The Crowd funding thing.....how to know it's worth the effort.

Doc Bernard

Doc Bernard

Indie Arms Member
This is not about how to get funded or what to do if I choose to go that route.

I want to ask about how you know your project is worth even trying. So many projects start and fail miserably, despite their "owners" being extremely passionate about their "babies". Whether it's poor planning, poor marketing, poor presentation, or just plain bad luck. So many fail and die on the vine.

It just happens I have a project I am considering on utilizing the power of crowdfunding on.......and it's actually a small amount for a huge return. Because I have been thrown an amazing opportunity to pursue (a book, and a continuing series in print mags, and some rare footage not really ever seen). Already, I have an amazing sponsor who is willing to talk to other sponsors on my behalf (LOL, if you follow me on FB.....you'd know who it is). There is a huge time component and investiture running a crowdfunding campaign, and there's a part of me thinks that time can be better spent in getting things ready for the trip and the shoot itself.

Having the financial support would be awesome and make life easier....... and smooth a ton of wrinkles. But on the otherhand, this gig has a time limit to it. An extended crowdfund campaign would prolly not work for at least the first installment.

But that being said, how do you honestly determine if the project is worth the time for crowd funding? My passion and skills have collided in a good way for this project, and have not had something I am so passionate about in such a long time.

Out of interest and the objectivity of what I am discussing.....I won't share what the project is. I just want honest feedback.
 
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Are you willing to put your own money on the line? If yes, then determine how cheaply this project can be made for (make sure to include EVERYTHING). If then number is still something you would be willing to spend then this project has value to you. Truth is besides very few far in-between examples, it's very hard to persuade people to invest into anything in the dreams stage. It gets slightly easier as the project grows and something realistic gets born.
 
Indiegogo allows you to keep all donations regardless of if you meet your goal. The tradeoff is less organic exposure since it's the less popular platform. But it might be the better option in your case?
 
Doc Bernard said:
So many projects start and fail miserably, despite their "owners" being extremely passionate about their "babies".
Click to expand...

The bottom line for crowd-funding is... Do you have an established fan-base?

This is why I would start by establishing your fan-base through weekly episodic YouTube content. If you can make it on YouTube, you can likely be successful via KickStarter afterwards.

So even if your end goal is to raise funds to shoot a feature, you still have to be successful with episodic content first.
 
TheDingo said:
The bottom line for crowd-funding is... Do you have an established fan-base?

This is why I would start by establishing your fan-base through weekly episodic YouTube content. If you can make it on YouTube, you can likely be successful via KickStarter afterwards.

So even if your end goal is to raise funds to shoot a feature, you still have to be successful with episodic content first.
Click to expand...

Yes.......been polling my FB friends for one......getting good responses. Also the subject matter has a HUGE demographic. And no......not a film per se. This is about doing a coffeetable book, and getting some unreal footage in the process along with my still images......think "being in Hell"......literally.
 
And Patryk, I am doing a lot of "Proof of Concept" work, to show this is going to be a reality not just a dream. Today, I am visiting a potential local group to take some prelim photos to show people what this is going to be all about, but explaining this will be on a National level.
 
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