Kickstarting your InstantEncore Website

Kickstarter has rapidly become one of the most important new sources of funding for Artists and Arts Organizations. Overall, Kickstarter has had over $150 million pledged to help fund projects already, and they are only growing. Crowd-sourcing your funding is also a solid way to help grow your Fan base by giving those who could never sponsor an entire event or recording on their own a chance to be a part of the process.  You can create a stronger connection with them as more than just audience members, but as Partners. With that it mind, it only makes sense to look for the best ways to integrate Kickstarter into your own InstantEncore powered services.

Website
Available to both Free and Pro accounts for Artists and Ensembles, your Website is your home on the internet. While it is of paramount importance to promote direct links to your Kickstarter page via social media such as Facebook and Twitter, no Kickstarter campaign would be complete without the information displayed prominently on your Website as well. New Fans will likely find you by your Website first, so letting them know that they can participate in your organization from the very start is key.

First, you will want to go to your Kickstarter's project page, find the "< > EMBED" button next to the other social media links, and click it to open the widget page.

Copy (Ctrl/Command-C) the code that appears to your clip board.  Once you have the embed code ready, go to your InstantEncore Website Control Panel and manage your Sidebar settings.

At the bottom will be an option to "Add Widget/HTML".  Give the Label a unique title, paste (Ctrl/Command-V) the code into the HTML area and click "Create".

You can use the orange arrows to change the order of where items appear on your Website. The higher up you place the Kickstarter widget, the more noticeable it will be.  The widget will also automatically update each time it is viewed, showing your progress. Your finished product should look something like this...

Sidebar items appear on every page of your Website for maximum visibility - whether Fans are looking at Events or listening to Music, they will always be aware that they can be your Partner instead of just a passive Fan.  For added visibility, you can manage your Website's Home page and add an announcement about it as well, as above.


Rewards
Promoting your Kickstarter project is only half of the battle.  Creating compelling rewards levels will be the deciding factor for not only IF people will help, but by how MUCH.  This is another step in which integrating your InstantEncore services can help seal the deal.

An extremely effective low level reward is to offer some of your music as a free download.  Simply create a Download Code Campaign in your Control Panel, create either a single universal code or several personalized codes, and send a code to each Backer who helped fund at that level.

Higher level rewards usually combine low level ones with other exciting incentives such as autographed materials or special recognition.  Why not take it one step further and add the highest Backer as a Sponsor on InstantEncore? This option is available when managing an Event or Music Album options, or use your imagination with any of the custom content areas on your Website!

Mobile Apps
Stay tuned...!