The Sweet Smell of Success

The crowdfunding campaign for Unlimited Udo has come to a close. Let's review!

The first Kickstarter campaign of this new venture was a resounding success. Lots of lessons I’ve taken away to make the next one even bigger!

Campaign Review

We shot like a rocket out of the gate. Within less than 72 hours, we crossed into full funding.

Then we hit the mid-campaign slump like a brick-wall. It’s typical with Kickstarter campaigns, but it’s only human to be a little concerned that it won’t pick up again.

Fortunately, a surge of backers sparked a nice spike at the end.

A lot of backers came from the help of other campaigns within the indie comics community. Either by sharing links on Twitter or within their campaign updates.

Nearly as many came through the Kickstarter ecosystem itself - once again proving that backers, and the Kickstarter algorithm, want to back winner.

Like most things, building relationships is the key to success. Kickstarter, and the community surrounding it, seems to be especially symbiotic in that regard.

Takeaways

Campaign Length

31 days is much too long. That middle rut of the campaign just gets extended and kills a lot of the momentum you get from the first surge at launch.

I’m thinking the next one will be limited to 20 days or maybe even 14. I don’t want to make it so short that folks will miss it, but keep it short enough that you aren’t waiting so long after you back to get it in your hands.

Stickers & Tipping

I’ve never liked the idea of having the “tip” reward where you get nothing, so I thought having a sticker would be a good incentive on its own. Not so much.

That said, I have an idea…

I didn’t want to complicate this first Kickstarter with stretch goals - but I’m thinking for the next one, the sticker is an easy early one to include. Even doing multiple is a better use than the mini-reward.

Social Media

I hate to say it, but Twitter is still king.

For all the alternatives out there, I got most of my traction - and interaction with other creators - on Twitter.

The Blue check, on the other hand, did nothing or may have even had some negative effects. Unfortunately, you need it to run ads…

Paid Advertising

I ran ads on Google, Twitter and Facebook. Nothing crazy. Mostly just dipping the toe in to see what it’s like.

The returns were not worth it. They barely broke even.

The best method is still what I mentioned at the beginning of this post - sharing and getting shared by other creators and juicing the Kickstarter algorithm.

Anything Else?

I was pretty prepared for this campaign, but I underestimated what I could have ready in advance using some of the tools out there like Canva and Social Champ.

I’ll be ready to make a lot more noise - coordinated noise - for the next project.

I’ll tell you more about that next time!

What’s Next?

Thanks for coming along the journey for the Unlimited Udo campaign - but we’re far from done!

Here’s what I have in store for upcoming newsletters:

June 15

A preview of the mysterious next project from Pesto Comics.

July 1

A review of the next stage of the Unlimited Udo lifecycle. Printing, fulfillment and logistics! Oh my!