Good evening everyone!
The Update: It's been a truly amazing week so far - I was planning to post an update at 70%, or an update at 350 backers, or an update at $20,000, and somehow while I was doing my 19 hour, 2-farmers market Thursday the campaign blew clear past all of those milestones!
At 78% with just 10 days to go, we're now approaching the home stretch!
Signed/Limited items & multiple-selection of items: Kickstarter (foolishly) does not allow for multiple selections, which has created an issue for some backers. For example, I had many folks want the 2-bottles for $25 and they also wanted a signed/numbered label. Easy! Just select the reward for the label, and pledge $30 - when it's all over I'll be sending out a survey for shirt sizes, shipping addresses and special instructions. Just let me know that you pledged $30 to get both the signed/limited label and the 2-bottles rewards and I'll gladly fulfill both.
A word of thanks to ZZ Top! As some of you may have seen, ZZ Top was kind enough to share my Kickstarter with their ~4 million fans, which is just about the highlight of my 43 years on this planet. The response has been staggering in terms of social media with over 100 new "likes" on the Lucky Dog Hot Sauce fan page and 50 new Twitter followers in just under 2 days. The post has been liked an insane 3600+ times and shared over 450 times.
But I've also received a number of questions about it, so I thought I could answer them here.
Answers: They were not paid for posting that - they're simply fans of the product. After 40 years of touring I'm pretty sure they're doing ok without my $, and if I could afford such a spectacularly cool celebrity endorsement I certainly wouldn't be doing a Kickstarter.
It was just a really, really nice thing for them to do, and I am forever grateful to them for helping to spread the word. In addition to being tremendous musicians and delighting millions of people with their music for 4+ decades, they're also really nice folks and I cannot thank them enough for the support.
Finally, a great fan-submitted video!
An old friend from high school pledged to the campaign and also ordered some sauce. A few days after getting their order, I was sent a link to a video, created by 11 year-old Patrick, a new Lucky Dog Hot Sauce fan. It's a delightful video, and I laugh every time I see the cat randomly tossed into frame, or the dog high-fiving the bottle (not to mention the "making it rain loose change" portion of the video...)
Take a look here and hopefully you'll laugh as much as I did. What a fun way to hear from a new fan!
The home stretch looms! While we're really close, the only way folks will get their rewards is if the campaign is 100% funded.
My Rolodex is pretty much spent at this point, so I'm really hoping some of you might help to spread the word or make a pledge! If I've ever hooked you up with a discount coupon or an extra bottle of sauce for being a THP member, throw some of that karma back my way. Even $1 helps to increase visibility! Really you should get the 2-pack or the t-shirt or tank top packages, because they're essentially retail pricing with shipping included, the shirts are bad ass, and because the new Dia del Perro is delicious!
There's just 1 left of the 5 total collectible Signed/Numbered 1st case/1st batch packages (which also comes with a mixed case of sauce and any shirt!), and I've added a ton of sauce packages to the mix, all priced right at (or below) retail with shipping included.
Love and hot sauce
Scott