Whether Kickstarter project creators actively seek out feedback on their projects or not, one thing that I often encounter is an approach to the concept of revision that, all too often, allows mediocrity to prevail over boldness.
Revision, it seems, is a dirty word, to many Kickstarter project creators.
But, why?
I suppose that the "why" of it varies, from project to project. Many, it seems, are apprehensive about implementing change. Are they scared of it? Do they fear that changing their project page will yield worse results than their current project page?
Who knows? Who cares?
Well, if you're a project creator for a crowd funding project, you probably should. After all, it's your project whose neck is in the noose. As Kickstarter uses an "all or nothing" approach to crowd funding, your project will either succeed or fail. Being a fence straddler, where the funding meter is concerned, translates into failure.
So, you want to meet your funding goal that you, yourself, have set for your project. Well, if your current project page isn't getting the job done, common sense dictates that either you're not getting the word out sufficiently, or the word that you're getting out is deficient, or your project page that you strive to drive visitor traffic to has problems with it.
Revising your project page is something that lies wholly within your province, as project creator. That you may not be able to revise every last detail or section of your project page, once you launch it, should not preclude you from revising the portions that can be revised, if what you have in place already simply isn't getting the job done.
For the very reason that Kickstarter campaigns are timed, your project is always under the gun. The clock is ticking, and if you waste too much time before you warm to the idea that your project might very well benefit from making changes to your project page, then it will only be your own fault, if you fail to act in a timely manner.
But, how do you know what's working and what isn't? Well, that's part of the challenge of running a crowd funding campaign, isn't it? The finding out and the knowing - it's all a learning process.
Which is all the more reason for you to be active, rather than passive, where your project page is concerned. If you revise it, and your changes net you no gain, then you can always revise it, yet again.
But, revising your project page takes time, you argue. And time is always a commodity in very short supply, since running a Kickstater is a very time consuming undertaking, if those who speak with the voice of first-hand experience are to be believed. Whatever time that you spend revising your project page is time that you won't be able to spend doing other things - such as promoting your project to others.
Then again, if what you are promoting is a project that has a project page that just can't seem to convert page visitors into backers and pledge dollars, you could probably do a lot worse than revising the very focal point of your entire crowd funding project - namely, your project page.
Can you afford to take time out to revise your project page? Can you afford not to?
If you were to ask me for feedback on your project page, then the odds are pretty good that I might just criticize it. Many people prefer to avoid criticism. They view it to be an inherently negative thing.
Yet, criticism is at the crux of critical analysis. It's part and parcel of what allows flaws and weaknesses to be discovered, which then facilitates gaining strength through the removal of such flaws and weaknesses from a project page that suffers from them.
Your project page is the foundational cornerstone upon which your entire crowd funding campaign is built. It is your Grand Central Station. It is the Mecca to which your project's faithful will flock. But, if it has more holes in it than Swiss cheese, then maybe you're not getting quite the number of backers and pledges that you might otherwise would be gaining, were your project page more solid in its look and feel.
Criticism is, in actuality, a process whereby crowd funding project creators can forge a better project page. It is a process whereby impurities bubble to the surface and can then get removed, yielding a much stronger, far more capable tool for driving backers and pledges.
Criticism, without revision to accompany it, makes for an inefficient approach to crafting a project page. Why go to the time and trouble of obtaining criticism in feedback form, if you then sit upon the knowledge gained? One does not turn lead into gold without performing the necessary alchemy, first.
Revision can be work. But, then again, many things in a crowd funding undertaking can be work.
Revision can also pay off. It can benefit your crowd funding project, big time! It can make a positive difference. It can yield tangible results.
People will notice the difference. You will, too.
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