It’s the biggest and most surprising crowdfunding success stories that fill up our media feeds. We don’t hear about the movie theaters who get the $35k they need for renovation or the $10k a writer wants to self-publish the novel they’ve been working on for 10 years. Success comes in many forms on today’s crowdfunding platforms and these 5 methods are proven to help you find it when you’ve got a great idea you want to share.
1. Make Sure You Know Your Budget
There are many things that can be accomplished for free or for sweat equity when crowdfunding. It costs nothing, for instance, to post a link to your crowdfunding campaign on social media. You will need a budget in place for any video production needs you have, to purchase online advertising, or even for content writers to present your materials in a professional way.
For large-scale campaigns, a minimum budget of $20k is recommended before launch. You’ve got to compete with thousands of other projects who all want backers like you do. Knowing your budget before you launch will let you be wise with the dollars you need to spend.
2. Vet Your Vendors Carefully
You’ll find freelancers online that are willing to do just about anything for a few extra bucks in their bank account. That doesn’t mean you’re going to be spending your money effectively. Sometimes it is better to spend a little more on a vendor who has a proven track record of working within your industry while crowdfunding than it is to hire someone on the cheap.
Anyone can claim that they are creative. You need more than good ideas to succeed. Vet your vendors to make sure they can support your needs, withstand adversity when it comes [and it always comes], and get actual examples of their work instead of banking on their reputation. Being surprised by a false promise after spending 90 days developing a campaign can create a barrier that is too big to cross.
3. Define Your Roles
Most crowdfunding success stories today come from medium- to large-scale companies who have dedicated PR divisions which handle their campaigns. This means there is a full administrative structure supporting every effort. For the average entrepreneur, there are only a few hands available to handle these chores.
This means it is important for everyone involved to know what their role happens to be before the craziness of an active crowdfunding campaign begins. Who will answer questions that come in? Who will write the press releases? Who makes sure the vendors get paid? Cover every potential scenario and you’ll be less likely to suffer from the negative attention which happens when something is accidentally overlooked.
4. Call People To Action
People today are hesitant to spend money. There are many factors involved with this pause that happens, but you can counter their hesitancy with a good call to action. Let people see that your idea is helpful, valuable, and has scarcity to it. These three elements must be included for a call to action to be effective.
The call to action is the last step a visitor takes on their journey through your crowdfunding sales funnel. Ineffective content here will devastate your campaign. Test it before publishing it to see what reaction you get. Don’t be afraid to get a second, third, or fourth opinion before going live to avoid the hassle of low conversion rates.
5. Get Started Right Now
Your launch date isn’t the time to begin building momentum toward a successful conclusion. Most successful campaigns get started up to 6 months before they actually go live online. Up to 30% of your total support can come from pre-campaign activities. Then use the first 72 hours of your campaign to shore up the promises received from your early activities.
There are a wide variety of options that are available to a campaign in its early days. From local parties to social media chats, you can present ideas even before you have the structure of your campaign fully developed. This can be a great way to see if there is any interest in your idea and what kind of backers are most attracted to supporting it.
On the average day in 2015, $87,000 was raised every hour. That’s money which could be helping your business become the next great success story. Use these tips to get your campaign onto a successful journey and your future can become whatever you want it to be.
Strong proponent of individual liberty and free speech. My goal is to present information that expands our awareness of crucial issues and exposes the manufactured illusion of freedom that we are sold in America. Question everything because nothing is what it seems.
