This is a guest post by Anita Giraldo. Currently Live: Steel Ice & Stone on Kickstarter
When I launched the campaign to fund my installation, “Steel Ice & Stone”, I thought I’d make my $15,000 goal easily. My rewards, I thought were clear and well-priced. My description talked about my project and my network of friends were all supportive of my effort.
Well, that wasn’t enough. I cancelled it a week before it ended, only 28% funded.
When I regrouped, I looked at the good, the bad and the ugly.
The good: It was a great project, earnestly and deftly seeking funding to finish it.
The bad: My campaign was focused on what ensues in the market place, not in the crowd funding arena. People want to get into the ground floor, not the gallery! That’s a following.
The ugly: My campaign wasn’t talking to the backer. Instead, it was talking to the art community. I had missed the mark on those I was trying so hard to connect with.
What to do?
1. I got on all the crowd funding websites’ radar though discussion groups on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. As busy as I was, I’d find a minute each day to offer advice in my area of expertise. From there I connected to others who had experience in what I was lacking.
2. I took advice from everyone and applied what was pertinent to my campaign. What works for a gamer wouldn’t work for me–or would it? I kept an open mind and tested most of the advice I got.
3. I reshaped my blog to give parallel examples rather than just the progress of my work. People really started identifying with what I was doing. I currently get 100 hits a day on my little blog.
4. I learned about and developed a social media presence. Through tips and tools I picked up on the discussion panels, I grew my following to over 1000 highly targeted Tw followers, 2700 friends on FB, 700 likes to my project’s page and over 8000 views on the blog with two or three discussions going on at the same time. This may not seem like much to a gamer or tech designer, but to a conceptual installation artist it’s HUGE!
I’m prepared to share all the links to everything I talked about above; I have already in emails and posts to various outlets. My campaign is up and running, it started September 10. It’s already 5% funded and I’m optimistic I’ll make goal.
But beyond that, this journey taught me a lot about people: what moves them and what doesn’t; what impresses them and what leaves them flat. And I learned things about myself that I didn’t already know, about being an artist: Everyone’s story is unique, and it’s ongoing. And while no path is certain, each path is filled with little flowers if you notice them as you pass by.
Back to the concrete, I hope the funding goes through, since I want to exhibit the work in its most experimental state. As it is now, I’m moving forward with two plans: one in the happy event I make funding, one if I don’t. I have a show to open, after all, and I’ve got to bring something spectacular.
So, hoping everyone keeps their fingers crossed for me–after they’ve made a pledge, of course–maybe, just maybe, my project will get funded.
