Crowdfunding Success - A few basic tips

by Startacus Admin

Even now in 2014 when crowdfunding has been around for many moons, it still seems somewhat improbable. I mean, the idea of people who you may never meet in real life, giving you money to help make your idea or project a reality... not likely! 

Its actually true that the majority of crowdfunding campaigns fail and if you want to be one of them theres a few basic tips that you need to keep in mind if you want Crowdfundibng Success...

Target and Time
Setting a realistic target for money to raise and a timeframe to raise it in is absolutely critical. The more achievable your target appears to be, the more likely you will find people willing to engage with you and back your idea. It’s important too to make sure that you have fully worked out what the true costs of realising your project or idea are. don’t be too conservative and don’t forget to account for the admin fees imposed by the crowdfunding sites themselves should the project achieve your required target.

Choose the right platform
We highlighted some of the main crowdfunding players recently, but there are others too. Take your time looking at each of the platforms in detail before committing to one for your own idea. Review the ideas currently seeking funding and weigh up which types are having the most success. If ideas in your particular genre aren’t doing too well on one site then explore the alternatives. Always make sure that you choose a site that best suits your type of project.

Rewards matter
For you, getting your project funded is what matters; for a project backer however, the rewards are what counts. Spending some time brainstorming and thinking of rewards or perks that are perhaps a little different from the norm. Also make sure that you cover all the bases - it’s important to offer rewards in several different price tiers to make sure that as many potential backers as possible can help fund your idea. You should also try and have a good mix of reward types - from physical products through to less tangible perks; however all ought to be related and personal to your project. Choosing rewards that don’t link at all with your idea never works - people are buying into your idea and want a memento or perk directly related to that.

Build an audience
In an ideal world, once your project goes live, you would be inundated with pledges and support; however that’s not really how it works. If your project is to stand a real chance of success, you need to spend some time building up a potential community of supporters. Make the most of your social media presence and try and develop and engage with your followers well before your idea goes public. At least that way you stand more chance of garnering support from an already interested and supportive community. The old adage “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail” is pretty true in this regard.

Review and monitor
Once your project goes live, your work is far from over. Monitoring how it is going and reacting to it is critical. The first few days can make or break a project’s success. Make sure that you have a strategic plan in place for gaining support, from your own social networks, relevant supporters and perhaps targeted key influencers. The best thing of course is that is something doesn’t appear to be working in terms of helping you obtain pledges, you can do something about it - change tack and hopefully in turn move closer to success.

If you like this fab article (self promotion done!) you might also like:

• Working the crowd. How to make the most of crowdfunding

• Fillm - the crowdfunding and discovery platform for independent film

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Published on: 11th September 2012