Crowdfunding Tips.page

Keys: good pitch, be proactive, find audience who cares

##Benefits
- tool to find additional funding - get press and attention
- gauge demand and mitigate risk


##Test
- get input from contributors - what do they care about?
- see where your contributors are coming from - should you include an international component?
- price point, bundling, features, market, develop brand (e.g. company that learned they could sell a lot of a 5 pack by putting it next to a 10 pack with a particular price difference)
-urb-e: learned they could support two modes - $799 china manufactured, $1599 US manufactured
- example Misfit Shine

##Pitch
- Goals - set your goal as low as it can be and still allow you to move forward - look more successful if you set your goal lower and exceed it (people want to support winners)
- Video
   Example - Quickey
   show product and problem solved
   show use cases, not features
   the customer is buying a better version of themselves - the self who owns/uses this product
   who, what, where, why, when

##Text
- top = Summary paragraph that is succinct
- show the work you've done already - engenders trust

##Perks
- create passion, pride, participation - draw people into deeper engagement with the business
- product, bundled with other goods/services, distributor packs, accessories
- make sure to think about fulfillment - also consider the value of your time, shipping, etc.
   set limits as needed

##Tactics
- targeted discounts, upselling, partial buys, participation, referrals
- partial buy - pay a certain amount upfront to reserve the item at campaign price when it's launched
- marketing through e-mail lists

##Pre-launch
- know where 30% of your funding will come from before you launch
- ask your team and network how much they will give
- wait on press - you will convert better at 30% plus when you look like you will succeed

##Launch
- Launch on Monday or Tuesday
- not too long or too short - so there's a sense of urgency
- use your campaign as a point of communication with your audience
- E-mail brings in 20% more funding than any other source
   vacation responder - you have a campaign, you're busy, you'll get back to them soon
   put campaign in your signature
- social media is about engagement
   don't bother if you're only going to put out announcements about the campaign
   find the communities where your audience is talking to each other 
- Updates raise 286% more funds
   if you keep people updated, make them feel like a part of it, they will be very forgiving of delays, problems, etc.
   don't spam - tolerance for this depends on your audience
   keep people interested in the middle of the campaign
   adding new perks/upsells, etc. to engage people and bring in money more consistently

##Plan
- how will you appear to your audience when you launch the campaign?
- what do you want to learn from the campaign and your audience?
- how will you handle fulfillment?
- how will you engage with people throughout and keep money coming in steadily or have multiple spikes?
- how will you engage with people after the campaign has ended?

##Benefits over kickstarter
- Customer service - call someone to get feedback on your campaign
- Analytics - industry leading built in or use your own
- Flexibility of platform re: perks etc.
- International, including different currencies