Advice to Make Kickstarter Successful for Your Project

Four months ago, I warned people of the dangers of Kickstarter before moderating my concerns. Since then I’ve donated to my first Kickstarter effort — I’m looking forward to seeing the preordered book before the end of the year — and I’ve found this excellent post on how to make Kickstarter effective for your project.

I don’t agree with all the advice — I never watch the videos, for example, since I’m usually surfing in an environment where the audio would be a distraction — but the points are well-thought-out, especially the ones about giving potential donors plenty of information about yourself and what you’re asking them to give money for. There are specifics about time period and how much to ask for. The reminder to keep the number of options limited and make sure it’s clear what you’re offering is good, too. But as a possible customer, this is my favorite:

Your pledge rewards should be better than what you normally offer your product for. … The pledgers are doing us a favor by giving money so they need to be rewarded with better prices and offers than someone just buying our product after it’s finished. … So in other words don’t say, a pledge of $100 gets you a book! It should be less than what people would pay after it’s finished.

Remember, Kickstarter isn’t magic. The more fans and supporters you have before you start, the better your chances are.