Kickstarter isn’t new, but it’s getting hotter. So today we are going to take a look at what this social site is, what it does and the potential that is has in your life. Ever wanted to write a book, film a movie or get an invention made? This site may be what you’ve been looking for. Hold onto your hats, it’s the official SMMU Kickstarter review!
Courtesy of MWPartners.com
What is Kickstarter?
Kickstarter is a website that allows creative types to find people that fund their projects. It’s a kind of crowd-sourced funding that has actually led to many successful projects. Everything from films, games, books, design and technology is funded there.
They launched in April 2009, and since then have had massive success – earning over $500 million for their users pledged by 3 million people, for 35,000 creative projects.
What’s The Catch?
There is no catch. This is a very clever idea that has earned the owners of the site a lot of money. They take a small commission on all pledged funds, you see. You, as the creative, get to setup a project and persuade users to finance that project.
You retain all creative rights, and no-one that pledges any money can claim ownership of your creative property. Plus this isn’t a loan site – all money pledged is given to you for free. You never have to pay it back, ever! All that is expected of you, are a few gifts along the way.
If you’re a writer that received significant support from a specific individual for example, you can send them your book once it has been published. Or can call them, or arrange a nice dinner. Whatever you want to do to make them feel involved. It’s led to runaway successes that have proved the concept of crowd-sourced funding does work.
Courtesy of pbs.org
• Over 10% of the films at the Sundance Film Festival are funded by Kickstarter campaigns!
• FUBAR the graphic novel funded by Kickstarter, hit the New York Times Bestsellers list in 2012.
• The movie, Incident in New Baghdad was nominated for an Oscar. The movie was funded by thousands of Kickstarter pledges.
• Dark Sky App, an app that predicts the weather, became hugely popular online and was funded by Kickstarter.
• Cards Against Humanity, the top selling home card game was funded by Kickstarter, and to date has gone viral and sold over 100,000 copies.
• Amanda Palmer debuts on the Billboard Top Ten in the UK, thanks to 24,883 backers on Kickstarter that helped her create her music.
Even though just less than half of all projects manage to reach their financial goals on Kickstarter, it’s certainly a creative way to get your project funded. The truth is that it works so well, even celebrities have been using it to fund their own private projects.
Now that finding financial backers has become possible using social connectivity, there is a whole world of possibility waiting for you and your business. Can’t afford to develop that new app? Start a Kickstarter campaign. Having trouble finding the time to finish that bestseller? Kickstarter could be the break you’ve been waiting for!
What do you think of crowd-sourced funding? Will it take off, or will it cause a flood of B-grade media into the world? Your opinion matters!
