As the nation continues to recover from a prolonged economic recession, the focus of policymakers and the public alike has remained on the failure of major companies, with institutions like Hostess and Chrysler failing to maintain their fiscal solvency in spectacular fashion. While the disappearance of established businesses is undoubtedly alarming, the recession has also severely limited the ability of independent entrepreneurs to launch their own small enterprises. Artists, musicians and other businesspeople struggling to develop their ideas and bring them to market have always relied on a steady flow of capital, but with banks increasingly hesitant to lend venture capital, many promising projects have withered on the proverbial vine.
Rather than surrender to this seemingly inescapable reality, a diverse collection of creative souls from across Northern Arizona have taken matters into their own hands by taking full advantage of a novel new resource known as crowdsourcing. Fusing the age-old concept of fundraising with the most beneficial aspects of modern social networking, Kickstarter.com emerged in 2008 as a pioneer in the realm of crowdsourcing, which enables entrepreneurs, inventors and artists to make direct appeals to their supporters while attempting to eclipse a predetermined funding target. Ideas and project proposals that capture the public imagination have proven capable of generating hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations, although the majority of Kickstarter’s success stories required $5,000 or less to transform a dream into reality.
The rapid rise to viability enjoyed by two distinctly different local projects has proven Kickstarter to be a versatile funding platform, with “Flagstaff’s Rowdiest Band” Whiskey Rodeo and Sedona-based children’s author Naomi Rose each using the website to crystallize their creative visions.
The raucous trio known as Whiskey Rodeo was formed when three vagabonds of the music industry, Greg “Filthy McNasty” Francescon, Chase “Bald Wonder” Carpini and Andrae “King Rooster” Blissett, crossed paths in Flagstaff’s eclectic downtown scene. After building a rabidly loyal cult following throughout the Flagstaff bar scene, with their self-described “whiskey soaked rock events” resonating in a refreshingly powerful way, the band found itself confronted by an invisible hurdle that has managed to trip up even the most promising musical acts: a lack of funding.
“We were sitting around Chase’s place trying to figure out how to raise enough cash to get on the road for our first tour,” said Francescon, who sings and adds his guitar and harmonica styling to Whiskey Rodeo’s signature sound. “Chase found Kickstarter through brainstorming, really.”
After posting a splashy Kickstarter page in August of 2011, complete with video footage from a typically boisterous concert, Whiskey Rodeo needed just over a month to exceed their $5,000 funding target. By lavishing their loyal supporters with an array of rewards for donating, including backstage passes and private shows, Francescon and his bandmates used Kickstarter to secure funding for a 10-week tour across seven states.
“I think one of the best parts of Kickstarter is the true sense of urgency they help you provide, because if you don’t reach your goal amount, you don’t get the money,” said Francescon. “It’s a great way to get with your fans and let them know they have to act on a donation.”
With their fan base successfully spread to the Southern states, Whiskey Rodeo attempted to double down on Kickstarter’s ability to propel the creative process, and in October, they created a second funding project designed to record their “Soundtrack to the American Buzz,” in the form of a debut album and permanent relocation to Texas. Once again, the trio’s devoted fans showed their undying support by donating early and often, and despite a higher funding request of $8,000, the band reached its goal in just 32 days.
“Our experience with contributors has been across the board, from fans, family, friends, and folks that just want to see us succeed,” said Francescon. “It’s been an amazing and hairy experience each time we’ve done it, and there were a few moments of terror on both occasions, but I wouldn’t have changed anything. We’ve really had a chance to see how giving people can be, and how badly they want you to succeed.”
The importance of bringing music to the ears of a larger audience was central to Kickstarter creator and co-founder Perry Chen, who recounts his bittersweet experiences as a struggling music promoter in the company’s founding story. When a concert Chen was planning in 2002 was forced into cancellation due to insufficient funding, the vocal disappointment of his DJ’s fans compelled Chen to consider a radical alternative: financing shows purely on the pledged donations of fans. With bands like Whiskey Rodeo fully realizing Chen’s vision just a decade later, Justin Kazmark, a member of Kickstarter’s communications team, confirmed the company’s fundamental commitment to funding the creative process.
“Kickstarter is a funding platform for creative projects, where creators create on their own terms, and have the opportunity to build a closer connection to fans of their work,” he said. “Every week, tens of thousands of backers pledge millions of dollars to projects across the creative spectrum and enjoy a sneak peek behind the scenes of the creative process.”
Creating on one’s own terms was central to Sedona-based children’s author Naomi Rose and her personal Kickstarter quest. She obtained over $8,000 in funding in less than a month, transforming her intuitive artistic impulses into “Where Snow Leopard Prowls,” a delightful book written and illustrated by Rose and influenced by her connection to the mountains of Tibet.
“My husband and I were looking for ways to launch our own little publishing company, Dancing Dakini Press,” said Rose. “Part of our mission for the new press was to grow a community around our work, and to enlighten the world one book and one heart at a time.”
Speaking to the chain reaction of sorts that has accelerated Kickstarter’s rise to the title of crowdsourcing’s template, Rose was introduced to the website after hearing about a success story similar to the one she was still nurturing.
“I read an article about a new publishing company seeking funding through Kickstarter, and that was the spark that made us realize the possibilities,” she said. “Kickstarter held the possibility of growing a community, and in fact, that looked like the only way to succeed. In the end, my husband, Robin Weeks, and I decided to focus our Kickstarter campaign on our first book.”
By electing to focus their fundraising efforts on a singular product, rather than an abstract concept or proposal, Rose honed in on the same strategy employed by Whiskey Rodeo when they sought to record an album. Rewarding her supporters with first edition copies of “Where Snow Leopard Prowls” proved to be just as successful as the band’s signed first presses, and soon Rose’s literary ambitions became readily attainable.
“We wanted to offer a tangible product people could get behind instead of a more general theme of launching a company, so the focus on the book was a good choice,” she said. “It really helped focus our campaign by bringing in certain organizations that helped spread the word, and of course the campaign also achieved our goal to launch Dancing Dakini Press.”
That the members of Whiskey Rodeo and the author of “Where Snow Leopard Prowls” were each able to sustain such disparate creative impulses with the help of Kickstarter speaks to the diverse appeal of crowdsourcing, and both Francescon and Rose offered their newly gained perspective to artists and entrepreneurs considering the Kickstarter route.
“Follow the instructions on the Kickstarter website to the letter,” said Francescon. “Additionally, promote, promote, promote, and when you’re tired of promoting, promote some more. We sent an email per week to our fans, as well as constantly updating Facebook and Twitter.”
Rose echoed this call for a comprehensive approach to making Kickstarter work for you.
“Kickstarter was a lot more work than I originally envisioned,” she said. “We used everything we could think of: our email list, flyers, press releases, and social media.”
When the word of mouth was finally spread, however, and the solicitations finally sent, Whiskey Rodeo and Naomi Rose shared the same sense of exhilaration that is so treasured by artistic souls.
“The best part of Kickstarter was the experience of people being so enthusiastic about my book that they were willing to back it with financial support,” said Rose. “That means a lot to me. I’ve been an author and artist for years, and this was a level of belief in my work that I’d never experienced before. So we now not only have the funds to publish our book, we have a new community of folks interested in the book and our work as a new press.” FBN