The Crowdfunding Myth

 Some people treat their crowdfunding campaign like it's a roast beef cooking in the oven.They put in a little prep time, season it just right and place it in the oven for the desired cook time. Now if you are living in a small home or apartment, those nearby will smell your roast beef, offer their compliments and ask if they can taste it once your finished cooking. Unfortunately, crowdfunding is not quite that simple. The prep time for your campaign takes much longer than 15-20 min, it may take you years to get your campaign to look just the way you want. Your campaign has to be more than just a short story, video, and rewards, it has to be your business plan. You have to be able to say where you are, where you want to be and how you intend to get there. Before you place your campaign on any crowdfunding platform you must be certain that you have a clear and precise plan of how you intend to reach your campaign goal. Once you are ready to start your campaign you cannot expect people to just come running to the aroma. Sure the people close by you may love the campaign but the people not in your immediate vicinity have no idea what your campaign is about.

   Most people realize fairly quickly that promoting a campaign is more complex than they imagined. They anticipated putting their campaign on a crowdfunding platform, sending out a few posts and tweets every day, sit back and watch as people line up to back their campaign; This is why so many people fail to reach their campaign goal. It's not that people do not see your posts or tweets, they do not know enough about you and your campaign to trust that you will do right by their money, regardless of how much. This is why I recommend starting your campaign promotion at least 90 days before you actually begin your campaign. This gives you time to create a following, answer any questions that may help the public to get a precise understanding of what your goals are and to form business relationships with individuals and businesses that can benefit you. Those people that fail to follow this path will eventually fail to attract enough people to back their campaign. Your greatest marketing tool is yourself; because crowdfunding does not get talked about on the daily newsreel many people have no idea it even exists. Which means there are millions of potential backers who have no idea how they can help you get funded. So not only are you promoting your campaign, you are promoting the actual business model of crowdfunding. The more people that are aware how crowdfunding works the more potential backers you have that can help you reach your campaign goal.

   Once people realize they cannot market their campaign on their own, they reach out to third-party companies that offer a la carte services. These services include campaign development, website building, promotion and ,business contacts. Sadly this is like trying to put out a house fire with a water gun. Sure, these companies may provide the service you need, however, you are the one that is responsible for making sure your campaign is good enough to be fully funded. If you do not have a well thought out campaign with the right rewards, all of your efforts will be for nothing. No longer are backers willing to contribute $10-$20 for a thank you email or $25 for a tee shirt. You have to think outside the box and make sure your rewards make the backers feel like they are a part of whatever you are trying to build.