Flex your creative muscles: give Kickstarter a ticket to your gunshow.

Kick starter is all about the newest grassroots movement in launching a project: Crowdfunding.

“Crowdfunding = neo-philanthropic-micro-financing for your project.”

If you have a brilliant idea or project in the works but you don’t know about Kickstarter, read on. It is a grassroots, web based platform connecting patrons to aspiring artists to finance their projects.  This is to your project what sliced bread is to sandwiches: the base. It will make it consumable to the public- tactile.  Yancey, cofounder of Kickstarter gives a brief synopsis of how it works in an interview with Ryan Gerber from Movement & Faith:

“Basically the way it works is that you post a project saying what it is you want to do and how much money you need to raise to do it. Then you offer your community and your audience certain things, incentives, in exchange for helping you. For example, if I am a musician maybe if you give me $10 I can offer a copy of the CD, $50 you can come sing on it and for $200 I will give you a music lesson. Whatever you want to offer its up to you. What it all comes down to is banding people together, getting them behind an idea, and bringing that idea to life.”

Having tried my hand at projects soliciting interaction from the public, I know too well how painstaking it is to get any kind of response. Kickstarter is the antonym to this experience- it thrives on interaction. BUT Wait! Here is the catch- the projects have to capture the imagination of its micropatrons — and offer sufficient incentives to drum up the money needed. The most successful projects tend to share similar qualities. A  GOOD video, one that shows the face of those in the project, a personal plea for involvement. The more interactive and personal you are with your pledgers- the larger response you get. Videos, gifts, letters, a blog documenting your progress etc. This is good news for us idea generators- we have all been waiting for a venue that thrives off of good ideas, right?

Get a better picture- take a few min to watch this interview

So far this is my favorite project… and it’s not too late to fund it either!

Mysterious Letters to Everyone in the World!!!