So many different things on my plate that I feel like I'm neglecting more than I'm tending to, but while I have a moment, why not a blog post?
There's 3 days left on my Parish Kickstarter, and I thought that I would share some things that I've learned in this experience.
Extra Days Don't Matter
I really probably could have wrapped this whole thing up 20 days ago. Why? Well, it's been 20 days of inactivity. I think you pretty much get traffic in the first 3 days, maybe some trickles in the first week, and then some trickles in the last 3 days. I'm expecting a few more views in the final 24 hours, but that won't necessarily mean more pledges.
So Much Spam
Since launching the Kickstarter, I get so many "friendly messages" from people who just want to help get the word out, to share my project with their millions of followers, and all for the low low cost of my first born child... Okay, well, maybe not exactly that, but it's pretty much got me in the habit of feeling dread when I have something in my inbox from Kickstarter - which should be so since I almost missed an actual genuine comment from someone.
I guess on positive thing about my dreading of spam is that it's making me very mindful of how much spamming I am doing myself. Yes, I have posted on social media about it, but I've tried not to be on constant repeat. Maybe I'm limiting my own possibility for page traffic, but I think preserving the people who like me thus far is more important than flinging myself shamelessly at the masses. I for one will start to unfollow people who just want me to buy their crap, especially if I've already bought their crap once and they just keep begging...
People
People are always the unpredictable part of any activity. What's interesting when you're putting on a campaign like this is watching to see who comes out of the woodwork. People I've considered to be close to me almost refuse to acknowledge me and what I'm doing, while people I kind of only sort of know have stepped up being ridiculously generous - really ridiculously generous, to the point that it makes me feel super guilty. Now, I am in no way saying that money equals friendship, and in no way was I expecting anyone I knew to put out the money that I've seen pledged thus far, but the acknowledgement thing kind of gets to me.
It takes nothing to share my campaign with others, even just once. It takes nothing to ask how it's going, or if there's something that they can do to help it along in a non-financial sense.
Maybe it's the Hufflepuff in me that just doesn't understand the other houses.
An acquaintance of mine is a musical performer, and she recently had a rant of her own about feeling inadequately supported. Something along the lines of how often she drops everything to help out with other people's events, whether on stage, back stage or even just buying an honest ticket; and yet while she's trying to set up her own show, she's practically begging people to even acknowledge what she's trying to do.
This I understand. I'm the kind of person who will feel obligated to help if I have any association with the person or group involved. Even when I don't have the funds, I've always been a cheerleader, because, again, it takes literally seconds to share a page link. Even just last week I found myself out $50 to help a Kickstarter that was based in my home town. Honestly, it didn't look like they were going to make their goal, and while my pledge wouldn't make-or-break anything, I thought I could at least show a bit of support to keep the campaign active, and of course, I shared the link. Within 12 hours that thing was over-funded. And while I thought about going in and reducing my pledge since they didn't really need me anymore, it seemed like a dick move so I just left it at that.
Would I Do It Again?
Probably. But I'd be more strategic about it. I'm still learning about which promotional avenues are more effective than others. I've put my faith in some that have done nothing, and, let's face it, the only reason that this campaign is succeeding is because people who love me want me to do well regardless of what I'm peddling. I couldn't be more thankful for them! And I did reach a few new people, which is the whole point, really.
Overall, this year has been a year of risk-taking. I've been networking more. I've been sending inquiries to be a part of writing groups, to get access to writing tools, and even promotion platforms. For little introvert me, those are some big steps!
Anyways, if you wanted to give your karma a boost, the Kickstarter is still running. Have a $1? I would really appreciate it. Don't have a $1? That's okay, just hit that "share" button. I will think of it as you having hugged a Hufflepuff today. Believe me, Hufflepuffs need hugs, lots of hugs.
There's 3 days left on my Parish Kickstarter, and I thought that I would share some things that I've learned in this experience.
Extra Days Don't Matter
I really probably could have wrapped this whole thing up 20 days ago. Why? Well, it's been 20 days of inactivity. I think you pretty much get traffic in the first 3 days, maybe some trickles in the first week, and then some trickles in the last 3 days. I'm expecting a few more views in the final 24 hours, but that won't necessarily mean more pledges.
So Much Spam
Since launching the Kickstarter, I get so many "friendly messages" from people who just want to help get the word out, to share my project with their millions of followers, and all for the low low cost of my first born child... Okay, well, maybe not exactly that, but it's pretty much got me in the habit of feeling dread when I have something in my inbox from Kickstarter - which should be so since I almost missed an actual genuine comment from someone.
I guess on positive thing about my dreading of spam is that it's making me very mindful of how much spamming I am doing myself. Yes, I have posted on social media about it, but I've tried not to be on constant repeat. Maybe I'm limiting my own possibility for page traffic, but I think preserving the people who like me thus far is more important than flinging myself shamelessly at the masses. I for one will start to unfollow people who just want me to buy their crap, especially if I've already bought their crap once and they just keep begging...
People
People are always the unpredictable part of any activity. What's interesting when you're putting on a campaign like this is watching to see who comes out of the woodwork. People I've considered to be close to me almost refuse to acknowledge me and what I'm doing, while people I kind of only sort of know have stepped up being ridiculously generous - really ridiculously generous, to the point that it makes me feel super guilty. Now, I am in no way saying that money equals friendship, and in no way was I expecting anyone I knew to put out the money that I've seen pledged thus far, but the acknowledgement thing kind of gets to me.
It takes nothing to share my campaign with others, even just once. It takes nothing to ask how it's going, or if there's something that they can do to help it along in a non-financial sense.
Maybe it's the Hufflepuff in me that just doesn't understand the other houses.
An acquaintance of mine is a musical performer, and she recently had a rant of her own about feeling inadequately supported. Something along the lines of how often she drops everything to help out with other people's events, whether on stage, back stage or even just buying an honest ticket; and yet while she's trying to set up her own show, she's practically begging people to even acknowledge what she's trying to do.
This I understand. I'm the kind of person who will feel obligated to help if I have any association with the person or group involved. Even when I don't have the funds, I've always been a cheerleader, because, again, it takes literally seconds to share a page link. Even just last week I found myself out $50 to help a Kickstarter that was based in my home town. Honestly, it didn't look like they were going to make their goal, and while my pledge wouldn't make-or-break anything, I thought I could at least show a bit of support to keep the campaign active, and of course, I shared the link. Within 12 hours that thing was over-funded. And while I thought about going in and reducing my pledge since they didn't really need me anymore, it seemed like a dick move so I just left it at that.
Would I Do It Again?
Probably. But I'd be more strategic about it. I'm still learning about which promotional avenues are more effective than others. I've put my faith in some that have done nothing, and, let's face it, the only reason that this campaign is succeeding is because people who love me want me to do well regardless of what I'm peddling. I couldn't be more thankful for them! And I did reach a few new people, which is the whole point, really.
Overall, this year has been a year of risk-taking. I've been networking more. I've been sending inquiries to be a part of writing groups, to get access to writing tools, and even promotion platforms. For little introvert me, those are some big steps!
Anyways, if you wanted to give your karma a boost, the Kickstarter is still running. Have a $1? I would really appreciate it. Don't have a $1? That's okay, just hit that "share" button. I will think of it as you having hugged a Hufflepuff today. Believe me, Hufflepuffs need hugs, lots of hugs.
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