You should take time to celebrate the successes of hitting a crowdfunding goal. Take the evening, enjoy the feeling, but then be prepared to come back to work. Why? Because the real fun begins when your crowdfunding campaign ends. Just look at Reading Rainbow – they’re accountable to over 105,000 backers. You might not have that many, but several thousand backers in a successful campaign is normal.
These backers are also often in different countries and some may have some unique challenges. As you enter into the development or implementation phase of your campaign, keep these 4 principles in mind and allow them to dictate how you proceed every day after the successful completion of your campaign.
1. Be Product Focused
When you’ve got thousands of backers, it can seem like you’re about to walk along a very long journey. What is the typical reaction to such a large amount of work? Procrastination. If you are able to stay focused on your product, however, and turn up the quality of the rewards you’re planning on offering, you’ll be able to find success. Keep track of the feedback you receive, make sure your margins stay good, and keep costs tight. Once you get these products out, you’ll be ready to grow even more.
2. Have Open Lines of Communication
You and your backers have at least one thing in common: a passion for what you do. If you want to keep them excited about what is going on, then you’re going to need to keep open lines of communication with all of them. This is also essential because you can talk about how the product is coming along, discuss the reasons behind any delays, or just give sneak previews of what is about to happen. If you hit the 90 day mark and don’t have a delivery date planned, then this communication can help soothe some anxious nerves.
3. Expect the Unexpected
One of the most common pieces of advice a minister will provide a couple about to get married is that there will be at least one thing that goes wrong during their ceremony. Despite careful planning and constant practice, something will happen. The same is true with the product you’re developing through a crowdfunding campaign. If you bank in some time to solve the bugs that creep up and allow for a window of world class customer support, then you’ll always come out ahead on the other side of the problem.
4. Start Planning Your Next Crowdfunding Campaign
The success of your crowdfunding campaign is the bridge that you can use to start another successful campaign. You can cultivate the affinity that has been created with your backers and take advantage of the fame your success has achieved. There may need to be additional revenue sources identified and you may need to reach out to a different target demographic, but the end result may just be more funding for your next great idea.
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