Not too long ago The Anatomy of Frank raised $2000 on Kickstarter for a national tour. This time around, they’re raising funds to mix and master their already completed debut album.

This will be a challenge because they’re a brand new band with a very limited experience and social influence, but they’ve done some things right that will most likely help them reach their goal of $5000.

We’ve included some suggestions that they can implement now that could affect the project’s outcome in a positive way.

With The Anatomy of Frank’s acting and video talent (not to mention their musical talent – see the videos at the bottom) they seem perfectly suited to harness the power of the Kickstarter model over and over again.

Let’s dive in and see if there’s anything in their Kickstarter project that we can learn…

VIEW PROJECT  |  GOAL $2,000  |  30 DAYS  |  EMAILS 300  |  FB 841

VIDEO

This video is effing phenomenal. A+ for production, flow, storytelling, humor, keeping the viewer’s attention, and call to action. There’s no fluff. Dudes, please give the video guy a high five from me…also, your acting is great!

This video states the problem, the cure, and the intentions in the grand scheme of the band’s life mission. If this band is as entertaining to follow as this video, then count me in as a fan.

P.S. The lead singer is my better looking twin. I’m going to steal his haircut.

REWARDS

These packages will most likely get these guys to their goal. They are, however, leaving money on the table and making it harder than it needs to be for a fan to choose a package.

Weak $25 Package

The ever-so-important $25 package is pretty anemic here. This looks much more like a $15 package.

I’d suggest immediately adding a $35 package that includes 2 signed CDs + a digital download at least two weeks prior to the release of the record.

You’ll probably convert some of the current $25 peeps and you’ll fill an important gap between the $25 and $50 packages.

Once you add this new package, email everyone at the $25 level and suggest that they increase their pledge for the added benefits.  Also note that you’re adding about another $8.50 of margin and only about $1.50 or less of cost.

No House Concert?

You may have your reasons, and I’d love to hear them, but not having a private acoustic show for somewhere between $500 and $1000 is a mistake.

You currently have a bunch of creative expensive packages but none of them besides the $250 level which includes a “thank you” in the liner notes, has any real world value.

The $2000 “write and record a song for you” package is close but since none of you are famous songwriters, this is far too over priced to entice anyone besides your rich aunt Betty.

The $500 to $5000 packages here will garner donations from your Moms, but not fans. This isn’t necessarily bad.

It’s a good idea to think of packages for parents, turbo fans, and good friends. To take it a step further, though, it’s an even better idea to design packages that ALSO seem enticing to normal, everyday people.

A house concert has real world value. A stranger could conceivably be able to justify investing $1000 for his annual back yard BBQ, even if he’s never heard of your band.

The Package Conclusion

• • • To make up for your weak $25 package and fill in the huge gap you have between the $25 and $50 level, add the $35 package suggested above.
  • • A high priced “thank you in the liner notes” package is a good idea. This is a key package that every band should use. The biggest thing working to your advantage is that there’s no real world associated value that comes along with it which gives you the ability to get creative with it’s pricing.
  • • Yours is $250, nice job. $150 would do a better job of bringing in turbo fans but at $250, you’ll still bring in some family and friends pledges.
  • • It’s not too late to add the house concert/acoustic show. The likelihood of getting one or two people to bite on this is much better than the likelihood of selling a hand-made BYOC guitar tremolo pedal for $1000 or a $5000 tighty whitey concert because the house concert appeals to a very wide group of people. What could it hurt to add it?

Package Tip: Take some of the work out of it for potential packers and include everything that comes in the package when writing the description.

Sure, people can figure out what “PLUS ALL THE ABOVE” means, but its an extra step that people don’t want to figure out for themselves.

They have a short attention span already, anything you can do to streamline the experience for them will increase the odds that they pledge.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Your project page IS A SALES PAGE!

When you see a huge block of text online does your inner 12 year old, ADD child go ape shit at the thought of having to read it?  You’re not alone.

It’s been proven time and time again that images increase readability and conversion rates (conversion is when viewers “convert” to buyers).

Now consider what most Music Kickstarter Jockeys forget: Your project page IS A SALES PAGE!

You’re selling an album, a shirt, a concert, a download, and other things that could have an associated image to help connect your description to the item you’re trying to sell.

At the very least, you need to have an image of the album art and the shirt!

AOF:  Put this in right away!

GOAL AMOUNT

This is straight out of the Launch & Release playbook. Their official Kickstarter goal is $2,000 but their real goal is $5000.

Used with caution, this technique can bridge the worst case and best case scenarios. It’s a little workaround to Kickstarter’s “all or nothing rule”.

These guys have assessed their worst case scenario and determined that if they only get $2000 they can still make the project work. But if they can get $5000 they’ll be able to save their cash for a new van, or the next record, or a vinyl pressing etc.

A word of caution: This rule is there to protect everyone involved. If only $2000 of $5000 is raised and it actually takes a minimum of $5000 to make the project a reality, backers would get screwed and the KS Jockeys would look like dip shits.

Accurately project your budget and worst case scenario before trying this at home!

CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE

The Anatomy of Frank has a very limited social circle, but that’s to be expected of a brand new band. Kyle, the band leader/singer/songwriter, has around 1300 Facebook friends and the band itself has under 900 as of this writing.

Assuming the rest of the guys have 600 Facebook friends each, their total social influence is roughly 4500 people.

We talk to musicians at all different levels and the number one most common myth is that Facebook and Twitter followers are a major factor in selling CDs, and in this case, Jockeying a successful Kickstarter campaign.

In other words, most bands don’t realize that the most important factor in your overall business success is the size and quality of your mailing list.

According to Kyle, The Anatomy of Frank has around 300 people on their mailing list. Not bad for a brand new band.

If they’ve kept this mailing list engaged and consistent, they can expect these 300 emails to far outperform the 4500 person social influence of the band.

My advice to AoF is to send an email each of the four weeks of the KS campaign with a short update and a specific call to action for people to click through and pledge. Remember: short update, specific call-to-action, and only one, obvious thing to click that leads directly to the Kickstarter project page.