PREDICTION: I’ll Fund My Kickstarter By At Least 50% In The First Day (Here’s Why And How)

I know what you’re thinking. “This guy’s either crazy, arrogant, or he found a way to break Kickstarter’s rules.” And with a headline like mine, I don’t blame you. 

So before I hopefully give you a new perspective you can take into your own sales success (both on Kickstarter and off), let me clear a few things up.

First, it’s very important to note that I will NOT be breaking any rules on Kickstarter. Not even close. I’m quick to point this out because providing a hack that goes against their terms of use would not only be bad for you (since the tactics would be useless if this article ever got any traction), but really bad for me as well (since it would obviously compromise my own campaign). 

So I’m making sure to color INSIDE the lines on this one, and will not be violating any rules in any way. And THAT’S the true value of this article: You will be able to use the very same strategy I’m about to describe without screwing your campaign up in any way.

But it actually goes even deeper than that. You see, in spite of the fact that I’m not breaking any rules (or maybe because of this), what I’m predicting here seems to defy all logic (as I’ll explain shortly) and challenges the odds on just about every level you can think of. 

So to answer the question of whether I’m being arrogant, let me assure you that I’m pretty nervous about putting myself out there like this. Because if I end up being wrong, I’m going to look very silly. 

In fact, just in case it isn’t clear how bad my little predicament is on this, let me explain what I’m really up against here. For starters, I had to fire my Facebook ads guy after he had already wasted weeks of precious time without placing a single ad. I’ve only got 83 likes on my page.

The list for my launch? - Less than 70 people. And only 8 of them opened the last email I sent.

My social media presence? - I only just started doing real work on this last week after finally hiring someone to help me with it, so to say I’m way behind is an understatement. 

Oh, and I almost forgot - I also had to move my launch up by three weeks - all in hopes of getting a wider window of publicity before the holidays. But I won’t get ANY of that publicity by tomorrow when I launch. 

So with all of these odds stacked against me, you must be wondering why I’m so certain I’ll fund as well as I expect to on the first day. Well, it’s two things really…

First thing is that Kickstarter has already intentionally provided an elegant way for creators like you and me to fund faster.  

It’s known in some circles as “Upper-Tier Pledges,” which, for the few of you who aren’t already aware of this yet, is really just a fancy way of saying that campaigns can have additional rewards at much higher prices in order to spike up total sales.

It’s been a huge relief for me to discover that while pledge options on most campaigns average only around $20, there is ALWAYS this method for including rewards that are delivered at WAY higher prices, thereby helping the creator fund their project much sooner with even fewer backers.  

So if you’re selling a book for $15, for example, there might be an option to get an autographed copy for five times that amount. Or, there’s more likely an option to buy the book in way larger quantities — whatever might bring in a lot more money with each new backer.

But here’s where the second “thing” comes in. You see, it’s not just the question of IF you include higher-priced options — it’s also the question of HOW you do it.

Think about it. Are sellers really using this upper tier option as strategically as they can? Are they actually positioning themselves for the best possible results? 

After all, going back to the $15 example, most people are only going to buy one book. And even if a few buy more than one copy, is it really going to make the dent that the creator is hoping for? 

What I’m really wondering here is whether there’s a better way of getting a select few people to contribute WAY more to the project right away. That’s the question YOU want to answer for yourself. That’s how I’m going to fund by over 50% in just one day. 

Now obviously, it wouldn’t work to sell a new toothbrush for $10 and then offer a motorcycle for $3000 — the core product and upsell need to be related in some way, or it’s a no-go on Kickstarter.

But besides keeping them all relatable, you’re also going to want to position them in a way that makes them highly appealing to the masses DESPITE the exorbitant price tags you’ll be putting on the upper tier ones. 

These higher-priced rewards don’t have to be tangible in order to sell, by the way. You can go just as far (or even further) by making them experiential instead.

Because in the end, regardless of whether people buy a product, a service, or anything else - they are fundamentally only doing it for one reason - they expect to feel good in some way.

So all you need to do is just offer them something related to your project that will make them feel really, really good ...and you can price it way higher than you ever might have hoped. And as long as you’re genuinely delivering more value than you are charging for, you are treating your customer with respect and have nothing to feel bad about.

Best of all, you’re funding your project, so even if there aren’t as many people pledging for the core offer as you had hoped, you still end up completing the project and fulfilling whatever orders do come in. Your project still comes to life. So everyone wins! …And isn’t that the real goal here?

So by now you’re probably asking — how would this apply to whatever project you might be trying to fund for yourself?

Well, for example, if your project involves trying to get money to publish a comic book, a GREAT higher tier reward might simply be a personalized drawing lesson from the artist over Skype. The right backer would pay hundreds of dollars for this, especially if you limit the reward to only a few people.

Or if you’re selling a video game, you can have a higher-priced reward be putting a character in the game based on the backer. For the right hardcore gamer, this is something they would LOVE, especially if it’s a game they will play with their friends. Imagine the bragging rights. A seller on Kickstarter can easily score an extra $500-$1000 for something like that (probably even more) and really push the threshold of their campaign.

What if you’re selling a watch? If you wanted to go a more tangible route, you could offer a one-of-a-kind version that’s available in a completely different color that nobody else could get. OR, getting back to something a bit more “intangible” or experiential, you can offer a brief online course on the mechanics of watch making and design.

If this is your Kickstarter project, you’ve been living and breathing it for at least a year already, so it should be super easy to record yourself talking about it for an hour and sharing early prototype design screens.

Will you sell A LOT of those? Probably not, but you can certainly sell 3 or 4 to aficionados who are REALLY into it. And that’s all we’re looking for here — that extra boost to drive sales home and get your project funded as quickly and easily as possible.

Let’s look at one more example: MY upper tier reward, and the reason I expect to fund well in that first day. This is probably a good time to explain what my project is so that my upper tier reward makes more sense. 

The name of the campaign is: Success Dice.

These are dice that are designed for taking daily action toward your happiness and success. The idea is simple: if you ever find yourself overwhelmed by all the things you want to do each day to improve your life (work out, meditate, eat better, etc), Success Dice are there to make that decision easy for you. 

Rather than being paralyzed by indecisiveness (and then not doing anything at all), now you can finally overcome any doubts you might have, and actually do something for yourself every single day.

Each side of the dice represents an area of your life worth improving (Money, Body/Health, Mind, Relationship, Spirit), and every area can be improved in many ways. You roll one or more each morning (or whenever you wish) …and whatever side comes up …ends up being the area of life you’ll do something to improve that day. Bye bye, decision fatigue. Hello, easy action-taking.

Okay, so now that you know what these are all about, let’s be clear on what I’m really doing here, so that we can understand who this is really for and craft an upper tier reward that fits them best. 

For my customer, this is about finally (and easily) creating a consistent habit of doing something for yourself every day that makes your life better. Anyone will tell you they wish they could do more for themselves despite how busy, tired, or distracted they are by everything in their lives. 

But procrastination, fatigue, and a million other issues always seem to get in the way. And that’s why most people end up being so overwhelmed by everything they WANT to do, that they rarely end up doing anything at all. 

But what I’ve personally discovered is that the only real sticking point here is simply making that critical decision of what to do first (regardless of what that decision might be). And this is what Success Dice solves. You outsource your decision of what you’ll do to the dice, and once what you need to do has been decided for you, the choice of then taking action becomes very easy.

Now obviously I want this kind of product to be accessible to the masses, so I’m going to price it very reasonably. Which then begs the question …what else can I offer at a way higher price …that will be worth the money …that this type of customer would be excited about?

Well, since I’m offering a tool for helping people start the year off with REAL momentum to improve their lives, doesn’t it makes sense to have an upper tier reward that might support this goal for them in a powerfully effective way?

Of course it is …and that’s why my upper tier reward will offer them 30 consecutive days working directly with me, using the dice to create and instill whatever positive habit or routine they want to bring into the New Year. For someone who’s really into improving their life, a full month of that kind of personal support is HUGE. 

And while it’s not necessary if you’re offering the right kind of reward, this is where any kind of assets you might have outside of the campaign (friends, connections, a prior reputation for producing quality products, etc.) come in. 

You see, while I don’t even have close to 100 confirmed strangers who I know definitely want the dice, I DO have a number of former clients who I’m certain would be very interested in the high ticket reward option I’m offering. 

It helps that they know I really don’t usually agree to commit that many consecutive days to any one person, and if I did, I’d probably charge a minimum of $20-30K for the month. 

So with a group of people out there who haven’t signed up to get the dice BUT who would potentially jump at this kind of offer, I can price it at only 5K, give those people the link to the campaign as soon as it’s live tomorrow, and ...relying on the fact that warm customers usually convert at a minimum of 1-3% ...fund my project by at least half in less than a day. All legal. All within Kickstarter’s terms of use. 

I technically don’t even have to alert them right away, but am obviously choosing to since I know they’ll want first dibs …AND because I believe this upper tier reward will probably be grabbed up by someone who’s never even worked with me if the people I already know don’t see it soon enough. 

And that’s a very important point to make since I realize that you might not have a small group of people to lean on who are passionate about your work. This isn’t about “resources.” It’s about “resourcefulness,” and if you’re creative enough with your own upper tier reward options, you can just as easily sell 2 or 3 of them to complete strangers who have never heard of you. 

I invite you to go check out my campaign page to see how I describe the reward exactly. After all, even for a warm customer, it still has to be appealing. You’ll notice that none of it is exaggerated, and yet it’s still worded in a very attractive way that will capture the attention of the right backer.

With all of that said, MOST visitors obviously won’t be interested in spending this much money or cashing in that kind of reward. But as you can probably tell by now, I’m not counting on them to. I’m only making room for a very limited number of people, who, if you pay close attention to the numbers on my campaign page, would be JUST enough to get me the funding goals I’m looking for — even if nobody else makes a pledge!

Of course, everyone else will have access to the REAL reason I’m doing this project to begin with - the dice themselves. And that’s what I really care about, because I can scale that reward much more easily and serve way more people with it.

So …since I really believe in this product from my own firsthand experience, I want these dice out in the world, and I’m going to make this happen — just like any other Kickstarter creator wants to do for their own project.

And I want it to be affordable to as many people as possible, which is why the price of the actual product is very reasonable ...and why I’ve instead chosen to save the higher prices for the upper tier rewards portion of the campaign. And I’m even putting in stretch goals that will deliver even more value — all for free when enough people pledge. 

I mention this because when you do the same thing in your campaign, your customers will realize that you’re in it for the long haul. And when they see all the cool free extra stuff they’ll be getting when they pledge for the core product, they’ll understand why you needed to include upper tier rewards that are priced so high to begin with. Again, everyone wins.

So, fellow crowdfunders (or anyone out there looking to dynamically increase their sales), remember — if this is something you truly believe in …regardless of whether you might make five dollars or 5 million …understand that there is always a way you can offer more value at a higher price, and attract buyers who will support your campaign, get you to the finish line ...and most importantly ...help you get your idea into the hands of customers who will truly enjoy it. I wish you all the fortune in the world. 

Oh yeah, I never did answer that first question of whether I’m crazy. I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.

About the Writer:

Founder, SuccessDice.com. Creator, fun things. Enjoyer, life.

Never one to shy from a challenge, Andrew Kaplan has always found a way to experience life from new and unique perspectives. He’s been a cartoonist, a professor, an SAT teacher, a software executive, and even a wrestling intern. But through it all, his favorite role has always been ‘entrepreneur,’ and Andrew truly appreciates the endless possibilities that any one small idea can turn into.

Nearly a decade ago, when Andrew was forced to close his first company AND end an important relationship all in the same week, he bounced back as quickly as he could by trying a plethora of strategies and techniques for building healthy habits and getting back on track. Within three months, he was in a healthier relationship than he had ever been. Within four, he was making more consistent money than he ever had before. Within six, he was in the best shape of his life, and within a year, literally everything that was wrong had finally gone right.

Of all the ideas that helped him the most was an early version of what has now evolved into Success Dice — The Once-a-Day Decision Tool For Keeping Your Life On Track …And Taking Action Toward Your Happiness And Success.

Andrew founded SuccessDice.com in 2017.

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