[smart_track_player url=”https://launchandrelease.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/How-Musicians-Can-Crowdfund-8140-With-a-Very-Small-Fan-Base.mp3″ title=”How Gerry Raised $8,140 on Kickstarter With (Almost) No Fans” artist=”Launch and Release (audio)” ]

Gerry Gomez and his band just completed a Kickstarter campaign that raised $8,140 to pay for the costs involved with finishing their album.

Gerry is an awesome example of what can be accomplished by simply following the process, but it wasn’t easy. He still struggled with his doubts and demons.

Let’s face it, with less than 200 Facebook page fans, less than 200 people on their email list, and only about 600 personal Facebook friends, most people would assume they shouldn’t be able to raise more than a couple thousand dollars.

Well, Gerry raised $8,140, and this isn’t out of the ordinary. We help artists with little to no fan base do this all the time.

As Gerry proves, there’s a process that can be followed to maximize the money you raise.

Gerry’s Challenges

Gerry’s funding trajectory was extremely sluggish for the first 3/4 of the campaign. With just 5 days left, he still needed to raise over 40% of the money required to reach his goal.

According to Gerry, this was largely due to missing the mark on carrying out his pre-load and pre-launch phases.

And like nearly every other musician who’s considered crowdfunding, Gerry was hyper sensitive about asking for money. He didn’t want to hound people. He didn’t want to come across like he was begging.

He was also uncomfortable with directly communicating with people. He really (really) was hoping he could just post Facebook updates, send a few emails to his small email list, and perhaps BCC a bunch of people in a group email. He’s not alone, of course! Most musicians wish this was the case.

And to be honest, we’ve seen tons of artists sneak by without one-on-one, personal outreach. But it’s hugely important to note that these same musicians literally raise half the amount of money that they would otherwise be able to raise.

The third thing he struggled with is the tone of his messaging.

In this interview Gerry talks specifically about changing his tone in the last week of his campaign and adopting a more committed personal outreach plan.

These two things alone changed everything for him.

Watch the quick 20 minute video interview above to get more actionable Kickstarter tips and tricks from this music crowdfunding case study.