I Back Projects That – Convince Me It’s Worth Investing In

kickstarter.com

kickstarter.com

The simple truth is – you’re asking for my money. Yes, maybe I really like your product, and maybe I even really like you, but why would I give you my money if I don’t trust that you’ll deliver?

This is an important point. Just being a likable person with lot of passion does not always translate into being a savvy entrepreneur or designer.

But now that you have my attention, prove to me you can follow through if this project gets funded! Here are a few ways to convince me that you’re worth investing in.

Edit Your Project Page

You may find some grammatical error, spelling errors or whatever, on many of blog posts. This is because I want to type up whatever ideas I have that I think may help my readers and click submit. But if I am trying to convince someone to support something I am doing financially, you better believe I would ensure my content is edited and accurate!

If it looks like you just threw your page together last minute and then posted it on KS I’m likely to go spend my time doing something more productive. This is an extension of the last point I made, Articulate Your Effort, but if your project page is wrought with errors it is a clear sign that you have not spent much effort on your project. My dollars took much effort to earn so I not going to give them up with knowing you’ve worked just as hard!

Make Your Page Pleasing

If your page looks like crap why should I believe your product won’t be the same? If the graphics looks amateur, why should I believe the final graphics, or the final product itself, will be any more professional? If the page is wrought with issues, why should I believe the product will be any different?

Your page should be organized. When I am deciding whether I want to invest in a project, I shouldn’t have to sift through unclear content and decipher its meaning. It should be very clear! I have enough work to do – backing a project should be satisfying and fun not work.

  • The sentences should be clear and concise: Don’t use too many words, get to the point. I’m not here to read a novel, I’m here to hear about your project. But you’ve only got a couple minutes to convince me to continue reading and possibly support you!
  • Don’t use too many big words: You want your reader to enjoy reading the project page and I shouldn’t need to pull my old dusty thesaurus off the shelf in order to figure out what you’re trying to say!
  • Don’t use too much “Industry” jargon: I may hear about a project that is totally outside my field of expertise and decided to visit the KS page. But if I feel like the page is targeted to people who are already part of their “club” then I will be much more reluctant to back it. (This is especially important for you gamers!)

Articulate Your Effort

One way to do with is to articulate the effort you have already put into the project. It should be clear that this took a ton of time, passion, money and energy that could have been used for other things. Tell me how much time and money you have spent.

And if you have any experience, or past successes that relate to this type of project discuss those too! I want to know that you will not give up if things aren’t easy. I want to know that you have already done a lot of persevering. And I want to know that you fill follow through when you run into the many hurdles (they will come inevitably) ahead! I want to know my money was well spent!

Communicate Your Passion

If you haven’t noticed, this is the second time I’ve discussed this point. That’s because this is very important! Let shine your enthusiasm and passion for your KS project. If you want me to get excited about this project, you should be excited too. This may not only translate into convincing me to become a backer, but will give me reason to tell my friends as well.

If you’ve been a part of the KS community for longer than a few days you will probably have heard this point already. So much so that most people let it pass in one ear and out the other. But the truth is, I have decided not to back a number of KS projects simply because I didn’t feel like the project creator was very passionate about their idea.

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