First, the kickstarter was successful. Thanks to everyone who backed the campaign, all 145 of you backing at 121% of the goal. Seriously, thank you.
It was kind of a ride. The mid-campaign slump is no joke. 3/4 of the way through, I was 60% funded and not sure if I was going to make it. The final week was a pleasant time to watch the numbers climb.
There were some surprises, like how many people backed at the full price instead of the discount. I appreciate it, but I wasn’t expecting it.
So the final result is: 145 people pledged $1821 of a $1500 goal. That’s 121% of the goal. For a tiny audience, that’s not terrible.
Things I’ve learned:
- Unless you bring a big audience to the table, Kickstarter is a 30 day hustle to funding. I was doing some kind of promotional effort every day. Bringing your own audience is the best indicator of success. My hustle brought 52% of my pledges.
- Reddit and Twitter ads are worthless. I lost some money on Facebook ads, but that also drove enough pledges that I’m not sure I would have funded without it. Facebook ads are immensely targetable, so target the hell out of them.
- Ads and organic posts on sites like Reddit work really well in the early days of a campaign if you have early bird discounts. Next time, I’ll have a plan for every day of the early bird period.
- Google Analytics is awesome. Set it up (with e-commerce!) and link it to the campaign. Then, use the campaign and medium features every time you post a link. I used this link builder.
- The two weeks after the campaign, but before Kickstarter releases the funds is a looong time.
- Interviews are stressful and anxiety-inducing beforehand, but fun in the moment and nice to have done.
That’s it. I’ll get into fulfillment and strategy another time.
Edit: See Part 2 here.