One Question Weekend followup

[zeeth_kyrah]

(Crossposted from my journal.)

All right! The One Question Weekend was successful, as far as I'm concerned: Teresa and I received many questions, as well as donations and much thanks, and I think we both learned a good amount about working together on this.

The donations total this month for One Question days is $35, which may not seem like much, but is well on its way to paying bills for me; also, I believe it's not out of line for a starting provider of abstract services, whose interest is in learning how rather than focused on money first; though I'm valuing based on art sales among fandom, rather than professional services to the general public (which cost $50-150 for an hour or so of face-to-face services; time-based billing doesn't work as well in a blog or journal format like this).

Over time, what I'm looking for is help boosting signal, as well as more participants, even if you guys don't donate cash. I intend to make this a regular project, likely on the ides of each month (in other words, halfway through each month); most often a single day rather than a full weekend, though we may sneak in a weekend here and there).

I'll probably also add in draws from the Hero's Deck, for variety's sake. A draw from the cards may be just as helpful sometimes, and the price will always be less than a reading from a channeled Guide.

Those of you who missed the weekend, I'd like to offer something I've learned from other crowdfunding members: a follow-up offer. (For example, haikujaguar offers paid readings after her popular free one-card draws, while ysabetwordsmith follows her fishbowls and the initial flurry of free and purchased poetry with polls and other audience-participation methods for funding more poetry.)

If you missed the One Question Weekend, you can still donate $10 or more and ask what you like. Teresa and I will be glad to answer.

Comments

Yay!

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

I'm glad that the project worked. That's not surprising -- divination is a popular topic. The favorites can easily run participation in the hundreds of requests. It helps that you're doing something different, too; there are multiple card readings but you're the first I've seen doing spirit guides.

For reference, the first time I put out a tip jar for the Poetry Fishbowl, I made $10. That was in January 2008, and crowdfunding has grown a lot since then. I'm seeing projects starting faster now and pulling better donations in the early months. I think it matters that people are getting used to the idea and learning what they like in a project, plus the signal boosting is improving.

Re: Yay!

[zeeth_kyrah]

Indeed! This community has given me quite a lot of advice. "Do something different" is a big one, though I thought my Hero's Deck was different enough when I first put it together; but that's not the only way to be different. Sometimes people want a board game instead of a book, and sometimes they want a storytelling game. I also took to heart the idea to start small and work up.

I do want to reciprocate more with signal boosting, though. There's a significant amount of audience overlap, but every journal still attracts a different crowd; I posted in two communities as well as my journal, and many participants mentioned coming in from the communities. I didn't get a lot of regular readers from this, but that's okay. I do a whole lot of things that most people consider odd, and not everyone needs or wants to follow my thoughts and projects.

I'm not sure what I can do as a bonus for boosters, at least at first. Perhaps a card draw, as that takes less energy and involvement, and relies more on my own intuitive skills. Even so, this sort of thing should probably focus on the answers from Teresa or another Guide working with me.

Re: Yay!

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

>>This community has given me quite a lot of advice. <<

That makes me happy! I want it to be helpful for people when they start a new project, or go looking for projects to explore.

>> I thought my Hero's Deck was different enough when I first put it together<<

Unique decks can serve that purpose. Look at haikujaguar with the Balance Cards or jenny_evergreen with the Bird Oracle.

>> I didn't get a lot of regular readers from this, but that's okay. I do a whole lot of things that most people consider odd, and not everyone needs or wants to follow my thoughts and projects.<<

I only pick up new readers occasionally from Poetry Fishbowl referrals. That's okay. The ones who are a good fit stick around, and I've no objection to window shoppers.

>>I'm not sure what I can do as a bonus for boosters, at least at first. Perhaps a card draw, as that takes less energy and involvement, and relies more on my own intuitive skills. <<

That's a good start.

>>Even so, this sort of thing should probably focus on the answers from Teresa or another Guide working with me.<<

Riffing off of this ...

* Hold a drawing from all donors, or after a donation threshold, everyone; winner gets a three-question session with you and Teresa. (Many one-card-draws have a trigger for a more elaborate reading as a perk.)

* As a collective perk, after a certain donation threshold, Teresa delivers a message aimed at the whole audience. (Some of the biggest divination projects do a summary of themes, capturing the flavor of the overall session. It works nicely for people who missed the window.)

* If your spirit guides have different specialties, then use a generalist for the main session and one of the specialists for a one-question perk reading for someone to be drawn from donors or all participants as mentioned above. That way, you could rotate your specialists -- a romance guide one month, a stability/wealth guide the next, whatever their interests are. (I've seen a few diviners keep a certain deck or whatever just for perks.)

* Wait 2-3 months until people get the hang of this particular project. Then ask them what they'd like as perks. Very reliable technique across most project types and audiences.