​Kickstarter week three: Death Valley

We are 81% funded with 15 days to go and I am so super-stoked!
But… It’s happened. We’re in Death Valley.
 
All the crowdfunding websites tell you about Death Valley. It’s the middle two weeks of a four-week crowdfunding campaign, where instead of trying to stay afloat on a tsunami of pledges… you’re watching a dripping tap.
 
So I’ve trawled the internet for advice, and these stand out to me as tips worth trying when you’re drying out in Death Valley.
 
Host a Kickstarter live video event
Am I game for holding a live video event? Would my backers actually be interested in this? I’m not sure. A lot of crowdfunding advice is geared at Americans and / or people peddling tech products. I’m not sure that a live video event would appeal to children’s book / cat lovers in New Zealand. (But if you think it would, let me know in the comments!)
 
Love your backers
One blog asked how I am providing “an extraordinary experience” for backers. That’s a good question. I think I put on a good event for the people who were able to come to my launch… but what about everyone else? I will put my thinking cap on as to how I can make supporting my campaign a fun experience for my backers. (Ideas welcome!)
 
Set micro-goals
Some people suggested creating micro goals and posting updates such as “I only need 2 more backers to get to 100 backers!” Again, I’m not sure that my audience would love this approach. So I probably won’t try this one.
 
Contact bloggers
I have already done this, and I must admit I have found this quite challenging. There are plenty of blogs for tech products, but book blogs want to see a published book and cat blogs want me to pay for advertising. So I’m feeling a bit high and dry on the blogger front, but I’ll give it another go. (I did have a guest post on Elsewhere today though!)
 
Call to action
I sent my backers one update where I asked them to share my campaign and then I felt a bit cheap and dirty. But I think I could probably get away with asking this one more time before my campaign ends.
 
Celebrate milestones
I think celebrating genuine milestones is a better approach for me than setting micro-goals. I posted on Bruce’s page when we got to 75% backed and that post got really good traction.
 
Add new rewards
I have added a new reward (the ability to buy a book AND stickers) due to popular demand, and I’ll add another reward (an eBook – also the result of a request) in the next few days.
 
Thank you so much to everyone who has followed this journey, shared the Kickstarter page or become a backer. I’ll update you again next week!