by with 24 Comments

A lot of you have been emailing me asking for more crowdfunding videos and screencasts, so…

I put together this 4-video screencast teardown of Next Keyboard – The Perfect Keyboard for iPhone, a live, recently launched Kickstarter project.

(Note: I traded a few emails with the team before they launched, so I gave them advice on a few pieces of this, but I wasn’t deeply involved in the planning or execution.)

There are 4 video screencasts total, and in each, I analyze a different piece of the campaign:

In the first video screencast, I discuss their project title, their funding goal and their unique choice of project duration.

Crowdfunding Video Teardown – The Next Keyboard – 1 of 4 – Title, Funding Goal and Duration

 

In the second video, I review their crowdfunding video, bit by bit. If you’ve ever wondered what to include in your crowdfunding video, this one is for you.

Crowdfunding Video Teardown – The Next Keyboard – 2 of 4 – The Video


In the third video, I analyze their rewards and pricing and the value at each level. They did something really clever with the $1 level.

Crowdfunding Video Teardown – The Next Keyboard – 3 of 4 – Reward Levels and Pricing


In the fourth and final video, I review the main body section of the campaign (the part below the video). The Next Keyboard team also did something really smart here that you can steal for your own campaigns. In this last video, I also cover a two small tweaks I’d suggest to the team to help increase conversions.

Crowdfunding Video Teardown – The Next Keyboard – 4 of 4 – Campaign Body

What do you think? Did you like this? What else do you want to see?

Let me know in the comments below (or with a social share).

If you find them valuable, I’ll do them more often.

Thanks!

  • Brian

    Outstanding! Thank you for doing this. I’m sure it was a lot of work, but the teardown was definitely great. Would love to see a new campaign not doing so hot get a makeover by you at some point. (Before it’s too late for their campaign.)

    • http://www.spindows.com/ Clay Hebert

      @Brian Thanks! Glad you liked it. I’ll make a note of a new campaign makeover. The tricky thing with that is…once the campaign is live, it’s hard to change much about it (most creators don’t have time to shoot a new video and once any reward level has any backers, the price and copy is set and can’t be changed). So I could point out what they did wrong but all I could recommend as a “makeover” is how they could market it and get more traffic. I’ll think about it though. Thanks!

  • Stuart Watson

    This is awesome Clay! Love the GIFs idea here too. If you’re able to do more of these it would be fantastic. At some point, would love your thoughts on foreign currency campaigns on Kickstarter too. I’m in Australia and concerned about possible confusion and impact on success because US-backers (primarily) being put-off by the non-$US reward levels. Thanks again!

    • http://www.spindows.com/ Clay Hebert

      Thanks, Stuart! Yeah, the GIFs in this campaign were awesome. Smart Bedding also did it with theirs as well (twice – one to show problem / solution and further down to show color options). http://kck.st/16E80ad

      I would handle the AUS / US thing by doing 3 things:
      1) addressing it in the video – only has to take a couple seconds…and
      2) mentioning in each reward level what it translates to in USD (approximately)
      3) linking to a simple USD -> AUS currency converter
      4) explaining international shipping clearly for physical goods

      As long as people want what you’re offering….and you make it easy to convert the currency (or just tell them what it is in their currency), I think that’s how you mitigate anyone being put-off by the non-$US reward levels.

      Hope this helps!

      • Stuart Watson

        Thanks Clay. These are really great tips. I think Indiegogo allows campaigns to specify the currency but I feel Kickstarter is the right place for what I’m planning. Much appreciated!

        • http://www.spindows.com/ Clay Hebert

          Cool. “Kickstarter or Indiegogo” is a new post coming soon. (In a couple weeks, I think.)

  • http://pucknkhaosblog.com Gigi Rodgers

    THIS IS LEGIT! Thank you so much for doing the work and giving your feedback. It takes A LOT of the guessing work out of this very scary process. I’ve already shared this with a friend who will be doing her first Kickstarter this year and she is THANKFUL for the information!
    More videos like this? Absolutely. You could do various types, as in physical products, digital products, like Brian said below-one’s that are failing, etc.
    Either way, keep up the good work! It really is appreciated.

    • http://www.spindows.com/ Clay Hebert

      Thanks, Gigi! And thanks for sharing it with your friend! I’ll definitely do more of these (and branch out into other types of campaigns). As I explained to Brian below…it’s tough to do “makeovers” since once a campaign is live, there’s less they can change…certain things get locked in (like reward levels with any backers)….but I suppose at least I could do it for the purpose of teaching others (even if it doesn’t help that creator much). Thanks again! Glad you liked it!

  • http://www.conjostudios.com/ Conrad Weaver

    Thanks for the videos… very helpful!

    • http://www.spindows.com/ Clay Hebert

      Hey Conrad! You bet! Glad you liked them. People seem to like them….maybe I’ll do some more. 🙂

  • Guest

    Thank you Clay! That was great! I need to revamp parts of my campaign before I launch now. I love how you broke it down and made it compressive. I enjoyed meeting your at the social fresh conference and loved your kitty presentation. Thankyou!!

  • http://customhorsepaintingsdelmar.com/ Lucie Barry

    Thank you Clay! That was great! I need to revamp parts of my campaign
    before I launch now. I love how you broke it down and made it
    compressive. I enjoyed meeting your at the social fresh conference and
    loved your kitty presentation. Fantastic!

  • mbyrne

    Great work and very useful. Would love to hear about international sales for a US project. From what we have heard about VAT, duty, and uncertain shipping costs for a physical product, it makes us consider not offering international sales. How are people handling this, dealing with multiple international postages?

    • mbyrne

      Also, apparently, on the 1st of January 2015 the European Union (EU) will be introducing new VAT law changes which apply to anybody selling digital goods to their customers within the EU region. The new EU VAT rules on the supply of digital services affect all companies (EU and non-EU) that sell to a consumers inside the EU.

      I am not familiar yet with what this means, but it might be a good topic for you to address.

  • Guest

    Terrific tips Clay; Thank-you for your insightful info. The tear-down
    for each component of the campaign gave such clarity to the “how to”
    strategy for success, implementing well planned & valued content.
    I
    know it must have been a lot of work to put this together, however, I
    for one, learn from your teachings. So, please, keep them coming,
    Sensie.
    Best regards.

  • Kim Michael McCarthy

    Terrific tips Clay; Thank-you for your insightful info. The tear-down
    for each component of the campaign gave such clarity to the “how to”
    strategy for success, implementing well planned & valued content. I
    know it must have been a lot of work to put this together, however, I
    for one, learn from your teachings. So, please, keep them coming,
    Sensie.
    Best regards.

  • http://www.WearFiftyFifty.com Mark

    Thank you Clay! As always… insightful, detailed and priceless. Please keep making amazing videos like these. Can’t wait to show you our campaign in 2015. Happy Holidays! Mark

  • Ayanda Mngoma

    Thank you so much for these awesome insights and tips, Clay! 😀

  • http://www.furfriendscookiesandtreats.com Terri Schnitzius

    Thank You for the insights. The information was great and I will make sure to use your tips and pointers for my project.

  • http://socmediafin.com Joyce Sullivan

    HI Clay! Loved the 4 video series how you break down each step of the process. You have a very clear and easy to understand approach. Excellent teaching style! I’m looking at helping a 1st timer not-for-profit with a crowdfunding campaign. The more I learn, the quicker (and better!) I can be to get their small project launched.

    • http://www.spindows.com/ Clay Hebert

      Thanks, Joyce! Glad you liked it. Non-profits can be a different animal (since often the rewards are less substantial) but there is still opportunity to offer great rewards (keep them “digital” to save costs). And the storytelling piece is even more important. Here is a great post from Seth Godin on Singer’s Paradox, relevant for any non-profit crowdfunding or fundraising. “Close & Now” and “Gratitude” are important. http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2014/12/cutting-through-singers-paradox.html

      • http://socmediafin.com Joyce Sullivan

        Awesome, Clay! Thanks for the quick reply. I starting thinking that Kickstarter may not be the best platform to use; perhaps Indiegogo or GoFundMe or something else?…I’ll check out Seth’s piece. I’d like to do my bit to help this group, not just get the funding they need, but even more important, to get the word out to more people who may be passionate about their mission.

  • Paula Nguyen

    Amazing tips! Thank you for sharing.

  • Lauraine G

    Love this teardown (thank you) and would definitely welcome more of them! Even if you’re not doing a Kickstarter project, I think it’s really interesting stuff.

    I’ve been following you since I ‘attended’ your workshop on creativeLive last year (which was awesome btw), and as always, the way you present yourself and the information is very clear, calm and non-scarifying… You also make a lot of common sense suggestions that I don’t see/hear elsewhere (speaks to your considerable experience) and that would be so easy to overlook when it comes to your own project.

    Speaking of which, I must get back to mine… Thanks Clay!