Making a Kickstarter Project to Raise Money for Yourself!

Kickstarter.com is a site that many of you may know, if not, then it is a platform for artists to raise money for creative ideas.

I will explain a bit about how to make your project as well as your proposal successful, but first, I want to talk about the economy and kickstarter. This applies only to U.S. residents at this time. Although one friend in the U.S can get you around this.

Everytime we hear news about the terrible economy we all get a bit scared that there will be even less money for us. It is as though there is only a certain amount of money in the world, and a big chunk of it has dissapeared, so there is less for us all, right? Honestly, I dont think so, and kickstarter is a good example. It is a site that began in 2009, and all it does is give creative people a platform to raise money. But wait, here is the real mind-bender; kickstarter is the number one platform for raising money in the world. Literally, every month, millions of dollars run through their accounts! How can this be? In a world reeling from economic woes, there are that many patrons that are giving money to eccentric projects? The simple answer is yes. It defies our idea of what a poor economy means. It also tells us that at this point, creative ideas and projects are a survivor of the economy, for some unknown reason.

I am not an economist, but I know it all has a lot to do with faith and fear as well as optimism about the economy. On kickstarter, everyone is creating projects that feel life-affirming and positive. Maybe that is one of the cures to the economy? I can theorize like anyone else, but my thoughts aside, the site is working, and I am an example. I am in the middle of a project where of all things, I am selling non-visible art, and am getting mountains of press and have raised over $14,000 dollars so far. The project has James Franco as one of its contributors which was of course a big help, but there are many more cases on there that show you how everyone does it in different ways.

This is how I recommend you start a project.

1. First, go on to the site, register (it’s free) and begin to back other projects. That is right, I am asking you to give a dollar here, a dollar there. You can feel like a big philanthropist by giving a dollar or more to a several projects. The reason I am asking you to do this, is because if you back other projects you will not only understand everything about kickstarter and how a project works, but you become part of the community and that is really important. You see, like any other social network, what you put in you get out. So trust me and spend an hour exploring kickstarter and back a few projects, you can keep your total costs under 10 bucks. You can do this from anywhere in the world.

2. Next, propose your project. You see, kickstarter doesnt accept all projects, so yours has to be accepted first. I have gotten turned down as well as accepted so I have learned a few things.

3. Make your proposal exciting, and make the rewards really cool. The focus for kickstarter is on the rewards, so it is up to you to make them really good. Look at successful projects to see what works.

4. If they turn you down, dont get depressed, try again!

5. Once your project is up, do not expect the money to just come in. You have to tell all your friends, post it on facebook, google+ and twitter, and that is still not enough. You will also have to write people direct letters asking if they would donate 10 dollars or more to your project. I know that is hard, but this is fundraising, and everything is personal. Would you tend to give to a posting on facebook, or a friend who sends you an inbox mesage asking you to please consider pledging? The personal approach is always best.

6. If you collaborate with several people, it is even better, because you will all promote it. There is one project on kicktarter called the Regretsy Tarot, where more than a dozen artists from all over the world collaboratively desinged and will make a tarot deck. They have already sold out and I think have made over $23,000 as of this post.

7. Read the blog that kickstarter writes on their site. It is filled with useful tips on how to make your project a success.

That is all for now! As you may know, I am a professional coach for artists as well as an artist myself. I help artists build theor careers professionaly and I have two textbooks coming out on professional development for artists. The first one is called Making It in the Art World and is out this October. If you need professional help in your career, I am for hire.

My project is worth seeing of course, not only because I did it and I think it’s great, but because it is truly a success. I strongly encourage you to consider a pledge! Just click here to see it.

My project is also set up so that you can even propose rewards and earn money off them if they are sold on my site, but hurry up, there is less than a month left!