Monday Aug 28, 2023
The Virtuous Cycle In Action: A Case Study
Crowdfunding Nerds: Kickstarter Marketing, Business, & Beyond!
Since 2019, Crowdfunding Nerds has helped over 200 crowdfunding creators raise over $30M on Kickstarter and Gamefound. In addition to that, we have generated over $100M in ecommerce sales and had clients featured on Shark Tank, ”As Seen On TV,” and more. We work with IP’s like Avatar: The Last Airbender, Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Star Trek, Mass Effect, Dune, and more... But we have also helped a TON of first-time creators fund on day 1, too! Our podcast exists to help you with your journey before, during, and after crowdfunding using real-world examples from our clients. We share what’s working and what is not in today’s market. We build pre-launch e-mail lists, get backers during live campaigns, and drive pre-orders and e-commerce sales after your campaign ends! If you’re DIY marketing (doing it yourself), we created the Crowdfunding Nerds Academy to help, which has specialized courses designed to make sure you’re doing it right! Buckle up; it’s about to get nerdy.
Listen on:
Episodes
Episodes
Monday Aug 21, 2023
Monday Aug 21, 2023
The Crowdfunding Nerds breakdown the post-campaign sales strategy for Deliverance and the goal of building demand for an expansion and re-print Kickstarter campaign through controlled scarcity.
00:02:44 – Post-Campaign Influencer Strategy 00:11:25 – Leveraging The Excitement of Your Community 00:13:37 – Creating Demand For Your Game 00:31:56 – Community Game Development 00:35:46 – Expanding The Sphere of Influencer Marketing 00:40:37 – The Importance of Diligence
Shownotes:
One Stop Co-Op Shop Podcast - https://open.spotify.com/episode/1Lwv73d54uuu7DMbIycy1B?si=e1csVOATSEC9eRdAXUVStA
Planet Unknown Supermoon - https://gamefound.com/projects/adams-apple-games/planet-unknown-supermoon-expansion-and-deluxe-edition-reprint
Diagnosing Underperforming Crowdfunding Campaigns With Marco Pecota - https://crowdfundingnerds.com/episode139/
TF2 Community Update - https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Versus_Saxton_Hale
Crowdfunding Nerds Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/crowdfundingnerds
Monday Aug 14, 2023
Monday Aug 14, 2023
Marco Pecota of Raybox Games joins the Crowdfunding Nerds to discuss the underperformance of a crowdfunding campaign with a proven IP.
Timestamps:
00:02:21 – Marco’s Expectations
00:04:31 – Email Open Rates?
00:04:52 – Pledge Levels Comparison
00:08:18 – Issues With Cash Flow
00:11:04 – Thinking About Post-Campaign Sales
00:14:33 – Challenges of Selling Heavy Strategy Games
00:15:16 – Conflicting Crowdfunding Campaigns & Releases
00:18:41 – Why Warhammer 40K Was Created
00:20:17 – Don’t Compete With Well Established Brands
00:23:24 – What Marco Would Do Differently
00:27:35 – Backer Perception of Premium Add-Ons
00:35:59 – Running A Tabletop Company Takes Time
00:41:41 – Last Advice
Shownotes:
First Campaign: Escape From Stalingrad Z - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/legionsofsteel/escape-from-stalingrad-z
Second Campaign: Escape From Projekt Riese - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/legionsofsteel/escape-from-projekt-riese
Zombie Tango Oscar – Insiders - https://www.facebook.com/groups/165197702028508
Monday Aug 07, 2023
Monday Aug 07, 2023
Brendan McCaskell of Open Owl Studios (formally OOMM Games) joins the Crowdfunding Nerds to talk about marketing Stonesaga and Mythwind while presenting a neat way for publishers to connect with retailers.
00:02:40- Brendan McCaskell Intro 00:05:53– Bringing Your Audience From Project To Project 00:07:47 – Developing Your Business Around Customer Needs 00:12:51– Marketing Stonesaga 00:19:24 – Product Market Testing – How To Make Games That Sell 00:25:56 – Why Rebrand? 00:27:41 – How Board Game Distribution Works 00:34:58 – What Problems Does FLGstore Solve?
Shownotes
Stonesaga Kickstarter - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mccaskellgames/stonesaga Mythwind Kickstarter - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mccaskellgames/mythwind Stars Of Akarios 1.5 - https://gamefound.com/projects/oomm-games/stars-of-akarios-new-content Black Magic Inserts - https://blackmagicinserts.com/ Kagan Productions - https://kaganproductions.com/ Open Owl Studios - https://www.openowlstudios.com/ FLGstore - https://flgstore.com/ Connect With Brendan on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/bmccaskell
Monday Jul 31, 2023
Monday Jul 31, 2023
The Crowdfunding Nerds are joined by Julie Lowen to discuss mentorship and the principles of businesses that thrive.
00:04:35 – Serving Everyone With Excellence 00:06:51 – Starting A Home Business 00:10:39 – Passion In What You Do 00:14:06 – Don’t Lose Sight Of Your Mission 00:15:37 – The Importance of Analyzing Customer Needs 00:20:01 – Making Life Fun 00:23:31 – The Foundation of Business Is Strong Relationships 00:26:13 – Business Must Make Money – You Need A Plan 00:29:13 – How To Get A Big Break 00:36:11 – Growing Your Mission 00:46:20 – Don’t Demotivate People
Shownotes
Children’s Paradise - https://childrensparadise.com/
Interviewing Andrew’s Sister - https://crowdfundingnerds.com/episode59
Monday Jul 24, 2023
Monday Jul 24, 2023
The Crowdfunding Nerds are joined by Adam Rehberg of Adam’s Apple Games to discuss marketing Planet Unknown.
00:03:29 – How Crowdfunding Nerds Started Working On Planet Unknown 00:04:25 – The Baby Project 00:06:42 – Understanding Campaign Momentum 00:07:33 – The Impact of Board Game Influencers On Campaigns 00:11:45 – Getting A 30 Foot Booth 00:13:46 – Supermoon 00:17:22 – Using Cover Art In Game Design 00:24:32 – Inspirations For Planet Unknown 00:27:40 – Your Game Has To Stand On Its Own 00:35:42 – How Many Games To Print? 00:40:17 – Why Gamefound Over Kickstarter? 00:44:31 – StretchPay
Brewin' USA Kickstarter - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/adamsapplegames/brewin-usa
Rahdo Previews Planet Unknown - https://youtu.be/s3b3ICKsnvw
Machi Koro Board Game - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/143884/machi-koro
The Isle of Cats Board Game - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/281259/isle-cats
Michael Raftopoulos' Company, M.O.B. Vanguard: https://mobvanguard.com/
Planet Unknown: Supermoon - https://gamefound.com/projects/adams-apple-games/planet-unknown-supermoon-expansion-and-deluxe-edition-reprint
Monday Jul 17, 2023
Monday Jul 17, 2023
Samuel Steele, of Tabletop Hub joins the Crowdfunding Nerds on a part 2 episode to talk about YouTube content strategy and paid reviews.
00:01:34 – YouTube Trends? 00:05:38 – YouTube Content Creation Cheat Sheet 00:08:44 – Start Small & Always Test 00:13:59 – Understanding Why People Watch YouTube 00:19:26 – Think About Creating Events To Market Your Game 00:22:43 – Is It Ok To Be Paid For A Review? 00:26:44 – Challenges Of Paid Content On YouTube 00:33:15 – The Bias Of Game Coverage 00:37:16 – They Are Only Opinions After All
Part 1 - https://crowdfundingnerds.com/episode134/ Crystallizing Public Opinion, by Edward L. Bernays - https://www.gutenberg.org/files/61364/61364-h/61364-h.htm Play On Tabletop YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@PlayOnTabletop Miniac YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@Miniac Should You Back It? YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@shouldyoubackit Tabletop Hub YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@TabletopHub Crowdfunding Nerds Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/crowdfundingnerds/
Monday Jul 10, 2023
Monday Jul 10, 2023
We discuss red flags of Kickstarter and Gamefound pages with Samuel Steele of Tabletop Hub and Should You Back It.
00:05:03 - Red Flags of A Campaign 00:06:28 – Need Notable Reviewers? 00:08:23 – Optimizing The Page For Mobile 00:10:50 – Optimizing Web Images 00:16:00 – Is A First Time Creator A Red Flag? 00:25:30 – What To Include In The Risks & Challenges Section 00:31:09 – Picking Content To Cover For YouTube Videos
Tabletop Hub - https://www.youtube.com/@TabletopHub
Should You Back It - https://www.youtube.com/@shouldyoubackit
What Matters Most To Backers On Your Kickstarter Page With Jeremy Howard - https://crowdfundingnerds.com/episode10/
ShelfClutter - https://www.youtube.com/@ShelfClutter
Tabletop Analytics - https://www.tabletopanalytics.com/
Monday Jul 03, 2023
Monday Jul 03, 2023
Rosemary Litoff joins the Crowdfunding Nerds to expound the necessity of building customer relationships for business success.
00:01:22 – Who Is Rosemary Litoff 00:06:33 – The Used Car Salesman 00:08:56 – Understanding Your Customers Desires 00:10:40 – Marketing Has Changed 00:13:07 – Transaction Vs Relationship 00:17:03 – Mind Vs Emotion 00:19:16 – Tribal Marketing 00:28:06 – The Importance Of Building Trust 00:32:49 – Business As Caring For People 00:36:42 – Tips On Building Client Relationships
Rosemary Litoff LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rosemarie-litoff-785a596
C2 Financial - https://www.c2financialcorp.com/RLitoff
The Time Machine, H. G. Wells - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Time_Machine
Paul M. Mazur Quote - https://quoteinvestigator.com/2021/01/21/desires/
CFN Course - https://crowdfundingnerds.com/course
Monday Jun 26, 2023
Monday Jun 26, 2023
The Crowdfunding Nerds discuss what causes work-life imbalance and what you can do to bring things back to normality.
00:02:38 – Defining Work Life Balance 00:05:54 – You Can’t Do It All 00:09:56 – Enduring Difficult Times 00:11:48 – Benefits Of Planning In Advance 00:14:15 – The Power of Hope & Love 00:22:36 – Care About Future You 00:24:48 – Importance of Play Time 00:26:58 – Don’t Waste Hardships 00:30:36 – Find Work That Suits Your Personality 00:41:05 – The Importance of Efficient Systems
Shownotes
Work-Life Balance For Kickstarter Board Games With Chip Cole - https://crowdfundingnerds.com/episode16
Richard Uses Trello - https://trello.com/
Power of Hope - Curt Richter Swimming Rat Experiment - https://www.vailhealthbh.org/about/news/wolfington-the-power-of-hope
Rape of The Mind - https://www.amazon.com/Rape-Mind-Psychology-Menticide-Brainwashing
The 4-Hour Work Week - https://www.amazon.com/4-Hour-Work-Week-Anywhere-2008-04-03/dp/B01K94RC0M/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=4+hour+work+week
Hungry Rats Experiment - https://youtu.be/L6MamDfrH-I
DISC Personality Test - https://www.truity.com/test/disc-personality-test
A World Without Email - https://www.amazon.com/World-Without-Email-Reimagining-Communication-ebook/dp/B08BKSJX1M
The Managerial Revolution - https://www.amazon.com/Managerial-Revolution-What-Happening-World/dp/0837156785
The Crowdfunding Nerds Course - https://crowdfundingnerds.com/course
Upcoming Crowdfunded Games - https://crowdfundingnerds.com/upcoming-games/
Monday Jun 19, 2023
Monday Jun 19, 2023
The Crowdfunding Nerds are joined by Mark Gleason of G2 Business Solutions to talk about the important subjects of payroll, accounting and more!
00:01:57 – Accounting Basics 00:09:12 – Payroll 00:20:23 – Don’t Have Someone Do Everything 00:21:36 – Finance Red Flags 00:25:03 – The Cost Of Doing Business 00:30:42 – Resources
Connect With Mark Gleason - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-gleason-28562053 G2 Business Solutions - https://g2-businesssolutions.com/ Connect With Bookkeeper Orlando U Javien Jr. - https://www.linkedin.com/in/orlandojavien Reddit Small Business - https://www.reddit.com/r/smallbusiness/ Reddit Entrepreneur - https://www.reddit.com/r/entrepreneur/ Reddit Personal Finance - https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance Crowdfunding Nerds Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/crowdfundingnerds Crowdfunding Nerds Course - https://crowdfundingnerds.com/course