How to do a Kickstarter campaign

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If you’ve ever wanted to do a Kickstarter campaign or had a dream project that would be too expensive to self fund, Episode #468 of the Marketing Mentor podcast is for you. I chatted with storyteller and multimedia artist, Wioleta Kaminska, about how she’s using Kickstarter, a crowdfunding platform that’s been around since 2009, to fund her self published art book.

I’ve never been personally involved in this type of campaign, but I have contributed to them to support artists and other creatives over the years. So when Wioleta, my neighbor and fellow dog owner, sent me a link to the Kickstarter campaign for her new book project, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to learn a little something about her work as well as what makes for a successful crowdfunding campaign.

And what a success it was!

We recorded this podcast not long after she launched the campaign. Since then, her project has been "fully backed" by 120 supporters -- all before the one month deadline!

So this works, if you work your network! (Remember, strategic networking is one of the 3 tools in the Simplest Marketing Plan for creative professionals.) That's one of the things we discussed in our conversation -- how she connected with and reached out to her network and whether it takes confidence to do so.

I learned a lot from Wioleta – her passion and excitement are contagious, even over a podcast – so please check out Wioleta's project here.

Listen to the episode here (and below) and scroll down to read the complete transcript. 

 

And if you like what you hear, we’d love it if you write a review, subscribe here and sign up for Quick Tips from Marketing Mentor.  

Read the complete transcript of Episode #168 here:

ilise benun

Hi, there. This is ilise benun, your Marketing Mentor. And this is the podcast for you if, and only if, you are ready to leave the feast or famine syndrome behind. And I mean for good.

Have you ever wanted to do a Kickstarter campaign? Or have you ever had a dream project that would be too expensive to self-fund so you didn't do it? Well, Kickstarter, a crowdfunding platform that's been around since 2009, makes that possible.

I've never been involved in this type of campaign myself, but I have contributed to them to support artists and other creatives I know, over the years.

When my neighbor and fellow dog owner, Wioleta Kaminska, sent me a link to the Kickstarter campaign for her new book project, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to learn a little something about her work as an artist, as well as what makes for a successful crowdfunding campaign. So, listen and learn.

Hello, Wioleta. Welcome to the podcast.

Wioleta Kaminska

Hello, ilise. Thank you for having me.

ilise benun

Of course. Please introduce yourself.

Wioleta Kaminska

I'm Wioleta. And in short, I like to think of myself and call myself ‘a storyteller.’ But a little bit longer version would be multidisciplinary artist, designer and educator. I think that would be my description.

ilise benun

Okay, that's good. And you and I know each other on a couple different levels, and this is a new level for us actually. But we both live in Savannah and we both have dogs that go to that dog adventure camp that I've been sharing videos from. And I don't know anything about what you teach. Tell me a little bit about that.

Wioleta Kaminska

I teach in a digital communication department. That's a department [where] we prepare students for their career. Early on in their education, they learn how to create their digital persona, how to promote the work online, but also how to create that, what we call ‘branding package,’ and how to talk about their work and share their story.

As artists, we all create stories, but sometimes it's difficult for artists, or we don't have time to talk about our own story, so that's really important. That's what I help my students to do and guide them through that process.

ilise benun

And so is it true to say that obviously you practice what you preach?

Wioleta Kaminska

I try.

ilise benun

You know you have to.

Wioleta Kaminska

I try. But I think you always have to be careful saying that 100% you practice what you preach.

ilise benun

You try.

Wioleta Kaminska

Because we all complain about busy schedule and so on, which often gets into our big plans. But I do try.

ilise benun

Excellent. Well, from my point of view, it looks like you are doing an excellent job.

All right, tell us about your project, because you texted me, I think it was just last weekend, about this project you have and a Kickstarter campaign you have. And you caught me at a perfect moment because I wasn't focused on something else, so I was able to focus on this and share it a little bit. But tell us about the project.

Wioleta Kaminska

My latest project is exciting; I call it very exciting project. It's a book. It's a book called “Retreating.” It's a book about my experience as an artist-in-residence in Iceland: my musings, my writing, and a collection of my paintings, drawings, photographs, photo collages, that I either started working on or created during my artist residency; actually, two artist residencies last summer in Iceland. And I continue with that project. I started last year, and the project is expanding based on my experience. That's what the book is about; it's ‘a collection,’ as I call it, of musings as far as writing and images.

ilise benun

Okay. And why are you creating this book?

Wioleta Kaminska

Why am I creating this book? To be honest, I had an idea last year, before I went to Iceland to do my residencies, that I already thought that I would have a book—that book will be one of the outcomes of those residencies because I've been engaged in my art practice for quite some time. And a book has been on my mind for quite some time.

But, like I mentioned before, time—and we are always running out of time—I've never really had time to sit down and get into that book. And I thought that going to Iceland would be an exquisite opportunity to finally put that experience together and have my first book out. That's why I'm doing it.

And the truth is also, when I came back, after I came back from Iceland, I was very busy when I came back, back to work, back to other art projects and creating art projects, and book is a big undertaking.

But I was going through my notes from Iceland, and then I was writing down some thoughts and memories. And one day, I realized that the memories kept coming back even stronger a month after my visit. So I thought I was not ready to let go of that experience and I thought book would be the perfect medium to put it all together and reflect on that experience. And I think it would help me moving forward.

And also another reason, and a big reason why this book is coming to life, were my conversations with friends or even strangers; I love talking as, you know. Sometimes even with a dog when we go to a park or walks, I meet very interesting people here in Savannah, and we start talking about summer and travels, and I shared my experiences about Iceland and my artist residencies. And everybody always asks me, "So, how was it? What is it like?" And those questions are great, but I always have a hard time answering them in a short period of time.

One conversation is never really sufficient to describe what it was—a really profound experience. I thought putting it together into a book format would be a great opportunity to answer some of those questions, or at least try to share that experience I had.

ilise benun

Yes. When you're walking Ollie and someone says, "So, how was Iceland?" You can say, "Well, there's a book you can buy," or, "There's a book you can get if you contribute to my Kickstarter campaign, and it tells you everything."

Wioleta Kaminska

Yes, this is great. And funny, because I have a hard time actually doing it … you're not the first person who's telling me to do it. And I feel, no, if I don't know somebody, if someone's just starting to talk to me, I don't want to tell about Kickstarter immediately so they don't think that I am selling this to them immediately ... Well actually, essentially I am selling that idea. So you're right. I should be doing that.

ilise benun

Well, the way I think about it is, because often people are reluctant to be too what they call ‘salesy,’ especially with strangers. But you are so excited about it, I would think that's what your focus would be when you say it. Like: "I'm just so excited because I am trying to put this book together and have it be the best quality it can be so it's going to cost a lot of money, so I decided to do a Kickstarter campaign, and I'd love it if you wanted to take a look at the page and perhaps even contribute."

Wioleta Kaminska

You are 100% right. And this is exactly why I actually am doing this campaign. But also, this is exactly why I was putting off this campaign—because I had those doubts: What it will look like?

And I think this is something that artists often struggle with; we create art, but we don't want to cheapen our art, we don't want to ...

The whole concept of being a salesman is, I think, the definition … it's a bit tricky. I think we sometimes overthink this idea: how do we talk about our art in a way that is still compelling? But how do we put it out there into the world?

And I think this is a big conversation and a long conversation we could have about that. This is exactly why I was a little resenting the idea of doing the Kickstarter initially, but after consulting with lots of friends, people I know, and giving it quite some thought, I decided to go for it because it really felt right, and that's why I was ready to do it.

ilise benun

And we are going to talk a lot about that. And let me just say that a week out, you already are up to three-quarters of the $20,000 that you're trying to raise, so that reluctance is not necessarily getting in your way, obviously.

Wioleta Kaminska

Definitely not. And you-

ilise benun

But-

Wioleta Kaminska

Sorry, go ahead.

ilise benun

Actually, first I want to come back to the question that I forgot earlier, came back to my mind, because when you talk about the struggle that artists have, I often think about the difference between fine artists and commercial artists. And my work is focused mostly on commercial artists, not really fine artists.

But I'm curious how you think about yourself and also how you think about marketing and self-promotion and branding and the package. And even what you teach your students as it relates to: do you make that distinction between the two different kinds of art?

Wioleta Kaminska

That's a great question, and I don't think I have an answer, immediately. I haven't even thought about this distinction, to be honest, in terms of my own art. Funny enough, I come with design background, which is now making things probably more complex and complicated because-

ilise benun

Just a little …

Wioleta Kaminska

Right, because we very often have this ... maybe not so much anymore, but I think looking years back, there was this idea: artist is an artist; artist is not a designer; designer is not doing art. And I think the lines have been shifting.

And if you look at lots of designers these days, actually designers have art practice—that's something that is very common. It's very rare that artists have full-time artists’ practice. Maybe I should take it back. It's not very rare, but it's not that common that ... we do know that artists have to make living. And in today's world, sometimes the most known artists had jobs that had nothing to do with their art—jobs, day jobs, that help them support themselves.

As far as fine art and commercial arts, I'm not sure where I belong. A lot of my art, I don't sell. I don't do art very often even thinking about selling it. I just have to do it. It's my passion. And when I do my paintings, it's wonderful that somebody wants to buy my painting. But the reason why I'm painting something, I'm not painting usually because there is a commission involved. I'm just painting because I have a need to paint. I know I'm not answering the question straightforward.

ilise benun

No, that's all right. And it also sounds like you're not also depending on your art to support you; you do other things for that.

Wioleta Kaminska

No. And that's another thing that is interesting. And I've had a lot of conversations about that with fellow artists or students or my friends. Like I said earlier, we have to pay bills, and there are expenses that we have to cover. A lot of us artists have day jobs.

I'm lucky to do what I love doing, which is teaching, and I surround myself with creative individuals, and mentoring and guiding others is very rewarding for me. And I think teaching allows me also to be in that mindset where I can be creative and I can continue pursuing my art. And I think now I lost what we were … so I think I have to stop here and you can guide me through the next process.

ilise benun

Well, let's come back then to the Kickstarter campaign because I agree with you. And we would need a glass of wine or maybe a bottle of wine, but we could talk about that for a long time.

Let's come back to the Kickstarter campaign. Tell us about it. I'm going to share the link to the page so people can see it. And even for those who don't know what a Kickstarter campaign is, start at the beginning, if you would.

Wioleta Kaminska

Kickstarter is a platform that you can use to help fund a project you have in mind. How it works: You have to have a very clear plan and an idea what it is that you want to do, and what you need to get it done, and how you're going to achieve that.

Kickstarter—so it's not just about asking others to give you money, but it's to share your story, tell the world that you have this amazing idea and you believe that people around you would benefit from it. And it would be good to explain how.

Then, you ask others how they can help you with that idea to bring this idea to life and what you can offer. In other words, there is a reward system. And in my case, it's a book that I want to self-publish.

And as you know me, ilise, I get very excited talking about it. I'm trying to curb my enthusiasm right now because I would spend an hour, probably, talking about it. I want to self-publish my book.

I explained … you see that on my Kickstarter page, I explained what the book is about, why it matters to me, and how it can come to life. So basically, I'm explaining, also, cost of the book, cost of the publishing. And I'm using Kickstarter platform to achieve that goal.

I set the goal at $20,000 because that's what I need to self-publish my book. If the campaign is successful … I selected 30 days for the Kickstarter for the campaign to run. I had an option of 60 days, but I've done a lot of research and reading before I set up my project on Kickstarter platform. And I've learned that most projects are successful if they run for a shorter period of time. That's why I decided to do it for 30 days.

And if I reach the goal within that time period, I will receive the money to self-publish my book. And Kickstarter will get 5% of whatever I raise during that time period, if I reach the goal.

If I don't reach the goal, then I will not be charged anything and I will not receive any funds. And all the contributors and backers who chose certain rewards, for example, pre-ordered my book, will also not be charged and will not receive those rewards, obviously, because it will not come to life.

ilise benun

It sounds like a lot of work, Wioleta.

Wioleta Kaminska

Yes, a lot of work.

ilise benun

Because you had to create a video, and then you have all of these rewards. I can't remember, actually, which rewards I chose, but I know that I get a copy of the book and my name in the book. I wanted my name in the book.

Wioleta Kaminska

Yes. I remember that. Yes, that's definitely that reward.

ilise benun

And I want the postcards, too. I'm very excited about the postcards.

Wioleta Kaminska

Yes, postcards are part of that package you chose, too.

ilise benun

And so as of this morning when I looked, of the $20,000, you had $15,626, so you're very close. And you had 75 backers. And you have 21 days to go. And then, actually, since you texted me about this, last Sunday, you also have more news.

One was that the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs in Iceland contributed to your campaign and shared a story with the project information on Instagram. And that Kickstarter selected your project as a project they love. How did that happen?

Wioleta Kaminska

Yes, a lot has happened and it's been only eight days. And I just want to say that, actually, the very first minute the Kickstarter campaign launched, my friend who I studied with at California College of the Arts, a friend who teaches and lives in Mexico, he was the first backer. The very first minute campaign went live, he was the first contributor. I was very touched by that.

And then within a few hours, I became emotional I remember at some point because of the amount of support and encouragement and excitement I got within the first few hours; it was just unbelievable.

And you know me, how excited I get when I talk about the project. But suddenly, there was this community all over the world, people I knew and I didn't know, who were rooting for me and who were so excited. So that was amazing.

And yes, then Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs in Iceland supported the project and shared the project on his Instagram story, Kickstarter, within I think it was 24 hours, selected the project …

ilise benun

That speaks volumes.

Wioleta Kaminska

Yes. As far as the minister, we met when I was an artist-in-residence. The minister visited residency at SIM in Reykjavík where I was an artist-in-residence. We had a meeting, all the artists, and people who ran residency, with the minister. The minister visited the residency to learn more about the residency, the program, and what it does. And also, it was quite spectacular.

The minister took some time to talk to each artist-in-residence and look at their work in progress, what everybody was doing during that time. This is how we met and that's how he remembered my project. And he knew that I was part of that group at that time. So that was quite amazing that he got really ... I basically send him a message that I'm doing this project and I send him a link to the Kickstarter campaign and the video, and I asked him if he could take a look and if he could support my project in an form he finds suitable. And the response was just wonderful.

ilise benun

I imagine that takes, well, what I would call ‘chutzpah,’ what other people might call ‘courage,’ what some people might think of as ‘confidence.’ So, I'm curious about your attitude. You've talked a lot about your excitement, but I think there has to be more than excitement to make all of this happen. What do you think?

Wioleta Kaminska

Yes, there are a few things. Well, I definitely have passion for what I do. Art is a big part of my life, and kind of art: nature. I also love connecting with people, and art allows me to do so. And I didn't even realize that initially when I was doing art. And that's what I often tell my students. We live in times when we really don't want to ... It's very rare that somebody wants to do art just for themselves. Well, sometimes we do as a hobby, but especially professional artists, or those of us who are more active on social media sharing our artwork, we really want to share our art. And we want others to be part of that experience because then it's more rewarding. At least, that's my thinking.

As a busy person—and I'm not an exception here; everybody in the world today is very busy—it takes a lot of time to even create art. And yes, and it can take a lot of energy to put projects out there into the world or make certain ideas reality. For me, it's connecting with others. And I think that helps me. That gives me energy. But also, yes, courage? I don't think much of it. I just think of doing things and giving a try.

I always think I do not want to look back in my life at some point and wonder ‘what if’? What if I had tried it? What if I had done it? So, if it feels right, I'll give it a try. I'll do it. I understand, just like with Kickstarter, I might not reach the goal, and I will have to live at peace. But I will never look back wondering what if I had done it? I feel we have to take risks and just live our life moving forward. So, that's kind of my mantra.

ilise benun

And do you think of yourself as a confident person?

Wioleta Kaminska

I hear that sometimes. My friends say, "Oh, you're confident." I don't know. I understand the word, what it means, the meaning, but I don't really think of myself as a confident person. I don't know. I think it's more somebody who looks at me or listens to me and watches me maybe would describe me a certain way. I just don't think about it. If I think of courage, lots of other things come to my mind. You know, saving somebody's life would be courageous... Confident? I don't know.

ilise benun

And what about chutzpah? Obviously English is not your first language. Do you know what chutzpah is?

Wioleta Kaminska

Not stamina, but the attitude of go-getter? Is that what it would be?

ilise benun

Yeah, yeah, I would say. Balls, having balls …

Wioleta Kaminska

Having balls.

ilise benun

... is another way, ‘cojones’ some people say in Spanish. The reason I'm asking is because so many people I talk to suffer from what they term ‘imposter syndrome;’ and it has to do with a lack of self-worth and a lack of self-confidence and all of these things. And I noticed that the people who have the most confidence don't think about it, and they don't think of themselves that way, and that that's a common denominator about confident people.

Wioleta Kaminska

Interesting. Oh, that's something. Well, you gave me some food for thought, right here.

ilise benun

Good. We have a few more minutes, and I just want to talk about time, because it sounds, from your story, you've been thinking about this for a while and you've been planning it for a while and you have not rushed into this. And I like to say that things take the time they take. And so many people, because they're so busy perhaps, or I don't know, just seem to be in a big hurry to get things done. And I am a proponent of things taking the time they take. So, I'm just curious, how long has it taken you to get here? Where are you going from here? And how do you think about time?

Wioleta Kaminska

Time. Well, we don't have much time to discuss time.

ilise benun

True.

Wioleta Kaminska

I would say. But yes, we're always running out of time, as unfortunately the whole world is. But yes, I'm a busy person. I'm going to tell you, my ego feels really good right now after hearing what you said about me not rushing into things.

I am not the most patient person; let's put it this way. But yes, I actually have taken time with the campaign. I was thinking of releasing it in January, and a few things, mostly my lack of time to put it together in the way I wanted the campaign to look, basically that was the reason why I released it a few weeks later. And I'm happy about it because I could use some time for just refining certain areas of the campaign. And I'm a perfectionist, so of course ... and I don't believe in perfectionism, so of course lots of things could be refined in terms of campaign.

Like I said earlier, I've been thinking about the Kickstarter since I came back from Iceland; and I came back in August. And we are right now halfway through February, so it's been quite some time. There's been a lot of planning, writing, photographing, and just working on the video and so on.

Where I'm going from here … the book is part of the project Retreating. And the book also, that's the title of the book. But that's my whole project that I initiated in Iceland. I'll be working on a book right now, and I am continuing with the project.

For example, Telfair Museum, in the meantime, has selected part of the project, “Retreating,” as a winner for their yearly program. And a few of the collages, a few of the photo collages, will be displayed for a year at Telfair Museum, Jepson Center in the windows.

ilise benun

Wow.

Wioleta Kaminska

Yeah, so I'm excited about that. There is an artist talk that's going to take place May 23rd at Telfair Museum. Also, the project and hopefully the book will be ready by then, the project, “Retreating,” will be on display for a week at the Cedar House Gallery in Savannah, where my videos, my video installations, my photo collages, my paintings, my photographs will be on display at the Cedar House Gallery. So, that's going to happen.

And I am continuing with the project. I have some more ideas where I want to go with it besides the media I'm already using. I would like to go into more of a 3D-space installation. That's something I am currently working on and brainstorming.

There are a lot of ideas I have, and I don't have much time for that. I think that the older I get, the more I realize that I can take things a little bit ... I can maybe take a little bit more time executing my ideas. It's okay. I'm just very excited to be on this journey.

I don't know how much time it will take, but I feel like this project, Retreating, also having an ongoing project … I find that this is my first ongoing project that is expanding so much. And I'm really excited about it because I'm not feeling restricted with what I can do and how much time it'll take. Maybe this is something that will be ongoing for a while. I'm really excited about it.

ilise benun

Nice. All right, well, we're going to try to publish this before the end of your Kickstarter campaign to give you a little bump, if possible. And I just want to thank you, Wioleta, for sharing your thoughts and your process. And can't wait to hear your artist talk at the Telfair Museum. That's right on the street we both live on, so that'll be awesome. And I will be at the Cedar House Gallery at the end of September, as well.

Wioleta Kaminska

Thank you so much, ilise, and thank you for having me here. And when you walk with Fanny by Telfair Museum after April 28th, you can just take a look at my collages. I hope they will transport you right into the Icelandic landscape.

ilise benun

Excellent. Oh, actually, I forgot one thing. Two things. I want you to give a baby step to our listeners of how they might begin, whether it's a Kickstarter project or anything like this. And then, be sure to tell people where they can find you online.

Wioleta Kaminska

Baby steps. I would say be patient with yourself. Don't forget to breathe through the process. That's really important. I would say having a plan is great. Planning is great, and executing your idea, but I think taking care of yourself in whatever it means to you is really important. For me, it's walking. And that's when, actually, a lot of thinking, for me, and planning takes place.

ilise benun

Me too.

Wioleta Kaminska

I think that's breathing is really important during that process. It should be because it all should be sustainable. And if we cannot run out of energy; even though I'm so excited about doing things, I have to remind myself very often to just take a step back and just breathe and take a little moment so I can regenerate. I think that's really important.

And then, yes, being patient with yourself, because very often sometimes what we think are challenges, what we come across, actually, looking back, we realized these were actual steps we had to take to complete that task or get to where we are supposed to get. I always say: “It's not a very linear path. There are lots of twists and turns. And sometimes it takes us to places that are even more exciting than we thought that we would end up with.”

And where I can be found: I can be found on my website. My work can be found on my website at wioletakaminska.com. I'm also on Instagram @WioletaKaminska. And I think these are the two main platforms. My website has other links to different platforms that can easily be found. My work can be easily found and there, too. And of course, Kickstarter.

ilise benun

All right. And we will link to all of those places. And again, thank you so much, Wioleta.

Wioleta Kaminska

Thank you so much, ilise.

ilise benun

I can tell you that I learned a lot from Wioleta. Her passion and excitement are contagious, even over a podcast. If you want to support her and her work, and you're listening to this episode before March 13th, 2023, please check out her Kickstarter campaign. The link is in the description.

And I love her baby step: breathe and be patient with yourself. Everyone can do that, no matter what your project is. As always, if you want to build a thriving business on your own terms, the first step is to sign up for my Quick Tips at marketing-mentortips.com. Once you're on the site, you'll find lots more resources, including my Simplest Marketing Plan. So, enjoy. And I'll see you next time.

 

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