Welcome to Part 12 of an ongoing, immediate experiment. For the last 11 weeks, and over the next 5, we’ll learn together as I (Secrets in Stereo) write, record, promote, and release my new album.
To catch up, here are links to the past 11 weeks worth of blogs…
Part 1 - Meet The Artist
Part 2 - 3 Things That Have Let Me Quit My Day Job
Part 3 - 5 Things Music Supervisors Are Looking For in You and Your Music
Part 4 - 5 Truths About Licensing Companies
Part 5 - 5 Rules to Follow When Getting Your Music to Music Supervisors
Part 6 - The First 3 Questions of Artist Positioning
Part 7 - A Real Life, Current Example of Artist Positioning at its Finest
Part 8 - Applying Objectives, Strategies, and Tactics to an Album Release
Part 9 - 3 Key Tactics For The Release of The New Secrets In Stereo Album
Part 10 - 5 Blogs Every Indie Artist Should Read Every Day
Part 11 – 5 Keys to a Successful Fan Funding Campaign
Jill Sobule gets a lot of press when it comes Fan Funding. And in a lot of ways, rightfully so. This week, I want to look at 3 campaigns that you might not know about. But, are equally, if not more impressive than hers.
Just generally speaking, if you are a DIY artist, this guy should probably be your blueprint. Not just with Fan Funding. He teamed up Kickstarter.com in its very early stages for a campaign, and raised over $20,000 in 31 days. Not too shabby. Check out his Kickstarter page here.
Besides having a rock solid foundation of fans, I see two things he did that made his campaign successful that we could learn from. One, he created urgency with a 31 day timeframe. And two, he created a societal element by donating half of his sales for the rest of the year if and only if they reached their goal. Very smart on both accounts.
There’s a good chance you’ve never heard of Allison. I hadn’t. But, she is a prime example that you don’t have to have a massive following or a large number of backers (she had a little over 200) to make Fan Funding work. Again, through Kickstarter, she actually far exceeded her goal of $2,000 by raising over $7,700. That’s remarkable, as most backers stop backing once the goal is met. Check out her Kickstarter page here.
Two things jump out at me as to why her campaign was so successful. One, she’s real and relate-able. Her video is very basic, but she comes across like-able. And that’s a good quality to have when you’re trying to get people to give you money. You can’t fake that. And two, she was super creative and super personal with her packages.
3. Ellis Paul
Some of you may have heard of Ellis. He got some press with his Fan Funding campaign (although I would argue not enough). He is the perfect candidate for Fan Funding. A large following. An amazing artist that can deliver. And a fan base that is older and affluent. All this adds up to raising over $100,000. I’m a little bit biased with Ellis’ project, because Sorted Noise actually produced it. But, none the less, he is a great example of how Fan Funding can be a game changer.
There is a GREAT case study article by Rachel Klein from Ellis’ management company on Nimbit.com that details the specs on his campaign. I highly recommend it. You can read it here.
Until next week!
Josh
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