Month: October 2016

Crowdfunding Agency

Which is the Best Crowdfunding Agency for Marketing?

CustomerHelp Leave a comment

Crowdfunding is the best option for fund-raising for your business. This thing is true for sure. But which is the best crowdfunding agency? I mean you cannot launch a successful online campaign without using the best crowdfunding agency for marketing. So which one of them is the best?

Well, the answer to this is “It depends”. Yes! This thing totally depends on what you want. There are many different crowdfunding agencies for PR and marketing. But the best of them is the one which caters to your needs. You have to find your perfect one.

How to choose the right crowdfunding agency?

  • Different agencies work for different kinds of businesses. Check if your agency has any previous experience in your business type. Also, see if they are able to connect with you.
  • Ensure that your crowdfunding agency works with and for your target audience.
  • Check if your target audience is able to connect with the work of you PR agency.
  • Make sure that they have some good skills for forming your campaign. And that they even know how to reach the target.

Here are the top crowdfunding marketing agencies. They will help you find the perfect one for you.

#Funded Today

Funded Today is a crowdfunding agency which provides services to both, project creators as well as backers. This firm doesn’t charge for the campaigns. Instead, they take a share from the money raised. They have raised huge amounts for campaigns like Free Wavz, Trunkster and BetterBack.

#Agency 2.0

This one is a full-service crowdfunding marketing agency. The firm has years of experience in digital media, branding, marketing, advocacy, etc. It has funded some big names like KREYOS, Touchpico, Micro Drone 3.0. It has even served as the working force behind The Jay DeMerit Story – a documentary describing Jay DeMerit’s outstanding journey from Sunday park soccer league to World Cup, 2010.

#CrowdBooster 

Analyze, Promote, Blast-off – This is the 3 step strategy that CrowdBooster uses to launch all its campaigns. This crowdfunding agency charges a one-time fee which lies somewhere between $199 and $499. It builds crowds around the campaigns of Kickstarter and Indiegogo. They also handle a lot of social media work of campaigns.

#Command Partners

Command Partners is a PR, advertising, and digital marketing crowdfunding agency. This means they are all-rounders. They can get you some good media coverage. They can buy you some good web traffic to hit the pages of your campaign on huge crowdfunding platforms. Bunch O Ballons, GoKey, and Hexo+ are some of the best run campaigns by Command Partners. They have helped such large-scale campaigns raise millions of dollars.

#GoGoStarters

GoGoStarters is the marketing genius behind huge successful campaigns like EcoQube C, AIRTIME, Equil Smartpen 2, KANO DIY Computers and LIFX. This firm doesn’t charge directly from the campaigns. It instead, charges for its Kickstarter promotions.

Marketing is one of the primary keys to a successful crowdfunding campaign. Thus, working with a good crowdfunding agency should be at the top of your priority list. Because only this will ensure a successful campaign.

Crowdfunding Shop

8 Steps to Crowdfunding Shop: Live your Dream

CustomerHelp Leave a comment

If you are a business enthusiast, you might have thought of owning a shop some day. Maybe a coffee shop, a clothing store or anything else. Something might have captured your thoughts. But then, things don’t work the way we want them to.

There are a lot of dreams that stay unfulfilled. And the dreams of owning a shop, die due to the absence of enough funding. But did you know that there is actually a way out? No! Not a bank loan. But something more convenient. Yes. Crowdfunding! Crowdfunding shop is an idea people have been recently using. And you can too use it. Here are your 8 steps to successfully crowdfunding shop.

#Have your plans clear!

With a clear mind, make a decision. Decide what shop you want to open. Whether it would be a small store or a huge market? What all products will you sell? What would the concept be all about? Decide it firmly and then lay out a budget. Think how a range of budget which would be enough for you.

#Plan a Crowdfunding Campaign!

Crowdfunding shop is not that simple a thing. For successfully doing it, you need some proper strategies. Plan it out. Plan the details of how your crowdfunding shop campaign would flow.

#Begin your marketing game!

Marketing has to start before you launch your crowdfunding shop campaign. After proper planning, begin the social media marketing of your campaign. Make it appealing and spread it as much as possible.

#Plan some rewards for your backers!

Crowdfunding shop, or crowdfunding in general works on the concept of rewards. Except for non-profit crowdfunding, people do expect something in return. Plan that. The rewards can be some discounts on the items sold in your store. Or maybe some gift cards. Anything which you feel might be attractive to the masses.

#Find a good platform!

You need a good website as a platform for crowdfunding shop. Research the various options available in the market. Different platforms have different benefits to give. Choose the one which is suitable for your campaign. Choose the one which will help you connect with your target audience.

#Get Feedbacks. Correct Yourself. Repeat!

After some good marketing, get feedbacks from your audience before launching the campaign for crowdfunding shop. These can be in the form of questionnaires, reviews, anything. Study the feedback and find your faults. Correct it and again present it to the audience.

#Launch Your Campaign!

After all the proper planning and efforts launch your campaign! This is a very big step to take. Make sure you have enough number of potential backers before you take this step. Because a failed crowdfunding shop campaign is difficult to handle.

#Turn your potential backers into investors!

Now is the time when you will get the actual result of all the planning. This is the final step you have to take. After you have launched your campaign, you have to find some good investments. Target your potential backers and make sure that they fund your business.

Crowdfunding Marketing

4 Ultimate Crowdfunding Marketing Strategies

CustomerHelp Leave a comment

The business world is really beautiful. It has dreams, ambitions, successes, and failures. But the one small trouble that people in this world face is funding. Yes! Funding is a big issue. Whether it is for starting a new business, launching a new product or expanding your business.

Funding is the universal problem faced by all. The one simple solution to this problem is crowdfunding. But still, the chain of problems continues. Because today there are many people who want to get their businesses crowdfunded. Amidst so many people, how can you survive? Well, the answer is using crowdfunding marketing strategies. Here are the best crowdfunding marketing strategies to help you out!

#Marketing begins at home!

That’s right! Just like charity, even marketing begins at home. Before you go and approach anyone for crowdfunding your business, approach your family first. This is probably the most simple crowdfunding marketing strategy. But more often than not, people forget it.

The concept here is, your friends and family know you really well. Thus, they can connect to your ideas easily. They know your level of efforts and dedication. Thus, it won’t be difficult for them to trust you. And since at least a few of them would agree to fund your business, you would have a base to start with.

#Pre-Launch Marketing is the only Crowdfunding Marketing!

Though marketing is done throughout the process of crowdfunding. But the one which creates an actual impact is just the pre-launch marketing.

The reason is that once you launch your campaign, you have only a few days to reach your pre-set target. In these days, you have a lot of things on hand that needs to be taken care of. You cannot spare time for marketing at that time. And even if you do, you will be able to reach out only to a small group of people. Because you don’t have enough time. Thus, it would be the pre-launch crowdfunding marketing which would yield you all the success.

#There is nothing better than social media Crowdfunding Marketing!

Though there a lot of channels for crowdfunding marketing. But the best of ’em is social media marketing for sure. It allows you to reach out to a much larger audience. You can express your ideas and share your views in many different ways.

#Videos, articles, and blogs – The three pillars of social media crowdfunding marketing!

The main focus for you while marketing is to appeal to people. You have to do something which they can connect with. You have to build a relationship with your target audience. The best way to do this is to use some social media tools. Though there are many of them, the best are videos, articles, and blogs. Yes! Work hard on all the three of them. Make them appealing. Ensure that your audience is able to connect with it. Make it shareable and ask them to spread it. If appealing enough, they would do it for sure.

There a lot of crowdfunding marketing strategies. If you use them properly, you can achieve huge successes.

6 Best Equity Crowdfunding Services of 2016

CustomerHelp Leave a comment

Funding is the most important requirement for any business. But the irony of life is that it is the most difficult to arrange. You might be having a wonderful idea, some great manpower, good deals and what not! But if you don’t have enough capital, it is all in vain.

Usually, people go for loans for fund-raising  for their business. But now you have an alternative and that is Equity Crowdfunding. With it, you don’t have to worry about the debts, interest, mortgaging, etc. Thus, it becomes the safest way out. Here are the best equity crowdfunding services of 2016 which can be helpful for you.

#Bolstr

Bolstr provides equity crowdfunding services for small scale businesses. It helps the businesses meet new investors. This website works with a small twist. The investors are not provided with equity or stake in the businesses they invest in. But instead, the companies pay them back their investments and some profit after they become successful.

But there is a small minus of these crowdfunding services. Your business must be a stable 2-year old to use this services. Thus, startups cannot be benefitted from this.

#Early Shares

Early Shares provides equity crowdfunding services of real estate ventures or growth businesses. It connects companies with accredited investors. And allows campaigns for even millions of dollars. But before allowing any company on their platform, they evaluate it extensively. Thus, they make sure that the companies on their platform are all worth investing. This makes it easier for backers and investors to trust a company.

#Crowdfunder

Crowdfunder provides equity crowdfunding services to businesses. It helps them seek to interested and accredited investors. Thus, improving their chance of getting crowdfunded. It provides crowdfunding services to early-stage startups. It also works with mature businesses who wish to further expand their business. This platform works on some fixed subscription basis. It provides different services based on the subscription chosen.

#Fundable

Fundable provides crowdfunding services to both, reward-based crowdfunding campaigns as well as equity crowdfunding campaigns. It mainly focuses on small business ventures. It offers two types of services.

You can create a private profile. This will allow you to reach to their 23,000+ investors. Or you can go for a public profile for publicity.

#Local Stake

Local stake provides equity crowdfunding services to local businesses. Though it charges fees which are higher than others. But in that amount, it provides you with personalized services. These services would assist you throughout your campaign and you can be sure that yours will be a long-term success.

#Trade Up

Trade Up provides equity crowdfunding services to industries including electronics, food, and beverage, tech and lumber. It helps the businesses to reach out a large number of accredited investors through their platform. Companies can raise amounts ranging from $100,000 to $20 million for their businesses. There is only one pre-requisite that Trade Up demands. Your business should be a US-based company which runs internationally or is planning to do so in the near future.

There are a lot of amazing equity crowdfunding services available in the market. Choose the one that is just right for your business.

4 Crowdfunding Products that were a Huge Success

CustomerHelp Leave a comment

Modern Crowdfunding, as it is today, began in 1976. Since then, there have been many crowdfunding products which are released in the market. Some are a huge success, while others fail miserably. While some other crowdfunding products are the average ones which get succeeded in their campaign. Amongst all these, the products which were a really huge success, are worth mentioning. Some crowdfunding products became so successful, that it became hard to believe. They broke the myth that crowdfunding cannot raise huge amounts. Here are some of the crowdfunding products which created history.

#Star Citizen by Cloud Imperium Games.

Star Citizen is a space simulation video game which will be launched by the end of 2016. It is developed by Cloud Imperium Games and uses the Oculus Rift’s virtual reality capabilities.

It is worth mentioning in this article because it has been the biggest hit in crowdfunding till now. This project holds a record for raising the largest amount of  money for a single product. The company started the campaign in October 2012 with Kickstarter and ended it in November 2012 while closing with $4.2 million. Thus making it the biggest hit till date.

#Reading Rainbow 

Reading Rainbow was formerly a TV-series which was aired on PBS. It aired from 1983 till 2006. It was an educational tool for children which emphasized on early reading.

In 2014, former executive producer of the show, LeVar Burton started a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. It aimed at making Reading Rainbow accessible online. LeVar Burton started it with a goal of $1 million. But it ended up raising $5.4 million. It further received a donation of $1 million from comedian Seth MacFarlane. Thus, it is regarded as one of the biggest success of crowdfunding products.

#Soylent by Rosa Labs

Soylent is a meal replacement which is available in liquid and powdered forms. It claims to meet all the nutritional requirements of an average adult. Thus, it is advertised as ‘Staple Food‘.

Rob Rhinehart, a software engineer developed this product. He was the same person who decided to crowdfund it. The crowdfunding of this product started in 2013 and raised a whopping $3 million with pre-orders. This one of the crowdfunding products is regarded as the biggest success for crowdfunding of a food product.

#Smartwatches by Pebble Technology

The pebble smart watches were designed by Eric Migicovsky. Initially, they decided to fund the project with the help of some big funders. They were even successful in raising a large amount this way. But still, the required target was not reached. That is when they decided to get it crowdfunded. And subsequently, they released a campaign on Kickstarter in April 2012.

Within a month, the project was able to raise $10.3 million. The company then launched its next generation smart watches: Pebble Time and Pebble Time Steel. They were a bigger hit than the previous models. Pebble Time raised $20.3 million in a span of 30-days owing to pre-orders. It is a huge success of crowdfunding products by a company which was brand new.

Many crowdfunding products have witnessed immense success. The key to all of them is just, efficient use of Crowdfunding.