Hacking Kickstarter: Crowdfunding Your Project Adam Long, Marketing Strategist Discover the secret weapons that entrepreneurs use to raise millions of dollars through crowdfunding What’s the difference between a project that raises $5000 and a project that raises $10mil? Preparation, strategy and messaging. Simple, but not easy. It’s time to take crowdfunding to a professional level. This presentation is a practical session in building crowdfunding campaigns that rock, as we create a plan and content for a ready-to-go campaign. We cover: getting started, the logistics and preparation, crafting messages that resonate with people and tweaks that make the biggest difference to the success of a campaign. This presentation is for entrepreneurs with a project suitable for launching on Kickstarter. It can be your amazing new product, a fantastic service, a revolutionary aid project or something unexpected. If you are planning to launch your crowdfunding project in the next 6 months, this could be the presentation that makes the big difference. We’ll look beyond superficial “crowdfunding coaching” and start building your campaign. Adam Long is an experienced crowdfunding manager, entrepreneur and predatory marketer for Step Change Marketing. One of Australia’s top 30under30 entrepreneurs, he has sat on the Board of Engineers Without Borders and is a Director of Beehive, the sustainable design lab he founded in 2010. He takes a triple-bottom-line view of success, and his thinking has been sought out and implemented by the likes of AusIndustry, Red Cross, Sony Music and 3M.

1. 3
Hacking Kicstarter
Adam Long
Find me on LinkedIn
01.05.13 | weco.com.au
Marketing Strategy // Step Change
Marketing

2. AGENDA
• Getting started
• Crafting your message
• Video, project page and rewards
• Engaging your audience
• Media coverage
• Traffic
• Beyond the campaign
2
ASSUMED KNOWLEDGE
• You know what crowdfunding is and the
elements of it
• You’ve got a project you want to fund
• You’ve seen some of the best and want
to know how they were so successful
AIM:
A SOLID
CAMPAIGN PLAN

3. THIS IS A
CAMPAIGN
(NOT A PROJECT)
3

4. HOW I LEARNT 4
Opena case Dumbo Feather Panda Pad

5. GETTING
STARTED
‣ HACKING KICKSTARTER: CROWDFUNDING YOUR PROJECT

6. • Test the market
• Raise funds to do something
• Build your database
• Build a community
• Build proof for a capital raising round
6WHY CROWDFUND?
Each require a
different strategy
– stay focused on
your real goal

7. “JUST GET ME ON KICKSTARTER ALREADY!” 7
• Simple, just create your project and
get an Amazon Payments Account
WARNING:
GET SPECIALIST
ADVICE
• Which means:
• Create a US Tax Identity
(consider a US LLC Company)
• Set up an EIN and TIN
• Have a US Address and forward
mail and phone to you
• Have a US Bank Account
http://www.robyward.com/2012/03/how-to-setup-a-kickstarter-project-if-youre-australian/!
• How we did it:
• Pool the cost
• Borrow an account
• Partner with an account
OR

8. WHICH PLATFORM SHOULD I USE? 8
+71
OTHERS!
If you have a database big
enough (divide number in
database by average pledge)
Then,
It doesn’t matter!
If you have a specialty or niche
interest
Then,
Find the specialist platform
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Comparison_of_crowd_funding_ser
vices!

9. 9STATS
http://www.kickstarter.com/help/stats!

10. 10
SOME BAD NEWS:
MOST CAMPAIGNS HAVE
FAILED BEFORE THEY
HAVE EVEN STARTED

11. Today
What To Say Making It
Work
Campaign
Plan
11

12. WHAT TO SAY
‣ HACKING KICKSTARTER: CROWDFUNDING YOUR PROJECT
On the internet,
information is a
barrier to action

13. 13GET YOUR MESSAGE RIGHT
FEATURE
Specific (Don’t put
everything into the one)
Measurable (Can you
actually measure it?)
Exact (Would it stand
as proof in court?)
BENEFIT
The utility you derive
from that feature
IMPLICATION
What’s now possible in
your customer’s life?
CUSTOMER
IMPORTANCE
How important is it for
your customer?
ADVANTAGE
How does it compare to
what’s already out
there?
START BROAD
RANK BY VALUE FOR EACH AUDIENCE
STICK TO YOUR BEST, START WITH IMPLICATION THEN PROVE IT

14. MAKING IT
WORK
‣ HACKING KICKSTARTER: CROWDFUNDING YOUR PROJECT
The tools of
effective squeeze
pages

15. What have you already got?
• Community
• Journalist links
• Database of fans
• Organisation links
• People who can create media
• Graphic designers or videographers
• A database of similar successful campaigns to look at?
15ASSET AUDIT

16. 16SIDE NOTE: LEARN FROM SQUEEZE PAGES
Kickstarter is a
platform for making
squeeze pages!

17. THE THUMBNAIL 17

18. THE THUMBNAIL 18
• Professional photo that explains what it is or taps in to
category values.
• Name + description explains what your project is and
why you’re doing it.
• Shows social proof from progress in funding.
Activity
• What should your image be?
• What should your text be? (Hint: use your key
messages)

19. THE VIDEO (YES, IT IS COMPULSORY) 19
Look at:!
http://www.dollarshaveclub.com/!
http://kck.st/Mfvs9y Ouya!
http://kck.st/uu4Ty8 Elevation Dock!
http://kck.st/TYUFHF LIFX!
http://kck.st/LMr8ec Panda Pad!
!
!

20. THE VIDEO 20
• Hire a professional
• <2 min (information is a barrier to action)
• Inspire, build credibility then drive to pledges
• Answer “can you do it?” and “will you do it?”
• Show rewards
• Show the team
• Explain what crowdfunding is
Activity
• What should be in your video?
TIP
A professional video
looks that way because
of lighting, colour
grading, good quality
sound, rhythmic editing
and subtle camera
movement.

21. THE REWARDS 21
Look at:!
http://kck.st/JliwH9 Amanda Palmer!
http://kck.st/xHMnCZ Ze Frank!
http://kck.st/UUUCMf CST-01!
!

22. THE REWARDS 22
• Keep it simple and few. Limit options (such as
colour, customisation – that comes later). Make
your life easier and don’t provide decision barriers
• Create rewards for their PR value or visual value.
• Show photos or cinegraphs in your customers
world
• Don’t be cheesey (eg. $10 for a thanks?)
• Hit major price points – $10, $25, $50, $99, $200,
$1000
• Release new rewards in batches to match
production cycles. Eg. Cap every reward and
change the delivery date for that reward
TIP
For products, use a
“compare at” device.
$99 retail
$79 for backers
Activity
• List your 5 (no more)
reward ideas

23. 23WAYS TO TELL YOUR STORY WITH IMAGES

24. THE SQUEEZE PAGE 24
Look at:!
https://lockitron.com/ Lockitron!
http://kck.st/VduOf2 Lumio!
http://fourhourchef.com/ 4 Hour Chef!
http://kck.st/uu4Ty8 Elevation Dock!
!

25. THE SQUEEZE PAGE 25
• Update often
• Drive to video first
• Provide trust marks and PR evidence
• Tell your top key messages
• Provide major headings to make the page easy to
scan
• Drive to pledges
• Introduce your dashboard/timeline of steps needed
• Use a real budget and show how it scales

26. CAMPAIGN
PLAN
‣ HACKING KICKSTARTER: CROWDFUNDING YOUR PROJECT

27. MORE BAD NEWS…
OBSCURITY IS YOUR
GREATEST RISK
27
17,010
14,826
Average number of
followers for Kickstarter
projects that raise more
than $1million:!

28. YOUR TWO GOALS 28
DATABASE
Activate your existing
networks at launch,
aiming to get listed on
“Staff Picks” or “Popular
Projects”
BLOGS
Get on the blogs that
will drive traffic to your
campaign

29. YOUR DATABASE 29
• Tease early.
• Crowdsource from your database. Ask for suggestions and either - do them,
explain why they can't be done, explain what else needs to happen for that to work.
• Give your database ownership by telling them what they've suggested and how
they have affected the outcome.
• Provide an offer for early bird backers and let your database know about it.
• Launch them into the campaign and ask that they pledge the day you open.
• Say thanks to anyone who pledges and ask for referrals.

30. MEDIA 30
Identify Candidate Journalists
Search for articles with similar or complimentary angles. Look for
journalists that display passion for energy, power or the environment and
has multiple pieces published.
Introduction
Where possible, use your LinkedIn networks to gain an introduction to
the journalist. Otherwise, seek their personal blog or Twitter contact
details to get in touch.
Develop Angles: x6 Headlines
Identify the PR angles that are most suited to our three core audiences.
Use a professional copywriter to develop these into complete articles.

31. MEDIA 31
Deliver pre-prepared content from copywriter
Under the guise of making the journalists life easier, provide the pre-
prepared content written to our core messages.
3x Pitch
w/exclusive
Pitch the three different ideas to the journalist to get them excited in the
story. Offer to develop the angle of their choice into full content.
Approach the highest value channels first and offer an exclusive.

32. MEDIA 32
The Secret Weapon for finding crowdfunding journalists
The link shortener bit.ly has a little known feature whereby adding + to the end of a shortened link
will show a full list of referrers.
Bit.ly provides the shortened links for Kickstarter, so by adding a + to the end of their short link,
you can find which media channels (down to the article) have been most critical for launching new
Kickstarter products. These journalists can be the most powerful in driving traffic to your
campaign.
See the following pages for examples from complimentary Kickstarter projects.

33. MEDIA 33

34. SURVIVING THE REST (TIPS AND TRICKS) 34
Dashboard Reporting
Budget – Including your time or contractors/employees
Timeline – What stages need to happen? How are they progressing? Build
into an infographic
Delivery – Use a Dropbox spreadsheet or web page just to show if rewards
have been dispatched
THIS MATTERS
The delivery matters -
so that you survive a
massively scaling
project (kickstarters go
up and up), so you
have repeat backers.
Design Prototypes Manufacturing Early Bird
Rewards
Second Batch …
Progress Designs have been
finalized.
We discovered an
issue with the
electronics – See
Update #6
Will start 4 weeks
late because of the
issues with
electronics.
Original Estimate 12 weeks 4 weeks 12 weeks December 2013 January 2014
Today’s Estimate Actual – 8 weeks 8 weeks 12 weeks January 2014 March 2014

35. SURVIVING THE REST (TIPS AND TRICKS) 35
Your page is not editable after the time period ends, so at the last minute put
up a holding image that directs to your website.

36. SURVIVING THE REST (TIPS AND TRICKS) 36
Delivery
• Start your Australia Post account early - it takes about 3 months
• Don't collect addresses til you are ready to ship. They change, they cause
headaches.
• Expect parts to arrive broken or not to arrive at all. You need to budget for
this as well as the time to fix it.

37. BEYOND THE CAMPAIGN 37
Beyond the campaign: building crowdfunding into a business launch
Delivering rewards - Ask for comments, facebook likes etc. Let others know it
has been delivered.
Encourage sharing and telling stories by tapping into the self expressive parts
- what does backing this say about me? Eg. competition - what have you used
this product for?

38. TIMELINE 38
- 3 months out – Messaging, budgeting, preparation
- 2 months out – start teasing and activating your existing database
- 1 month out – line up journalists and PR exclusives. Invite existing
database to launch
- Campaign – 30 days
- Follow Up – commit to follow ups and stick to that schedule

39. DISCUSSION
TIME
39‣ HACKING KICKSTARTER
‣ Adam Long
Marketing Strategy, Step Change Marketing
‣ adam@stepchangemarketing.com
‣ 0421498170

40. 25
don’t forget my details
get in touch soon!
Made with love
in SydneyAdam Long
Find me on LinkedIn
Marketing Strategy // Step Change
Marketing
01.05.13 | weco.com.au