Artisan Ally: Kickstarter can Fund Your Dream

by Helena Kaufman

Kickstarter Funds Creative Projects and Fosters Communication

Since our last post we’ve dispersed to summer events and our various corners of creativity. In between enjoying face-to-face opportunities at markets and fairs, most of us are keeping in touch with our customers, suppliers, and interested supporters via social media and our contact lists.

Today, we’ll explore Kickstarter, a program that helps fund creative projects beyond our everyday activity in the selling of our current products and services.

Kickstarter success calls on the very skills we’ve been building together at Artisan Ally. Interaction and engagement impact the transparency that characterizes Kickstarter communication with a slightly different, though definitely interested, audience.

Classic Patronage Revisited

As the largest funding platform in the world, Kickstarter sees untold thousands of people pledging dollars totaling in the millions to projects each week in the creative fields it currently covers: music, film, art, comics, photography, dance, theater, technology, design, fashion, food and publishing.

Are they commercial partnerships? Not quite.

Here’s how it can work for you:

Begin by defining your project. Understand that Kickstarter centers on projects and helping others see your goals clearly, is critical to helping others choose to support you.

It has the feel of classic patronage blended with commerce. Project creators keep 100% ownership and control over their work. Every viewer of your written details and a video making your case is like an independent banker who assesses and evaluates projects on their interest, merit and viability.

You need a clearly defined beginning and you must definitely have an end and a declared goal. Note that Kickstarter does not support business starts or operational needs. It helps fund projects. Each has a limited time to raise money and will not receive any funding on Kickstarter unless the intended goal is reached. This ensures maximum effort on the part of the fund seeker and protects voluntary contributors and their cash.

Each project must therefore be well thought out and offer creators the opportunity to test ideas at low risk and for contributors to be part of a dynamic creation. Both parties benefit. Both are rewarded.

Next time, more on the nitty-gritty of sample projects, pricing and rewards. We’ll also revisit hot marketing tips and how to apply them for potentially fast results within the Kickstarter system.

Be creative,

Be in touch,

Helena

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Helena Kaufman is a writer and communications trainer. In 1982, success at promoting, marketing and writing about 200 artisans launched Helena as an event publicist. The designers who sold at the Annual Manitoba Christmas Craft Sale exhibited original functional and decorative pieces in fibre, pottery, metal, oil, paper, wood, distinctive wearable art and more. Helena worked to raise their profile, bring media attention and increase their sales. She now shares some of that savvy in the Artisan Ally series. Helena’s writing and communications site can be found here.

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Sovereigns and Saints

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