Ever wonder what it would be like to be smack-dab in the middle of a Kickstarter Campaign? My guess is hectic. And scary. And exciting too.
But we don’t have to guess because designer Trisha Cobb from Circle Me Silly is going to give us the details. Here’s my interview with Trisha.
Let’s start with this… Who are you and what do you do?
I’m the designer and founder of Circle Me Silly and I’m currently just 28 hours into my Kickstarter Campaign.
First off, my goal is to make parents’ life easier with the garments I design. Take the goHoodie in my Kickstarter campaign- it makes going to the beach or lake with small children an ADVENTURE instead of a HASSLE. The goHoodie is a coverup, hat, towel, and backpack all in one! That huge bag of stuff you normally take? All gone. Also it helps your children become responsible for their own stuff… in the backpack they can put their water bottle, sunscreen, and toys. Check out the Kickstarter video here!”
What’s your background? Actually, I come from a high tech background but needed to take a break from working outside of the home when my daughter Sophie was born with cerebral palsy 6 years ago. Her little sister soon followed and at night I would sew for them and their older brother. My mom taught me to sew when I was little and I never gave it up. After many people asked for my clothing I decided to make a go of it and here I am.
What made you want to do a Kickstarter? That was an easy decision… and a lot of hard work! I knew that I wanted to produce a run of goHoodies here in America and it’s not an inexpensive proposition. It’s also a great way to test demand and so far I’m really pleased with the results!
How did you decide on a funding goal? I wanted to get the goHoodies to backers before the end of summer so it all came down to timing. I spoke to several factories in San Francisco to find out how many goHoodies they could produce in a given amount of time. I then multiplied (cost of goods + Kickstarter fees + shipping costs) by the number of goHoodies that my chosen factory could make. Sounds complicated I know!
How did you decide how long the campaign should last? Kickstarter recommends 30 days or less. I stuck with 30.
What have you done to market it and what’s worked / not worked so far? As I’m writing this it’s been 28 hours since the project launched. The campaign is at $2450, that’s 30% of my goal of $8000. Facebook has been the focus so far… I am thankful to know the blogger “Silicon Valley Toddler” and she did a great post for us and my friends have done an awesome job of sharing the campaign. What would I have done differently from a marketing standpoint? Found an intern to help me make lists of contacts beforehand. Who knows how big it could already be if I was more prepared??!!
What three things would you do differently next time? 1. Have a marketing plan firmly in place 2. Start earlier so that I could do a bigger project 3. Start earlier so that my family could get more quality time from me. It’s been a little crazy the past few months!
You can support Trisha and check out her video here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/circlemesilly/circle-me-silly-the-gohoodie-project
Do you have questions for Trisha about her Kickstarter? Just leave them in the comments below!
