This is the second part of my notes from Rick Chen’s talk about Pozible crowd funding. To see the initial part about what to do before you launch, click here.
This last part is about after your launch.
If you are lucky there will be an initial burst of support. This will be from all your existing contacts who you have no doubt been teasing about your upcoming campaign. If you are lucky and your target is low enough then you may get to your target quickly. If so see “Stretch goals” later.
Be honest. If you are having problems or delays, make sure you keep your supporters up to date. Even if your current campaign tanks, supporters will remember whether you were straight with them or not. This will influence their support for any of your future campaigns.
Stretch goals are unofficial: in other words you cannot increase your Pozible target but you can inform your supporters that you have reached it early and are now going for a higher target, which if reached will get supporters extra stuff. It’s worth studying successful projects similar to yours, as the subject of stretch goals is complex.
Rick was asked about big $ value rewards, in that most supporters will be pledging by credit card which has upper limits. Rick said to contact Pozible to arrange this.
There is also the ability to upgrade an award. In other words your $10 reward can be upgraded to a $20 reward. I’m not sure how this works practically so best to ask.
Obviously keep your site up to date on a regular basis. If you go quiet then your existing supporters may get nervous which could stop them talking about your project to others.
If you are short of exciting news then ration any news you do have so there is a steady stream of updates. What sort of news? Study similar campaigns to see what they are doing.
There is almost always a mid-campaign slump. Your early adopters have already pledged, and everyone else is waiting or not yet convinced. Rick says not to be discouraged as it nearly always happens, so keep up with the regular updates and news – don’t go dark.
There’s nothing to stop you adding new rewards, but resist the temptation to offer better ones than the ones your initial supporters accepted.
When anything exciting happens reach out to the press. Crowdfunding is still fairly new in the eyes of the general public, so the press is interested in wildly successful campaigns.
Towards the end of the campaign you can start working on FOMO. If you’re not yet at your target you can encourage your existing supporters to spread the word and encourage others, otherwise nothing will happen. Those people watching your campaign will be encouraged to see you are almost there and may be tipped into supporting you.
Finally you’ll be either:
1. Undersubscribed;
2. Reasonably subscribed;
3. Madly oversubscribed.
Whichever, say thank you to everyone who has bothered to support you.
If the first, then learn from it and work out how to do better next time. Remember you can still get access to everyone who supported you so you can include them next time. If you managed expectations well they should still be friendly.
If the second then you should be ready to rock and roll if your initial planning was good.
If the last, well done but wow. Get ready for an interesting ride!
This last part is about after your launch.
If you are lucky there will be an initial burst of support. This will be from all your existing contacts who you have no doubt been teasing about your upcoming campaign. If you are lucky and your target is low enough then you may get to your target quickly. If so see “Stretch goals” later.
Be honest. If you are having problems or delays, make sure you keep your supporters up to date. Even if your current campaign tanks, supporters will remember whether you were straight with them or not. This will influence their support for any of your future campaigns.
Stretch goals are unofficial: in other words you cannot increase your Pozible target but you can inform your supporters that you have reached it early and are now going for a higher target, which if reached will get supporters extra stuff. It’s worth studying successful projects similar to yours, as the subject of stretch goals is complex.
Rick was asked about big $ value rewards, in that most supporters will be pledging by credit card which has upper limits. Rick said to contact Pozible to arrange this.
There is also the ability to upgrade an award. In other words your $10 reward can be upgraded to a $20 reward. I’m not sure how this works practically so best to ask.
Obviously keep your site up to date on a regular basis. If you go quiet then your existing supporters may get nervous which could stop them talking about your project to others.
If you are short of exciting news then ration any news you do have so there is a steady stream of updates. What sort of news? Study similar campaigns to see what they are doing.
There is almost always a mid-campaign slump. Your early adopters have already pledged, and everyone else is waiting or not yet convinced. Rick says not to be discouraged as it nearly always happens, so keep up with the regular updates and news – don’t go dark.
There’s nothing to stop you adding new rewards, but resist the temptation to offer better ones than the ones your initial supporters accepted.
When anything exciting happens reach out to the press. Crowdfunding is still fairly new in the eyes of the general public, so the press is interested in wildly successful campaigns.
Towards the end of the campaign you can start working on FOMO. If you’re not yet at your target you can encourage your existing supporters to spread the word and encourage others, otherwise nothing will happen. Those people watching your campaign will be encouraged to see you are almost there and may be tipped into supporting you.
Finally you’ll be either:
1. Undersubscribed;
2. Reasonably subscribed;
3. Madly oversubscribed.
Whichever, say thank you to everyone who has bothered to support you.
If the first, then learn from it and work out how to do better next time. Remember you can still get access to everyone who supported you so you can include them next time. If you managed expectations well they should still be friendly.
If the second then you should be ready to rock and roll if your initial planning was good.
If the last, well done but wow. Get ready for an interesting ride!