A True Kickstart for Your New Product
January 26, 2012 by Beth TempleEveryone needs a kick-start now again (I say this on my third cup of coffee this morning). And many of you know about the site Kickstarter that allows companies to post a description of their company/product along with a funding goal.
If you aren’t familiar (or even if you are) you should read David Pogue’s column in today’s The New York Times. He writes mostly from the perspective of the people who go to the site and make the pledges – what motivates them (many things do).
Let me take a different perspective: that of the entrepreneur. My interest in Kickstarter has always been its potential for early stage businesses to use it as a test market. This isn’t true for all the companies – but for those who are building real products, Kickstarter is a great place to gauge interest and even pricing – because you can give your target market “… a chance to preorder the gadget being developed…”
Think of Kickstarter as a place to judge future interest through pre-launch sales. It is a great way to learn the ropes of merchandising, marketing and pricing. Companies must promote their pledge campaign and set levels of participation; promoting the product at the right level can help to validate real market pricing. If more people want your $25 t-shirt, that says something too.
I am happily awaiting my current Kickstarter ‘pledge’ from TouchFire (which sold out on Kickstarter but is now in pre-orders).
NOTE: I have no business association with either Kickstart.com or TouchFire.