Some Tips That May Help If You Are Seeking Crowdfunding

By Author: Adam Laurie
Total Articles: 7
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If you are thinking about crowdfunding to launch any new product or service, here are a few tips.

The first thing to note about your sales pitch is you are selling your unique proposition. Some people are in denial about "selling" something, but in reality, selling affects every part of our lives. Even if you have a job that involves sweeping the roads, keeping a golf course up to scratch, working in IT, working in the NHS, servicing cars, or working in Tesco, the way that you got that job was through selling. In this case, it was selling yourself, or your own capabilities, but nonetheless it was selling.

In the case of crowdfunding, its vital your campaign has a strong unique selling proposition to help differentiate your product/service from other similar campaigns. You may be an inventor and have come up with a great new way to do something or have produced a prototype product. You may be looking for money to get your child into a better school. You could be an artist and want to get your artwork in front of more people so that you can sell it? You could be a business owner seeking to expand and need capital ...
... to do so. It can be anything, but the fact is a strong unique selling proposition will help to sell your sales pitch.

This is where so many people go wrong. They believe that "selling" is a dirty word. There is nothing wrong with selling. The fact is that if nobody sold anything for a profit, this planet would cease to exist. When you go to the supermarket, they are selling you things. That is all they do. If you go to the gym, it's the same. If you go to the pub or the café, they are selling, and you are buying. It is an exchange of values: money changes hands in return for something of value. That money is then spent elsewhere in exchange for something of value to the person or business to whom you gave your money in the first place.

So crowdfunding is a form of selling. Let's be clear about that. The point is that when you are selling something, you need to have a good sales pitch in order to make that sale. In order to create a good sales pitch, you need to explain the features and benefits to the person from whom you are seeking money, and that needs some thinking about.

When you are writing a sales pitch, or the script for a sales video (same thing), there are a few things to note. The first is that your title is vital. The title of your script, or the introduction to your video, has to grab your audience and keep them reading or watching. If it doesn't, you have lost them in the first ten seconds. Yes, that fast. If your title or intro doesn't grab their attention, they're gone.

The next thing is that you need to tell a story. Tell them the reason you are doing what you are doing. How you overcame a problem by doing this. Or how your life changed for the better when you realised that "xyz" would make it so. Then you realised that lots of people have this problem and that making this product would help them, but you need money to get it off the ground. Then tell your readers or viewers the benefits that they will get by contributing to your crowdfund.

Whatever you do, don't go on for too long. A video of two minutes or so is plenty. That's approximately 300 written words, which is not a lot. Link to your website or campaign page for "more information". If your video is too long, you can lose your audience.

Here are some facts from the Kickstarter crowdfunding website. If you are in the area of creative arts, Kickstarter could be a very good place to launch your idea. You will need someone to help with Kickstarter video production, but there are companies who can help with this. The way Kickstarter works is that – if they accept your project – you have to set a funding target. If you reach it, the money is yours. If you don't, it is refunded to the donors and you don't get a penny! The average donation is $25 (about £19.00). The average target is $6,000. However, some projects have received over $1 million!

So go to it!

Wow Your Crowd is a London based company that specialises in producing videos for individuals and companies seeking crowdfunding for 'rewards' and 'equity' crowdfunding camapigns. It can help with Kickstarter video production if that is your area of interest, or videos for any other type of crowdfunding application.