Do you remember this commercial? “Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.” Steve Jobs
Christian Benjamin, founder 12.26 Studios, seeks to embody this quote in his latest Kickstarter project, The LoveArt Brand. The high quality clothing line is comprised of American Apparel brand t-shirts and sweats that use glossy, vinyl and high end screen-printing for the designs.
“I wanted to design a line of shirts and clothes that are for those who think outside of the box – with statements that we care about.”
I had the chance to sit down with Christian and discuss his thoughts on Kickstarter campaigning and what works and doesn’t work when marketing a crowdfunding project.
Why did you decide to use Kickstarter as opposed to other platforms or methods of obtaining funds?
I did a little bit of research before I decided on using Kickstarter to fund my project. I had previously never been involved in the crowdfunding scene, nor know much about it, but after hearing about a few different projects from a friend, I decided to check it out. This was actually before I even had a product to begin with. I was actually asked to help develop a project for a friend, being as my background is in branding and marketing – so with my curious mentality, I wanted to research the best and most funded crowdfunding projects of all time, so that I would know how to approach my friends project.
My friend had wanted to use Indigogo for her project, but I seemed to find that the most funded projects were on Kickstarter. Granted, indigogo allowed the source to keep all donated funds, but I felt like Kickstarter had a much higher visibility aspect to it. When it came time to create my own project, Kickstarter seemed to be the obvious choice.
When you began the campaign, what was your marketing strategy? Social? Email? Grassroots?
When I began the campaign, I started out with more of a social push to it, being as though my background is more media based. Social media, mainly Facebook, Twitter, and my secret weapon, message boards, was the way to go in the beginning, or so I thought. We initially garned some small donations, but they did not seem to come fast enough for the campaign. I did alot of research before I started the campaign, reading a lot of blogs, researching the best projects from my field – but honestly, things started to pick up when I took more of a grassroots approach, and did the online equivalent to knocking on doors. When I sent personalized emails to friends, family and acquaintances, donations started to pick up, as opposed to when I posted generalized tweets and Facebook posts.
What it seems like is alot of people don’t know much about Kickstarter, or crowdfunding in general, so once I sent personalized messages, people responded with direct questions about how my project worked, and how they could help. Once I answered their questions, they either instantly donated, or promised a donation within a few days. Seems like people just wanted some questions answered, and a direct message gave them the feeling that they could ask me the questions they may not have in a mass email or post.
Your project has 11 days to go and you are almost at the halfway funding mark. Do you think you are going to make it? How has your campaign strategy changed from the beginning?
I think we are going to reach our mark. I’ve read that people tend to donate more at the end, plus, after I reached out to people individually, it seems like people are pumped to see us reach our goal. If I had the insight beforehand, I would’ve probably reached out to people earlier, and then took the social media route once I exhausted my base.
What do you think is the most commonly held erroneous view about raising money on Kickstarter?
“Common” is relative, because it seemed to me that many people outside of the entrepreneurial mindset don’t know much about crowdsourcing. The biggest issue that I had was with an individual that I have never met tell me that Kickstarter and crowdsourcing was a scam, because they receive a percentage of the product, and that we could raise the money on our own. I think that is ridiculous because people need to see the different reward systems and structure before they donate to someone they do not know.
Do you have any advice as to what people should know before creating a campaign?
Research what projects worked in the area that you are focusing in, whether it be tech, apparel, video games or whatever. Make sure your reward package and page layout is on par with the successfully funded proejcts, and most importantly, reach out to REAL people that you know!! They would love to help, but maybe they just need a little more info.
Christian plans to donate 10% of the profit of TheLoveArtBrand to in-need art foundations and causes for the youth. In addition, he hopes to expand TheLoveArtBrand by crowdsourcing clothing design so that any artist can participate in the creative process behind the creation of new items in the clothing line and also share a percentage of the profits. Check out his Kickstarter Project or the accompanying product landing page.
