Karina describes this record as “A collection of vintage-pop-noir originals inspired by crackly records, early rock and roll, girl groups, motown, doo-wop drama, spaghetti western soundtracks, 1930’s torch songs, Czech lullabies, and 80’s English new wave and rocksteady.”

On top of this being a pretty epic description that makes me want to pop it on the sound system during dinner (it would really impress my wife!), she’s going to do a run of vinyl!  I want to go by a record player and grab the $25 package (which includes the limited edition vinyl).

+ STEAL THIS

• Clear statement of what additional funds will do
• Great packages
• Simple but effective video

– FIX THIS

• Consider adding a $60 shirt/vinyl/cd package
• Highlight those awesome Flex Goals 17k, 19k, 25k, 50k
• Add product images in description area (pull from the video)

// VIDEO (4 min 50 secs)

It works for her, but could benefit from a happier tone.

The video does the trick for Karina.  If there’s a lesson to be learned here, though, it’s to be aware of the tone of your video.  The goal is to have a happy, inspiring “this is scary, but I’m really excited” tone.  Here’s an example that I love from Allison Weiss, and here’s another example where Kristen Lynn really goes over the top with this type of tone.

Karina has as much or more personality than Allison and Kristen, but she doesn’t show more than a little hint for us in her video.

Excitement is infectious.  Smiling is infectious.  In your video, you have the power to affect the feeling and mood of the viewer.

This phenomenon is similar to the infamous “Sullivan Nod” sales technique.  It’s used by sales people like bartenders or waitresses to encourage you to select a particular item out of a list (wine or menu items) by subtly nodding.

In essence, it’s a subconscious transfer of excitement from one person to another.  To see how affective this subconscious transfer of excitement is, watch Kristen Lynn’s video and notice how it makes you feel.

Do you see how the tone of a video can transfer excitement?

Notice the elements that create this excitement and happiness – the right music, genuine smiling, genuine laughter, genuine excitement.

// PACKAGES

She hit three of the four “must haves” for music Kickstarters.

Karina did a great job here because she hit three of the “big four” important Kickstarter packages that every musician should have – digital download, the physical CD, and the private concert.  I think it would be worth her time to create a $60 package that includes a shirt with CD and vinyl.

Having a shirt package creates a lot of additional logistics like getting it designed, collecting sizing info from backers, ordering, packaging and shipping, but I’ve always found it to be a top seller and well worth the extra effort.

Plus, all she needs right now is a design mock-up to put in the description area.  She can order the shirts after the K$ is over for $8 to $10 each depending on the quantity.

Also, I think this genre caters to a rad shirt design.  It’s a no brainer as long as you can handle the added logistics.

// PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Her wide array of physical goods are not shown.  Big ouch.

There’s a big disconnect between the packages and the description.  We need to see the undies, shirts, and CDs from several different bands that she references in these packages. Having these visually represented will increase conversion of viewers to backers.  It’s been proven time and time again that images of the products will increase purchases.

Most of these images are represented in the video so Karina could simply take screenshots of each item from the video, then add them to the description area with a subtitle to denote what package it goes with.  Nothing fancy!

Clearly outlined Flex Goals.

She also does what so many projects don’t do – she clearly thought through and articulated what will happen if the project raises more money than the minimum goal.

If she were to hit her goal in the first day, how would she keep people motivated to keep pledging and spreading the word for the remaining 29 days of the campaign?

Here’s how she did it:

– At $17,000 my 6 piece band and I will be able to tour 5 cities+ on the West Coast

– At $19,000 we will be able to add East Coast dates

– At $25,000 we will be able to create 1 professional music video

– At $50,000 + will allow us to tour Nationally with the possibility to do a Live DVD recording + more music videos

TIP: Call this out in your description area!  Put it at the top or create a graphic that shows the progress towards larger goals.

// GOAL AMOUNT & CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE

She clearly has a strong offline network of solid friendships and acquaintances.

Karina has raised $7,075 of her $15,000 goal in just under a week.  She’s been around for a long time, seems to have a deep relationship with her Circle of Influence, and has built up anticipation for her to finally release something she can call her own.

My guess is that she had a solid feel for the potential support of her friends, family, and fans before she launched.  $15,000 is a big scary number.  Kudos to Karina for pushing through the anxiety and doubt to hit the launch button.

Actively engage her second tier networks (other bands etc).

If Karina leverages the relationships that she has with all of the other bands she’s worked with, she could have an influence with several other social circles and email lists.

Just having the other bands send a quick email to their fans could absolutely crush her goal. This is what I mean:

Hi friends!

 

We wanted to give you a heads up that our good friend Karina Denike is finally making her first record.  She’s the beautiful voice on our third EP on tracks 1, 4, 7 and a long time friend of the band.

 

We thought you’d love her unique style of doo-wap drama, spaghitti western, and Czech lullabies.  Check out her Kickstarter here and let us know what you think!

 

Love,

 

Awesome band that Karina played/recorded/wrote songs for

// THE TAKEAWAY

This project will be a success.  At the time this review went to press she hadn’t had a chance to respond to my email, so I don’t know what her mailing list looks like.  Without that number I’m shooting in the dark, which is still fun!  So I’m going to guess that she’ll do around $16k (UPDATE: She raised $16,125!)

I’ll update if I hear back from her.