Raising Capital

Hi friends,

I’m thinking of doing a Kickstarter or Indiegogo campaign to raise money to fund some ButchOnTap stuff. Specifically, I need to register my new trademark (and finish paying my designer), and I’d really like to get some merchandise made. I was thinking T-shirts, bumper stickers, and maybe some bow ties. But I have so many questions running through my head. Like:

1. What do y’all think?
2. Is it a dumb idea?
3. Have any of you done a campaign? 4. Did it work?
5. Which company did you use?
6. Any tips?
7. Would any of you contribute if I did one?
8. If so, what reward might you like?

I appreciate all feedback on this one. Thank you! It’s butch to give advice. Be Butch.

16 thoughts on “Raising Capital

  1. Yes. Go for it! I’ve done two campaigns and while it is a lot of work, they were successful. It’s a bit late at night here, and my fingers won’t type any more tonight, but Kickstarter has great advice on their site on what to do and not do. Keep the range of rewards wide, meaning have something for those who can afford one dollar, and then more for those who are more flush.
    Best advice, is to look at what others have done, and that will give you the best idea of what works. My KS projects were for the audio book When Women Were Warriors and Safe Harbor.
    If you can do a simple, short video, that is great.
    Keep the amount asked for reasonable. With Kickstarter, you have to reach your goal to get any funds. With Indiegogo, I believe you receive whatever funds come in, no matter if you reach your goal or not.
    However it works out, have a creatively good time with it!
    And then spread the word!! Emails, facebook, twitter,…everything, and everywhere possible. Get all your friends to do the same. Networking, networking, networking.
    Best of luck, and don’t hesitate to write if you have more questions.

  2. Dear Butch,

    I haven’t done a KS campaign. But I have been self employed for a long time and I run 2 small companies.

    Those are all pretty low cost butch swag to have made.

    It seems all the hipster thing right now to do KS campaigns. But they sound like a lot of work to me.

    Instead of KS reach out to your followers to take on orders for the items you are going to make.

    This would require you actually design them now. You have to reach out to producers to get the designed items priced and get a timeline for product turn around.

    Then you figure out your price to the customer (marking up all costs).

    You can then post the items on your website and take orders.

    A retail location would do a 400% mark up on costs. Your retail outlet being on line is much cheaper. I would guess (but you should check) that a 200% mark up would suffice.

    Best of luck
    Diane

  3. I like to be able to say thanks to those who spend time providing me with entertainment and good reads through their blogs. So I’d definitely support this, and if you don’t go ahead thanks anyway!

  4. I know zip about campaigns from either side. But I do know that I enjoy reading your thoughts and insights so I would be supportive of whatever endeavor you attempt. Best of luck!

  5. Hey you should do this! Tweet at me at The Dinah if you want to talk shop. I am both a TM paralegal and a social media director for fundraising campaigns. I’ll help you any way I can.

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