (even though it was successful). What I want to do here is give you a behind-the-scenes look at the logic behind how we ran our first campaign, and what we plan to do differently in the campaigns ahead.
I knew essentially knew nothing about Kickstarter when I decided to launch my first campaign. I read blogs, books, asked tons of questions to experience Kickstarter creators, and listened to every piece of advice I could get my hands on. I think the time and effort I put into learning about Kickstarter really paid off!
My intention with these blogs is to expose all the details behind my experience, whether good or bad, right or wrong, as well as summarize the advice I have been given by others, in order to help anyone else who wishes to try and fund their own dream idea on Kickstarter.
So here is a list of topics that I think are most important to address:
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Kickstarter Topic #1 – Project Duration, Dates and Timeline
Kickstarter Topic #2 – Getting 100 Backers Prior to Launching
Kickstarter Topic #3 – Getting Backers: How to Leverage Bloggers
Kickstarter Topic #4 – Manufacturing a Kickstarter Card Game
Kickstarter Topic #5 – Shipping a Kickstarter Card Game (U.S.)
Kickstarter Topic #6 – Shipping a Kickstarter Card Game (International)
Kickstarter Topic #7 – How to Price Your Kickstarter Rewards – Part 1
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Just so the readers know, I have already done a TON of research, so hopefully this information will not be out in left field. Here are the two best sources of Kickstarter advice I have found on the internet. If you have done any research of your own, you have probably already heard about these two sources.
I have read all of Jamey Stegmaier’s Kickstarter Lessons (most multiple times) which I highly recommend every potential project creator to read these lessons.
I have also listened to every Funding the Dream Podcast by Richard Bliss. These episodes are 20 minutes a piece and are perfect for listening to in the car.
Not every episode is specific to Kickstarter How-to Lessons, so I will put together a Top 10 Must Listen List so you can get the most bang-for-your-buck from these episodes. I also used this content to write an eBook describing the top 5 most damaging mistakes made by project creators on Kickstarter.com. That should hopefully be available soon.
And please feel free add a topic in the comments section below, that you think I need to discuss or consider.
I am hoping that this will be a set of “living” blog posts where I get the momentum moving and then others will guide and direct the content as we move forward.
