There are many crowdsourcing platforms online, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. We reckon that you’re familiar with two of the most famous crowdfunding platforms – Kickstarter and GoFundMe. Do both of them do the same thing? The short answer is – yes and no.

Kickstarter is a crowdfunding platform that was designed for people who want to create creative products, for commercial purposes. In comparison, GoFundMe works on the principle of funding personal (and charitable) causes. These differences notwithstanding, there are some finer distinctions between the two platforms that you should be aware of.

Kickstarter and GoFundMe Services on Offer

If you’ve ever wondered, “Does GoFundMe take a percentage?” – the answer is yes. When it comes to fundraising on the GoFundMe platform, there are certain fees involved that campaign organizers and donors should be aware of. While GoFundMe provides an accessible and powerful platform to raise funds for personal causes, charitable initiatives, and various projects, it operates on a model where a percentage of the funds raised is taken as a platform fee.

Let’s take a look at how Kickstarter works.

Kickstarter is geared towards funding creative projects. It is the only thing allowed there. All campaigns are screened before they go online. Basically, Kickstarter campaigns are projects that should have tangible deliverables. These creations are shared with backers upon the successful conclusion of your projects.

Here’s how GoFundMe works.

GoFundMe is based on charitable crowdfunding. Though the platform does allow raising money for businesses, it does so if part of the proceeds are going towards helping people and/or charitable organizations. This can be either in the form of medical expenses, aid, poverty alleviation initiatives, therapy fees, etc.

Are these crowdfunding platforms successful? Amidst many other crowdfunding sites, Kickstarter and GoFundMe have raised over $4 billion and 5 billion respectively!

Both platforms work by rewarding contributors, although Kickstarter makes it mandatory from the outset. With GoFundMe, gift-giving is optional.

How can your project qualify?

Before we get to what sort of campaigns you can crowdfund with these platforms, we need to take a look at what is not allowed. Anything illegal, be it hate speech, weapons, drugs, porn, fraud and crime-related is not tolerated in either platform.

Kickstarter has these strict rules for crowdfunding campaigns:

• Projects should be clearly presented and be honest in terms of what is deliverable.
• Projects should have elements that can be shared with others.
• No fundraising for charity.
• No equity should be offered to backers.
• No prohibited items should be allowed for projects.

In addition to all these rules, Kickstarter reserves the right to clear a crowdfunding campaign. This process takes as much as three days.

Things are not too strict with GoFundMe. Furthermore, they do not require any approval from the platform before they can be launched. However, if a campaigner indulges in any illegal activity, GoFundMe reserves the right to take down their project.

Both Kickstarter and GoFundMe have a straightforward application process. Campaigners can fill out details about yourself and the crowdfunding project, and submit it. Kickstarter takes some time to review your application. The platform estimates that about 80% of the projects they get are approved.

With GoFundMe, you need not wait. You can start your campaign immediately, provided you followed all their rules.

Sales and Support

Another thing that works for Kickstarter is that they only get their fees once a project is successfully executed. This detail fosters transparency in its sales practices. GoFundMe is also transparent about their sales process, and they keep you apprised of your campaign every step of the way.

As for customer support, Kickstarter falls short. Their support system fails for most campaigners, as many have complained they can’t seem to get connected with Kickstarter reps in time. As for GoFundMe, it fares better in customer service with its 5-minute support guarantee. They claim to respond to any message via their contact form under 5 minutes.

Are Kickstarter and GoFundMe 100% Good?

Users have often complained about both platforms. Kickstarter has been criticized by both campaigners and backers. Campaigners point to its less-than-timely record of responding to queries, whereas backers point out how some fraudulent companies back out of its commitments at Kickstarter i.e. by sending defective rewards or not even sending anything at all.

For GoFundMe, some users claim that they faced difficulty in collecting funds for their causes because ‘the platform did not trust them for one reason or another.’ Public outcry forced GoFundMe to forego its earlier practice of collecting 5% of the proceeds as platform fee. The fee was scrapped when, according to reports, 5% of all donations for victims of one shooting incident, were being pocketed by GoFundMe.

Despite of these issues, crowdfunding is still a very new industry. Both Kickstarter and GoFundMe continue to improve their process of helping legitimate businesses and charitable causes get the money they need. The likelihood of more successful projects in recent years has only served to highlight that user feedback is taken seriously.

Why Choose Kickstarter?

Go with Kickstarter if:

• Your project has commercial value,
• You are offering rewards to backers in exchange for their support,
• Your project is truly creative.

Why Choose GoFundMe?

Opt for GoFundMe if:

• You have a commercial project in mind but want to avoid the 5% platform fee,
• You want to raise money for your charitable initiative/business idea regardless of your campaign reaching its campaign goal,
• You want to help out a family member, friend, community by raising money for them in case of emergency/cause/tragedy.

While crowdfunding is not the be-all-end-all to raising money for projects, it is however quickly becoming a viable alternative for people who want to contribute to causes and projects they believe in. Let us harness the positive power of social media to help small businesses / personal causes with the tools and technology we have at our disposal. The choice is yours!

You May Also Like to Read:

Kickstarter vs Indiegogo: The Best Crowdfunding Platform in 2020

Want to know more about crowdfunding? Check out this detailed video!

The post Kickstarter or GoFundMe? Which Crowdfunding Platform Should You Choose to Crowdfund Your Project? appeared first on samitpatel.

Attracting backers, convincing them to donate and getting media attention is NOT easy work. With Kickstarter crowdfunding becoming so popular, there are thousands of projects out there all competing to get maximum funding.

Here are some key strategies you can use to get engagement for your Kickstarter campaign.

Always Have a Landing Page Ready

This goes without saying – before you start your campaign, you must have all your web and marketing collaterals ready. One of the most important components is a landing page that you must have ready the day you decide to opt for crowdfunding.

You will be driving traffic to your landing page during the campaign’s lifespan so ideally, your page should be up and running at least three months before launching the campaign. That way as you promote your campaign, you can lead your visitors to your web page.

We do not recommend using DIY tools for making landing pages. Always hire a professional to create a robust and user-friendly landing page for your campaign. Your landing page will be the main tool in your engagement strategy, therefore it’s always advisable to hire a professional web designer and developer to create your most important asset. 

Capture Email Addresses

Email will be one of the best tools for Kickstarter campaign engagement – and your landing page will be instrumental in capturing emails. Incentivize visitors through free product offers, early-bird discounts or insider access and collect their emails. The more emails you collect, the higher your engagement and outreach on the day you launch the campaign.

Tapping into Communities

Communities are one of the most powerful platforms to bolster support – financial or promotional. Tap into communities relevant to your niche and start promoting or talking about your product. Here too, incentivize people into joining by sending their email addresses. Make them invested in your product and continue to remain engaged with them.

Moreover, tap into your Kickstarter community and get to know popular backers in the community. Create an active community presence in and outside of Kickstarter and make sure to engage people with regular updates.

You can also join popular forums like Reddit and Quora where you can provide people with answers about products or services relevant to your industry. While this may seem like a lot of extra work, in the long run, it helps significantly with brand activation and reputation building.

Social Media Power

Crowdfunding and social media go hand in hand. You can’t achieve success without working on your social media plan for a Kickstarter project. That said, you need to have a very specific social media strategy that is aligned with your target audience, your industry, and your product.

While Facebook is the most popular platform for targeting Kickstarter backers, Twitter and Instagram are equally important. If you’re running a campaign for a tech product, Twitter might prove to be more useful to your target audience as compared to Facebook.

Your social media strategy should include paid advertising, organic reach, community building, clever advertising all rolled into one.

Engage with influencers, tech editors, writers, product reviewers, Kickstarter backers on Twitter. Tweet, retweet, respond and build momentum with your target audience. Remember the fundamental engagement rule though – do not blatantly sell. Solve a problem, discuss a cause, show a solution, and connect all of this to your product. Do not attempt to bombard them with your page or campaign.

Media and Press

Part of your Kickstarter engagement plan must include media and press. Most campaigners make the mistake of sending out press releases in droves to multiple editors and publishers, only to end up disappointed.

An average media editor receives dozens of pitch emails a day, most of which they don’t even have the time to go through. If you’re going to wait until you launch your campaign and then send them a press release, it’s never going to work.

You need to invest time in finding media outlets, establishing a connection via LinkedIn or Twitter and then leverage on that connection for press coverage. Even to establish that connection though, you will have to create genuine interaction. If possible, also set up coffee meetings with journalists in your city to establish a real connection that does not just rely on digital communication.

Use Video Marketing

Videos are great digital tools to create engagement. With social media channels now promoting videos through Stories, you can use videos as a tool to generate interest. Hire a videographer to create compelling video content that hooks viewers. Your primary purpose is to tell and sell a great story.

Give yourself at least 6 months of dedicated efforts to marketing and engagement before launching the campaign. It takes a long time for any engagement strategy to show results, so it’s essential that you prepare in advance.

By the time you launch your campaign, you have your backers, your press, your social media everything ready. You will find it much easier to meet your campaign goal when your engagement is strong and value-oriented. Projects with the highest backers share a similar strategy – they all start with the buzz way before the actual launch. During this time, they also partner with key influencers, relevant brands and have established connections with media editors from several outlets.

You May Also Like to Read:

Using Influencer Marketing for Your Kickstarter Campaign? Here’s Everything You Need to Know
Press Release For Kickstarter | Pitch Press Release Without Being Ignored
How to Promote Kickstarter Campaign? A Quick Promotion Guide.

Remember, crowdfunding on Kickstarter is not a piece of cake. It requires hard work to convince someone to donate money! Don’t let all this intimidate you. Reach out to us and let us help you manage a successful crowdfunding campaign from pre-launch to post-launch and beyond.

Check out the videos below for more.

The post How to Get Engagement for Your Kickstarter Campaign appeared first on samitpatel.

Each year dozens of projects are launched on Kickstarter, with some making their way to top Kickstarter projects after receiving $1 Million in funding. Countless businesses have started thanks to the power of Kickstarter crowdfunding and as platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo continue to rise in popularity, more business founders are finding crowdfunding to be a better option to fund their ideas.

For 2019, Kickstarter had quite its share of successfully funded projects. Statistics show that Kickstarter had 37.44% of successful projects by the end of 2019, as compared to 36.86% at the start of 2019.

Here’s a quick list of our favourite Kickstarter projects from 2019.

1) Travel Tripod by Peak Design ($12.1 Million)

To be able to garner $12.1 Million from Kickstarter is a remarkable feat. The Travel Tripod’s unique sleek design and lightweight carry (made with carbon fiber) make it the perfect travel tripod for photographers.

So how does a tripod get so much funding? Simply because it’s designed to fit neatly in your luggage without taking additional space. Professional tripod users are sometimes quite wary of bulky tripods that are not suitable for long-distance travel.

What to Learn from this Campaign:

Identifying a need, creating a solution and using the right copy. A travel tripod is not a ground-breaking innovation but the fact that it addresses existing problems and has created a better solution makes it appealing. All the more, it’s targeted at the right audience!

2) Snapmaker – Modular 3D Printer ($7.8 Million)

3D printers are cool and all the rage these days. Snapmaker 2.0 lets you do three major tasks – laser engraving, cutting and CNC engraving. What’s even better? It’s smart, sleek and powerful!

The device has managed to secure $7,850,866 in funding with 7,388 backers. The first version was launched in 2017 was an immediate success, making the device the third most funded project in 3D printing.

How is the Snapmaker different than other 3D printers? According to the makers, the technology has interchangeable modules that allow for easy changing of functionality. You can make artistic products using laser cutting and engraving.

What to Learn from this Campaign:

Bank on your reputation and keep updating your product. Snapmaker launched their fist successful project in 2017 and since then have fulfilled all rewards and focused on working towards their next product. Transparent communication, regular product upgrades, and innovation are key to successful Kickstarter campaigns.

3) Xeric Apollo 11 Automatic Watch ($5.4 Million)

Space-inspired watches that pay tribute to the Apollo 11 mission? Hell yes. One of the most popular tech watch campaigns, the Xeric Apollo 11 Automatic Watch has NASA’s authorization to use its logo on the watches. The watch works like a light storage battery where light charges the battery and afterward, the light is continuously emitted.

Here’s an interesting fact – the watch is designed for astronauts to keep track of time as they travel in the darkest regions of space, while also getting an optimal view of their environment. NASA’s approval for the creation of this watch’s series has made this timepiece one of Kickstarter’s top and best tech projects.

What to Learn from this Campaign:

Get a brand like NASA to approve your product!

Ok, joking, but fact is the involvement of a well-known organization or brand is a good way to boost the credibility of your product.

4) Desklab Ultralight Portable 4K Touchscreen Monitor ($5.3 Million)

4K. Touchscreen. Portable. Ultralight. Huge Screen. Stunning Sound. Brilliant Color. All of this rolled into one awesome looking device that has gained $5.3 million funding. That said, the product is yet to be shipped by late February 2020.

The Desklab monitor is designed for work, for gaming, for serious programming and even for learning, all this on the go. The monitor’s USP? It’s bigger than the iPad but 15% lighter than the iPad. Lots of amazing claims on this device, but until the product is not shipped and tested by users, we’d say, let’s hold off the comments on this one.

What to Learn from this Campaign:

Excite people with the right feature highlights, however, what you promise, you should deliver!

5) Lumi Illuminated Keyboard and App($2.1 Million)

While there are plenty of music learning apps out there, none of them come with an illuminated keyboard that lets you learn and play songs as you go!

You don’t even need to own an actual musical instrument with the Lumi device as you use the illuminated keyboard and interactive app to learn the tune of the song. All you need to do is follow the lights and learn music at your own time and pace.

What to Learn from this Campaign:

Use the power of video to demonstrate your product. Use video testimonials of the right people to talk about your product. In this case, the creators put up videos of teachers using and recommending LUMI as a song learning device for kids.

6) Nebula Cosmos Max – 4K Home Cinema ($1.5 Million)

So while we’re at 4K screens and technology, this 4K Home Cinema is probably the future of home entertainment. You wouldn’t need to go to the movies anymore!

Nebula has made quite a name for itself on Kickstarter with its innovative portable products including the launch of an Android TV and now a 4K home cinema. The product has garnered positive responses from the audience especially with a pledge amount of $429 where backers can get a 1080p screen, a power adapter, and remote control.

What to Learn from this Campaign:

Always, always live up to your promises in the first campaign – oh and a copy like, ‘World’s First…’ should be attention-grabbing. That said, excellent customer service and transparent communication go a long way in building trust with your community members!

Kickstarter is a great platform to fund your new tech product, but, if there’s anything these campaigns have taught us, it’s that merely having an idea or a prototype is not enough. It’s important to know what people want and use the right ways to market to them. Crowdfunding is great for free funding, but it requires an extraordinary level of commitment and transparency from you. 

Check out the videos below for more.

The post Kickstarter Top Successful Projects 2019 with Over $1Million Funding appeared first on samitpatel.

Despite its popularity though, gaining success on Kickstarter is a challenge. The platform has strict rules to follow and requires you to have a solid goal before you start your campaign. 

Quick Post Overview Video ⤵️

So how does Kickstarter work and what do you need to create a successful campaign? This guide will help you understand the basics of launching a campaign on Kickstarter. 

Let’s get started. 

How Does Kickstarter Work?

To understand how does Kickstarter work, you need to be familiar with some key terms. 

Funding Goal: This is the financial goal you set to accomplish your project. Kickstarter has a fixed funding goal which means that you can only receive the money after your goal is accomplished. 

We have a detailed article on how you should plan your funding goal and take into consideration additional costs if you plan to use Kickstarter. 

All-or-Nothing: This terminology refers to the point above where you can only receive the amount after you have achieved your funding goal. 

Backers: People who pledge money to your goal. This is an entirely voluntary process and backers only pledge money if they are interested in your business. 

Rewards: When backers pledge money to your goal, you can show your appreciation to the community by giving them a reward. This could be in the form of limited editions of your product, or copies of your creative work, or even a special discount. 

The process starts with you submitting the project to Kickstarter and waiting for them to review. They have a strict review guideline in place and claim that they accept about 80% of projects that come their way. 

Some of Kickstarter’s Crowdfunding Rules to Know

Your project is selected into the program based on a few rules, and knowing it helps how does Kickstarter work well. Let’s get into rules

• Honesty and Clear Presentation: Projects on Kickstarter must have a clear plan with an accurate prototype demonstration. It should also not have any misleading renderings or showcasing of functionalities that don’t actually exist. 
• No charity projects: Kickstarter is mainly a crowdfunding platform that enables a creative or technology-based project. It is not the right place for charity crowdfunding and while nonprofits can launch a project, there is no guarantee that they will be facilitated. 
• Projects can’t be equity-based: There are different channels for equity-based funding but Kickstarter is not one of them. You are not allowed to seek investment, equity or revenue sharing for your project on Kickstarter. 

Other than these essential rules, you also have to make sure that the project doesn’t involve prohibited items as listed here. 

The review process takes an average of about 30 hours and if anything that needs to be changed, you can add it to the review time. Once you launch your project though, you won’t be able to edit items such as: 

• Your profile name 
• Your funding goal and campaign duration 
• Your bank account and identity details 
• Rewards that you’ve pledged including shipping costs 

So make sure that you have all of this finalized before you launch the campaign because you won’t be able to edit them during the campaign. 

Once you’ve passed the review and your project has been approved, you can manually launch your project by clicking on the Launch Project Now button. 

Do make sure you double-check everything before you hit launch. 

Kickstarter Fees

Kickstarter applies a 5% fee to the funds you collect. Payment processing is done by Stripe with a 3 – 5% processing fee per pledge. 

The fee is only applicable when you reach your project goal and are withdrawing the cash. 

Remember the funds you raise on Kickstarter are considered as income and are therefore taxable. To further understand this, it is recommended you talk to your tax specialist. 

Who are Backers and How Do I Get them to Fund Me?

Backers could be anybody – your friends, family, acquaintances, etc. 

Generally, it is recommended that you have at least 100 backers to support your project. 

Random strangers are not going to easily back your project unless they see some initial traction. 

You can also build a social media campaign to attract more backers to your project. 

The goal is to have as many people support your project and to achieve that you’ll need a solid marketing plan. 

What are the Chances of Succeeding on Kickstarter?

Let’s keep this real. 

If your project does not have a relevant story/purpose, does not have a clear and transparent process, does not have deadlines and visible results, does not have rewards promised to backers, you will fail. 

Succeeding on Kickstarter has a lot to do with hard work than with luck. 

In today’s world, people are wary of scams, therefore, to really stand out from the crowd, you must ensure that your project is viable and meets standards. 

Some Obligations of a Creator

As a creator who wants financial support from a community, there are a few obligations you ought to follow. The success of your project depends largely on these factors: 

• Meet your milestones and deadlines: Prior to launching the project, ensure that you have created set milestones and deadlines. When you miss a milestone or a deadline, you are risking being perceived as non-committed. 
• Keep your audience posted: Nothing is more off-putting than a creator who’s vanished in thin air. If you’re not active, if you don’t keep your audience posted, you’ll lose them. 
• Deliver your rewards: If you’ve committed to giving rewards, make sure you follow on that commitment and give rewards as promised in due time. 

Launching your campaign on Kickstarter is only the start of the process. 

Following that, you have to spend a significant amount of time and effort in keeping your campaign alive and ensuring that you attract enough backers to support your funding goals.

You May Also Like to Read:

How to Start and Launch a Kickstarter Campaign? | Samit Max Patel
Can Kickstarter Be Used to Start a Business? Here’s Everything You Need to Know.

Need help and want to know how you can launch a successful campaign? Call us or drop an email! 

Check out the video below for more.

The post How Does Kickstarter Work? appeared first on samitpatel.

People often assume that you simply launch a crowdfunding campaign and you’ll get $$$$ pooling in without having any extra expenditure.

This is not how it works.

Crowdfunding does require the spending of money but the good part is you can always recover that money spent by setting a goal that is three times higher than the money you spend. 

So let’s say, you have to spend $5000 on marketing, campaign creation, video shoots, photography etc, so your campaign goal should be at least $15,000 to cover up your costs, build your project and also earn some profit. 

When starting your crowdfunding campaign, make sure you are aware of the costs, hidden charges and other expenses involved. 

To help you, here’s a breakdown of all the costs you may incur during a crowdfunding campaign. 

Kickstarter vs Indiegogo Fees

This is a common question most people ask. Does Kickstarter charge more than Indiegogo or vice versa? 

Kickstarter and Indiegogo fees have the same structure. Both have a 5% platform fee of your total funds raised which you’re required to pay when claiming the funds. 

Both also have the credit card and payment processing fee which is usually set at 3 – 5% depending on the payment partner. 

So in a nutshell, you need to spend at least 8% as platform + payment fees. This 8% is from the total funding amount received. 

Assuming you raise $10,000, you’ll be paying $800 as platform fees + other charges. 

Creating Product Demos and Renders

If you’re raising a crowdfunding campaign to support the development of a product, then you’ll need to have a product demo made. This can be done by hiring a product design company to create 3D renders of your product and bringing it to life. 

The cost for product demos and renders varies, but expect a higher cost that starts from at least $3,000. 

Creating Product Prototypes

With so many crowdfunding campaigns turning out to be frauds and scams, people are now reluctant to invest in a product unless they are able to test it out. The same goes for journalists who will be covering your story. It’s not mandatory to create prototypes, but it’s beneficial because it shows backers you’re actually working on your product. 

The cost of building prototypes varies but it can start from $10,000 and go up to $30,000 depending on the complexity of the project and the company you hire. 

Multimedia Content

When you’re creating a crowdfunding campaign, you obviously need to create multimedia content like images and videos. You’ll need professional photography services as well as video editing/shooting services. 

Photography from a professional photographer could cost you from $200 to $3,000 depending on who you hire. 

Video specialists, i.e animators, editors, videographers are not cheap. It could cost you from $1,000 to $5,000. 

You could hire these specialists from freelance platforms so the price may be cheaper than hiring from a professional agency. 

Marketing & Advertising

You’ll need a marketing specialist or agency to take care of your press releases, social media advertisements, landing pages, and other assets. The more people know about your campaign, the more opportunities for funding. 

Marketing agencies can charge you up to $10,000 for growing your campaign. If you’re spending on ads, you’ll need to keep an additional $10,000 for that. 

Other Miscellaneous Expenses

Miscellaneous expenses include creating rewards for your backers such as badges, tee-shirts, or any other giveaway in return for their contribution. Small expenses like shipment, packaging etc should also be counted. 

You should be keeping a budget of at least $3,000 for all miscellaneous expenses. 

In Total

As you can see, running a crowdfunding campaign is not easy. Although crowdfunding is meant to provide you with financial support, it still needs money to deliver results. The trick lies in the funding goal you set for yourself. 

Considering all of the above expenses, let’s say you need to earn $150,000 if you’re spending $50,000. This is why we always recommend setting a higher funding amount so that you can get some extra cash to improve or build your product as you go.

Crowdfunding is super beneficial for companies that don’t want to go to investors or banks to fund their projects. However, a successful crowdfunding campaign is not run for free – you have to spend some to gain some. 

Want to know more? Feel free to reach out to us for details. 

Check out the videos below for more.

The post How Much Does it Cost to Run a Crowdfunding Campaign on Kickstarter and Indiegogo? appeared first on samitpatel.

Quick Post Overview Video ⤵️

 Most entrepreneurs pledge a goal that does not take into consideration their overall expense and end up going in the minus. What are some of the costs that you need to watch out for?

Let’s break it down. 

• Kickstarter Fees and Payment Processing 

Kickstarter applies a 5% fee to the funds collected for creators. Their payment partner Stripe charges 3 to 5% of payment processing fees. There’s an additional $0.20 fee for every pledge. In total, you have 8% of platform expenses.  

So, say you’ve got $10,000 pledged. 

You pay 5% of 10,000 = $500 

3% +0.20 cents of processing fees = $300 

Total = $800 of $10,000

Now, moving on to additional costs. 

• Crowdfunding Taxes

Funds generated from crowdfunding are seen as taxable income. Depending on where you live and the different tax laws that apply, you’ll need to figure out the taxable amount for your goal. You may even be required to pay sales tax from the amount you receive. Be sure to bring in your accountant and figure out the amount you may need to pay. You can do this before you launch your campaign (based on your goal) just to get an early estimate. 

• Campaign Design Fees 

Crowdfunding campaigns require the set up of page design. The cost of that ranges from $500 – $5,000 depending on whether you’re hiring an individual freelancer or an agency.

You May Also Like to Read:

What Happens When Kickstarter Campaign Fails?
How to Start and Launch a Kickstarter Campaign?
Can Kickstarter Be Used to Start a Business? Here’s Everything You Need to Know.

Additional costs may incur if you’re also planning to invest in social media advertisement, influencer marketing, PR, networking or conferences. 

Your costs could shoot up significantly, so make sure that you have enough budget to spend on these activities and that the ROI is at least 2X times of what you’ve spent. 

• Professional Photography 

Photography is, of course, a necessity. Most people overlook photography assuming that they can take pictures with their phones, apply some filters and the job would be done. 

If you truly want results though, you will need to have professional photography done, especially if you’re using crowdfunding to fund a product. 

Photography could cost you anywhere from $300 – $3,000 again depending on who you hire for the services. 

• Videography & Video editing 

Videos are a fundamental part of your campaign. Whether it’s on your main campaign page, your social media or your website, you’ll need the help of videos to talk about your product. 

You’ll need a videographer who will be professionally recording and editing your video. You could hire people locally or you could hire them online. 

Video recording and editing costs run from $300 to $10,000 depending on the type, intensity, duration and type of service hired. 

Running a crowdfunding campaign is expensive and could bleed you dry if you don’t carefully plan your expenses. You’ll need to factor in all these expenses and pledge them as part of your goal. 

 , it’s not just the Kickstarter fees that you have to look into. It’s also all the additional costs that you will face during the execution of your campaign. 

Got any questions regarding Kickstarter fees and other costs? Call us or drop us an email! 

The post Kickstarter Fees and Additional Costs You Need to Know When Launching a Crowdfunding Campaign appeared first on samitpatel.

My answer to this question is always a set of five important questions. I’ll elaborate on them in a while, but before you read the rest of the article, try writing down the answers to these questions.

1. Is your idea good enough for people to support?
2. Do you have the support of a large network of backers (before going public?)
3. Do you have clear and transparent milestones?
4. Do you have enough knowledge of the crowdfunding platform you want to use?
5. Do you have strong knowledge of how crowdfunding works?

Tough questions eh?

Don’t worry. I’ll elaborate on each of the questions above to help you find your answer.

Idea:

Crowdfunding is tough.

You’re asking the public to financially support your project. What is the one thing that would attract people to invest in your project?

The idea. The product. The end result.

The public will only help if your idea or your product is innovative and exciting.

But we all know, having an idea is not enough. You need to build your reputation. You need to build a list of people who want to support you. You need backers to make crowdfunding work.

This leads to our next question – do you have backers?

Backers:

Statistics of 2019 show that 16.01 million backers had supported 439,891 projects on Kickstarter.

There are millions of people out there ready to back your project. Getting their attention and their support though is one of the most difficult challenges of crowdfunding.

The only way you can get backers is when you have an audience of supporters from your local community. Friends, acquaintances, colleagues, etc play a critical role in helping you build your brand.

If you don’t have local supporters, you can try connecting with influencers and people in the industry who can support your project.

To kickstart your project, you should ideally have 100 people willing to contribute. Say, each person contributes $20, 100 people would mean $2,000. Once you achieve this on the platform, other people would be interested to support you further.

Backers are also your first customers, your beta testers and much more. Convince them, win their trust and they will continue to support you!

Milestones:

Any project that opens itself for public funding must have clear milestones.

An unspoken rule of crowdfunding is transparency. Keep your supporters updated about your milestones, your setbacks and your progress. You need to win their trust if you want their support for long-term.

This is why, it’s particularly important to breakdown your project deliverables in achievable milestones (these are displayed in a separate tab on the platform). Each milestone is assigned a funding goal, so if you have your numbers ready, you’ll have greater success in meeting your goals.

Platform:

Choosing the right crowdfunding platform is important.

Depending on the type of crowdfunding model you’re using (link to crowdfunding model article), you need to know about how the particular platform works.

For rewards-based funding, Kickstarter and Indiegogo (link to Kickstarter vs Indiegogo article) are the top platforms, but they are also quite different from each other.

If you’re opting for rewards-based funding, it’s necessary to know how these two platforms operate and what are their distinctive features.

Crowdfunding:

The premise of crowdfunding is simple – get the crowd to fund your projects.

The execution is tough.

The first step to crowdfunding is research. Conduct in-depth research of your industry and the platform that best suits it.

Also try to research on similar projects. Comb through top projects and study every detail. The more knowledge you gather, the better your chances of running a successful campaign.

Crowdfunding is one of the most innovative methods to earn capital without having to visit banks, lenders or investors. But it requires work. It requires a significant investment of time, planning and smart marketing.

You May Also Like to Read:

5 Challenges of Crowdfunding You Need to Know Before You Take the Plunge
How Much Does it Cost to Run a Crowdfunding Campaign on Kickstarter and Indiegogo?

If you have a great product, all you need is a solid strategy and crowdfunding can work wonders for you.

Want to know if your project is the right fit for crowdfunding? Let’s talk! SAMIT PATEL crowdfunding marketing agency.

The post Is Crowdfunding the Right Choice for You? Here are Five Questions to Help You Decide appeared first on samitpatel.

Both Indiegogo and Kickstarter are leading crowdfunding platforms with thousands of businesses raising millions in funding, however, they have key differences that set them apart from each other.

To truly have an effective crowdfunding experience on either of these platforms, it is essential for you to know important differences because it could significantly affect your campaign goals, budget, and eventual outcome.

Here are top differences between Indiegogo and Kickstarter to watch out for:

Campaign Review Process & Rules

Kickstarter has a reputation for being stringent with campaign reviews. They take two to three days to review your project to make sure that it falls into one of the 15 categories and that it meets the platform’s rules.

Kickstarter claims to accept 80% of all projects that are submitted on their platform. Important rules to follow are:

• Projects must be honest and clearly presented
• Projects can’t raise funds for charity
• Projects can’t include prohibited items like Contests, coupons, gambling, and raffles and a whole list of other things.

Make sure you read all the rules of the campaign before you submit to Kickstarter. Indiegogo, on the other hand, is more relaxed. They do not review campaigns and leave it up to backer to make a sensible decision.

Funding Statistics & Success Ratio

Perhaps one of the most defining differences between the two campaigns is the funding success rate. Kickstarter has a better reputation than Indiegogo and has been known to have a successful funding rate of 35.72%.

To date, Kickstarter has $4,295,731,140 pledged with 16,276,544 total backers and 5,328,242 repeat backers.

Indiegogo does not have public funding rates available, however, news report claim that around $1.3billion has been raised as of 2018.

Kickstarter is comparatively harder to get funding, but when a project hits popularity then funding figures can rise significantly.

The difference in Funding Types

One of the key difference between the two platforms is the way they fund projects. On Kickstarter, you’ll have to raise the complete amount you pledged before you can take the money away. Also known as, ‘All or Nothing,’ this is pretty helpful for businesses that want a lump sum amount.

Indiegogo has two funding options with the first one being the traditional option while the second one is flexible. In the second option, you can avail money as your project progresses without waiting until the end.

While this flexible option by Indiegogo sounds good, it comes with a catch – you will have to pay a 9% fee and be charged for payment fees too.

Generally, experts recommend using the fixed-funding option because the risks are lower and you will need a capital amount to work on your project.

Fee Structure of the Two Platforms

There is no difference in terms of percentage fees; both charge 5% of the total amount raised. The difference, however, is that Kickstarter will not charge the fee until you’ve met your goal. Indiegogo will charge on the amount raised regardless of whether you’ve reached your goal or not.

Indiegogo has 3% plus 30¢ per credit card transaction along with 3-5% for PayPal transactions. Prices differ region wise, so do make sure to check your region costs before making a campaign.

Types of Projects Accepted

Kickstarter has only 15 categories that you can use to register your project. It’s very specific in nature and is ideal for creative projects and requires a working prototype in case you want to launch a product.

Indiegogo is pretty laid back with three main categories (tech, creative, community) that are further broken down into sub-categories. Indiegogo is an open marketplace for anyone interested in crowdfunding.

You May Also Like to Read:

Indiegogo vs Kickstarter 2019/2020 – A Deeper Perspective (UPDATED)
Kickstarter vs Indiegogo: The Best Crowdfunding Platform in 2020

The difference between the two Kickstarter vs Indiegogo is dependent on your project and your personal preference. Do you want an open marketplace or you’re more comfortable with a well-vetted campaign? Do you want fixed or flexible funding? All of these are questions you’ll have to analyze before submitting your project.

Need help deciding on the perfect crowdfunding platform? Get in touch!

The post Five Important Differences between Indiegogo and Kickstarter appeared first on samitpatel.

Whether you’re at the start of your campaign or nearing the end of it, you need to constantly promote your campaign if you want your business to grow and gain an audience.

So how do you go about promoting a Kickstarter campaign and garner support from people across the globe? Here are a few practical suggestions.

Create a Detailed Promotion Plan and Break it Into Phases

There is a lot more to a Kickstarter campaign that simply sharing stuff on social media. A well-executed promotion plan consists of sub-plans such as content creation, social media posting, pitching and messaging, email outreach, media outreach and even paid ads.

The promotion of your campaign is a constant activity which can become overwhelming and chaotic if you don’t have a process or a blueprint plan ready.

Your plan should cover essential pointers such as:

• Campaign milestones and associated goals
• Campaign duration and the figures you want to see within that duration
• Who is your audience and how do you reach them
• What will be your main content assets? (A press release, blog posts, etc)
• Will you have any online/offline promotion events?
• Which media outlets do you want to approach?
• How will you outreach via email?

Most importantly, your plan must address the fundamental goal – Getting solid backers for the campaign. While your initial backers may be friends, family, and acquaintances, you will eventually need more people to support your campaign.

It is also recommended to break your promotion plan into phases. So for example, if Phase 1 is the Launch Phase, you’ll need to have a clear plan on how you want to announce your campaign.

In the second phase, you’ll want to focus on strategies to grow your backers and your audience.

In the third phase, you’ll want to promote the achievement of milestones and so on. Divide your phases according to your campaign milestones and duration for each.

Having All Your Communication Assets Ready

A classic mistake most campaigners make is creating communication assets (videos, blog posts, press releases etc) during the campaign instead of prior to launching the campaign.

The rule of thumb is, you must have all your content material, communication assets, and branding assets ready even before the campaign launch.

During the campaign itself, you’ll be busy achieving milestones and will not have time to tackle promotional stuff. Whether you’re hiring a team or doing it yourself, standard practice is to have everything ready beforehand.

Before launching your promotion campaign, make sure you have the following in place:

• Your branding material (logo, business cards, letterheads, brochures, PDFs etc)
• A basic website or blog (this is absolutely necessary)
• Press releases
• List of media outlets to reach out with email addresses of editors
• Active social media accounts
• A series of blog posts
• A set of pitch emails
• A professionally created video
• Events you want to host

Prior to launching your campaign, you should spend at least 2 months preparing all your content so that by the time you launch, you have everything ready to kick off.

Go Beyond the Ordinary

You’re sharing your campaign on social media, you’re reaching out to the press and you’ve got quite some noise, but this is not enough. Go beyond the ordinary.

Be part of communities and groups where you can find investors, backers, and people who are always on the lookout for a great product or cause to support. Look out for exclusive groups on Facebook or LinkedIn, subreddits on Reddit and online communities for crowdfunding campaigners.

More importantly, set out a budget to invest in social media ads (after you have data on where your audience is the most active). Since social media ads are costly, use this wisely at the various stages of your campaign.

Hiring a Promotion and Marketing Team

By now, you’ve probably realized that promoting a campaign is a critical task and one that can make or break your campaign.

It’s always better to hire a professional team to get the promotion and marketing work done. This will save you time to focus on building your product/service instead of worrying about getting in touch with the next influencer.

You May Also Like to Read:

How to Promote Kickstarter Campaign? A Quick Promotion Guide.
The Framework of a Successful Kickstarter Marketing Campaign
How to Get Engagement for Your Kickstarter Campaign

Most marketing agencies already have media access and can help you achieve your goals faster, better.

Crowdfunding can attract the right investors for you, but it’s only successful if you have a good promotion plan in place. Have any other suggestions or questions? Drop your comments below!

The post How to Promote a Kickstarter Campaign appeared first on samitpatel.

Unless you have requirements that only niche platforms provide, you’re going to use one of these two. So does it matter which one you choose? Either way, you’ll get a world-renowned platform with proven success, but their difference can have major implications for your company.

What follows is the ultimate showdown of giants Kickstarter vs Indiegogo who will win? You’ll find out at the end obviously. 

The brand

When it comes to branding, Kickstarter is miles ahead of Indiegogo. Kickstarter is basically the Hoover of the crowdfunding world. The name Kickstarter is often used as a synonym for crowdfunding, with many people unaware that it refers to one specific platform.

So it serves as no surprise that Kickstarter is the best platform when it comes to traffic. In 2016, Kickstarter has garnered over 1 million unique visitors a day, or 30 million a month. Indiegogo, in comparison, gets around 9 million every month (and are much more secretive about it).

• The Kickstarter brand is also loved by the media. Because of strict quality control (see project flexibility below), reporters know they are less likely to end up sifting through heaps of garbage.

You may be tempted to stop reading here. After all, when it comes to raising funds, more visitors mean more pledges.

But Kickstarter has other benefits you’ll want to know about, while Indiegogo has a higher amount of flexibility that you might have to take advantage of like a tech startup.

Success

Another statistic that will probably have you running to Kickstarter is their success rate. Kickstarter boasts a success rate of 36%. That might sound low, but it’s by far the highest of any of the crowdfunding platforms.

Take into account that this percentage accounts for around 100 000 successful crowdfunding campaigns, and you begin to see the bigger picture. Regardless of the type of funding, many startups fail. When you take into account how easy it is to sign up for a crowdfunding campaign, it makes sense that there’s an awful lot of dross (even with quality controls). If you have a good product and know what you’re doing, you are set up for success.

Indiegogo, on the other hand, has around a 9% success rate. Are you running yet? Take a moment to breathe, Indiegogo does have perks that will put that 9% in context.

All or nothing vs. flexible

One of the major reasons people choose Indiegogo over Kickstarter is their flexible policy towards “failed” campaigns. Kickstarter has only one option. You receive funding once the target has been met. If you fail to reach it, you get nothing.

While Indiegogo does provide the all or nothing option, you can also choose to receive the funding as it comes in. There is a risk inherent to this – that you’ll end up spending other people’s money on a project that never materialises – but it provides a major perk. If you don’t hit the target, it does not mean your campaign is dead. You can keep the funding, and raise the rest of it from somewhere else. Also, you may need that money to build your working prototype.

Keeping this in mind, Indiegogo’s 9% success rate sounds a lot better. That 9% includes only those that reached their full goal. Many other campaigners fell short but made their projects happen anyway.

Global eligibility

Another reason to choose Indiegogo as your crowdfunding platform would be your country’s eligibility. Kickstarter allows campaigns from 18 different countries, compared to Indiegogo, which hosts campaigns from around the world (224 countries).

If you live in the US, UK, Australia, and much of Europe, this won’t affect you. But if you live in Africa, South and Central America, or Asia, Kickstarter is not an option.

Project flexibility

Kickstarter has stricter requirements for registration. Their 3 major rules are:

• No personal projects
• No charity
• A working prototype

As a tech startup, the first two won’t present any problems. However, if you don’t yet have a working prototype, you’ll have to hold off on your Kickstarter project. Indiegogo is far less strict.

Kickstarter enforced this rule by banning a massive project. The Skarp Laser Razor had been backed to the tune of $4 million on Kickstarter, before being kicked off due to skepticism over their ability to deliver. Indiegogo took them on, and they managed to raise $450 thousand. This was seen by some as a win for Indiegogo and their flexible policies.

However, Skarp’s target date of March 2016 came and went with no product or even any updates. Comments from backers asking for answers were deleted. Eventually, Skarp did offer some news, but despite a giddy optimism from the founders, it does not sound very promising.

So, Indiegogo wins as the best crowdfunding platform when it comes to flexibility. But that’s not necessarily a positive.

Kickstarter vs Indiegogo: Who won?

So who won the ultimate crowdfunding platform showdown Kickstarter vs Indiegogo….  You’re more likely to see success with Kickstarter, due to its huge amount of traffic. And the branding will give your startup a boost in the eyes of the media.

You May Also Like to Read:

Indiegogo vs Kickstarter 2019/2020 – A Deeper Perspective (UPDATED)

However, Kickstarter is not an option for everyone. If you’re not in an eligible country, Indiegogo is the next best thing. Or, if you’re not willing to take the “all or nothing” approach, Indiegogo offers an alternative. Furthermore, if you’re waiting on funding for a working prototype, Kickstarter won’t take you on.

Kickstarter wins it for me, but Indiegogo is not at a bad alternative at all. 

Other Resources

Youtube Video 

The post Kickstarter vs Indiegogo: The Best Crowdfunding Platform in 2020 appeared first on samitpatel.