Pozible Crowdfunding for Startups

Last night I crashed an intimate evening of people discussing how to effectively use crowdfunding for startups with Pozible Co-founder Alan Crabbe.

Crowdfunding for startups

Crowdfunding is a great way to measure early adoption of your product and/or to financially support your goals in a way that can also be used to demonstrate popularity with Angels, funding bodies and more.

But how do you use it to its best advantage?

The crowdfunding platform is a tool:

The trick with your crowdfunding campaign (whether it is for business or creative purposes) is to view Pozible as a tool.

The reality is people don’t just hang around waiting for you to post your project up and gleefully hand over fistfuls of dollars.

No crowdfunding platform is the magic solution to raising funds but if you plan your marketing and your crowdfunding campaign it’s an awesome way to fund it and get the word out to people about your project.

In short: It’s up to YOU just how successful that process is based on how wisely YOU use the tool.

Plan, Strategize and Market:

You need to plan to be successful in crowdfunding. This means creating a presence and planning out what you are going to do right from the get go.

If you start with a strong following on social media where people are interacting with you on a regular basis, you start on the right foot.

Key point’s are-

• Craft a social media presence people want to engage in BEFORE you launch– not just Facebook either. Aim for Twitter and consider Pinterest, youTube and other forms that your audience regularly engage with
• Tell your story of where you have come from and what you aim to achieve in film, blogs, social media and more so people can emotionally attach to your journey
• Mix your Pozible campaign in with other news and other things of interest so you don’t just come off “shaking the money tin”
• Make time for crowdfunding. Ensure you have time prior to, each day of and post the completion of your campaign to communicate with your intended audience
• Video works really well. It doesn’t have to be super professional but if you can show a genuine side, experiment with humour and use it to add to your story it will really help

Crowdfunding Rewards Matter-

The crowdfunding rewards you set will determine your success. How do you make the most out of them?

• Ask people what they would want as rewards and think about the kinds of experiences you could offer that are unique and special
• Be different. People like experiences and to be able to get to know the people behind an endeavour, so behind the scenes situations, learning from the project creators or even low level participation ideas in the creation of the project itself often attract a lot of support
• Think big. Some people may want to fund your project to add it to their own list of credits- so there is nothing wrong with offering an “executive producer” or “angel” credit to your rewards list for high value supporter payments
• Aim for 5 to 6 solid rewards with a focus on really making your $25, $50 and $100 rewards the cat’s pyjamas
• Limit availability of the rewards themselves to create a thirst to get in quickly. You can add extra rewards later if needs be but creating that sense of urgency will really help
• Use at least one reward as a form of “pre-order” of the main product. If it’s an electronic device or an album doesn’t matter, make one of the rewards the ownership.

On the crowdfunding campaign trail:

Pozible allows for up to 60 days of campaigning, but you really need to consider if you can market and manage it appropriately for that long. Somewhere between the 60 to 45 days mark usually works well.

You need to aim to hit the 20% to 30% level of funding as soon as possible as the projects that hit these levels the quickest are proven to have a better success rate.

Know your audience! Gauge who follows you, plan to reach them and plan to reach them in such a way that they happily share your project with a friend. Make real connections!

Don’t discount people who promote your project yet don’t physically throw in cash. Those promoters have been shown to be super important when aiming to reach those who will- so thank everyone who shows interest, shares your project and/or offers help- financial or otherwise.

For more info on how crowdfunding can work for you, head to www.pozible.com