Hmmmmm.
Sometimes all you can do is shake your head.
Nothing about this Kickstarter makes sense to me.
Background: via email, Jesse Joe mentioned this about his Kickstarter:
One of the biggest frustrations with [Kickstarter] has been “How do I get this into the hands of people I don’t know?” My people have already helped me get this far, I need help from random people. ~ JJJ
We do not see this as a successful strategy for Kickstarter. (And believe me, we are trying to find the template that proves us wrong!)
The body of evidence presented by both Kickstarter projects and by the bands/artists creating them overwhelmingly points towards projects success being tied to current family, friends and fans.
That being said, if Jesse Joe wants to gear his Kickstarter around converting random people into backers, that is his prerogative. But he needs to do a couple of things different.
SHARE YOUR PURPOSE & CRAFT YOUR STORY
If you sat through Jesse Joe’s video, then you are doing better than me.
And if you have any idea what he is about as an artist after reading his project description, then you are a mental marvel.
The information that Jesse shared may not even matter much to current fans; it will certainly not win over a random person.
The title of this section says it all: share your Purpose and craft your Story. It is your job to communicate these critical elements and if you fail to do this, your project is highly likely to fail as well.
STRANGERS DON’T PLEDGE TO MUSIC KICKSTARTERS
This is straight from Jesse Joe himself and is consistent with everything we’ve been hearing from other bands and artists:
I took to social networking. Twitter and Facebook. I have a list of 200 on my Facebook that I sent it out to, and on Twitter, it was shared with a few thousand. Actually to be a little more precise, my Link to my Kickstarter was seen by over 230,000 twitter users, but I still only have 5 donations. I have some amazing connections, but even then, you can’t make people donate. ~ JJJ
FANS, FRIENDS & FAMILY: YOUR KICKSTARTER ARMY
Even if you are shooting for random people, you will benefit many times over from enlisting the help of your Circle of Influence: current fans, friends and family.
At the very least, your fans will be the seed that gets the project funding moving.
At some point, your project needs to make a splash by gaining multiple backers and a double digit percentage of funding (I’ve heard that 30% is a magic number). If you can’t jump over that hurdle, the project looks lifeless and stagnant to the outside world.
Think about it, if you are a random person checking out a Kickstarter and you see almost no signs of funding life, what are you gonna think? My first thought is, “Hmmm, this guy’s fans aren’t even backing the project.” Red flag and I’m gone.
You will need your fans to help convert randoms into backers. Music is all about personal connections. If I see a random post on twitter/facebook/etc., it doesn’t even sink in. If Levi tells me to check something out, I check something out. The suggestion needs to come from a credible source.
Unfortunately, Jesse Joe takes this view:
When it comes down to my mailing list, I don’t spam people. I told everybody about it, I posted it publicly, I sent it across the social networks, but again, with over 230,000 people seeing it, I’m still way under my goal. ~ JJJ
Lesson: USE YOUR MAILING LIST!
If you feel like you are spamming, then you need to work harder on engaging your audience on a more regular basis and you need to craft your communique at a more personal level.
THE TAKEAWAY: BE READY TO DO THE WORK
Amazingly to me, Jesse Joe seems to understand everything stated above, at least subconsciously.
The most difficult part is making it appealing… You follow all of the requirements and you read the tips and tricks. 30 day Kickstarter’s have a higher rate of success, Videos on your page increase success rate, Rewards increase success rate, posting updates increases success rates. You think that as soon as you do A, B, C, and D, that your chances of success are great, but truth is, it’s not always that simple.
If every one of those [230,000] individuals had donated just 10 cents, my project would have been funded $23,000.00. 10 Cents, but that’s not how people look at it. You still have to strike a chord with them. ~ JJJ
Translation: YOU need to breathe the life into your project by presenting a Purpose Worth Backing through sharing your story. You can’t just fill in the template with uninspired crap and expect to get anywhere. Work on striking that chord.
Also remember that pouring a ton of energy into promotion to strangers is unlikely to yield great results. Focus on your Circle of Influence and worry about the greater public only after you have achieved a large degree of success with your current family, friends, and fans.
Very true about not just posting any old generic stuff and hoping it will replace a relationship. That said, while engaged fans that you have a relationship will always yield best results, it’s worth noting that there are ways of using the media to quickly finding new fans, and that some mediums will help build relationships with those fans quicker than others.
Yes his choice of words “random people” is a bit unfortunate, but there *are* ways of getting funded without a large pre-built fanbase. I know because we’ve interviewed people who did it. That said, Ian’s advice is excellent and is still the way to go in my opinion.
Great post, Ian!
Piers, thanks for stopping by! We agree with you that there are ways to attract strangers to your project. We call it the “stranger strategy” and we’re excited to explore this concept further on this blog.
We’ve also reviewed projects that support this.
I think the point that gets confused is that in order to execute a stranger strategy, your project needs to have the right elements that appeal to people outside of your Circle of Influence.
If your project doesn’t have those elements and you land the cover of the Rolling Stone, your project will still fail.