Tarot Card Poll

Thank you for the advice <3 Lots of different thoughts on it, so I have some things to contemplate

Brandon McGill

Thank you for the advice <3

Brandon McGill

Thank you for the advice <3

Brandon McGill

I actually enjoyed your answer the most because of the insight and for validating a couple of my thoughts.

Brandon McGill

This is a lot of food for thought

Brandon McGill

You could do a pure Kickstarter, and still promote it on your website. (And if the Kickstarter fails, you can still do it again on your site.)

Jason Tamez

I'm going to provide a contrarian opinion here: I recommend you consider doing a Kickstarter only. With Kickstarter, a big part of the game is leveraging interest and excitement in the project. By doing Kickstarter only, all of us would need to go there to make our purchase, adding to both your total number of backers and dollars committed. That gives you a greater chance of reaching your goal as well as setting up the possibility of having a hugely successful run! From what I've heard* (keeping in mind I haven't run a Kickstarter myself) one of the biggest things that helps a campaign is quickly reaching the funding goal. There seems to be a bit of herd mentality when it comes to this, so people like getting on board with something that is already funded. Some companies will set an absurdly low goal, but that has its own risks (apparently, people look at low goals as being a bit of a farce). So the best bet is to leverage existing supporters to launch the project right off the bat, especially in the first day as that is apparently the most crucial time (the first day and the last day usually seeing the most activity). I would be concerned, then, that having an alternative way for your core supporters to get the deck would undercut your early growth and threaten the Kickstarter overall. I have absolutely no doubt that this Tarot deck will be hugely popular regardless (there have been a couple of other Tarot decks on Kickstarter that have done really well and yours has such an incredible and unique style!). But my recommendation would be to leverage your existing supports to ensure its success. *I attended a panel at Phoenix Comic Con a couple of years ago about running a successful Kickstarter, and while I've lost those notes to time and disorganization, this is what I recall from the panel.

Like other comments I think you're smart to start with your base, build support and buzz there; and move to Kickstarter to build awareness and support of your art in a larger market. I had a horrible experience with Kickstarter...came within a few pledges of publishing my book. It was an enormous effort but a few dollars short and consequently no book. Start with the sure thing here. I think folks here would also be willing to spread the word to friends who might be not be able to Patreons but would be interested in a Kickstarter effort.

Michael Kilgore

Right? Also hi! How are you? <3 Miss you Cousin! I might do a promotion for just Patrons and close fans before launching it on Kickstarter for everyone else. Just trying to find a way to please all camps, but also make it a big success!

Brandon McGill

I think you can have your cake and eat it too. Market to your core via your website/socials, and use Kickstarter to get the word out. May also be a good idea to get some press. ;)

Kyle Limb

Do both but try to promote your own website as much as possible to save the fees. Might as well have multiple streams. I dont think it will be confusing especially if you can just promote your website on the kickstarter and then they realize they can just donate direct there instead. It will depend on how you can get them to exit kickstarter to your site without getting in trouble

It seems like people are in favor of both so far!

Brandon McGill

Why not do both? Offer some on your site for people who know about you, and then use the Kickstart to draw in more people. You might have to have more printed up, but it would cover both. Also advertising in gay media is also a possibility. Altho that could be quite expensive at first.

Richard Basen

Thanks for the advice! <3

Brandon McGill

That's a great idea! Danny will be debuting in a few days

Brandon McGill

Comments are welcomed!

Brandon McGill

Already thinking about ways to get coverage in the local LBGTQ+ papers on the release that I want to discuss highlighting the local model cards.

Everything that you keep in house is cash not spent to do something that you can do better yourself. We are all over the planet. Give us a chance to help and participate. I relish the opportunity to give something back. Why keep a dog, and bark yourself? I can't be the only one with more to offer than cash.