Producers often ask me how to launch a crowd funding campaign.
It all starts with believing in your idea and getting feedback (constructive criticism) before you launch. Next to that, if you yourself are not convinced of your idea, then nobody else will. So start with pledging a substantial amount yourself. Pledging $5 on an App Idea promising tens of thousands of dollars of revenue, does not communicate trust. Remember, when your App Idea is selected, you will receive 10% of the total amount pledged. This will cover your initial pledge, while your pledge also secures a larger revenue share.Â
Remember crowdfunding platforms are not ATM machines. If you are prepared to do the work, then you will most likely succeed. A campaign can be (emotionally) exhausting and frustrating. When things are not gong as you've planned, put more effort in it, not less.
Every crowd funding has more or less three stages. You need to be able to raise 25-50% of the total amount via family and friends. The average sum at which App Ideas are selected on SellanApp is around $10K, so you need to be able to raise about $3K from relatives. If you canât convince your own social network, you will most likely not convince others.
The second stage is the hardest, getting from 50% to 80%. This is where you attract new pledgers outside your circle. And the tips below are mostly about that.
When you have reached 80% you will most likely succeed, because people like to join in on your success.Â
From here I can tell you every day what you need to do to succeed. Please note every day starts with a verb, get active!
Press the LAUNCH button! Your app is live! The time start ticking! Day 1 of 30 starts! Go spread the word to your friends, family and colleagues, share your story. Share what they will get when they back you. Even your best friends want something valuable in return, so explain your personal story and  the revenue share and your revenue strategy in short.
Share a progress update with an anekdote of someone âusing your app alreadyâ and share it on your social media, and as a reply to your previous day announcements (just reply on the social media posts you made, this gives a notification on the social networks âYou replied to post you commented on).  On the second day you have created newsworthyness; 'How were the first 24 hours of your campaign?'
Reach out to bloggers you know! Just share your story and ask them if theyâre interested in writing about the value youâre going to bring, or that things that is super newsworthy. If you donât know any bloggers? Do at least 50 google searches to find the best bloggers in your realm, and reach out to them personally. Youâre not getting featured on Mashable or The Next Web without frying the small fish first!
Contact the 'biggerâ media, basically the blogs you follow to get inspired. Mention you have been featured on the smaller blogs. Always mention your app idea page on SellanApp, they can extract a video, icon and screenshots from there. Just tell them they can use the media and text on the page.  Get a sponsor and co-promote. Hook up (offer a partnership) with a company that could benefit from being associated with this app.
Tell your story not only online but also offline! Organize a meetup in a bar or at your office for next week! Use the free meetup.com/sellanapp tool. And join in an other relevant meetups (you can find them on meetup.com) and offer to give a short talk about your project (get out of your comfort zone!). Share the meetup in your progress update. Remember, your audience is naked!Â
Feature the media writing about you in a progress update! This shows youâre thankful and it shows social proof. Ask your current pledgers to spread your story. Show the bloggers that featured you the progress update.
Get the attention of some developers on SellanApp. Reach out to them and tell them about your app idea and the progress so far, ask for feedback.
Go spread the word again to your friends, family and colleagues! A week has passed! Did your friends back you up? Important here is to show your progress! Do they not respond to your story? Ask for their 'expert feedback' and improve your message/pitch on the fly.Â
Create an app showcase ready homepage (use a tumblr theme for example) for your app idea and post all the quotes, cool images, and videos on that blog. Show a timeline of your progress and a link to a newsletter subscription
Pursue collaboration opportunities with relevant authors, public speakers, and people of influence. Reach out to them, explain why your app idea could be relevant to them, tap into their expertise. Remember, only when they think your app idea is cool and relevant, they will respond, not because they donât like you.
Create some buzz about the meetup to all the people involved over the past weeks/months, youâre going to share some key insights and stories which are not presented in the pitch. Tell them lastly: "Did I mention I'm paying for the first beers?â. Even if you have 5 people present, consider your event successful, but aim at 20. They will all remember this as the start of your (ad)venture!
Reach out to more potential partners, invite them over for the meetup tomorrow.Â
Have the actual meetup! Invite your friends and colleagues and tell the story of your app idea! Focus on the story, the app user experience and the future, not on people to pledge. Pay some beers for the ones attending (imagine paying a beer for $3 and receiving a pledge of $100). The act of reciprocity works here, people attending feel obliged to pay you back in a way, and that helps you fund your app idea if you send them the link to your pitch the next day.Â
Send a thank you email and follow up message on the meetup page with the link to the pledge page to the people attended yesterday. It's the fourteenth day, half of your campaign!Â
Ask your friends/pledgers to spread the word on social media and/or to 1 or 2 of their friends who think itâs relevant. If your friends you reached out to earlier still did not follow through with a pledge, this act is actually smaller than pledging, and if they are your friends they will help you.Â
Share another progress update about your exhilarating last week! You should be somewhere in 25% to 50% (in between $4k to $8k) of your pledge money now. Thatâs not the case? Youâre not doomed⊠but you just have to push harder :). Â
Start a thunderclap.it campaign, aim at the last 4 days before the end of your campaign and create a sense of urgency in the message.
Talk with people over lunch about your app idea. This could be people you donât know or just people you know but never talk to. Talk to at least 5 people and ask them what they donât like about your app idea.
Record a video where your product/service is used in real life. Â Act like your app is already here. Record a video with your iPhone and edit it with free/cheap edit software (Vine, Instagram or iMovie app). Share this video as a progress update on also on your social networks.
Follow up with friends and relatives who are well-versed to create a buzz by posting on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Tell the bloggers you reached out to the app idea is progressing thanks to them (or not, show them the progress and that theyâre missing out), if you get a response ask them if they know more bloggers as helpful and great as their kind, willing to share your story.
Reach out to your friends, family, relatives, colleagues, strangers on the street personally. Ask for feedback, offer them a great experience (basically a story to tell) instead of  asking them for their support/help. Showing that you offer something awesome is convincing them, not your sad puppy eyes asking them for help.Â
Be thankful for everyone supporting you! Showing gratitude makes it all fun and worthwhile. Write a personal letter, make a drawing, record a video of you being thankful about the progress, youâre not in this alone.Â
Personally contact the friends you contacted once or twice, and did not follow through to tell them this is their last chance of jumping in to your project, having a right on the revenue share. Create a sense of urgency for your last week.
Launch your thunderclap campaign. All your supporters will spread the word at the same time, which creates buzz and will convert in to pledges.Â
Share an idea to your pledgers about a great way of promoting your app idea when itâs live. Show them your expertise and youâre enthusiastic about your idea and want it to succeed.
Tell your current pledgers (using a progress update) this is their last chance to up their pledge, to get more of the great stuff. Just say up your pledge with 10% to 25% and that would be such a difference for the eventual product/service, and really promise that⊠Extra funds go into âthat future idea you have about the user experience of promotion of your app in an awesome wayâ
Offer help to others in making their crowd funding campaign work if they pledge. Anyone got an app idea or a dream project in mind, youâre willing to help others to make yourself succeed. Share your referral link to them.Â
Get in touch with developers on SellanApp again if your app is not selected by a developer yet. Show them how awesome your app idea is and ask them to go on an adventure with them.Â
Celebrate! You funding campaign is over! Go relax, tomorrow the venture continues.Â
If you follow these steps, and add your creative personal touch, you have a great chance of succeeding. Even if your app did not get enough funding for a developer, you should see this as a great adventure and opportunity to learn.
"Donât cry because itâs over, smile because it happened!"Â
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