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Comment by mrfusion | Hacker News Reader

Off shoot topic but does anyone know if there are any tips or best practices for a socially awkward dude to make a kick starter?

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Be genuine and sincere. My three Kickstarters have been successfully funded and my video was made with Windows Movie Maker, me talking, and a quick pan of my prototype.

I'm not asking for hundreds of thousands of dollars. I'm reasonable in my rewards, my pricing, and my funding amount.

My last 3 campaigns were for $2500 (raised 10,000), $3000 (raised ~$5700), and my current one is for $5000 and I'm currently at ~$6300.

The best thing I have found is to just keep people in the loop. Even if nothing has changed, I make an update every week to let the backers know I'm still around.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1985705009/piplay-porta...

Make a good prototype, be honest about what it does, be realistic (= slightly pessimistic) about what you can do with the money you're trying to raise.

I don't think social skills matter as much as those.

Don't you have to be exciting and likeable in the video?

Nah, just pay some cute girls to be that while you narrate.

Ed:

I may have phrased it snarkishly, but that's honest advice -- if you're not good on camera, find a film student to help direct brief bits you're in (so you perform better, are framed well, etc) and get other students to do most of the on camera work.

There's a reason most marketing materials use professional actors, and if your strength isn't presentation, you should too. There are lots of students looking for portfolio work (at very reasonable prices).

Depends on your product and audience I would guess. Another tip could be to hire someone.

I don't know why you're getting downvoted because this is a real problem for so many people, i.e. the whole "you must have a video where you talk to the camera".

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