>>I'm new to the exact term of "crowdfunding" but I have unwittingly participated in it several times.<<
*nod* That's fairly common. We are still working to get the word out and connect people.
>> My disposable income is quite limited, but I find it's still easy to support people by making smaller donations.<<
Don't underestimate the value of word-of-mouth advertising. Linking, tweeting, reviewing, etc. all boost the signal and drive more traffic to your favorite projects. Some of those folks may spend money.
Everyday Cute, wow. It's not my thing but a bullseye for people who are into cute.
>>As a black woman who sees no black women who act like her on television, I've got to support someone who breaks the norm and does it so well.<<
Yay! This makes me happy for many reasons.
1) I like diverse renderings of humanity too. I'm more likely to jump on a project that has a mix of characters, or represents a character type that's usually overlooked, than Straight White Joe Gets the Girl.
I often recommend "Wonder City Stories" over on Dreamwidth because the cast and storylines are so diverse.
Folks who like poetry are welcome to visit my Poetry Fishbowl once a month and hook up their favorite character type with the current theme. I have some fans who reprise favorite ideas, and sometimes that turns into a series.
2) I want more people to become aware that crowdfunding means influence over what gets made and published. That is, whatever you want -- more strong women, more black characters, plots that aren't about being popular, etc. -- you can find a project that does it or look for an open prompt call and request it. Then you send that creator some folding votes, and they think, "Hey, this stuff is making me money. I should do more of it." If you're talking about an underrepresented category, it only takes a few pieces of art or literature to make a statistical blip.
3) It's good to hear a patron's perspective of why they support a given project. I encourage you, and other patrons, to post reviews or recommendations on the community.
>> I'm clicking around and doing research so I can nail down my gameplan.<<
Check the Memories file. We have lots of posts that talk about how to start a crowdfunding project or make one work. You can also ask questions here -- someone will probably have useful input.
>>I used to think, "Well, who would give when you can just get it for free?" but I've been participating in this business model for a while now. <<
Ask yourself: what can you give your audience that they can't get for free? What can you offer that is difficult or impossible to find elsewhere?
One thing you have going for you is that you're a black woman and you've been paying attention to portrayals of same. You should be staring at a selection of very large gaps where mainstream media does not cover most of the experiences had by black women today. So you could pick one and fill it, and that would attract an audience of people dissatisfied with the usual portrayals. There are a lot of them.
Or maybe you're looking to write something that's pretty common, like flash fiction. Think about ways you could make yours different, like writing it on postcards. You could scan each one to put online ... and donors would be entered in a drawing for the original. Then it wouldn't be like everybody else's flash; people could only get that from you.
Look at your own life and interests for inspiration about what kind of crowdfunding project and perks to do. Think about what kind of audience you want and what they might enjoy. It's kind of like throwing a party. People will come to my fishbowl, drop me a prompt, then stick around to talk with other prompters. For your party, who do you want to invite?
>>So glad I got to see this in the spotlight!<<
Yay, it's working! I'm really glad to see so many new people showing up here. Thanks for joining us.
Thoughts
*nod* That's fairly common. We are still working to get the word out and connect people.
>> My disposable income is quite limited, but I find it's still easy to support people by making smaller donations.<<
Don't underestimate the value of word-of-mouth advertising. Linking, tweeting, reviewing, etc. all boost the signal and drive more traffic to your favorite projects. Some of those folks may spend money.
Everyday Cute, wow. It's not my thing but a bullseye for people who are into cute.
>>As a black woman who sees no black women who act like her on television, I've got to support someone who breaks the norm and does it so well.<<
Yay! This makes me happy for many reasons.
1) I like diverse renderings of humanity too. I'm more likely to jump on a project that has a mix of characters, or represents a character type that's usually overlooked, than Straight White Joe Gets the Girl.
I often recommend "Wonder City Stories" over on Dreamwidth because the cast and storylines are so diverse.
Folks who like poetry are welcome to visit my Poetry Fishbowl once a month and hook up their favorite character type with the current theme. I have some fans who reprise favorite ideas, and sometimes that turns into a series.
2) I want more people to become aware that crowdfunding means influence over what gets made and published. That is, whatever you want -- more strong women, more black characters, plots that aren't about being popular, etc. -- you can find a project that does it or look for an open prompt call and request it. Then you send that creator some folding votes, and they think, "Hey, this stuff is making me money. I should do more of it." If you're talking about an underrepresented category, it only takes a few pieces of art or literature to make a statistical blip.
3) It's good to hear a patron's perspective of why they support a given project. I encourage you, and other patrons, to post reviews or recommendations on the community.
>> I'm clicking around and doing research so I can nail down my gameplan.<<
Check the Memories file. We have lots of posts that talk about how to start a crowdfunding project or make one work. You can also ask questions here -- someone will probably have useful input.
>>I used to think, "Well, who would give when you can just get it for free?" but I've been participating in this business model for a while now. <<
Ask yourself: what can you give your audience that they can't get for free? What can you offer that is difficult or impossible to find elsewhere?
One thing you have going for you is that you're a black woman and you've been paying attention to portrayals of same. You should be staring at a selection of very large gaps where mainstream media does not cover most of the experiences had by black women today. So you could pick one and fill it, and that would attract an audience of people dissatisfied with the usual portrayals. There are a lot of them.
Or maybe you're looking to write something that's pretty common, like flash fiction. Think about ways you could make yours different, like writing it on postcards. You could scan each one to put online ... and donors would be entered in a drawing for the original. Then it wouldn't be like everybody else's flash; people could only get that from you.
Look at your own life and interests for inspiration about what kind of crowdfunding project and perks to do. Think about what kind of audience you want and what they might enjoy. It's kind of like throwing a party. People will come to my fishbowl, drop me a prompt, then stick around to talk with other prompters. For your party, who do you want to invite?
>>So glad I got to see this in the spotlight!<<
Yay, it's working! I'm really glad to see so many new people showing up here. Thanks for joining us.