On this episode of Art Zen we talk about the crowd-sourcing funding behemoth, Kickstarter!

Show Notes:

• Intro
• Kickstarter, a place where Art can be funded.
• Where is Kickstarter going?
  http://idealab.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/02/kickstarter-expects-to-provide-more-funding-to-the-arts-than-nea.php
• The Double-fine adventure game kickstarter(Tim Shafer) raised the most money in the shortest amount of time.
• Darrel and Thomas has backed a creator owned Mini Graphic novel Kickstarter calledGiant!, by Chris Wharton. He's almost made his funding! Go to http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1238129356/giant-a-mini-graphic-noveland become a backer!
• Kickstarter Success Steps:
  
  • Need a large established fanbase
  • Needs to be explained well with well established incentives and a very polishedvideo
  • Need to talk up the project to EVERYONE well before hand and during the campaign
  • Need a clear strategy to accomplish your goal - making the book or product in time
  • Need to make a good product
• Ask yourself:
  
  • Can this project be accomplished more easily or just as well without Kickstarter?
  • Would a POD service be a better fit for this product?
  • Would traditional pre-order methods be just as easy to produce product?
  • Have I taken into account Kickstarter fees, taxes etc that will be applied in additionto the money I need for the actual product?
  • Do I really NEED to make this?
• Kickstarter is not a replacement for mature, well thought out financial plans andpractices
• Crowdsourcing:
  
  • Kickstarter is basically crowdsource funding
  • One more step toward an organized crowd-sourcing business model
  • If large corporations begin doing this - given the success of the $2mil+ projects- will the small publisher’s voice drown in the sea of corporate voices?
  • If Kickstarter goes “mainstream” will the people who support it now lose interest?
  • Is funding orgainizations like Kickstarter just flash-in-the-pan fads?

Twitter'er of the week:

Thomas: @bencaldwellart

Darrel: @Darinlovesbacon

Thanks for listening!

Episode 41 - Kickstart my art