The following is a very candid blog by Indie Connect member, Alayna. I have reprinted it with her permission because I believe it speaks to the heart of what we as artists really think and feel. If you are considering a fan-funding campaign with Kickstarter, IndieGoGo or any of the dozens of other similar sights, I highly recommend you read this first!
Hey All!
I hope you had a wonderful and blessed Easter, and that you got to spend time with friends, family and loved ones to celebrate the day! My easter was great – a wonderful church service then an afternoon dinner with my roommate at my boss’s house. It was nice to enjoy the company of others.
This past February, I began my own Kickstarter campaign to help raise half of the money needed to fund my new EP. I set a goal of $3000 to be raised in 60 days. If you haven’t heard/seen, I ended up meeting my Kickstarter goal at 107% with 60 people backing me!! Woooohoooo!! 🙂 I’m so excited, and very thankful and appreciative of everyone who backed, spread the word and shared this project with others. I am truly blessed – thank you everyone! Check out the final results on my Kickstarter page by clicking HERE!
Doing a Kickstarter campaign is not easy. It takes a lot of planning, creativity, and persistence. Many thoughts ran through my head during this time that I did not share with others. I’m going to blog these thoughts/viewpoints for you guys, so you have a better understanding as to how I felt about my project before the launch, during, and after the goal was met.
BEFORE THE KICKSTARTER LAUNCH…
See, musicians are a different breed. We find it very difficult at times to put ourselves “out there”, especially through something like Kickstarter. I’ve known a few artists friends who have considered doing a Kickstarter but have not done it because they were afraid of the way they would be viewed. A lot of times, I’m no different. While putting my project together, I studied the successful projects of artist friends I have back in Pittsburgh, determined why it worked for them, compared and contrasted their reward levels, their front page “story”, etc. I read all the advice in the “Help” section of the Kickstarter website. I took a month to make final decisions for every reward, put together a concept for my crazy video, and really pray about it. Some of my thoughts: “Can I REALLY do this?” “Is this appropriate of me to be asking for money?” “Will my fans view me to be greedy?” I had to be truly, 100% honest with myself – I’m not sure I felt right about it. I was raised in the belief that you need to work hard for what you want in life, because not everything is going to be handed to you. But then I remembered, sometimes you can’t do everything yourself. If you need help, ASK. I think most of us WANT to do everything ourselves, but need to step back and think realistically.
THE DURATION OF MY KICKSTARTER PROJECT…
I’ll admit, I cringed everytime I posted my Kickstarter link on Facebook. It felt weird. My roommate had to remind me that I was giving back rewards, so people aren’t going away empty handed. Some days I felt really good about it, others I was a little worried I wouldn’t meet my goal. It got easier posting about it as time went on. Some of my backers pledged big amounts, and I was stunned every time this happened. I admire these people for their generosity…that’s absolutely incredibly and so selfless. I was also shocked when cousins and other extended family members gave big amounts. I hadn’t told most of my family about it at all…I guess they just saw the link on Facebook! My grandparents raised me, but when I told them about the campaign they didn’t contribute. The last few days, I was extremely nervous. I didn’t know if I was going to meet my goal or not – if people were going to end up pledging, or ignore that they ever saw my page. Some people did ignore it, and a few people who said they were going to pledge didn’t end up doing it. But, there were people who pledged that I thought would have NEVER pledged in 1000 years!
AFTER THE GOAL WAS MET…
I danced around like it was nobody’s business!! I was incredibly happy and felt very loved. It may sound crazy, but it felt like my Kickstarter backers were now my family. I thought, “WOW! This whole thing was really cool. I CAN do this!”
When I look back on those 60 days, Kickstarter reminds me of the journey I’m on now. I’ve got a big goal, just like I had for my campaign. Some days it may feel like you’re not making much progress, but you’ve got to keep the faith and continue pushing and striving to where you want to be. Always know there will be people behind you, supporting you all the way – like my 60 backers did.
Thank you guys for reading this. I hope you enjoyed it, and maybe it even helped some of you!
Until next time,
Alayna
