One Card Draws!

[miintikwa.livejournal.com]

Hi everyone!

I'm Kara, I do a crowdfunded monthly One Card draw over in my journal. I've been doing it for a while, and I have definitely found it to be an awesome and fun experience. I've learned a lot, and been inspired by things posted here to change my format to make it more accessible to other people. I've added perks and incentives and, I think, made my draw a better event!



~ Incentives help. If people who tip know that they can get something special, they tip more often and sometimes even more funds. My rewards are usually intangible (card readings), so I added a tangible reward to help make it more "real." It's more work, for me, so I made it a "higher level" perk, but it's there, and I'm hoping we'll get there. :)

~ Scheduling helps. My worst-ever draw for both participation and tips was after I took a month off. I needed the break, but it definitely hurt. If people know you're going to do your draw on x date at y time, they're going to be looking for it, and if you aren't there, you may lose people. (This is less true, I'm sure, for a weekly event-- but you can only miss a deadline so many times before people will drift away.)

~ Pimping helps! My group are AWESOME at getting the word out on Facebook, Twitter, LJ, and, I'm sure, elsewhere (places I am not on). Pimping can make or break your event. I love cheerleading for my friends, and lately I haven't been able to donate, so I always pimp if I see the event, usually on Twitter where I can make a quick "hey, go here" from my phone, without even stopping whatever else I'm doing. If you can pimp your event, do so-- and make it clear that if someone can't donate, letting others know is very helpful.

~ Find your niche. If they can get something from you they can't get elsewhere, if they can see or hear you while you're doing your draw, or making your art, often it helps the audience feel connected to you. I was shocked at how many people said "I loved seeing you draw my cards!" after I added a webcast to my last One Card Draw. I know that stonetalker's stone draw, and cassandramorgan's three card draw are things that cannot be had elsewhere, and people really enjoy them. I am just doing a plain old tarot draw, but I am hoping that my webcast will bring in eyes, and keep people coming back.

I think the best thing about doing the One Card draw, for me, is being able to help people I wouldn't be able to help otherwise. I definitely enjoy it, and I plan on keeping it up for as long as I can! :)

Feel free to ask questions if you have them!

Comments

[flutterbychild.livejournal.com]

I'm still trying to figure out how crowdfunding will work with some of the projects I have in mind. Your notes are helpful, a reminder to me to make notes of my own about what works and what doesn't about my projects.

[miintikwa.livejournal.com]

I think webcasting in particular would be great for your art. It's so bold and brilliant!

[flutterbychild.livejournal.com]

Maybe, If there is a piece I can start and finish in a relatively short time. Most of my works take days or weeks as opposed to hours.

[haikujaguar.livejournal.com]

Maybe buy some tiny canvases as inspiration to work small?

[laffingkat.livejournal.com]

I'm not familiar with your work, but you could probably still schedule a webcast for a certain period, just to give people a taste of your work in progress. I've watched other artists working and found it to be a really interesting experience, even if I never see them finish. And part of what is so very cool about crowdfunding in general, and webcasting in particular, is that it lets the audience get to know the artist a bit better!

Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

I love your work-in-progress snapshots, though. Maybe you could do webcam sessions one hour at a time, at different stages? Say you have a painting that you think will take about four 8-hour days to finish. You start with a webcam session, then shut the camera off and keep painting. When you get to the 9th hour, turn the webcam on again. Ideally, do a session with the last hour when you are just finishing up the last little touches. I think people would be interested in seeing the phases.

Re: Hmm...

[flutterbychild.livejournal.com]

That's a cool idea. I am making a video now that includes the work in progress shots from a piece I recently finished as well my thoughts about it and maybe some thoughts about my art in general. I guess it would be the same idea, but live?

Re: Hmm...

[miintikwa.livejournal.com]

I agree with what LaffingKat said. :)

Also, yes! Live painting, where you talk about your choices and what you're doing could be AWESOME. I'd love it!

Re: Hmm...

[flutterbychild.livejournal.com]

I have an idea! I have a piece sketched out on a canvas, to be done in acrylic...but I'm running out of supplies. I might just begin working on it during a webcast and have a donate button available to those who wish to donate toward my buying supplies? What do you think?

Re: Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Yes, basically the same idea done live. People enjoy watching artists work. If you can talk while you paint, so much the better. Audiences also like hearing about the art process. You can talk about tools ("So now I'm switching to a round sable..."), supplies ("You can see I'm using a lot of Sap Green, which is my favorite color because..."), symbolism ("In this painting I intend the sun to mean..."), or decisions ("I want to emphasize this bit here, which I can either do by making it a bright color or by adjusting the lighting...") etc.

Some how-to-paint TV shows are really good at this, because they have a host who just basically puts his internal monologue on the mike. In between the "Here is how you outline a flower" stuff is a large amount of "what goes on in an artist's head" stuff that is just cool.

Yay!

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

This is a good post, with some excellent pointers distilled. Thank you for sharing.

>>My worst-ever draw for both participation and tips was after I took a month off. <<

Yep, my Poetry Fishbowl takes a hit if the internet connection dies halfway through the day, or I have to reschedule for some reason. People are watching for it, and it's usually on the first Tuesday of the month. Even if I tell them it's moving, not everyone finds the new session. Scheduling is crucial.

>>I am just doing a plain old tarot draw, but I am hoping that my webcast will bring in eyes, and keep people coming back. <<

I'm interested in learning more about livestreaming, webcams, etc. I know some other folks are too, so I'd love to get a post about this. Might I entice you into writing one?

Re: Yay!

[miintikwa.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you liked my post! :D I was glad to share.

And I'd love to write a post about Livestreaming/webcasting! I have discovered I enjoy it a lot. :) when would be good?

Re: Yay!

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Wonderful, thanks for helping out. Howbout Wednesday, July 27. That will help provide followup content next week.

Re: Yay!

[miintikwa.livejournal.com]

Sure! I'll put it on my calendar.

[laffingkat.livejournal.com]

Great post! I have to say, what first drew me to your card draw was that you just seemed like such a nice person. I had been reading your comments on other people's blogs, and I was really curious. And I've gotten a couple of helpful readings from you, so that worked out well. :)

I also really liked the addition of the webcast, so I look forward to hearing you talk more about that.

[miintikwa.livejournal.com]

Aww! Thank you! :D

It was a really awesome experience. I'm looking forward to doing it again, and hopefully having a chat feature, so we can all chat while we watch. :)