Why is my Indiegogo book campaign off to such a slow start?

[entreprenewer]

Hey guys,
Since you all are both my target audience (entrepreneurs) and experienced as writers, I thought I'd reach out humbly for some advice.

My book campaign (http://jle.vi/book) started off swell, with friends funding it, but progress has all but died, and at this rate, the funding goal won't even come close to being reached.

Is it something with the content, copy, or pricing? I could really use feedback from my target demographic, and it's more face-saving to reach out to fellow authors and aspiring authors than to message those who've already funded!

Thank you, humbly!
JL

 

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[Ravens_Shadow]

Personally, I don't think many people would fund this any way. If you are the serial entrepreneur you say you are, then you could rack up 10k faster than this campaign can. Granted you don't wanna spend time away from your other business, so it is what it is. It almost seems like you don't want to front the risk, but what do I know?

 

[DennisD]

Your video takes too long to get to the point.
Too slow. No enthusiasm. Put me to sleep.
Video's shot well but there's no imagination or 'sizzle'. I watched 1 minute of it and stopped.
Didn't even care about the product anymore. I was bored.

Additionally the video has 337 views.
I'm going to assume that 50% of the people that visit the page (made up number) watch the video.
That'd mean you have 674 visits total.

$1124 in funding means you're getting $1.67 in funding for each person that visits the page.
To reach your goal of 10K, you need to get 5,314 additional people to that page.
OR, you need to raise conversion rate.

Your video and copy suffer from the same problem:
Too much explanation.

There are 3 PARAGRAPHS before you mention the product.

You then jump to "why back this project" before even letting me know what it actually is in clear words. We don't want to do mental gymnastics to figure out what it is you're trying to get funded.

One more thing: People like a book that's already written, but needs the cash to go to print. People don't like to fund 10K worth of a project, and then wait, and then get it. It sounds like we're just paying you a salary so you can write. People don't want that. They want to pay for a clear project that's finished but needs funding to polish or distribute. your book doesn't sound like one of these cases.

Hey guys,
Since you all are both my target audience (entrepreneurs) and experienced as writers, I thought I'd reach out humbly for some advice.

My book campaign (http://jle.vi/book) started off swell, with friends funding it, but progress has all but died, and at this rate, the funding goal won't even come close to being reached.

Is it something with the content, copy, or pricing? I could really use feedback from my target demographic, and it's more face-saving to reach out to fellow authors and aspiring authors than to message those who've already funded!

Thank you, humbly!
JL

 

[entreprenewer]

Your video takes too long to get to the point.
Too slow. No enthusiasm. Put me to sleep.
Video's shot well but there's no imagination or 'sizzle'. I watched 1 minute of it and stopped.
Didn't even care about the product anymore. I was bored.

Additionally...

This is REALLY great feedback. I'm going to try and make some game-time changes to resolve some of these issues.

The truth of the matter is, I'm hoping to approach this in a "lean" fashion - I'm not going to write the entire book unless I can confirm interest and product-market-fit. Perhaps that's a huge turn-off, but I'm not sure how to approach it any other way: I can't take 2-3 months away from the 3-4 projects I'm working on unless I know this is a worthwhile opportunity.

I'll try to somehow inspire a little more confidence in the audience. That's for the feedback.

Not sure how I can spice up the video, though

 

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[dknise]

I hope you don't take this post the wrong way because I do feel straight, honest replies are the highest form of respect:


There was a lot of ego stroking in your video and copy. With all that talk of convincing me you're the coolest person alive and have this whole hidden wealth of elite knowledge cause you went to an elite school, I'd have zero faith in learning from you haha. Basically, I don't care.

Like you said, many entrepreneurs don't care about formal education, so why would we care about your MBA? In addition to this, the only thing you really talk about is the MBA, that magical piece of paper that none of us even care about, which is exactly the problem we have with formal education. Throw out a list of terms and topics you're going to discuss. Real, tangible ideas.

Knowing your target audience is entrepreneurs, we would be much more receptive to a sales copy that straight up says "I'm looking to judge the market, would you guys trust me teaching you and would you like to read this book? Here is my professional experience thus far."

Goodluck

 

[DennisD]

There was a lot of ego stroking in your video and copy. With all that talk of convincing me you're the coolest person alive and have this whole hidden wealth of elite knowledge cause you went to an elite school, I'd have zero faith in learning from you haha. Basically, I don't care.

I actually do a lot of this myself.
It's because I do think I'm the coolest person alive.
I think it rubs people the wrong way.
I need to cut it out.

 

[entreprenewer]

I hope you don't take this post the wrong way because I do feel straight, honest replies are the highest form of respect...

This is also super helpful. Thanks for your frank reply, I needed to hear it. I'm going to try to rework things a bit, though it's hard to rework a video...

Much obliged!

 

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[entreprenewer]

By the way, is the $500 option overpriced?

 

[dknise]

I actually do a lot of this myself.
It's because I do think I'm the coolest person alive.
I think it rubs people the wrong way.
I need to cut it out.

Hahaha same, all three of us are guilty of it. I really want to write a book, but I keep asking myself if I could objectively trust myself as the author and the answer is always no.

This is also super helpful. Thanks for your frank reply, I needed to hear it. I'm going to try to rework things a bit, though it's hard to rework a video...

Much obliged!

True entrepreneur on our hands right here. I'm glad you weren't offended!

 

[mentalic]

I agree with dknise about ego. Use less 'I' in your headers. You have to read Cashvertising ASAP. 'Why I'm the man for the job' is not an attractive header.

Also, tell us a bit more about this:
"I know entrepreneurs, because I've always been one

At the age of 16, I started an online ecommerce company in my parents' garage, which I later ran while getting my bachelor's degree at UC Berkeley. That company grew into a multi-million dollar enterprise with customers in 96 countries. Shortly after being named one of INC Magazine's 5,000 fastest growing private companies in America, I sold the company, did some angel investing in a handful of startups, did some work in Venture Capital, and then decided I wanted an MBA. "
I don't think that it is 'illegal' and it will provide some real proof about your achievements in the past instead of acquiring an MBA.
Also you display your future book in two different designs. I don't think that this helps your branding.

PS There is a lot of competition for books about enterpreneurs/startups which you have to compete with. Just mentioning some titles:
The Personal MBA
The Lean Startup
The Four Steps to Epiphany

 

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[entreprenewer]

True entrepreneur on our hands right here. I'm glad you weren't offended!

If there's one thing I've learned in my career, it's that when someone you suspect is your target audience gives you feedback, you put your ego aside and listen like it's the gospel. In one way or another, I can attribute most of my entrepreneurial wins since age 16 to that one skill!

 

[exige]

My initial thought was, if you've done everything claimed then what do you need $10k from the public for? Then, why do I want a summary of what they taught you in MBA school? If I wanted that I'd just buy the "Portable MBA in Entrepreneurship".

Why not do a blow by blow book about the online ecommerce venture that you grew and exited? A tell all comprehensive story.

 

[entreprenewer]

I agree with dknise about ego.....

Made a substantial number of changes, interested to hear what you think. Added more about my background and toned down the ego. Hoping to do the same with the book.

A little explanation about me: I started my company at 16, selling goods anywhere from $250-10,000 per order, online... I got used to having to over-sell myself to inspire confidence in my customers, and I guess old habits die hard!

PS There is a lot of competition for books about enterpreneurship....

Definitely. Read those and a good number more. I was hoping to carve out a unique niche riding on the tails of the "MBA or no MBA" debate, specifically popularized by Ryan Holmes, CEO of HootSuite, who write an article about "Skip the MBA"

I genuinely believe entrepreneurs should be investing in core business knowledge, even if it's not from my book. If I could turn back time, I would tell 16-year-old me to read a couple books on Finance, Accounting, and Organizational Behavior... it literally would have meant hundreds of thousands of dollars more in my pocket... but I was convinced I could "learn on the job" - which I did. But it was a lot more expensive!!!

 

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[entreprenewer]

My initial thought was, if you've done everything claimed then what do you need $10k from the public for? Then, why do I want a summary of what they taught you in MBA school? If I wanted that I'd just buy the "Portable MBA in Entrepreneurship".

Why not do a blow by blow book about the online ecommerce venture that you grew and exited? A tell all comprehensive story.

Thanks for the feedback. It's a good point. Although, part of the reason is that I've just spend over $100K on an MBA, and a whole lot of my money on angel investments and other miscellaneous investments. I'm not abundantly liquid, and I want to mitigate risk as much as possible (like a true entrepreneur, I guess). Still, that definitely doesn't inspire confidence in my potential audience I'm going to try to counterbalance this by releasing high-quality writing samples and lessons like the ones I've put up on my blog recently.

As far as writing about my business, Donna Fenn (Former editor of Inc Magazine) covered a lot of the most interesting stuff (social marketing innovation) in her most recent book, Upstarts. Beyond that innovation, it's a business that wouldn't appeal to most people. We were selling high end automotive upgrades (supercharger, suspension systems, racing brakes, etc), and it was pretty un-sexy. I'm not ashamed of it, but I wouldn't have considered it worth writing an entire book about, not by any stretch of the imagination. It wasn't a $20M exit or anything like that.

 

[exige]

We were selling high end automotive upgrades (supercharger, suspension systems, racing brakes, etc), and it was pretty un-sexy. I'm not ashamed of it, but I wouldn't have considered it worth writing an entire book about, not by any stretch of the imagination. It wasn't a $20M exit or anything like that.

Unsexy! No way. Consider writing a book about this. I think you'd have a bigger market w/ the readers of Super Street and the like. Or these guys from Secret Entourage that have their new membership site.

What do you need $10k to write a book for? Can't you just...write it?

 

[entreprenewer]

What do you need $10k to write a book for? Can't you just...write it?

Thanks for the feedback re: my business. I guess I've just never thought it was that sexy unless it was an exit in the many millions of dollars.... which mine was not.

As far as the $10K, it's more of a goal for me. In the past, I have a habit of thinking I'm really clever and know the market, and I launch things before validating that my assumptions are in fact true. I "go through the motions" of lean, but don't actually make changes.

This time, I wanted to take a very different approach, and $10K seemed like a good benchmark.

Truth is, I can write the book either way, and I enjoy writing, so I might do it even if the campaign fails... but I'd LOVE to know that there's enough interest, and that the book will sell. Granted, the "resume booster" of having a book is one thing, but a little passive income is much more valuable to me. I could write a whole series of books on my thoughts on passive income, and how I made a full salary during my MBA all with Passive Income

 

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[entreprenewer]

UPDATE:

HUGE thanks to DennisDuty for taking me on as a client and doing some consulting work / improving some of the video graphics. Affordable rate, and fast turnaround, this dude rocks!

Can I ask you guys for your opinions on the improvements?
-New video is shorter and according to Dennis has a more appealing flow
-New text is shorter, more to-the-point, and less egotistical (as is the video, actually)
-Tried to get rid of the feeling that you're "paying my salary," and give a little more confidence that the book is already underway.

What do you guys think?

Thanks!
JL

 

[DennisD]

UPDATE:

HUGE thanks to DennisDuty for taking me on as a client and doing some consulting work / improving some of the video graphics. Affordable rate, and fast turnaround, this dude rocks!

Can I ask you guys for your opinions on the improvements?
-New video is shorter and according to Dennis has a more appealing flow
-New text is shorter, more to-the-point, and less egotistical (as is the video, actually)
-Tried to get rid of the feeling that you're "paying my salary," and give a little more confidence that the book is already underway.

What do you guys think?

Thanks!
JL

I'm glad you're happy. I wish we had the opportunity to work without such a tight deadline. We could have destroyed with some prepwork.

 

[Tony I]

I could write a whole series of books on my thoughts on passive income, and how I made a full salary during my MBA all with Passive Income

I would buy that book for sure.

 

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[entreprenewer]

I would buy that book for sure.

Read "Rich Dad Poor Dad" and "4 Hour Work Week" and you'll get the gist of it

 

[dknise]

Read "Rich Dad Poor Dad" and "4 Hour Work Week" and you'll get the gist of it

Better than both of those, read The Millionaire Fastlane by MJ DeMarco.

1) He doesn't repeat himself 4 times a page for the entirety of the book and sell $5,000 seminars.
2) He doesn't preach about being a lying, conniving little scam artist to make your millions.



I'm a little biased though.

 

[Tony I]

Read "Rich Dad Poor Dad" and "4 Hour Work Week" and you'll get the gist of it

Already read both, I'm assuming you built additional automated web businesses and/or had cashflow from property? (Don't mean to hijack the thread)

 

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