Let’s Discuss How Creators Can Attract Customers and Patrons

[laffingkat.livejournal.com]

I’ve been a patron of various crowdfunded projects for quite a few years now, so I thought it might be fun to start a discussion of what attracts customers and patrons.

 Personally, I tend to discover new projects because I’ve heard about them from a friend or read about them on a community like this one, so active social networking is probably important in generating interest. But to really draw people in, I think you need to call attention to whatever is unique about your project. Do you have a story or an album with an interesting theme? Do you offer readings with a deck of cards that you designed yourself? Tell us about it, and make sure that at least some of your work is available free so that new visitors can check it out.

 Once you’re starting to attract an audience, how do you get more of them to tip, donate, or buy? Try offering incentives. For her poetry fishbowls (http://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com/730515.html), ysabetwordsmith posts extra free poems if she gets enough donations, or a new prompter or donor. Among other creative incentives, haikujaguar once posted a lullaby that she had sung in character (http://haikujaguar.livejournal.com/832001.html). meeksp refines drawings that get enough comments or donations.

 Also, don’t overlook the importance of interacting with the audience—I usually purchase from or tip only those who I actually know, or at least think that I’d like to get to know. And even moreso if I have a chance to be involved in the project in some way, or feel that I’m contributing to a community. Past conversations here (http://crowdfunding.livejournal.com/276686.html) indicate that I’m not the only one who feels that way.

 If you have a crowdfunded project, what techniques have you used to attract customers and patrons that worked well? (Of course, it can also be useful to discuss what hasn’t worked well.) Do you provide a tip or donation button? Do you ask existing customers to link to your site or post product reviews, and if so, do you provide incentives for those who do?

 If you support crowdfunded projects or think that you might like to, what attracts you to particular projects? What makes you more inclined to support them, monetarily or otherwise? Do tip incentives encourage you to give more?

Comments

[wrenstarling.livejournal.com]

I am both a patron and someone with a project, and, in both cases, I find tip incentives to be hugely successful. As a patron, it gives me something specific to tip for, which is more exciting and rewarding than a general tip, and, in my work, I've seen people tip deliberately to reach the goal. I think incentives also work very well for publicizing, and are great when one is just getting started, especially.

[ellenmillion.livejournal.com]

Goal-posts and incentives appeal to me, too - both as a patron and a creative.

[laffingkat.livejournal.com]

Your project is also a good example of something unique, because you designed your own deck based on something you're obviously very knowledgeable and passionate about. I don't think I've ever heard of a bird oracle before, so that really piqued my interest. And I like to support new projects, so I might have donated this time regardless of the tip incentive, but I think the tip incentive was a good idea and will likely continue to generate more tips. Certainly the offer of an extra card motivated a lot of people to link to your post, and those links seem to have brought in extra participants.

Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Just offering something unusual is important. It piques the interest of casual viewers, and for people who want what you have, it's a strong draw because there is little or no competition elsewhere. Most of the successful one-card draw examples that I've seen are either using a proprietary system, or one that's just rare.

You'd be amazed at the things some people will turn into decks -- I have a Ferret Tarot in my collection, and it works. I bought it direct from the artist at a con, because I realized that I'd be telling people about the darn thing forever, so I really ought to just buy a copy to show around.

[wrenstarling.livejournal.com]

Yes; that's actually something that is a bit of a dilemma for me, as I debate whether to ultimately publish my deck, or remain the only person who can do readings using it. Will being unique outweigh the profits of selling my deck? It may take years to answer that question!

I'm glad I piqued your interest! Being a bird oracle was something I'D never heard of till the calling fell into my lap! *laugh*

[haikujaguar.livejournal.com]

I went through something similar when I first made my deck, until I concluded that it was too personal a deck for me to release, no matter how tempting. Mostly because the whole concept of the deck (like most decks people make for themselves) is about building something that speaks to the symbols in your own head.

[haikujaguar.livejournal.com]

My quick answers:

1. What attracts me is whether I'm interested in the project. Some things, no matter how much I like their creators, are not likely to induce me to read/consume. So starting with an interesting/well-done project is a big thing.

2. I am inclined to support creators who are positive, consistent, and don't do any emotional arm-twisting. It's okay to say 'The money I'm earning is being set aside for my son's karate lessons.' That's good, that makes me feel like I'm making a positive difference in someone's life. It's not okay to say 'if no one sends me any money, I guess my kid won't be doing karate.'

3. Tip incentives rarely work for me, but I am probably an odd-person out that way. If I want to tip and am able at the time, I will. If I don't/can't, then having goodies offered for something doesn't move me. Other people feel differently about that though!

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

1) What you produce influences what audience you attract, or what subset of your audience attaches to a given project. There's some overlap in my poetic series, because some people just love my poetry -- but then there are folks who will only donate for one series. There are people who have sponsored a Torn World story by me but never visited a Poetry Fishbowl.

So one thing to think about is how you can reach more people within your audience, different ones than your current projects are activating.

2) Agreed. I'm still pointing people toward your brilliant post on "Un-Slimy Marketing (http://mcahogarth.blogspot.com/2010/09/un-slimy-marketing.html)."

Re: Thoughts

[haikujaguar.livejournal.com]

I have the same thing: people donated to Spots who never donated to the Kherishdar material, and vice versa. There was some crossover, but not much. I suspect that some of the people who liked one of them but not the other were still reading or skimming the other, but just didn't like it well enough to support it. Which is fine! This is why I write many things. :)

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah, not a lot of people read both military SF and sociological SF. Those subgenres tend to attract different fans.

Re: Thoughts

[laffingkat.livejournal.com]

Hmm, perhaps I'm unusual in that regard. Once a creator has caught my interest and convinced me of their talent, I'll often follow them into genres that I never thought I'd be interested in. I might eventually lose interest if several projects in a row didn't really appeal to me, but I tend to be pretty loyal. Actually, one of the things I look for from art and literature is exposure to new ideas and perspectives. So please keep dragging me outside my comfort zone!

[laffingkat.livejournal.com]

Your first point is important, but difficult to address. How do you predict what will appeal to a (hopefully) large, ardent audience? Perhaps the Three Micahs have had something useful to say about that?

I don't think incentives necessarily affect whether or not I will tip, but I suspect they do affect how much I'll tip at least part of the time. And now that so many people are offering great incentives and my financial situation has taken a turn for the worse, I'm going to have to be really cautious about that!

Try this...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

>>How do you predict what will appeal to a (hopefully) large, ardent audience? Perhaps the Three Micahs have had something useful to say about that?<<

Seconding the vote for 3M on audience predictions!

Okay, here are some things I do ...

1) Market research. Are there similar projects? If so, what kind of audience do they have? How are they organized?

2) Comparison of my interests with visible audience interests. Where are people spending their money? Which of that stuff is stuff that I also like doing?

3) Filling in gaps. One of my best skills is writing poetry. Good poetry is hard to find AND good poetry markets are hard to find. This is where a direct connection benefits everyone, and it works. This is basically what the serial writers did a while back, noticing that modern culture didn't offer much of that anymore. Now webserials are everywhere.

Another good trick is watching for people to complain about what's missing. "Why is all the hard SF about boys? Suckity suck. I want hard SF with girls in it." "No problem, I can write that. Pitch me a prompt in my next Poetry Fishbowl." Or whatever. With crowdfunding you can get just about anything you want; it's merely a matter of connecting the right patron with the right creator. You have to watch for each other.

[haikujaguar.livejournal.com]

*laugh!* Boy, if there was any foolproof way to make that prediction, publishers, movie producers, game companies would be all over it! There are ways to make educated guesses at what's going to appeal to an audience, but in the end no one knows if they've hit on a Harry Potter or a dud until it's out there. :)

Well...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Sometimes you know it when you see it, though. I did with the first Harry Potter book: it just screamed Classic. All those archetypes, it looked like someone shook out the Stith-Thompson Index. And that was before the series became Such A Big Deal.

I really like looking for things that highly successful works have in common. In poetry, I admire a driving rhythm and breathtaking phrases; in science fiction, I love vast scope and a sense of wonder. And I always enjoy a well-rendered archetype. One of the coolest things ever said about my writing was "Heinlein by way of Kipling."

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

As a patron, I like interacting with people I know, although there are some people for whom their product is more attention-holding than their regular blog. (Not everybody likes to talk about the same interests.)

I'm seriously broke, so I can very rarely support people with cash, regardless of how much I love their stuff. I'll scrape up a couple bucks for things if: 1) it's something I can use, like an icon; 2) I get something extra for tipping, like djinni giving a second icon to tippers after a certain donation threshold, and/or 3) it connects directly to one of my Causes, as when quennessa raised money for a new computer at Hunt Press and I wanted to support small press.

More often I show my support with hornblowing. There are a handful of projects that I'll link every time I see an update, such as the crowdfunded illustration by meeksp, just because they're consistently awesome. Others I'll post periodic updates about. I'll usually link a new project too.

As a creator, I started out with one perk, the free poem in exchange for the prompts. Most of the subsequent ideas for perks or expansions came as audience requests ("I can't afford $$ for an epic poem but I luuuuv this one. Can I share sponsoring it with some friends?") and a few were inspired by other creators (like the extra freebie if there's a new prompter or donor). My latest hot perk is a combination of audience and creator inspiration, where people get a free series poem if the Poetry Fishbowl donations hit $150. It's popular enough to help buffer the usual summer slump.

So I've learned that you need to watch for what your audience wants. They'll usually tell you. If a perk is working for someone else, though, and you can think of a way to adapt it to your project -- give a try. Some things generalize really well.

[miintikwa.livejournal.com]

As a producer, I have definitely noticed an increase in donations since I instituted a bonus. People also seem to like knowing where their money went/is going, and that's cool.

As a patron, I definitely like projects that have a splash page, or index if they are large. It's helpful and makes things easier on me. :)

Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

>>People also seem to like knowing where their money went/is going, and that's cool. <<

This is a widespread tendency. I've only been able to take advantage of it once or twice, like when we wanted to buy a giant bundle-o-meat to stock our new deepfreeze. Mostly my crowdfunding donations go to pay the bills, which isn't nearly as exciting as a special project. :/ But some of the stuff people crowdfund is really awesome; I still remember when shadesong and her daughter teamed up to raise money for a summer camp trip.

>>As a patron, I definitely like projects that have a splash page, or index if they are large. <<

Yeah, I had to build a "Serial Poetry (http://penultimateproductions.weebly.com/serial-poetry.html)" page once I got past a few series and they each had more than a few poems. I was forgetting how many pieces were connected, and fans couldn't find them all. I still don't have a landing page of landing pages, like aldersprig does for all the projects. That's not urgent because so far I only have one that's majorly successful, but it's in the back of my mind as something to do.

When I go to check projects for the Rose & Bay Awards (http://crowdfunding.livejournal.com/239698.html), I'm amazed by how many of them don't have any kind of landing page or index where someone can find out about the project and its contents. Creators really need to be aware of this and put some thought into organization. People can't buy your stuff if they don't know how to find it or where to start.

Re: Yes...

[miintikwa.livejournal.com]

This is a widespread tendency. I've only been able to take advantage of it once or twice, like when we wanted to buy a giant bundle-o-meat to stock our new deepfreeze. Mostly my crowdfunding donations go to pay the bills, which isn't nearly as exciting as a special project. :/ But some of the stuff people crowdfund is really awesome; I still remember when shadesong and her daughter teamed up to raise money for a summer camp trip.

Even just saying "you helped me keep the electricity on, thank you!" can go a long way, I've found. When I mentioned that I'd paid for meds with One Card money on Twitter, I had people coming out of the woodwork asking me if I needed more, etc. It was really nice, and reminded me what a great community we have.

Yeah, I had to build a "Serial Poetry" page once I got past a few series and they each had more than a few poems. I was forgetting how many pieces were connected, and fans couldn't find them all. I still don't have a landing page of landing pages, like aldersprig does for all the projects. That's not urgent because so far I only have one that's majorly successful, but it's in the back of my mind as something to do.

Your splash page is very awesome! I feel badly that I've been so sporadic on LJ, but considering how broke I am there isn't much I can do to fund anything at the moment.

When I go to check projects for the Rose & Bay Awards, I'm amazed by how many of them don't have any kind of landing page or index where someone can find out about the project and its contents. Creators really need to be aware of this and put some thought into organization. People can't buy your stuff if they don't know how to find it or where to start.

I am not surprised! I have actually suggested it to a few people, because it's just THAT helpful, especially for a person like myself who forgets things easily.

Bonus points

[laffingkat.livejournal.com]

I think your livestream was a major perk at your last card draw. I know it was a big incentive for me to tip, because it helped me get to know you better. I could see the decks you were using, and how they were laid out in your workspace, and listen to the music you were playing, and perhaps best of all, see your kitties! Major brownie points for being able to work with furchildren gathered around. :) I also loved the way you were answering questions.

Re: Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

>>Even just saying "you helped me keep the electricity on, thank you!" can go a long way, I've found. <<

I will remember that. We usually use the fishbowl funds for nonfood essentials (gas, toilet paper, etc.) and paying the water bill or Internet bill.

>>Your splash page is very awesome!<<

Thank you!

>> I feel badly that I've been so sporadic on LJ, but considering how broke I am there isn't much I can do to fund anything at the moment. <<

Sometimes I regret not being able to spend more on my favorite projects ... but as a creator, I know that linkage and word-of-mouth advertising is really really valuable. There are also occasions where I know that someone who found a project through me dropped a giant wad of cash on it. So never underestimate the usefulness of non-cash support.

>>I have actually suggested it to a few people, because it's just THAT helpful, especially for a person like myself who forgets things easily.<<

That's why I wrote this post on things to do for your project's success:
http://penultimateproductions.weebly.com/5-steps-to-crowdfunding-success.html
... and this year, I had to remind people to put their name on their work. *facepalm*

[meeksp.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link! One advantage that my project has is that I am able to draw on existing fandoms for my audience. People who already like ysabetwordsmith's poetry, for example, might be more likely to click on a link to an illustration based on her work, and are already interested in the subject. That's been a great help in attracting people who care enough to participate.

One thing I like to see in a project is a combination of perks for individual contributors and rewards for everyone when certain targets are met by the group. The most common way of implementing this is to have tip incentives, but it can also be used to encourage other types of activity. Everyone who leaves feedback on one of my sketches, for instance, gets entered into a weekly draw for a free icon, and if six or more people comment on a rough sketch, I post a cleaned up version.

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

>>One advantage that my project has is that I am able to draw on existing fandoms for my audience.<<

Yes, this is a brilliant concept. It creates an effective feedback loop: each participating literary project pipes readers to the art project, and the art project pipes viewers to the literary projects. People love ways to find good projects.

>>One thing I like to see in a project is a combination of perks for individual contributors and rewards for everyone when certain targets are met by the group. <<

That's a good point. One of my Poetry Fishbowl perks, the extra freebie for a new prompter or donor, was partly inspired by a webserial that would post an extra if there were a certain number of comments.

Re: Thoughts

[meeksp.livejournal.com]

:D I've had more than one person comment that a sketch of mine got them to check out the story it was based on, and that's always very gratifying to read, since it means I've succeeded in my goal as an illustrator.

[miintikwa.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's very cool! :)