14 Things to do before launching a crowd-funding campaign

[anandramdeo]

We are very close and about to go live with our crowd-funding campaign. I decided to document my journey and posted things we did in the pre-launch phase on Linked-In

https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/...nding-campaign

It would be great to know what other people have done and if there is anything we could have done better / should do (considering we are still not live YET!!)?

[harrisong45]

Crowdfunding is a good platform for small business startups. When you choose a crowdfunding platform you need to know everything about crowd funding.

[hyperstarter]

Just wanted to get great post, I went into it and read it.

[lantran]

The first thing to realize with crowdfunding is that you need to provide the "crowd."

[Markallen]

To make your campaign successful - Best marketing strategy is in pre-launch i.e. before you launch your campaign. Some key points i like to highlight which will be helpful to users before they post their campaign/project
Research:- Researching similar projects/campaign is one of the key points before you launch your own campaign/project because these campaigns will help to see what works and what doesn’t from a crowdfunding perspective and secondly, campaign owners might be able to connect you to their own community. Offer something up of your own and people will be quick to share.You should research failed and successful projects both related to your campaign.How much were they trying to raise? How many backers did they get and how much was the average amount donated? What rewards were they offering?
Building Your Audience:- You need to know who is most likely to support your campaign. What are their needs and how does your product or service help meet those needs.Your product or cause solves a problem or a need. Who has that need may not be the same as the people that want to support you in your cause.Tap into these emotional needs within your marketing.You definitely need to know where your target audience hangs out and then ‘casually bump into them’.
Contact Existing Network:- Contact your existing network and separate your contacts into lists of friends, family, business and acquaintances and send message to everyone. Don’t send out the same message to everyone. As a result, you will find to know the influencers on your list and you can reach out personally and enlist their help. Even you can try asking for advice on your campaign before you go straight into a sales pitch.
Social Media:- Look at your own social media network for businesses or groups related to your campaign. Try contacting the other group to see if you can guest post on their blog or if they can give you a shout out about your blog or campaign.
So these are some key points which should not be overlooked and you should start pre-launch activities at least three months before you start your crowdfunding campaign.

GoodLuck!

[stckyreed297]

thanks, these are really effective tips.

[Cavender]

If you don’t have a website built then I would recommend creating a Facebook and/or Instagram account for your business. That way you can begin building a following for the type of art you create. Start talking with friends and family about what you’re doing and build some hype around it. Your friends and family will want to help you more because they have a relationship with you and want to see you succeed. Build a small group of 5–10 people who are willing to share certain posts from your business so you can start building some type of social media presence - it’s amazing how important social media is to a successful business these days.

[ktummonds]

I really enjoyed the pre launch article. I would also recommend making a checklist before creating your Crowdfunding campaign. Here is link to a checklist that many could benefit from Crowdfunding checklist article

[rozbin22]

Crowdfunding is a good platform for small business startups. When you choose a crowdfunding platform you need to know everything about crowd funding.

[lanchi1661]

But before you launch your next project out into the crowdfunding ... and others will prime the pump before you ever launch your campaign.