Crowdfunding Nerds: Kickstarter Marketing, Business, & Beyond!

Ep 19: 8 Business Ideas You Need To Know For Your Kickstarter

While cleaning his office Sexy Irish Sean finds an old notebook with some business advice that you need to know about before going to Kickstarter! 
Episode 1900:05:13 - #1 Be Obsessive00:15:34 - #2 Don’t Stop00:21:17 - #3 Get Paid00:27:17 - #4 Everything Changes00:30:44 - #5 You’re Not That Great00:35:10 - #6 Surround Yourself With People Better Than You00:39:14 - #7 Be Careful What You Wish For00:42:03 - #8 Don’t Get Comfortable

Ep 18: Hygiene Factors of Your Kickstarter Campaign

In this episode, the nerds talk about the Hygiene Factors of your Kickstarter campaign. These are things you need to think about and have answers for before launching! 
00:05:16 - Board Game Import Fees00:10:32 - Challenges of Board Game Marketing00:17:57 - Kickstarter Hygiene Factors 00:19:02 - You Need Review Videos00:29:05 - Your Need Playthrough Videos00:34:58 - You Need High-Quality Art00:36:39 - You Need A High Converting Landing Page00:39:40 - Solid Pricing And A Strong Offer00:42:20 - Pledge Managers00:46:30 - Thinking About Future Risks 
Episode 18Stellaris Infinite Legacy - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/academygames/stellaris-infinite-legacy
Wil Wheaton's TableTop - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7atuZxmT956cWFGxqSyRdn6GWhBxiAwE
Panda Game Manufacturing - https://pandagm.com/
LongPack Board Game Manufacturing - https://www.longpackgames.com/
Gameland Manufacturing - https://www.gamelandus.com/
BangWee Manufacturing - https://www.bangweegm.com/
Hero Time Manufacturing - https://herotime1.com/
Backerkit - https://www.backerkit.com/
Gamefound - https://gamefound.com/

Ep 17: Organically Engage a Facebook Community With Your Board Game

The Crowdfunding Nerds interview Thomas Covert of The Board Game Revolution Community Facebook Group. Tom shares tips on how to engage a Facebook community naturally with your board game. The effectiveness of giveaways is also explored! 
Episode 17 
00:03:40 - Tom's Thoughts On The Board Game Community Online00:10:09 - Polarized Views From AI?00:12 :46 - Examples Of Facebook Posts That Get Great Engagement 00:14:18 - Don't Do This In Facebook Groups00:18:40 - Do A Lot Of People Link Bomb in Facebook Groups? 00:20:36 - Facebook Ranks Posts Using Google Authority00:22:50 - Richard's Solution To Facebook Group Marketing 00:27:39 - Ask For Feedback In Facebook Groups00:30:06 - Use Facebook Groups to A/B Test00:31:14 - Do Admins Look At Post History? 00:36:05 - Don't Make Your Posts About Yourself00:39:18 - The Effectiveness of Board Game Giveaways 
Show Notes
Board Game Revolution Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/boardgamerevolution
BG41 (Board Games for One): a group for solo gamers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/boardgamesforone
Board Game Exchange - The Original “Buy, Sell & Trade” Boardgame Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/boardgameexchange
Association of Colourblind Gamers - For Board Game Creators and Players - https://www.facebook.com/groups/AssociationofColourblindGamers
Board Game Revolution Giveaways - https://www.facebook.com/boardgamerev/services/

EP 16: Work-Life Balance & Running a Kickstarter w/ Chip Cole

Chip Cole is a freelance board game illustrator and founder of Squatchy Games. Chip has nine children and recently has a very successful Kickstarter Board Game Campaign. He shares his experience of balancing work and family amidst a Kickstarter campaign. 
 
Episode 1600:01:10 - Episode Overview00:02:00 - Board Game Design Lab + Board Game Marketing Course 00:03:45 - Star Citizen Raises More Money / Class Action Lawsuit 00:06:25 - Chip Cole On Work-Life Balance00:07:20 - Who Is Chip Cole And What Is Squatchy Games? 00:10:09 - Family Play Testers? 00:11:05 - It's Ok To Fail On Kickstarter00:13:17 - Setting Work Boundaries With Your Spouse00:16:40 - How Do You Balance Freelance With Game Development? 00:18:55 - Do You Schedule Family Time?00:20:30 - Did You Have Any Work-Life Balance Issues During Your Kickstarter?00:23:40 - Setting Expectations For Backers 00:31:50 - What Was The Development Timeline For Cryptid Cafe?00:35:20 - How Do You Switch Off?00:36:00 - Strategies For Family / Work Balance? 00:37:30 - Pre-Kickstarter Marketing Advice 
 
Show NotesDamnation: The Gothic Game - https://www.blacklettergames.com/damnation-the-gothic-gameStar Citizen - https://robertsspaceindustries.com/
Squatchy Games - https://www.squatchygames.com/
Cryptid Cafe On Kickstarter - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/squatchygames/cryptid-cafe
Wildermiss - Chip's Daughter's Band - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChHTtTr9YKGM5TZNAXXvI3g

Ep 15: Board Game Landing Pages 101

Everything you need to know to build a landing page that intrigues, captures, and delights email leads for your upcoming board game launch! 
Episode 1500:03:00 - Hosting Your Website00:06:56 - WordPress Security 00:08:22 - What Is A Landing Page?00:14:26 - How Do You Track Your Conversion Rate?00:18:15 - You Need A Email Marketing System00:20:59 - You Need Art Or Images Of Your Game 00:23:46 - The Three People You Need To Design Your Landing Page For00:27:35 - Landing Page Tips00:34:15 - What Goes In The Top, Middle & Bottom Of Your Landing Page?00:42:00 - Board Game Landing Page Example 
Show Notes
Wordfence WordPress Security Plug-In: https://www.wordfence.com/
Typography Tutorial: https://youtu.be/QrNi9FmdlxY
Gutterfall: Bounties Landing Page Example: https://gutterfallbounties.com/
Andrew's Landing Page Guide On the BGDL: https://www.boardgamedesignlab.com/how-to-market-your-kickstarter-campaign/#elementor-toc__heading-anchor-9

Ep 14: The Virtuous Circle Of Kickstarter Marketing

The Crowdfunding Nerds cover the most important element of Kickstarter marketing, the Virtuous Cycle and automation.
Episode 14
00:03:04 – The Virtuous Cycle00:07:42 – What Is Automation?00:08:58 – Benefits Of Automation00:09:47 – Kinds Of Automation  00:13:25 – Disadvantages Of Automation00:14:40 – The Importance Of Audits00:16:35 – Why You Hire Marketing People00:19:25 – KPI Of The Virtuous Cycle00:24:30 – Components Of The Virtuous Cycle00:37:40 – Getting People To Your Landing Page
Show NotesSkyrim Is Coming To Gamefound - https://gamefound.com/blog/post/big-titles-upcoming-on-gamefound#/Modiphius Entertainment - https://www.modiphius.net/Creating A Facebook Group For Your Kickstarter Board Game: Step-By-Step Guide - https://crowdfundingnerds.com/board-game-facebook-group-guide/Create an Automated Welcome Email On Mailchimp - https://mailchimp.com/help/create-an-automated-welcome-email/

Ep 13: Organic Marketing: How To Market Your Kickstarter With Little To No Money - Part 2

Join the Crowdfunding Nerds as they continue to dive into organic board game marketing.
Episode 1300:01:33 -  Skyrim Board Game00:03:33 – We Got A Question About Organic Marketing00:05:18 – Sean’s Experience With Reddit00:10:04 – How Andrew Got 400 Email Leads In 3 Hours From An Organic Post00:13:55 – How Reddit Defines Spam00:16:04 – SEO Wizard Rick’s Sage Organic Marketing Advice00:20:52 – Choose Your Groups Wisely00:24:16 – Organic Post Examples00:28:38 - SEO Wizard Rick’s Sage Organic Marketing Advice Part 200:31:20 – Understanding The Buying Process00:36:28 – The Best Marketing Advice By Sexy Irish Sean00:37:41 - The Best Marketing Advice By Andrew00:40:28 - The Best Marketing Advice By SEO Wizard Rick
Show NotesSkyrim Board Game On Gamefound - https://gamefound.com/blog/post/big-titles-upcoming-on-gamefound#/Reddit’s Definition Of Spam - https://www.reddit.com/wiki/faq#wiki_what_constitutes_spam.3F

Ep 12: A First-Hand Organic Kickstarter Pre-Marketing Case Study

Andrew Lowen discusses his pre-Kickstarter marketing campaign for Deliverance, and how he used organic marketing to build his community. 
Episode 1200:01:00 - Amazon's Build It00:03:54 - Big Tech Vs Australia00:05:42 - The Blogs You Must Read Before Going To Kickstarter00:12:25 - What Was The First Thing You Did Online To Promote Deliverance?00:16:20 - Organic Marketing Tips00:19:05 - What Did You Learn About Prototypes When Making Deliverance?00:24:32 - How Does Extensive Playtesting Impact Marketing?00:27:40 - What Would You Do If You Started At The Beginning Again?00:31:40 - How To Do Email Marketing If You Don't Have Much To Share00:37:40 - How Did You Measure Success In Organic Marketing?
Amazon's Build It Crowdfunding Start-up - https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/devices/introducing-build-it
Changes to Sharing and Viewing News on Facebook in Australia -https://about.fb.com/news/2021/02/changes-to-sharing-and-viewing-news-on-facebook-in-australia/
BGG Board Game Design Forum - https://boardgamegeek.com/forum/26/bgg/board-game-design
Jamey Stegmaier' Kickstarter Articles - https://stonemaiergames.com/kickstarter/
Jamey's Article About Us - https://stonemaiergames.com/2-things-to-know-today-about-kickstarter/
James Mathe's Kickstarter Advice - http://www.jamesmathe.com/category/kickstarter/
John Wrot's Kickstarter Advice - https://www.gatekeepergaming.com/kickstarter-advice-columns/
How To Create A Facebook Group For Your Board Game - https://crowdfundingnerds.com/board-game-facebook-group-guide/
The Game Crafter's Convention Sponsorships - https://help.thegamecrafter.com/article/116-events 
Viticulture Board Game - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/128621/viticulture

Ep 11: How To Market Your Kickstarter With Little To No Money

Have you ever wondered how to market your boardgame if you have an extremely limited marketing budget? Well, Andrew, SEO Wizard Rick and Sexy Irish Sean give you some top tips to help you on your crowdfunding journey! They discuss some of the worst marketing advice they have ever received and explain how to do self-promotion in Facebook groups.
Episode 11
00:02:50 - How To Market Your Kickstarter With Little To No Money00:04:30 - Marketing Advice From Andrew's Mom00:06:50 - Time Or Money00:07:40 - How Long Does It Take To Build A Following?00:10:30 - The Worst Marketing Advice Andrew Has Received00:13:54 - The Worst Marketing Advice Rick Has Received00:20:15 - Where People Go Wrong When They Don't Hire Expert Marketers 00:23:30 - The Worst Marketing Advice Sean Has Received00:24:13 - You Need A Facebook Group About Your Kickstarter00:26:00 - How To Know If You Are Spamming People00:28:30 - How To Do Organic Kickstarter Marketing In Facebook Groups00:31:30 - Optimize Your Personal Facebook Profile00:34:26 - How To Find The Right Facebook Groups To Do Self-Promotion 00:41:15 - Boosting Posts?00:41:50 - Use Mailchimp For Free Email Marketing 00:43:15 - Landing Page Options00:47:22 - The Summary
ShownotesDice Tower - https://www.dicetower.com/Quackalope - https://quackalope.com/Mailchimp Email Marketing - https://mailchimp.com/Wix - https://www.wix.com/Weebly - https://www.weebly.com/?lang=enBandzoogle - https://bandzoogle.com/

Ep 10: What Matters Most To Backers On Your Kickstarter Page With Jeremy Howard

Jeremy Howard of ManVsMeeple joins the Crowdfunding Nerds this week to explain what elements make a useful Kickstarter page!
Episode 10
00:01:11 - What Type Of Things Are You Looking For On A Kickstarter Page?00:06:15 - Playthrough Videos?00:09:07 - The Best Marketing By Far00:10:55 - Understanding Buying Signals00:11:59 - Hygiene Factors00:16:04 - Do I Need Big Name Reviewers?00:19:24 - Does Jeremy Howard Review Games He Does Not Like?00:23:00 - How To Find Suitable Reviewers 00:28:45 - How Much Notice Do You Need To Give A Reviewer?00:32:00 - Minimum Quality Of Prototypes For Pre-Viewers?00:35:48 - How To Build A Community Around Your Game00:43:03 - Does Jeremy Howard Do Kickstarter Page Audits? 00:44:00 - How To Find Jeremy Howard
 
Show NotesManVsMeeple - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTU7xJi9dBQIcBeUFLpWGUAPrimal The Awakening - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/reggiegames/primal-the-awakening?ref=discovery&term=primal%20the%20awakeningThe King of Average - https://www.youtube.com/c/TheKingofAverage/featuredWhat Your Turn! - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUR8rBizfHbB_vU-0pr-vJwOne Stop Co-op Shop - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrOtGhui_jdLdoQNI7PU4PgBargain Quest - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/223740/bargain-questZee Garcia (Dice Tower) - https://www.dicetower.com/team-members/zee-garcia Board Game Reviewers & Media -https://www.facebook.com/groups/boardgamereviewerGama Expo - https://www.gama.orgRobert Geistlinger (Director of Marketing at Arcane Wonders) - https://www.dicetower.com/contributors/robert-geistlingerJambalaya Plays Games Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/119149332052973