— Craig Mod, Kickstartup: Successful fundraising with Kickstarter.com & (re)making Art Space Tokyo

I really like Craig’s data-driven approach to figuring out what price points are most attractive to potential online donors. And the fact that he added a $2,500 price point with a personal tour of Tokyo by him that, while not generating any donation revenue, helped shape the perception of the $850 price point.

I also like that he’s not only using Kickstarter to fund a one-off project, but is treating the online service as micro-seed capital to finance a publishing venture and ensure the continued production of this and other books, both digital and in print.

His analysis of donation totals over the life of the campaign is fascinating as well. His advice is to shoot for a campaign length and funding goal such that the total is reached just as the campaign ends. His numbers provide a good benchmark for anyone else interested in starting their own project.

Finally, his section on marketing your project and promoting the campaign is gold. The part about focussing on relevant bloggers and media outlets with a thoughtful, well-tailored pitch echos many of the lessons I’ve learned doing PR in the past.

All in all a great piece and worth reading if you’ve ever even been curious about what it takes to bootstrap your own side project with Kickstarter.