So I have finally joined the world of Twitter. I have also joined the word of crowdfunding. There are reasons for both. Very good reasons. So, here we go.
Indiegogo is a crowdfunding platform, one of many, that helps you set up your campaign, provides the ways and means of making it global so you can reach the world around you. Because it’s internet based, you have access to all those eyes out there, millions and millions of eyes reading your campaign and partnering with you to help you reach your goal and tip your bucket from empty to, well, hopefully overflowing.
With all those people out there, someone’s bound to find your campaign plea, right? Well, yes. But then again, no. There’s a lot of work that you have to do to turn those eyes your direction. While the Internet is global, your campaign is just one grain of sand in a sea of millions and millions of sand of essentially the same color. How do you get your sand to stand out? To be a different color? To move from the bottom of the ocean to the top of the beach? How do you get noticed?
First, you gotta have a story. People love a story. They love a good story. Take the Olympics for example. You don’t just get the boring stats of the contenders, you get a story from their life. My friend Derek Parra won a Gold Medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Watching the broadcast, I heard Derek’s story. My parents heard his story. Instant fame in my family. I knew him and his then wife, Tiffany. My parent’s didn’t. That didn’t matter. His story reached their ears and their heart. A connection was made. An interest was stirred. That’s what you want your story to do. Bring you from obscurity to the limelight. You need a story.
Use a video to tell your story rather than just text or images. Statistics suggest that people prefer video rather than pictures. Campaigns with pitch videos raise 115% more than campaigns that use pictures. Campaigns offering perks raise 143% more than those who do not. And while 17% of all statistics are made up, those numbers could be stacked in your favor, or not.
Your perks should be creative and progressive. By that I mean that you start out with 10% off a certain item if they donate a certain amount all the way up to possibly offering concert tickets to U2 front row if they donate a larger amount. You could also throw in a back stage pass and perhaps a handshake from Bono.
Because you want to go global, it also helps to have a network in place so your campaign can reach those “millions of eyes” that I mention above. Facebook, Twitter and other social media are strongly suggested.
So, I’ve joined Twitter. Which is a very different world from Facebook. My impression of Twitter is movers and shakers with these quirky one or two-liners with hashtags and tons and tons of followers. Let’s face it, you want people to see your stuff. I mean, that’s the point, right? To have something to say to people who want to hear it? Well, they may not want to hear it, but you want to say it.
Here’s a better picture of why social medial is so important in the world of crowdfunding and to the scope of how many people you can reach on platforms like Twitter. Justin Bieber has over 54 million followers. My dear friend Diana has over 3000 followers while I have 20. But someone who just started following me has 26,000 followers. So my small social world just started growing. Hello little grain of sand moving to the top of the beach!
BTW, I’ve actually held Derek’s gold medal. Now that’s a story and a really good one, but perhaps another time.
pearlsandjeans 