{"id":52606,"date":"2017-05-24T13:11:20","date_gmt":"2017-05-24T20:11:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ponoko.com\/blog\/?p=52606"},"modified":"2018-07-12T01:24:40","modified_gmt":"2018-07-12T08:24:40","slug":"kickstarter-crowdfunding-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ponoko.com\/blog\/business-tips\/kickstarter-crowdfunding-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"Find Kickstarter Success With These 10 Crowdfunding Tips"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"KickStarter<\/strong>Advice From Three Ponoko Makers Who Have Successfully Launched Their Products Via Crowdfunding On Kickstarter<\/h2>\n

Crowdfunding isn\u2019t just about money. Sure, makers need cash to complete a project and get it off the ground. But backing a project is more than just pledging funds to a creator. It’s pledging support to a creative idea that people, your backers, want to see exist in the world.<\/p>\n

Many makers spend the majority of their time coming up with the idea and making the product. But that\u2019s just 20% of the job. The other 80% is communicating about and promoting the idea to gain enough backers to successfully fund the project.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot of competition on Kickstarter. As of May 23, more than $3 billion has been pledged by nearly 13 million backers to fund 125,194 projects. But on the other hand, 224,000+ projects funded unsuccessfully. (Kickstarter stats updated daily here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

What did the 55% who succeeded know that the other 45% didn\u2019t?<\/p>\n

Of the projects that have reached 20% of their funding goal, 81% were successfully funded. Of the projects that have reached 60% of their funding goal, 98% were successfully funded. Projects either make their goal or find little support. There’s little in-between.<\/p>\n

So how do you get the pledges rolling in? To find out, we talked to three Ponoko makers\u2014two of which have had successful Kickstarter campaigns not once but twice\u2014to find out what crowdfunding tips they have for makers that want to launch via Kickstarter but aren\u2019t sure where to start. See what lessons you can use for your own crowdfunding project.<\/p>\n

1. Do Your Research And Understand Your Audience<\/h3>\n

Like any business venture (and since money is changing hands, this is a business venture, so treat it as such even if you consider your making a \u201chobby\u201d), there has to be a group of people that would potentially be interested in purchasing what you have to offer. Your target audience.<\/p>\n

Who are these awesome people? What are their demographics\u2014age, gender, geographic location, etc.? What are their psychographics\u2014needs, wants, desires? How does your product fit into their lives? What problem does it solve? What need does it fill?<\/p>\n

For Maurice Ribble, founder of Dreaming Robots<\/a> and inventor of the Electric Eel Wheel (which rolled over Kickstarter goals by 979%, then 1,744%)<\/a>, he had an up-close-and-personal relationship with his target audience: His wife.<\/p>\n

You see, Emily is an avid knitter and yarn spinner. And she had a problem: Her spinning wheel sucked.<\/p>\n

Like any good husband with a can-do attitude, Maurice set out to solve the problem. \u201cI knew I could design something just as good or better than my wife\u2019s garage sale treadle jalopy,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Living with a knitter, Maurice saw first hand the challenges his wife experienced when trying to spin her own yarn. He also knew the price points for other treadle and electric spinning wheels, which were overly expensive and kept many crafters from being able to spin. So he started making one from scratch. (Check out his Kickstarter success story\u00a0here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

\"Electric<\/p>\n

Once Emily\u2019s friends saw and used the product, they wanted one for themselves. So it was reasonable to expect there were many other yarn artists that would be interested, too. Target audience identified.<\/p>\n

Maurice was able to identify a need in a growing craft market ($43+ billion in the U.S. alone, and counting<\/a>) and solve a problem at an economical price.<\/p>\n

The Takeaway:<\/strong> It\u2019s not enough to create a cool product. It must solve a real problem. Look at your own interests: Where is there a gap in the market that could be filled by you?<\/p>\n

2. Prepare Prototypes<\/h3>\n

We can\u2019t emphasize enough the importance of prototyping. Maurice went through 10 iterations before making the first Electric Eel Wheel. And he\u2019s made five more improvements\/enhancements since then. You want to be absolutely certain the product works to your satisfaction\u2014and you backers expectations\u2014before ever going public with a campaign.<\/p>\n

For Aaron Bleackley, founder of Wild Gears (which blasted Kickstarter goals by 224%, then 544%)<\/a>, prototyping was key to his Kickstarter success story.<\/p>\n

He was inspired a geometric drawing toy that was included with a candy purchase. (True story, read all about it here<\/a>.) But after buying a Spirograph\u00ae kit and a number of other geared drawing sets, he was frustrated at the lack of pieces as well as variety of design options. There were also quality issues. The plastic from which the pieces were made was fragile and imprecise. And the gears often slipped and hopped out of the rings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI scoured the internet for a really good Spirograph but didn\u2019t find anything to satisfy me,\u201d Aaron says. \u201cSo I concluded that I would have to make my own.\u201d<\/p>\n

He did two rounds of prototyping to start. \u201cI really liked what I was getting, but realized to make all the things I wanted would cost >$500,\u201d he explains. \u201cThis is when I decided to try Kickstarter for my idea so that the prototypes would be funded for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Wild<\/p>\n

After two rounds of prototyping before his Kickstarter campaign to develop the initial concept, Aaron completed another two rounds of product designs after the campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo years later, I ran my second Kickstarter to implement revisions and improvements to my product line that I’d discovered during the two years of using Wild Gears,\u201d he says. \u201cMy second Kickstarter also expanded my product line. I am in the middle of the planning stage for a third Kickstarter that will fund a version three of Wild Gears, which will continue to improve on the product and expand the gear set offerings.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Takeaway:<\/strong> Prototyping allows you to determine what can\u2014and cannot\u2014be achieved with your product. This allows you to deliver the best results to your target audience, and it can also give a sense of how the logistics of the campaign would work.<\/p>\n

3. Create Professional Visuals & Project Descriptions<\/h3>\n

Many Kickstarter projects begin as relatively loose concepts that are finalized throughout the overall campaign. But having a working prototype allows you to create the photos and videos that will bring your campaign to life.<\/p>\n

This was the goal for Igor Knezevic, founder and creative director of Alienology<\/a>, when launching the T3TRA loudspeakers<\/a>\u2014small, unique speakers in the shape a tetrahedron with all sides constructed of equilateral triangles.<\/p>\n

\"T3TRA<\/p>\n

\u201cPrototyping went really well so that by the time we unveiled the campaign, the speakers were 100% done and were able to be presented in video and photos as 100% finished, fully-working objects,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Igor and his team not only created a short video to showcase the speakers<\/a>, but they also had lots of product images throughout the Kickstarter campaign<\/a> that included the speakers alone as well as lifestyle shots of the T3TRA in real-life situations to show all the different applications of the product.<\/p>\n

\"T3TRA<\/p>\n

Maurice has created tons of videos for the Electric Eel Wheel on the Dreaming Robots YouTube Channel<\/a>\u2014everything from product updates, answering prototype questions and how-to\u2019s for properly setting up the machine. He also has great photos throughout the Electric Eel Wheel 5 Kickstarter Campaign<\/a>, like this one of the product from all angles so backers know exactly what to expect.<\/p>\n

\"Electric<\/p>\n

The cool thing about the Wild Gears YouTube Channel<\/a> is that Aaron creates time-lapse drawings using the various Wild Gears shapes so you can see exactly how to use the product as well as the design outcome to expect. At last count, there are 18 tutorials.<\/p>\n

But good visuals will only get you so far. You also must create written content that sings. For Wild Gears, Aaron created a very logical sequence of information on the Kickstarter campaign page<\/a> that included bold subheadings for easy reading:<\/p>\n