Funding The Dream On Kickstarter

Host Richard Bliss and Co-Host John Coveyou are joined by Michael Mindes from Tasty Minstrel Games. Michael had just launched and cancelled a Kickstarter campaign because he knew he had done something wrong. Within two hours of launching the Kickstarter campaign, Michael knew they had missed on the offer and needed to take immediate action. Within three days, Michael was close to his funding goal, but knew they needed to pull the plug. If they had crossed the funding goal, he would have felt morally committed to follow through.He refers to it as a micro-failure. What Michael saw as valuable was not recognized as something people were willing to pay for. This episode Michael walks through the mistakes made and what they are doing to fix them for the next campaign.

Host Richard Bliss and Co-Host Thomas Umstattd Jr. who hosts the Creative Funding Show podcast, deliver a CrossCast episode to discuss Patreon and the power of the crowd to deliver consistent financial support.In addition, Richard shares how he let his fans down and apologizes for how he handled the situation ( or failed to handle it), when life happened.The hosts cover the idea of Patreon and how you can take advantage of it. It is a fun conversation that you will enjoy as much listening to as the hosts enjoyed creating it.

Host Richard Bliss and Guest A.J. Porfirio discuss game books and their live Kickstarter project. They have launched Graphic Novel Adventures Vol 2 on Kickstarter. A.J. and Richard discuss how to license intellectual property, how to maintain a brand.Van Ryder Games delivers strong narrative-based games with a solo-play angle. They have expanded into Adventure books because it continues with their brand of playing games that tell a story.How do you find intellectual property? How do you get a license for a series of books? A.J. is always looking for new content and found the game book called Captive, a solo game book. He had a personal passion for this kind of game. The key part of the story is that the game was difficult to find. Demand was there but supply was limited. He saw this as an opportunity.Richard has backed A.J.'s Kickstarter campaign. Here is the link for you to do as well: www.kickstarter.com/projects/vanrydergames/graphic-novel-adventures-season-2/description

Host Richard Bliss and Guest Eric Price, owner of Japanime games, explain why to bundle three smaller projects/games into a single Kickstarter campaign. Eric has built a company with Kickstarter and continues to make Kickstarter tightly tied to the growth of their company. Their current Kickstarter project, Three Worlds of Mystery, is a bundle of three different games with a similar theme and artwork that brings them together.Eric has launched 20 Kickstarter campaigns, using the momentum from each to bring success to the company itself.

Host Richard Bliss and guest Tomas Härenstam talk about Tales from the Loop and gives advice on how to turn small projects into larger projects. Their first project was an art book highlighting the talents of artist Simon StålenhagSimon's art and concepts are now being turned into an Amazon Prime Television production. Tomas shares how he began working with Simon, how their tiny project turned into a series of large one. One of the great things about Tomas is he finds something of interest to one audience and transfers that interest to a totally different audience. Find out more about Tomas HärenstamFree League Publishing http://frialigan.se/en/startpage/Tales from the Loop Kickstarter

Host Richard Bliss and Co-Host John Coveyou discuss five attributes of a great product on Kickstarter.People want to buy the product. While this seems obvious. oftentimes people want a product, but aren't willing to pay for the product. You have to find something that is valuable to your audience.People want to tell others about it. Word of mouth marketing is the best means of attracting fans and backers to your project. You can pay for a crowdfunding promotional company to help you artificially spread the word by paying for placement. But when your backers are excited enough to share their support you are able to grow and attract a wider range of backers than you ever could through paid media.People can't easily get it elsewhere. This may seem counter-intuitive. Table top games, which are the single largest funding category on Kickstarter, can be purchased in a store. But the opportunity to participate on Kickstarter means you will get it sooner (Usually), you will get exclusives (Sometimes) or you

Host Richard Bliss discusses Live Kickstarter project Legends fo Novus with his guest, Bryan Rosander.Bryan dug deep into the Kickstarter project and delivers some great analysis and feedback on ways for Legends of Novus to improve their message, format, and engagement. In addition, Richard Bliss apologizes for the failure of follow through on the Funding the Dream Patreon project. A Facebook Group has been created that discusses each episode. You can find it here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2628612933820642/

Host Richard Bliss is joined by co-host, John Coveyou, to discuss 4 unexpected benefits from Kickstarter.     1. Gauge demand before you manufacture.2. Improve your product based on customer feedback.3. Ship products with maximal efficiency.4. Tap into an audience you wouldn't be able to reach otherwise.

You do everything by the book. Follow all the advice, and yet you still fail to attract the numbers you need to successfully fund your Kickstarter campaign. These are the questions Wes Woodbury and I discuss. His project, Legends of Novus, has beautiful art work, great video, beautiful graphics, and an enticing theme, yet is still failing to draw a crowd.The question I ask you, the audience, is WHY? What has Wes done wrong and how can he fix it. If you have an answer, I want to hear from you. I'll have you on the show to discuss Wes' campaign and how he can succeed.Legends of Novus Kickstarter CampaignLegends of Novus WebsiteTake a listen. I'm looking forward to hearing from you.

Mark Roderick explains the difference between equity-based and rewards-based crowdfunding. Mark Roderick is a corporate and securities lawyer. Since the JOBS Act of 2012, Mark has spent all his time in the Crowdfunding space and is one of the leading Crowdfunding and Fintech lawyers in the United States. He writes a widely-read blog, www.CrowdfundAttny.com, with a wealth of legal and practical information for portals and issuers. Mark also speak at Crowdfunding events across the country, and represents industry participants across the country and around the world 

I'm a big believer in the $1 pledge for any Kickstarter campaign. Alex Goldsmith and Grey Fox Games just wrapped up their Kickstarter campaign, War of the Worlds: The New Wave. What Grey Fox Games did this time, was to create a $5 pledge in addition to the $1 pledge. 181 people took advantage and pledged at that level. I wanted to find out why and what Grey Fox Games hoped to learn from this experiment. Join Alex Goldsmith and I as we discuss the $5 pledge.

Daniel Zayas has launched numerous Kickstarter campaigns. He is listed on Kickstarter's page as one of the experts.He and I discuss how to approach someone to promote your campaign. We discuss the time commitment it takes to run a campaign and the need to understand the numerous details like shipping and manufacturing.

Howard Tayler is creating great stories and great art. And he is publishing not one, but two new books in the Schlock Mercenary Universe. In this episode we discuss the churn, and how Crowdfunding has been changing, continues to change, and what we see coming.We discuss how Howard makes a living as a professional as a Web Cartoonist and how you give something away for free to make a living. He shares the process of creating books and building a story over many years. You can find his Kickstarter campaign here

Jamey Stegmaier has been writing about, talking about, and has been wildly successful on Kickstarter. Three years ago he walked away. As my guest, we discuss what it would take to bring him back and the way Kickstarter has changed over the years.Jamey is the president of Stonemaier games. His Kickstarter projects have raised millions of dollars. Jamey is also the author of "A Crowdfunder’s Strategy Guide: Build a Better Business by Building Community" His blog, Kickstarter Lessons, is considered one of the definitive sources for all things Kickstarter - You can find his blog at https://stonemaiergames.com/kickstarter/lessons/Jamey has been on the show numerous times over the years and always brings a wealth of knowledge and perspective.

I share 5 keys to creating a successful LinkedIn profile. Not to get a job, but to make a first impression. In today's digital world, it is when I visit your LinkedIn profile that I find out who you are. Use LinkedIn as a means of building your personal brand and to creating a favorable impression with those you wish to influence.

Over the past few years, Wotan Games has cycled through nearly 20 Interns from all over Europe. And has built up a reputation as a go-to experience for new recruits coming into the program. Laurence O'Brien, owner of Wotan Games, shares the success of his interns and the growth of his company. His latest Kickstarter, War of the 9 Realms, is made possible because of his Interns.If you attend UK Expo, you will know Laurence and Wotan Games from the large Double-Decker bus they use as their booth at the convention. Unique and always entertaining, Laurence shares some wisdom on his success. He also shares some thoughts on how to protect yourself against Exchange Rate disasters covered in Ep 285.

Brexit? US Election of Trump? Kickstarter campaign suddenly in jeopardy? Gino Brancazio and I discuss a cautionary tale of using Kickstarter across exchange rates. Gino is based in the UK and ran his Kickstarter campaign in English Pounds. But 90% of his expenses were in US Dollars. When Brexit happened the loss of the Pound to Dollar had Gino lose 9% of the value of his funding overnight. Then the US election dropped it another 10%. Suddenly, a project that had successfully funded was out of money.What do you do at that point? Get creative. And short of selling cookies at a bake sale, Gino and team pull out all the stops to find the money and build a stronger tie with their fans. Great conversation

Cynthia Landon has successfully run 9 Kickstarter campaigns. Small and focused on her space, she delivers a great experience. But what you need to know is that she is in the business of making you more successful with your own board game Kickstarter campaign. Need custom meeples for your cool project. She can do it. With millions of pieces of inventory, she has perfected the ability to create customized experiences for your unique pieces to enhance your project. Don't believe me? Ask Jamey Stegmaier. He uses her company. Bonus Content Available On Patreon

How much money do you need to raise on Kickstarter? That depends. Where does the money go? Marc Specter takes the time to outline where he spent the majority of his money to publish his Kickstarter game. This is great advice for those who are running their Kickstarter campaigns as a hobby as well as those running it as a business. Make a mistake with the money and you may not be able to recover.

There is a flood of people offering Kickstarter advice. Some know what they are doing, but many do not. How to sift through the flood of offers you receive for creating, promoting, and running your Kickstarter campaign? Kickstarter now has certified experts. Daniel Zayas is listed as one of them. He shares some thoughts on how to become an expert, how to get listed, and what to be looking out for when launching a Kickstarter campaign. Great advice from an expert.