Kickstarter - FInale
Wow. We did it. I feel like a true Vegan MoFo right now. We have run a successful kickstarter campaign. We are finally heading to the banks.
What does it take to run a successful kickstarter campaign. Here is what I came away with it....
1. Drive: If you don't have the drive forget about it. You need to really be in it to win it. This is a full time job of getting the word out. There needs to be a constant voice in your head that says, I think I can I think I can. It looks like it is going to be easy.... but its not. So, although my schedule was crazy busy,(I am pretty sure I have the busiest schedule known to man between a full time job, 2 kids, 3 dogs, 2 cats and Sanctuary Bistro), I always found at least 4-5 hours a day to work on marketing. Yes... this is the minimum. (And it included weekends. )
2. Passion: Love what you do. If you are excited about what you are doing so will everyone else. If you love what you do, the 30-40 hours a week will be exciting and fun, albeit exhausting. Knowing that I was doing something for the animals, the people, the planet and my family seemed worthwhile.
3. Professional Help: And no, not just therapy. (Which from my schedule is possibly necessary as well. lol) But make sure that you have someone on your team that is fighting for your best interest. Make sure that they are willing to tell you when you are doing well or did something beautifully and when you need to go back to the drawing table, even if it means going back 2, 3 5, 8, 10 times. They can help keep the fire going when you are feeling discouraged or needing reviving. They can also help keep you on track! Make sure that you enjoy working with this person... because you will be tight! Lisa... I loved working with you. BOMB DIGGITY!
4. Outreach: Word of Mouth is one of the most invaluable tools. So be ready to start talking and then keep talking. Talk, Talk, Talk, Talk, Talk. I got to meet some amazing people and it just continues. I have met so many incredible people. And although we knew many we were able to work more closely with people. We have admiration for so many, advocates for the animals who are tirelessly speaking out for the animals, artists who show the beauty of this earth and the voice of the animals, other amazing food vendors who like us are preparing vegan food as an incredible opportunity to start the conversation about veganism, magazines that educate so many about policies and nutrition and food, runners and athletes who preform incredible feats on a plant based diet, authors who make veganism tangible through their recipes, stories or lifestyle discussions, bloggers- the amazing world of bloggers... I mean there are no words... just check out Vegan MoFo to see how incredible bloggers are, we have met scientists that are making meat and eggs archaic and barbarious, entrepreneurs who are creating new products to put on the market, technologically savvy vegans and quiet vegans, traveling vegans and vegans who are on a mission. I mean.... it is AWESOME. I MEAN AWESOME. Then there is you. I mean you are the most important of all. You are the one who read my posts, commented or liked or quietly kept up with what we were doing. It was you who shared what we were up to. It was you who introduced us to someone or something new. It was you who shared your amazing stories. It was you who inspired us to keep going and you who inspired us to do this crazy and amazing thing in the first place.
5. Becoming more tech savvy: Facebook, Wordpress, Blogspot, Twitter and more... Be ready to fall into the abyss and like it! It is an amazing and overwhelming black hole of cyber information and collaboration. Splash pages and linkies and tweets and twerks. (How can you avoid that?) Typing with one hand and feeding a child with the other and scratching your dogs head with your left toe while exercising with your right. Being open to all of the information that is coming your way! There are meet ups and email accounts and photos and uploading and downloading and drop boxes. It never ends... with Buffer and Hootsuite and on and on and on.... google drive and google plus and google me and google eyes and a boggled brain.
There is so much more....
But these are some of my initial thoughts. I will make sure to share again.
We would love for you to check out our Sanctuary Bistro Splash page and join us on facebook. We are going to be starting soon.. and we will keep you posted the whole way through. We are excited to share everything with you.
Cheers and Love,
Sanctuary Bistro
