Guidelines for Starting Kickstarter Projects

[WillHart CthulhuWho1]

Greetings from Fullerton, California!

I'm looking for general or specific business-side advice on the things that need to be put in place, or done to make a Kickstarter card deck project run as smoothly as possible.

There are many people here who've created and shipped amazing decks of cards; and I'd like to know what each of you can say about the behind-the-scenes processes and lessons you have learned, and are willing to share.

As I work on my first deck for an upcoming Kickstarter project (code named "Harthaven"), I'm also mentally working up a list of all of the things I need to do between the time I finish my artwork, and the time I actually go live on Kickstarter.

I have all of the current USPCC info packets, including the Kickstarter Custom Decks information, plus the Bicycle templates, and my first two Custom Quotes for branded and unbranded decks, thanks to Tiffany Mahan.

I've been reading all of the postings I can online that discuss costs, fees, taxes, and resources (a very special Thanks to Jackson Robinson!); plus looking carefully at any pictures that are posted showing packaging and shipping containers.

I've been making notes on all of the types of packages I receive decks of cards in, including the names of the companies that produced the postage/shipping labels (Endicia, Stamps.com, etc.).

I've been reviewing and pricing Label printers, packaging materials (Uline!),and methods.

And it is my intention to set up an LLC (Limited Liability Company) under the name, Harthaven, LLC; so I can set up a business account and credit/debit card with Wells Fargo Bank and Amazon to keep all of the financial records related to the playing cards I plan on offering separate from my personal finances and taxes.

It is also my intention to have all of my artwork finalized and approved by the USPCC (including the Legal Department approval to display the Bicycle Logo items on Kickstarter) before I go public with my card decks; so there will be no delays to hold things up if my projects are successful.

What can you add to the list of things it takes to make a smooth experience for everybody?

Many Thanks in Advance for your thoughts!

Will Hart

[ecNate]

I have not run a KS project, only supported quite a few and had thoughts of creating projects, including card based ones. However, I would suggest you carefully consider outsourcing as much as possible, especially for your first one so you can focus on a smaller set of possible issues. That is provided you can partner with RELIABLE and PROVEN providers. For example: http://kings-wild-project.myshopify.com ... ulfillment

[WillHart CthulhuWho1]

ecNate,

I'm one of the (lucky?) individuals given early retirement from my nearly twenty years with a division Rockwell; so time is what I have plenty of...

My wife is also retired, which means we are both here full-time, and ready to devote all the time needed to card project fulfillment.

So working on card shipments will mean I spend a little less time watching movies, playing with the Oculus Rift, or doing other equally important things...

I've got three decks planned, but only one at a time; so I don't believe the wife and I will have too many problems getting everything shipped quickly.

She's been my "Artistic Advisor" and inspector on my card work, and now refers to "our" cards; so she won't mind helping to finish each project with me.

I forgot to mention in my original post, that as a first-timer, with no "track record" yet, I'll only be offering one of my three decks first, to keep the first job limited to dealing with one batch of printing at-a-time. And that first deck will be my Black and Gold deck, in part, because it is the one I most want to hold in my hand, and will use as my everyday deck, and also because I want everyone to evaluate my first deck and fulfillment process, before I then offer my Blue or Red decks next. I'll wait for feedback before deciding the order of the second and third decks.

As a first-timer, I'll also be keeping the available rewards limited to Cards in Air-Cushion Finish (with Early-Bird Specials, in Singles, Doubles, Triples, Half-Bricks and Bricks), physical and PDF Uncut Sheets and Tuck Cases (Signed or Unsigned), and the possibility of switching to Bee Stock paper if the quantity of decks requested made it worth ordering the 5000 decks minimum to do so.

And my final fall-back business plan, based upon the fact that my interest in producing three decks of cards was because of my own desire to have decks of these cards for myself, is to have a few decks made by MPC, just for me, if the Kickstarter interest isn't great enough to go the USPCC Bicycle route to share with the world. Either way, I'm getting some cards for my collection!

It's all good.

Will Hart

[Mike Ratledge]

Will, it's a matter of how many backers you get, really. Sure, if it's several hundred, doing it yourselves is very doable, but what if you have 800+ (or 1500)?? That's when you need to start looking at a fulfillment center like Jackson's Kings Wild or something. There's a lot more to running a successful KS project, but you have the basics down, having a sellable project and things to show from the beginning.

[wahl0108]

Looks pretty good to me! I know some people like matching coins and dice or t-shirts but then you also have to bring those companies in as well. Any idea when you'll be able to launch?

[WillHart CthulhuWho1]

The more I work on my own first deck (of a set of three related decks), the more I fear to predict the date when I'll be finished and ready to reveal what I've been up to.

My backs, Black & Gold, Blue, and Red are done; and they will all have borders (at least for the first release of each deck), due to my need for white borders when doing certain card tricks that use reversed cards, where they would "flash" without white borders on the backs.

All of my number cards and Aces are done.

And I'm about half-way through my Court Cards and Jokers; which I'm working on slowly at a pixel-by-pixel level to get them to look just the way I want them to.

I'll reveal what I can here on United Cardists as soon as I'm pleased with everything about my decks; but at the rate I'm going, it's more a case of months rather than weeks, so it will be awhile.

And there are several decks coming out soon that I don't want to compete against (for pledge dollars that is), so I don't mind waiting for a small lull in the creations of some of the top creators, before I hick off my first project.

Will Hart
Fullerton, California

[Mike Ratledge]

We're ready to help, Will! As you've probably noticed we have a 100% track record of steering people and playing card projects in the right direction. It's one of those "group think" things where we have so many people from so many places around the world each with a slightly different (or even widely divergent) perspective.

As the tag line says: "Show us Your Cards!".