Welcome to part two of the five part Stay True Project series!
I’d like to talk numbers and share the details behind my experience creating the Stay True Kickstarter project.
Let's jump into how I planned and created the Kickstarter Project!
Before starting your own Kickstart project check out the Kickstarter School.
Results of the Stay True Project
With a goal of $2000 and a time frame of 30 days, The Stay True T-Shirt & Print Design Kickstarter Project was 109% funded with the help of 52 backers.
After placing all of the orders and shipping out every backer reward I was left with $2.09. I'd say that's planning worth being proud of! :)
Now let’s get into how I went about creating the project!
Defining the Stay True Project
I knew the message behind the design, but now I need to define it as a project. Set goals and plan for success. I have to make expectations for myself and project backers, then be able to deliver on those expectations.
I wanted to keep it realistic and simple. I knew that if I over complicate what I'd offer or if I'd require too much money, then I'd only be setting the project up for failure.
I took a lot of time to consider what products I'd sell, how I'd get them produced, and how I'd get them into the backer's hands.
With the project well planned out I then actually went onto Kickstarter and created the project itself.
I spent a couple weeks working on the Kickstarter project and reviewed it over and over to ensure it was ready for everyone to see before I officially launched it.
Creating the rewards
This part of the project is fun, but very important!
I found that offering rewards at a variety of different prices helped a lot! Even if a backer pledged $1, they don’t just get a lousy “digital high-five”, they get a real reward—for my project, a Stay True Wallpaper Set.
Small rewards are where it’s at!
“Projects without a reward of $20 or less succeed 28% of the time, while projects with a reward of $20 or less succeed 45% of the time” - Kickstarter School
I also wanted to offer some sort of large creative reward. The Reward: I’d help the backer design their own t-shirt. They’d get 10 of them printed! Plus every product I was offering in the project.
It was a great reward for a great value.
No one actually pledged for it, but it’s still good to offer something creative. It can even be something small like limited-edition products or a signed item.
What I would’ve done differently: I would’ve written the rewards so they’d be easier to skim through.
What I wrote: “Get a Stay True t-shirt in your choice of size (S,M,L,XL,XXL). You also get a sticker & button.”
How I wish I’d wrote it: Stay True shirt (S,M,L,XL,XXL) + sticker + button
The reason being – people viewing your project are most likely just skimming through your rewards while watching your video.
With the rewards being one of the most important aspects to your Kickstarter project, be sure to make them easy to read and skimmable.
Setting my goal
Like I had previously mentioned – I wanted my goal to be realistic and simple. Something I knew I could deliver on if the project was a success.
I researched the hell out of my budget. The costs for:
- Each product I was offering (shirts, prints, stickers, buttons)
- Shipping materials (poly mailers, poly bags, clear packing envelopes, and “stay-flats” envelopes)
With Jakprints I could easily set up a quote for the products, and with the shipping materials I just added everything to my cart then acted as if I was placing the order to get the shipping cost.
For the project’s deadline, I went with a typical Kickstarter time frame – 30 days. I didn’t want to leave too large of a window to back the project, because one: the excitement and anticipation would’ve killed me – and two: a sense of limited time helps push people to take action.
Making the project video
I personally think that creating a video for your Kickstarter project is a must!
It’s the perfect way to sell and connect with your potential backers.
For my video I pretty much did exactly what the Kickstarter school mentioned.
I talked about the project and it’s message, the rewards, why and how I needed everyone’s help.
I kept it pretty simple, but I would say go all out if you have the resources. Just be sure to keep it as short as possible and to the point.
Promoting the project
I solely relied on social media, family and friends.
I occasionally shared the project throughout the month and just hoped that enough people would dig the project and share it too.
This worked for me, but for a project with a larger budget may need to step it up and reach out to online media outlets to help spread the word.
If your project is worth talking about it’ll make it’s way around.
Most importantly, DO NOT SPAM!
Project updates
Making your supporters feel like they're actually part of your project goes a long way.
One reason why I’ve wanted to start this project and involve others was to be able to share it, which is why you’re now reading this series. (By the way, leave a comment and let me know how you’re liking the series so far!)
Take the time to share photos and inform backers of important updates, but again, don’t spam!
You can take a look at my Stay True Project updates and see what I updated everyone on. It’s almost like a progress timeline of the project, which is pretty cool.
PART III: Printing & Production
Next I’ll go into detail on how I used the Kickstarter funds to take my digital designs from idea to printing and producing them into tangible products.
Part I: Bringing the Idea to Life
Part II: Creating the Kickstarter
Part III: Printing & Production
