King Of Your Own Castle - Conor Lewis

Over the last two episodes, Conor and Lucas have shown you how to build brand anticipation, how to capitalize on it using crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter and how to continue to grow from there, but what happens when you've gotten too big for that small kickstarting-pond?

It's high time for you to break out, and found your own online realm to reign over, says Conor, who shares how he took FORT from one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns ever, to one of the hottest up and coming  companies for safe and fun children's furniture.

My Kickstarter has plateaued, where do I go now?

At this point, you really have two options, depending on how much faith you have in your product, and how prepared you feel your team is. You can either:

• Consider baby steps to the next level. Try IndieGoGo's  Indemand platform, which features a blend of crowdfunding and e-commerce features, without the restrictions or resource-investment of either. Use this to keep one foot in the crowdfunding sphere, raising additional capital, while freeing yourself to grow beyond.
• Make the big leap. Build your own e-commerce site with Shopify, start taking pre-orders and hit the ground running. If you're confident in your brand, and the data shows you've grown as much as you can with just crowdfunding, then there's no reason to hesitate. Don't forget to turn off your crowdfunding campaign once you no longer need it.

I'm ready to dive right into pre-orders. What do I need?

There's a big difference in behaviour and expectations between people who support innovations on Kickstarter, and buying customers who expect merchandise for their money. Take the time between platforms to build your benchmarks.

• Figure out your cost of acquisition. Sourcing manufacturing for prototypes and limited special order runs are one thing, but if you turn that tap on and start getting flooded with orders, you need a supply chain that can handle it without breaking your bank. Manufacturing and resource costs may quickly rise, so make sure your bottom line can handle it without shocking the price tag too much.
• Know your retention rate for returning customers. Most crowdfunders don't donate repeatedly to the same campaign, but people can spend years buying from the same company. You need to figure out if people keep coming back to your store, in how great a number, and most importantly, what drives them to return. Only then can you focus and capitalize on them.
• Have a clear strategy for converting your lists. Your momentum may quickly disappear if your social media supporters don't  join you on the new platform. Have data driven expectations of how many will, and  design messaging campaigns to entice anyone who havn't already followed  through.

How do I get my followers to migrate over to my new store?

It's a lot harder for an e-commerce store to catch the attention of potential customers than a crowdfunding campaign. Unless you have a plan for growing new followers and retaining the old, your traffic will get very quiet very quick.

• Build an email and SMS list from your crowdfunders just for  moving customers from one spot to another, removing them from the list once they've signed up with your new store.
• Include special offers and exclusives for supporters who share and promote your new site within the community of supporters, and beyond.
• Introduce new products to your inventory, even if they're just colour-swaps of the original product. FOMO is an incredible market driver, and including ideas and suggestions from excited customers will only grow their sense of engagement. Basic changes are also cheap and easy to apply to your manufacturing and supply process, while potentially multiplying sales.

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