Ernie is a rare find.  He’s an independent singer songwriter who fully understands the ins and outs of building and maintaining a tribe of supporters, works extra hard on the right stuff, (not just busy work that makes him feel productive), and he’s a killer singer songwriter.

I’m blown away and extremely inspired by what Ernie has built.  He definitely goes on my short list of artists to learn from and study.

He’s toured the U.S. (except for Alaska), has built a mailing list of 7000, YouTube following of 13k, and a Twitter following of 500k (wow).  As I profile his Kickstarter project, I’m trying to dig up whether he’s as good at monetizing his following as he is building and engaging.

We’ve seen, over and over again, how artists with a tiny mailing list and 1500 Facebook fans, can raise $10k, $15k, or even $20k.  If Ernie can’t hit the $50k mark with his huge social influence, well, then there really IS an Easter Bunny.

This could be a classic case of being afraid to come across like you’re trying to make money from your fans.  Ernie, go for the money.  This is your chance to make more fans happy.

P.S. Maybe he knows this but he’s got a plan to blow up the last five days of his project because he understands the power of urgency and time constraints.

Either way, let’s dig in and see if we can uncover some great ideas for you to steal from Ernie’s K$ project.

View Earnie’s Kickstarter

+ STEAL THIS

• Great low tech video
• Innovative song club concept
• Very clear & concise description area
• Being this awesome at being an indie artist

– FIX THIS

• Add an Unofficial Goal ($50k?)
  
• Add a clear description of what you’ll use additional money for

// VIDEO (3 min 30 secs)

We’ve interviewed tons of artists who say making their video is the biggest challenge of launching their Kickstarter.  Ernie’s video is a great example for you if you’re in this technically challenged group.

He focused on the story and the tone, not the video quality.  The majority of the video is him talking to the camera while sitting on his couch.  In the first 15 seconds he adds some snippets of random video clips.  One is a goofy clip of him driving a van, and the other is a tiny snippet showing him on stage making a crowd laugh.

With these two clips, he’s disarmed the tension and brought the viewer into a happy and engaged mindset, just by being loose and informal.   By being real and himself, in other words.

This video doesn’t assume the viewer knows his story.  He quickly gives us the overview of his life story and how it pertains to music.  This life story recap takes 1:30, roughly half of the length of the video.  It was perfectly executed.  He hit the highlights and showed us how music is a huge part of his life without getting too detailed or boring.

Now the viewer is seeing life through his eyes and they’ve taken on his energy and passion for this project as their own.  It’s now time to elaborate on the project and show the viewer why they will want to be a part of it.

He outlines the details of the project which makes it tangible for the viewer then ends the video with a clear call to action “coming to you fall 2012, but only with your help. Please donate today!”

// REWARDS

I’m a big fan of “stuffing” the package that I want people to buy with loads of value compared to the packages priced just below it or above it.  For example, if a $15 package includes a CD, you could price the next package at $30 and include two signed CDs, two stickers, and instant access to download a Kickstarter exclusive 3 song acoustic EP.

The $30 package adds a tiny bit of extra cost but doubles the amount raised and more than doubles the perceived value.

Since the concept of Ernies Kickstarter is the 52 song club, he naturally built the $52 package to be hugely stuffed.  He even added a phone call to that package.

Not only is this one of the best examples of stuffing that I’ve seen, he has zero hard costs for this package!

NOTE: Another way to look at stuffing or stacking a package is to think of it as an effort to make the buying decision easier. This increases the likelihood that a person buys instead of getting overwhelmed by lots of similar options and leaving without a purchase.

// PROJECT DESCRIPTION

I love this project description.  He uses bold headlines, a bulleted list, and small paragraphs. This formatting makes it very easy to skim.  He’s very clear and obviously took some time to edit and get rid of any fluff.

I’d love to see some images even if they’re random photos from gigs.  Even if they’re not related to the description text, images will increase viewer engagement which increases pledges.

// GOAL AMOUNT

I’m hoping there’s more to Ernie’s plan here.  Like I mentioned above, he should easily be able to raise $50k.  I’d highly suggest a project pivot where he makes a big announcement that things have gone way better than planned so he’s going to shoot for a much higher number.

Then boldly state that if he hits $50k he’ll make a fully produced record from the 12 best songs determined by the 52 songs club.

This will make $52 backers consider raising their pledge to $75 to get the finished CD. Most likely the $52 and up package would take some fine tuning to make it a logical value.  Perhaps the $52 package gets the CD and the $75 level gets something additional.

This project pivot will certainly be a mission worth pursuing for all backers.  They’ll get behind it and the project will experience an influx of new energy.

// CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE

For an independent singer/songwriter, it doesn’t get much better than this.  If you strive to have what Ernie has built, I highly suggest you sign up for his mailing list, follow him on Twitter and Facebook, and study his every move.  Then, emulate what you can.  My guess is the big secret is his inhuman work ethic and the time he’s spent honing his singing and songwriting talent.

// MY WAGER

I’m captivated by this project.  It’s open ended at this point.  What happens is completely dependent on what Ernie decides to do.  There’s a really good chance that raising $20k to $30k works well with his over arching career plan, but if he chooses to do so, he could absolutely crush the $50k mark.