Why Zoop...?
A Personal "FAQ" From Me, To You!
I’ve been asked a few times from friends, fellow creators, and even Backer as to why I took my newest campaign, Milestone #1, and put it onto Zoop for crowdfunding instead of the usual Kickstarter. First things first, I have to make it clear: I DO NOT have any issues with Kickstarter. Period. The platform is solid, the people behind the scenes are amazing, and the familiarity of the system is comfortable. I also have a lot of control with Kickstarter, once the campaign page is approved, and can design it pretty much however I like.
“Okay, so why Zoop, then…?”
Glad you asked (I do this a lot when thinking, so I write the way I think, LOL). Here’s a quick FAQ that I will append as I either think about it more, or as things come up afresh. Zoop is not perfect and it’s still growing, but they’re listening and learning with each campaign and they’re building up some great features on a solid platform. That said, one of the key appeals to me is that this is good for all of us: Backers, Creators, and even Kickstarter!
By disrupting the market even just a little, it forces Kickstarter and other crowdfunding platforms to think about how and what they’re doing or risk losing out to competition. This is the classic argument for competition in business: INNOVATION! By pushing other platforms and each other with new features or new offerings or new experiences, the whole market grows and improves.
Hell, it’s exactly why many of us get into indiecomics in the first place.
“A Rising Tide Lifts All Ships…”
FAQ (sorta)
Zoop provides Backers a true “shopping” experience. That means less hemming & hawing over which tier to choose (I do this), instead allowing Backers to pick multiple Rewards ‘tiers’ and minimizing confusion or frustration with the Creators who maybe didn’t create a clean Rewards system (I’ve been guilty of this as a Creator, and frustrated with this as a Backer).
Add-ons are clear and depicted right there on the campaign page. No longer do I as a Backer have to select a Rewards tier and then try to figure out which Add-ons I want only to discover that there’s an Add-on that conflicts with my Rewards choice, so I have to go back and modify my whole Backer plan. See the Rewards, add whichever one(s) you want to your cart, then immediately scroll down to see your Add-ons and continue the process. If you just want to scan all of the Rewards and then all of the Add-ons (or, vice versa!), go ahead — they’re all visible on one page.
Built-in fulfillment services offering. Simply put: this gives me the ability to focus on book creation instead of packing & shipping rewards. This is also a mixed bag as I’m emotionally attached to controlling everything, LOL.
Comics-focused platform (and comics-adjacent). Zoop doesn’t do music, videos or film, novels, technology, widgets or sports equipment — they might, if the item(s) is/are deemed “comics adjacent”, such as the Rocketeer puzzle they recently had on their platform. I love the emphasis, because it means that the platform and experience are all built around us: comics people and our products. It’s built around comics Backers & Creators alike. The emphasis is all on comics. (Yes, this could totally change in the future — but, for now and the foreseeable future, it’s all on comics.)
Creator support. This one is difficult to be fair - KS is so massive that it’s not really possible to provide customized, individualized suggestions for Creators to help improve their respective campaign(s). That leads to more tribal knowledge sharing, more specific & targeted growth opportunities, and more target market success (the inverse is also true: the smaller audience means you’re bringing your reader base and gaining a percentage more but not really tapping into a massive audience such that KS provides. +/-)
Ultimately, we should (IMO) all want Zoop to succeed in order to help our entire market benefit. Niche, focused crowdfunding platforms with cool features and exceptional support put the “big guys” on notice and spur innovation. As noted earlier, that’s a win for us all. I really, really like the Zoop experience as both a Backer and a Creator. It’s clean, crisp, intuitive and simple. I’ll continue to use & support it!
PS — I’ll append that “FAQ” as I think of more things. 😊
1000%!!! Especially on the innovation/rising tide shtick. I think most need to start somewhere that has the reach like KS, but then absolutely start diversifying as soon as you have the base to support it. I've wanted a creator to break down their thoughts on Zoop and/or the other infant, up-and-coming crowdfunding platforms. So thanks for this!