Crowdfunding Campaign Tools and Resources

Campaign ToolsCampaign Tools

Online Course “Money from the Crowd – Your Guide to Social Fundraising”

Elena Mikhaylovawww.CrowdfundProductions.com

Tools will not do the job for you

But they will help you save time and money

And make your campaign more efficient

Campaign StagesCampaign Stages

Planning

Preparation

Execution

Post Campaign

PlanningPlanning

What – your productWhen – season, the length of the campaignWho – your target groupsHow – your promotional channels

Your team, budget, organizational structure

Planning toolsPlanning tools

Choose your crowdfunding platform

Directories of crowdfunding sites:

• www.Crowdsourcing.org

• www.CrowdsUnite.com

• www.CrowdfundInsider.com

• www.Coolintl.com/comprehensive-directory-of-crowdfunding-platforms

• www.Opennessandtransparency.net/Crowd_Funding

• www.Crowdcrux.com has several lists for niche platforms


Research similar projects

• Projects posted on CF portal

• www.Kicktraq.com – Analytics

• www.KickbackMachine.com – Kickstarter successful and unsuccessful projects: compare, filter by categories and goals

• www.ThingsWeStart.com (cancelled in March, 2013) – projects by location and category


Places to ask questions

• LinkedIn groups – the largest one, Crowdsourcing and Crowdfunding, has almost 20,000 members

• www.CrowdfundingForum.com

• www.KickstarterForum.com

• Meetup Groups

Planning ToolsPlanning Tools

Places to read about crowdfunding

• Google Alerts


• www.Crowdcrux.com

• www.CrowdfundInsider.com

• www.theCrowdCafe.com

PreparationPreparation

Build your crowd

Find media

Create Content

Decide on the Perks

Preparation toolsPreparation toolsBuild your online crowd

• www.Klout.com to find influencers

• www.SocialBro.com to find people on Twitter by keywords, locations, # of followers

• Google Analytics, YouTube Analytics, Facebook Insights to understand your connections

• Newsletter signup tool for Facebook fan pages

• www.SocialMention.com, www.Commun.it, www.Twellow.com, www.Topsy.com

Preparation toolsPreparation toolsCreate your media plan• Google search “top **** blogs, websites,

forums” – international/national/local

• www.Technorati.com – blog directories by categories

• www.USNPL.com – directory of newspapers, TV and radio stations by cities/states

• www.Alexa.com website traffic rating, demographics of the audience

Preparation toolsPreparation tools

Have your content ready PRIOR to launch on crowdfunding portal

• Keyword search tool on Google Adwords

• www.Fiverr.com -design, writing, online research

• Stock Photos - iStockPhoto, Shutterstock, 123RF, BigStock, Getty Images

• www.Lunapic.com for picture editing

• WindowsMovieMaker,

www.OneTrueMedia.com for video editing

Preparation toolsPreparation toolsCreate your online HUB

Wordpress:

• Connect with all your social accounts

• Google Analytics

• NewStatPress widget

• Fundraising widgets

Preparation toolsPreparation toolsE-mail campaign

• www.Rapportive.com for Gmail – rich profiles and latest tweets of your connections

• E-mail tracking – SpyPig, WhoReadMe or Yesware for Gmail

• Bulk e-mail campaigns - Constant Contact, MailChimp, i-Contact, Campaigner, AWeber: free webinars, social media integration, analytical tools, A/B test, tracking tools, segmentation

Preparation toolsPreparation tools

Test the waters

• Kickstarter pre-launch

• www.Prefundia.com – post your pre-launch project, monitor interest level for your perks

If you have a significant number of foreign connections, try to use translators’ networks for free or almost free translation of your content:

www.lingotek.com or www.akuna.com

ExecutionExecution

Monitoring

Promotion

Engagement

Execution toolsExecution tools

Monitoring:

• Social networks – Facebook Insights, YouTube Analytics, SocialMention, Commun.it, Klout

• Media, blogs – Google Alerts

• E-mail – campaign providers

• Website traffic – Google Analytics, onsite widgets

• On Page Campaign Link – www.Bitly.com

• Mapping your connections – www.Batchgeo.com


Engagement

• www.Hootsuite.com to schedule your posts on Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, Linkedin, Foursquare or Wordpress

• www.Postlink.com to schedule your messages or videos and monitor your reputation across 14 social media

• www.BoomerangGmail.com to schedule e-mail blasts, reminders and respond tracking


MediaTo Get in Google News:• Fiverr.com – press release distribution

• PRLog – free press release distribution



@KickstarterNews@KickstartAdvice@TeamCrowdfund@CrowdReporter@OccupyCrowdfund@KSStandard@JustKickstarted

@CrowdfundingEye@CrowdfundingDjo@Ayudos@BestKickstarter@CrowdfundingPro@CrowdfundBuzz

Twitter accounts to promote your campaign

Find more accounts in “30 people to promote your Kickstarter or Indiegogo campaign on Twitter” post on

www.CrowdCrux.com


Communicate with your connections through live Q and A sessions and

progress reports• Google Hangouts• www.UStream.com • www.LiveStream.com

Post campaignPost campaign

Analysis

Communicationswith backers and media

Perks fulfillment

Pre-orders, business?


Perks fulfillment• www.BackerKit.com – from $99 – handle

all shipments, incl. international

• www.Teelaunch.com – print and ship T-shirts


Pre-orders

• www.Outgrow.me

• www.TinyLightBulbs.com

• www.Swish.com

Additional ResourcesAdditional Resources

IndieGoGo blog:

“Tool Time: E-Sources for

Crowdfunding Campaigners”

Questions?Questions?

Online Course “Money from the Crowd Online Course “Money from the Crowd – Your Guide to Social Fundraising”– Your Guide to Social Fundraising”

• Four Hours of Recorded Information • Optional Homework • One Hour Online Group Consultation (Max. 10 people

per group) • Downloadable Action Plan • $25 Discount on a Personal Readiness Assessment or

Strategic Planning Consultation Price: $49 without Homework $65 including Homework

Register on www.CrowdfundProductions.com

Crowdfunding Campaign Tools and Resources

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