By Dennis Clemente
You have the idea, but you don’t have the money? You might want to try crowdfunding. Last April 15 at the Microsoft office, John Vaskis, Indiegogo’s Gaming Vertical Lead, presented how you can crowdfund your business successfully, whether it’s a game or your dream of publishing your own book: Do a video pitch.
Vaskis said a video pitch gives you twice the chance of getting funds. “Campaigns with videos raise 114% more than campaigns without. Do a three-minute video and make it personal, but also offer unique perks.”
Citing one successful pitch, Vaskis said Angry Video Game Nerd got 6,700 people to create a feature film based on his YouTube personality. “The Nerd sent over 2,500 autographed photos with custom message for his most ardent supporters.”
Vaskis also said updates every five days are important to keep the communication going with your audience. “It has been our experience that this doubles expected funding. “The higher number of updates…the greater the funding success.”
What is crowdfunding? It’s the pooling of funds, from the people who have passion about your idea. It’s as old as the pooling of funds for the Statue of Liberty stand in Ellis Island. Back then, it was the New York Times that served as the platform for New York to raise over $100,000 in funds. Average contribution the paper received: 89 cents.
Crowdfunding is about raising money and connecting with funders online. But where other ways of funding can be merely static collection, crowdfunding is about the shared enthusiasm between the fund-seeker with the funder.
How does one choose a platform these days? There’s the hugely popular kickstarter.com, and the fairly new seedinvest.com, which may still be free of charges.
Why do people give money for altruistic reasons when he could get a return on his investment somewhere else? That’s been a question for some people, but not for people who sincerely want to help another person fulfill his or her dream.
At Indiegogo, crowdfunding takes these steps to fruition: post a campaign, build virality, collect money, fulfill perks, and get started.
Getting started is just the beginning. You will need to generate interest and momentum for your campaign and that includes knowing how to motivate people to contribute to you. Vaskis said the keys to creating a good pitch are honesty, transparency and authenticity. “Make sure you know what you are raising money for, when your project will take place; why you are raising funds and how you can get people involved.”
It’s also vital that you develop a social media/PR strategy and discuss updates with your audience, as you push your goal and offer perks to your fundraising campaign. It could be a combination of any of the following: offer early access to products/services or discounts or coupons; throw a party for funders; teach a class or host a tour; offer unique, limited edition items; give personal thank you notes; share insider secrets; join the conversation and most important perhaps, communicate early and often.
But where do you even begin? That’s what may intimidate you at first, but it turns out that family and friends can be counted on to be your no. 1 cheerleaders, as Vaskis pointed out how 30 to 40 percent of funding came from them. This creates validation.
If anything, crowdfunding is fanbase building but with some money attached to it. Your network is your “fans” who may contribute $70, the average contribution at Indiegogo.
But what makes Indiegogo unique? It has been doing this on an international scale since 2008, ahead of Kickstarter, which has also proven to be very successful in the U.S. Indiegogo claims to have over 120,000 campaigns from 196 countries.
For more information, visit indiegogo.com, kickstarter.com and seedinvest.com