016 – Who stole your cheese? Why the funds received is always less than the amount raised on Kickstarter

Did you know that Kickstarter creators don’t actually receive the entire funding amount displayed on every Kickstarter page? In this episode, Tyler James details the three reasons why, what (if anything) you can do about it, and how much you can actually expect to receive. Plus: A bonus mini-lesson on SMART goal setting!

Today’s Session is Sponsored by ComixTribe

Go to ComixTribe.com/subscribe for 5 Free Comics

Session Table Setting

ComixLaunch Survey Update

We put it out, and you guys responded! Thank you so much for taking it!

Quick Tip: Set a Goal for Everything Important you do

Could have just made the survey

Instead – Pick a target # of surveys to collected, decided to set a time frame, and throughout the month, steadily checked in on our progress toward that goal.

On Oct 30, 1 day before closing, we hit our target.

SMART Goal Setting

S – Specific

M – Measurable

A – Attainable

R – Relevant

T – Timely

I sent out an email to the ComixTribe creators list, just talked about the power of measuring your progress towards your goal

Kickstarter bakes into DNA this in. A KS designed with SMART goal framework in mind.

The ComixLaunch Blog is Up!

Jeremy interviewed with Dave Rapoza and Dan Warren of Steve Lichman Kickstarter

Just ended, one of the biggest comic book Kickstarters of all-time, one of the top 1%, $198,608 dollars in funding.

Putting the Reader First: A Six-Figure Strategy for the Steve Lichman Kickstarter

The first in a series Jeremy will be doing where he’s talking to Six-Figure Comic KS projects and breaking down what they do differently.

What is Today’s Episode About?

One of those subjects that really doesn’t get talked about… I think a lot of people take it for granted that people just know this… but in talking to many creators who haven’t launched KS before, I know that this will be something that some of you haven’t completely considered.

The Funding Amount that is displayed in big numbers on every successful KS page IS not the amount of money that KS creator receives.

The Funding Amount raised is a number that’s pledged.

Not number of funds that is actually collected.

Definitely not Amt that shows up in Your bank acct.

Lets illustrate will some actual numbers from the last three KS campaigns I’ve managed:

C is for Cthulhu Plush Toy and Board Book

Pledge – $42,483

Collected – $38,276.19

Difference – $4,206.81 (9.9%)

The Standard Ultimate Collection

Pledged – $17,259

Collected – $15,374.64

Difference – $1884.36 (10.9%)

The Red Ten Volume 1

Pledged – $13,460

Collected – 12,136

Difference – $1,324 (9.8%)

Was I robbed? Call the cops? No… This is how KS works…

There are THREE Reasons why KS actual funds differs from funding amount

1) Kickstarter Fees

KS fee -5% flat 5% off the top of every pledge.

Best deal in town…

Diamond takes 60%
Amazon 35-45%
Retailers 50%

Marketplace for comics. People are shopping there, $40 million dollars have been spent there on comics… show me another platform with that volume that takes less.

Nothing you can do about these fees.

2) Stripe fees

Stripe is KS cc transaction partner.

Stripe, our payments processor, will apply credit card processing fees (about 3-5%).

Used to be Amazon Payments, last switched to Stripe Jan 2015

Pros

Stripe seems to be the preferred processor of new companies (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
Won’t need to set up an Amazon Payments business account anymore.
You’ll just enter your bank account details on the Account tab when you’re drafting your project on Kickstarter. It takes about two minutes, whereas the old way could take a few days.
For backers, this means a simpler, faster and easier checkout process. No more being redirected or having to log in to a separate service. It takes half the steps, and it all happens on Kickstarter.
Very easy process, very clean interface.
Amazon payments, more cumbersome
One lump sum

Cons

You’ll need to wait 14 days before any funds are available

Nothing you can do about these fees.

3) Backer Attrition – What is it, what to do about it?

People sign up to Kickstarter to back first project… Enter a cc

When they back their next KS, they aren’t asked to enter a CC again. This is a good thing… Whipping out cc is a momentum kilker.

Drawback, is that some expire… Ks only checks this when they try to process and cant

KS tries to get backer to update CC, sends several emails over 10 days… Backer updates, great, cc is processed. If not, the backer not charged.

Can amount to real money–

C is for Cthulhu

11 Backers Dropped – $730

The Standard Ultimate Collection

5 Backers Dropped — $479

The Red Ten

1 Backer Dropped – $135

There IS something you can do about backer attrition.

Before campaign over, in update– remind backers to check their cc.

Ex. *IMPORTANT* Kickstarter will be collecting all the funds from backers, so if you haven’t done so already, please ensure your credit cards are up-to-date so you can get your rewards without delay.

Within 10 days after… Send email to extra asking

They might ignore email from KS…

After 10 days… Email with PayPal link.

Hi, [backer name]

It looks like Kickstarter was unable to resolve your payment for the C is for Cthulhu plush campaign. Your credit card was not charged and you were dropped as a backer from Kickstarter.

I know you’re still interested in getting the Plush Toy, and I already have your survey information.

Here is a special direct Paypal payment link from ComixTribe, the publisher of C is for Cthulhu, that will allow you to make your pledge and get your reward — https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=6DW9M5XTHDDS2

If you have any questions, please let us know, and thanks again for your support!

Best,

Greg, Jason, and Tyler

When the product is in hand — Email them again.

Hey, we’ve got your book still reserved for you!

Either direct them to your online store… or again, that Paypal link.

You can recover a good % this way.

Today’s Sponsor – ComixTribe

Click here for 5 free comics from ComixTribe. ComixTribe…Start here!

ComixLauncher

It’s time for today’s ComixLauncher.

A ComixLauncher is a short, actionable activity you can and should do right now, or immediately after listening to the show. They’re all activities I’ve done myself, and will get you one step closer to a successful ComixLaunch. They’ll transform this Podcast from a passive, lean back activity centered around Tyler James, into an active, lean-forward activity centered around YOU.

ComixLauncher – 016

What is one goal you want to accomplish in the last two months of 2015?

What ever goal you have, find a related, measurable action you can start tracking.

If you’re a writer, maybe it’s pages written, or even words each day.

If you’re an artist, maybe it’s pages or panels.

If you’re a publisher, maybe it’s sales or leads. Maybe it’s retailers on your VIP contact list.

If you don’t know exactly where you fit in the comics industry, maybe your goal should be to talk to 3 people in the industry each week for 15 minutes until you figure it out… start tracking that.

Whatever is important to you… set a goal, and then start measuring your progress toward it.

Go a step further… share your progress publicly.

Shoot me an email to [email protected] subject ComixLauncher 16 and let me know what you’re going to measure.

Quote

“What you measure, you can manage.”

– Peter Drucker

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