Tips for a Successful Crowdfunding Campaign

Foto: Starteed.com

By Janelle Pierce 

Since the concept of crowdfunding began, thousands of entrepreneurs have received millions of dollars in funding to start their businesses and breathe life into their ideas. To be a part of the success story club, you must appeal to your potential investor from the get go. Here are a few tips on how you can create a campaign that will propel your idea to the next level.


Pick Your Platform 
There are hundreds of crowdfunding sites, but picking the one that suits you the best may be the difference between funding and flopping. Some sites cater only to for-profit organizations, some to unincorporated groups, and others allow both for- and non-profits. There are sites that are only for creative projects and some just for social-change projects. Sites differ in terms of type of funding, too; some models include future revenue sharing, all-or-nothing, keep-what-you-raise, and blended tipping-point. Do your research and choose the site that best suits your business and attracts the type of investor that would be interested in your product.

Be Realistic: Target and Time 
Although you may not need a business model for crowdfunding, it’s a good idea to calculate how much you will really need to start your business. Asking for too much or too little money can impact your business’ success. When thinking of a time frame, consider the time of year. It may not be a good idea to post your campaign during Christmas time, when people are looking to spend money on tangible items and not so much on ideas for the future. Kickstarter.com suggests that a shorter project (about 30 days) “sets a tone of confidence and help motivate your backers.”

Photo: Forbes.com

Give it a Personal Touch 
Creating a video for your campaign is probably the biggest way to entice people to donate. Give the viewer a sense of which you are the story behind your project, what the project means to you. Be sincere when asking for people’s support, and be as transparent as possible (in terms of what you’ll do with the money, why you need it, etc.). Be sure to explain how your project or product will work and give them a reason to invest in you (sometimes your personality will do that for you). Make it as long or as short as you want, but be sure to thank people for viewing and supporting. If you still feel that making a video is too daunting of a task, consider this statistic from crowdsourcing.com: projects with videos outperform those without by 125 percent.

Reward Your Investors 
Everyone likes incentives, right? Well so do your backers. When preparing your campaign, consider what you can offer people to get them to spend their money on you. Some entrepreneurs offer free products after a certain amount of money donated, others give investors special screenings, invitations to parties, and simple incentives like getting added to a mailing list of special deals and announcements. Some like the mailings list wouldn’t even cost you any money. Whatever you decide to use to appeal to people, make sure you anticipate the costs associated with rewards.


Tell your friends! 
When you decide you are ready to launch your campaign, spread the word to your friends, family, colleagues, and any other networks. Promote your campaign on social media sites to get people excited about your project (make sure and add the link to your fundraising page). Word of mouth can go a long way for entrepreneurs.

Manage your campaign 
Finally, once you have your campaign off the ground, make sure and keep it updated. Your investors want to remain engaged in the project and want to feel like you care. If you are willing to take the time and update your campaign, it will be noticed and your changes may even attract a new wave of investors.

Above all, be innovative and believe in your project. Good vibes are contagious. Another important note if—when—your project gets funded, have a plan ready to manage your business. If you plan to sell your product online consider an ecommerce company. Many successful campaigns have moved on to having a successful online store. One of the most notable: Pebble. They are the highest-grossing project on Kickstarter…ever. Raising over 10.2 million dollars; smashing their goal of $100,000. Now they sell their product online, allowing everyone to enjoy the reality that was once merely an idea.
  Janelle Pierce
About the Guest Author:
writing about various business issues, and spends her time answering questions like, what is point of sale software?

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