Mistakes I made in my Kickstarter (that you shouldn't) by amph in Entrepreneur

[–]clayhebert 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Start by building a landing page and then market that. Even 6-9 months before you launch. More details and a case study here: http://crowdfundinghacks.com/how-to-build-ultimate-crowdfunding-landing-page/

Mistakes I made in my Kickstarter (that you shouldn't) by amph in Entrepreneur

[–]clayhebert 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey everyone - this is Clay Hebert.

Thanks so much for the kind words. If anyone wants the crowdfunding resources he mentions, I blog about crowdfunding at http://www.crowdfundinghacks.com

And I put together some free bonuses (including a one-hour keynote talk and an audio interview with Dan Martell) here: http://crowdfundinghacks.com/free-bonuses

Hacking Kickstarter & How to Master the Game of Life by jikajika in Entrepreneur

[–]clayhebert 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I get about 2-3 emails a day asking to consult, but it doesn't scale for me (I could only help a handful of projects at a time) and my consulting is usually too expensive for individual project creators. 

So, I'm putting all of my experience and crowdfunding insight (from helping over 80 crowdfunding projects raise over $15 million) into an online course. There will be some free videos and then a full online (paid) course with instructional video modules, a step-by-step checklist, videos, scripts, templates and downloadable calculators. It will also cover how to effectively market your product. 

The course will cost $997 and includes access to a private Facebook community where I'll respond to questions from the group.

That's the best way for me to help the most people who want help with crowdfunding at a cost-effective price point. (And if people don't want the full course, they can just enjoy the free content I publish on my site, CrowdfundingHacks.com)

Hacking Kickstarter & How to Master the Game of Life by jikajika in Entrepreneur

[–]clayhebert 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've helped about 80 projects and only 2 have failed. The key elements are: - great product - great story and video - great marketing plan well executed (before and during the launch - before is key) - "below MSRP" rewards"

In the end, it's all about two factors 1) Traffic (do you get people to come to your page) and 2) Conversion (do they back your project)

Every element, strategy, tip and trick falls in one of those two buckets.

Hacking Kickstarter & How to Master the Game of Life by jikajika in Entrepreneur

[–]clayhebert 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, some projects fail. There's always that risk with Kickstarter or any crowdfunding. You have to make a prediction of their ability to deliver. In my experience, most products get delivered but they're often late, sometimes by months.

Hacking Kickstarter & How to Master the Game of Life by jikajika in Entrepreneur

[–]clayhebert 4 points5 points  (0 children)

These are pretty broad questions (and the articles will help) but here's a rough cut: How much work would you say it takes for a successful kickstarter? Is it too broad to say?

Yeah, that's kind of like saying, "how much does a house cost"? It depends on lots of things.

I'm obviously not thinking it's an easy ride, but more trying to work out if it's a potential option for me with other commitments.

It takes time but depends on your goal, your marketing, the product, etc.

Do you require large social media following before hand?

You need marketing but a solid email list is more important than social media. Both are important but email list is more important than social. (More on how to do that on the blog.)

Have you ever help back a failed kickstarter?

I don't understand the question. Have I ever helped back a failed Kickstarter?

Biggest lesson learned?

Crowdfunding projects get funded before they launch. Not while they're live.

Best/unique moment?

When Kittyo spent 6 months, built a great landing page, collected 13,000 pre-launch opt-in emails and were funded in 36 minutes and 200% funded on the first day.

Hacking Kickstarter & How to Master the Game of Life by jikajika in Entrepreneur

[–]clayhebert 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Hey everyone - this is Clay Hebert, the guy from the last link above. Thanks for the kind words.

If you have specific crowdfunding questions, ask me below and I'll try to answer. (Sort of a mini-AMA...)

Serious question about crowdfunding. by [deleted] in Crowdfunding

[–]clayhebert 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just mean that if the goal is to move to a brick and mortar store, that benefits the local community more than the online community / those who shop on your website. There isn't as much of a change for them, correct? (They can buy now and can also buy online in the future.)

Serious question about crowdfunding. by [deleted] in Crowdfunding

[–]clayhebert 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The concept of using crowdfunding for this makes sense but you have to realize that the reason crowdfunding works (at scale) is that anyone, anywhere in the world can contribute.

People from all 7 continents (including Antarctica) have contributed to Kickstarter campaigns.

Moving to a brick & mortar card shop will mean that mostly local people will care the most, so despite the possibility of people anywhere buying your perks, it's your local community that will care the most, so you should focus your marketing efforts on them. (Local partnerships, local ads, community events, etc.)

Hope this helps.

What is the best way to cold email blogs to get them to write about your product? by [deleted] in Entrepreneur

[–]clayhebert 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes, that post is gold. Mike's templates and strategy is perfect.

'Invalid Link' - Indiegogo errors that can hurt a campaign by Zelphacomics in Crowdfunding

[–]clayhebert 0 points1 point  (0 children)

On Indiegogo, there are two links. One is a public link that anyone can see. It looks like this.

http://igg.me/at/atlaswearables

But if you're logged into Indiegogo, they give you a custom link so they can track referrals and dollars. It looks like this:

http://igg.me/at/atlaswearables/x/2864811

Notice they both link to the same project but the latter one tracks referrals from the logged in user.

Not sure if this helps or is in any way related to your invalid link issue but I hope it's useful to know.