The Definitive Guide to Kickstarter

Let me tell you story.

My friend was trying to raise money for a charity, their goal was $10,000 and they weren’t even close. The passersby just passed right by, not even thinking twice about donating. But then my friend had an idea…

“What if we told people we were only $200 away from our goal?” After that, they started donating more generously.

Why? Because it became something attainable. This brings us to our first principle.

Principle of Attainability

People are more inclined to give money when they feel they are having a big impact, instead of just being another drop in the bucket.

You give each individual person a sense of power. They feel like they are doing a good deed making them more inclined to dig into their wallets and be generous with their donation. After all, those poor souls did so much and only need a few dollars more to hit their $10k goal.

Now don’t get carried away. Asking for more can give you less take for example Kung Fury.

This trailer captures exactly what they were going for in a quick way that gets people interested.

The campaign asked for $200,000 as their goal but ending up raising $630,019 based on a well done trailer used as a campaign video that gathered them an audience willing to hand over their hard earned dollars.

[media_video teatime_video_unique_id=”89313bf14e55299031503fd26e1ea705″ teatime_video_url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v‹´›nO_DIwuGBnA” teatime_video_size=”{‹²›video_size‹²›:‹²›size_fluid‹²›,‹²›size_fixed‹²›:{‹²›width‹²›:‹²›640‹²›,‹²›height‹²›:‹²›320‹²›}}” __fw_editor_shortcodes_id=”40cc3ad2cfa32c1260a12f6749adde59″ _array_keys=”{‹²›teatime_video_size‹²›:‹²›teatime_video_size‹²›}” _fw_coder=”aggressive”][/media_video]The campaign was a success.

But, if they were able to generate that response, why weren’t they able to reach their [simple_tooltip content=’A stretch goal is a funding target set by the project creator beyond the original Kickstarter goal. Kung Fury was a short film and they asked to be expanded into a feature film for $1,000,000 (compared to their original $200,000).’]stretch goal[/simple_tooltip] of $1,000,000? This brings us to our next principle.

Principle of Excess

“On the heels of your success, putting an out of reach stretch goal can cause a stagnation.”

Each backer now loses their feeling that they are personally making a difference. Therefore the interest stops. People want to feel good so the more you hook them emotionally to your project the better.

How can you hook your audience emotionally? To figure it out, there are things to consider before you begin your campaign.

How to get a rough estimate of much money you can make, before you even begin

Here’s how most people go about launching a campaign. “Man, I have a wicked idea for a new movie! I think it’s amazing so I know others will too :). Let me just crowdfund ASAP and I’ll get distributed by Paramount next Monday!”

Then they click refresh on their campaign, like “where is.. The moneys..?”

You want to ensure success before you even click that “launch” button. This is where most people fail. Luckily, you are not most people.

Score yourself out of five on these key questions:

How good and exciting is my idea? How good is my campaign video? How big is my audience before launch? How good and enticing are my rewards?

Below are broken down methods to improve your campaign in each of these areas. You’ll learn why some campaigns were doomed to fail from the beginning, and why some get featured on Oprah.

And no, it’s not luck.

[cherry_spoiler title=”How good and exciting is my idea?”]

A story well told is what grabs the audience. If content is king, then emotion is God.

Think of your KS campaign the same way as you think of your film: Is your story personal? Do you care about it wholeheartedly? Is it dramatic? How can bring my campaign and film together in a creative way?

Principle of Wallets Follow Hearts

“Don’t think about how to get money from people. Think about how to hook your audience emotionally . The money will follow.”

A sad story about how you broke your leg trying to complete this film is much potent than talking about how low the price point will be. Don’t try to “rationally” explain to your audience why your film is good.

Would you go up to a girl and say “Hey, I have good credit and my genetic history is impure of heart disease.” No! You show her a good time and take her on a ride passionately.

What you are trying to do here is bring people into the world of your film so they become invested emotionally. People’s wallets follow their hearts.

They’ll also want to help this project if they feel some connection to it. Some relation to their own interests or personal story.

The more emotional you let yourself be, the better.

You want to elicit either an “aww”, “*gasp!”, “Nooo”, or “wow!”. Laughs are good emotions but they should be added on top of those. Don’t rely solely on comedy.

Action Step

Brainstorm three ways that you can make your pitch more emotional.

[/cherry_spoiler] [cherry_spoiler title=”How good is my campaign video?”]

In this digital age, attention spans are down. Think less is more. Give the biggest message in the shortest about of time. Remember you are targeting people at their hearts, not minds. Personal short videos are important.

The most funded campaign videos are 2 minutes and 32 seconds long. Don’t make yours any longer than that.

“People don’t only want to fund projects, they want to fund people. If you are passionate and speak from the heart, people will want to help you.” – Alicia Harris, 23, Toronto indie filmmaker of “Love Stinks!”

If you look at Alicia’s Kickstarter page you will see how well they’ve integrated this philosophy into every aspect of their campaign. What’s better? A faceless film asking you for money or the starry eyes of a dreamer just wanting his or her one shot?

Have another person in your KS video helps as well because then it seems like you’re not alone in thinking this idea is great, and that you have a team (so the film is achievable).

Have one main on-screen personality, then a side kick, and everyone else is should be on the sidelines or else it gets overwhelming.

Principle of 2.5

“Your video length should be around 2.5 minutes, and the amount of on-screen personalities should be 2.5 as well.”

Real people trying to make their dreams come true will win every time, just like in Love Stinks!

You really can’t argue with $7,136 raised when their initial goal was $6,000 because, unlike love, these numbers don’t stink! (I couldn’t resist)

The formatting of your video, whether your campaign video is a trailer or not, is something important as well.

Formula for Successful Kickstarter Video

Start with a problem

Show how the problem causes your audience pain

Talk about how your thing is the solution

Show results of the solution

You’re a filmmaker! This is very similar to the Three Act Structure so you have an advantage over 90% of campaigns out there already.

This format can be used to reach out to your audience and pull at their heartstrings. Or you can even cut your trailers so the characters go through this arc and engage the audience to make them want to see the full film.

Action Step

Define the [simple_tooltip content=’In Love Stinks! it was that there wasn’t enough females behind the scenes in filmmaking.’] problem [/simple_tooltip] that your film is solving. Then dig deeper into the psychology of your audience and define how it is causing your audience [simple_tooltip content=’Pain is a relative term. Just describe why your problem is not just general “problem” in the abstract. But instead, it is a problem for the person watching. Show them how their lives are personally affected by this problem.’] pain [/simple_tooltip]. Write an outline arc of your pitch video using the formula above.

[cherry_spoiler title=”How big should my audience be before launch?”]

The process of promotion should start at least 2 weeks before official launch date but the sooner the better.

Tweet it. Post it on Facebook. Start a thread on related interest forums. Reach out to people you know in the community or friends and even loved ones. If it’s a forum to communicate with others, then there is a room to post about it.

This tactic needs to balanced with the knowledge that there is such a thing as too much of a good thing and stepping over that line might cause some to lose interest purely out of spite. No one likes spam.

So promote in the right places, at the right times, to the right people. That way you can maximize effect and have little to no collateral damage. This begs the questions:

Who are the right people?

If they signed up for your [simple_tooltip content=’this is covered more just below’]newsletter[/simple_tooltip], they are the right people. But also, you have to think about who your audience is in general.

The best way is to think about what movie yours is most like. Yes, I know, you’re a special snowflake with a unique movie idea that has never been done. I think like that too. But seriously, what movie is most similar to yours?

Once you know that, you can figure out who that movie’s audience is, and target those people.

What is the right place?

The best place is via email. Get them to opt into your newsletter on your film’s website. As well as the forums (Reddit, YouTube channels, Meetup groups) that your audience hangs out at.

When is the right time?

Start building and promoting to your audience (via email) 3 months before launch, on a bi-weekly basis. Then switch it to weekly when you’re 1 month away. Then daily when you’re 1 week away.

***

Another way to build up your audience is by creating a blog for your project. A well done website on WordPress can make your project seem more credible and show that you are a serious professional. In fact, here’s the theme I used for my feature I’m Okay if you need an example.

This goes the same for your landing page which you should have on your site to encourage people to sign up to the mailing list and get involved in the process. All of this can be done via WordPress too, in fact, here’s the opt-in plugin we use.

The more involved they can be, the better.

Action Step

Write down who your audience is and be specific. What are two ways that you can promote to them, either virtually or in person, by the end of tomorrow?

[cherry_spoiler title=”How good and enticing are my rewards?”]

A way of scoring your rewards is by seeing it objectively: Are these perks truly something I would want if I was a fan of this project? Would I be excited to get this thing in the mail? Is this good enough for the amount of money I have to give?

Some bad ideas for perks / rewards:

Being vague (be concise in your language and don’t over complicate)

Low priced Producer credit (a lot of failed campaigns give “Producer” credits out at too low of a price point. make it more expensive to get the higher valued stuff or you seem desperate)

“Contact me and we’ll figure it out” (this is not a joke, [simple_tooltip content=’This was a $14,000 perk in a Kickstarter campaign that failed. It said Contact me and we will figure it out! – Estimated Delivery April 2014... This is the sign of a clueless man.’] someone actually wrote this [/simple_tooltip] . this is just about the worst thing you can say)

Some good ideas for perks / rewards:

Props (only if they are fans of your previous work, else no one cares.)

Tickets to premiere (they want to be there. this is perfect)

Hard copy of film (the ultimate fan gift)

Producer credit (at a high price point so it’s exclusive)

Strangely enough, it turns out the $25 perk is generally the most bought perk so be very specific especially there. However, don’t discount adding a $1 reward of something small. Yes it won’t yield much in terms of direct monetary gain but it’s broader than that.

Having a perk at $1 is a very low-risk investment to people who wouldn’t have ordinarily backed your project otherwise; it lowers the barrier to entry. Then what happens is that they share your campaign. The $1 perk is more for awareness then it is for money.



Principle of Low Barrier To Entry

“Have a $1 perk so that your non-hardcore fans can buy, feel invested, and more importantly share .”

But whatever your perks are, the approach should be to make the rewards something tangible. Something people can grab with their hands or experience first hand. This can take a little bit more planning and strategizing but ultimately it has the bigger pay off. (yes a Producer credit counts as tangible, since they can see it and brag to their friends about it)

It gives the audience a real world symbol of the investment they’ve made in your project. It makes them feel like they are part of something.

Action Step

Write down your $1 perk, and make it something doable and scalable (not hand signed material, for example). Then think about, what is a unique offering that you can make based off of your film that will get your audience emotionally invested?

[cherry_spoiler title=”Bonus sneaky tip you won’t find anywhere else”]

I’ve worked on several campaigns but our most successful raised over $270,000, with little to no media coverage before they launched. How did they do it?

The CEO of the startup pulled me to the side, away from his two coders and said “Um. Curt… We actually need to $200k so this campaign better work.”

“You need it to expand?”

“No. We need it so we don’t go bankrupt and have to lay everyone off.”

Wow. No pressure there. It was a small startup but they knew if they asked for $200,000 right off the bat that the [simple_tooltip content=’People are more inclined to give money when they feel they are having a big impact, instead of just being another drop in the bucket.’]Principle of Attainability[/simple_tooltip] would work against them. So here’s what they did.

They set their goal to $15,000. Nothing special there, we covered this strategy of setting the bar low before. But the sneaky thing they did was they had three dummy accounts buy out their $15k within the first few hours with their own funds!

Yes, that means they would take a [simple_tooltip content=’Kickstarter takes about 5% of your funds.’]small percentage cut loss[/simple_tooltip]. But what happened next was amazing.

They emailed media outlets and told them “Look! Our campaign was already successfully funded in just a few hours! People love it!” And they ate it up.

Now outlets like Techcrunch, etc. started blogging about them instantly since they were like “wow! This might be the next big thing, we don’t wanna miss out” and more and more people donated.

Eventually they ended their campaign at over $270,000 and the startup is actually booming today.

Principle of The Bandwagon

“Humans are social creatures that want to join trends, and they make their decisions based on if other people are doing that same thing.”

If they didn’t make it seem like there was initial hype, it might have fizzled out, but now there was a bubble. You will be surprised at how effective this can be, everyone wants to join in with everyone else. Even if it’s just a dollar, you’ll see your donors pile up.

All this is a balancing act of getting as much as you can but keeping it realistic to how much you need. Don’t overshoot your goals or you might burn out your audience.

What happens if I don’t get funded on Kickstarter?

Don’t worry. Kickstarter is just one method to getting your film funded. And as you know, you should never rely on just one thing.

This guide is actually just Part 1 of 48 of a much larger video course where we give you the 8 step PROVEN method on getting funding, even if you’re not “connected.”

Admission to Get Funded, our comprehensive 8-week video course on the exact steps to getting funded or your money back — guaranteed — is opening up now and will close April 30, 2016. We’re only admitting the first 30 people with no exceptions so good luck.