The Crowd Funding Services Handbook : Raising the Money You Need to Fund Your Business, Project, or Invention.

Intro -- The Crowd Funding Services Handbook: Raising the Money You Need to Fund Your Business, Project, or Invention -- Copyright -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- About the Author -- Introduction -- Chapter 1: How Crowd Funding Works: The Basics -- What Crowd Funding Is . . . and Isn't -- Let's Talk Crowd Funding Lingo -- Nine Components to a Successful Crowd Funding Campaign -- Common Misconceptions about Crowd Funding -- It Is Essential to Create an Accurate Time Frame and Budget -- Again, There Are No Shortcuts -- Crowd Funding Can Be Used to Raise Money for People and Charities, Too -- The Future Looks Very Bright for Crowd Funding -- Chapter 2: What Types of Businesses, Projects, and Inventions Can Get Funded -- Profiles of Project Types That Can Be Successful Using Reward-Based Crowd Funding -- Reward-Based Crowd Funding Is Also a Powerful Fund-raising Tool -- Become an Experienced Project Backer before Becoming a Project Creator -- How to Find Specialty Crowd Funding Platforms -- Chapter 3: Introduction to Crowd Funding Platforms and Services -- General Reward-Based Crowd Funding Platforms -- FundAnything -- FundRazr -- Indiegogo -- Kickstarter -- RocketHub -- Specialty Reward-Based Crowd Funding Platforms -- Crowdrise -- Dragon Innovation -- Fundable -- Prizeo -- Start A Cure -- Upstart -- GoFundMe -- A Self-Hosted Reward-Based Crowd Funding Option -- Selfstarter -- Chapter 4: Preplanning Your Crowd Funding Campaign -- Define and Fine-Tune Your Project Idea -- Pinpointing Your Target Audience -- Do Your Research -- Choose an Appropriate Crowd Funding Platform to Host Your Campaign -- Create Your Campaign's Rewards -- Plan Your Schedule -- Building or Expanding Your Network -- Create Your Overall Marketing Message -- Prepare the Content for Your Crowd Funding Campaign -- Preplan the Promotional Efforts for Your Campaign.

Gathering the Support Services and Experts You'll Need -- Calculating a Detailed Budget -- Now, You're Ready to Proceed -- Chapter 5: Crunching the Numbers -- Develop a Budget for Your Reward-Based Crowd Funding Campaign -- Elements of Your Crowd Funding Campaign's Budget -- Developing a Prototype -- Planning Your Crowd Funding Campaign -- Building or Expanding Your Network -- Producing Your Promotional Video -- Online and Traditional Advertising -- Developing and Running Your Public Relations Effort -- Set a Realistic and Appropriate Funding Goal for Your Project -- Chapter 6: Targeting Your Backers and Supporters -- Defining Your Target Audience -- Chapter 7: Producing Your Promotional Video -- Twelve Elements That Make for a SuccessfulPromotional Video -- Conduct More Hands-On Research -- Consider Your Production Budget and Goals -- Create Your Video's Script and Storyboard -- Production Issues to Consider -- Choosing the Best HD Video Camera to Shoot Your Video -- Selecting Your Background or Shooting Location -- Lighting Considerations -- Sound Quality Considerations -- Showcase the Right Appearance: Wardrobe, Hair, and Makeup Considerations -- Utilizing Background Music, Voice-Overs, and Sound Effects -- The Pros and Cons of Adding More Production Elements -- Editing Your Video -- Chapter 8: Promoting Your Campaign -- Take an Organized Approach to Your Marketing Plan -- There Are Many Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Campaign's Web Page -- Use Email Marketing to Reach People with a Personal Message in Their Inbox -- Take Advantage of Social Media -- Drive Traffic to Your Campaign's Web Page Using Paid Online Advertising -- Tap the Power of the Media Using Public Relations Efforts to Expand Your Audience -- Consider Meeting Potential Backers in Person -- Chapter 9: Interacting with Your Backers Using a Blog -- Establish a Stand-Alone Blog.

How to Publish Updates to Your Crowd Funding Campaign's Web Page -- Information to Share with Your Backers -- Use Updates and Blog Posts to Generate Hype for Stretch Goals and Refuel Backer Support -- Keep the Line of Communication Open -- Chapter 10: Getting the Help You Need -- Eight Quick Tips for Hiring Freelancers -- Agree to Terms Before Hiring a Freelancer, Consultant, or Expert -- Crowd Funding-Related Tasks Where Freelancers and Experts Can Be Useful -- Where to Find Experts to Hire -- Chapter 11: You've Reached Your Funding Goal-Now What? -- Shipping Rewards to Backers -- Expect to Take on Many More Responsibilities in the Days and Weeks Ahead -- What to Do if Your Crowd Funding Campaign Fails -- Chapter 12: Get Started Using Kickstarter.com -- Kickstarter Is for Funding Creative Projects -- Kickstarter Puts Crowd Funding Tools at Your Disposal, but You're in Charge -- Discover What Sets Kickstarter Apart as a Crowd Funding Platform -- Kickstarter Backers Always Receive a Tangible Reward -- Determine What Results in a Successfully Funded Project on Kickstarter -- Acquire the Skills You Need in Advance -- When You Should Launch Your Kickstarter Campaign -- How to Go Online and Create Your Kickstarter Campaign -- Discover How Much Running a Kickstarter Campaign Costs -- Avoid the Most Common Mistakes Made by Project Creators -- What to Do if Your Kickstarter Campaign Fails -- What to Expect from Kickstarter in the Future -- There Are Other Crowd Funding Options Available -- Chapter 13: Interviews with Crowd Funding Experts -- Brian Meece, CEO of RocketHub, Shares His Crowd Funding Advice -- How did you get involved with crowd funding? -- What does it take for a person, company, or organization to be successful using crowd funding? -- You refer to RocketHub as a movement. What do you mean by that?.

What would you say is the biggest misconception people have about crowd funding? -- What sets RocketHub apart from other crowd funding platforms? -- Who is the core user of the RocketHub platform when it comes to raising capital via crowd funding? -- If someone wants to use RocketHub, how does the process work? -- What are the costs involved with using RocketHub to host a crowd funding campaign? -- Obviously, a promotional or pitch video is a key component to a crowd funding campaign's success. What are the key elements needed to create and shoot a successful video? -- At what point should someone pursue crowd funding in a project's lifecycle? -- What are the benefits of crowd funding? -- How should someone go about setting realistic goals for a project? -- What are some of the biggest crowd source funding pitfalls to avoid? -- How important is it to have a traditional business plan in place before utilizing crowd funding? -- In terms of fine tuning a compelling story for a project, is there information that should or should not be disclosed? -- What advice can you share about choosing rewards for backers? -- Get Crowd Funding Advice from Dave Girouard, Founder of Upstart -- What exactly does Upstart offer to recent graduates? -- How did your experience at Google lead to you founding Upstart? -- Upstarts promotes its crowd funding model as a new way for people to access capital. Do you use this slogan because you believe the old ways no longer work? -- Is Upstart considered a crowd funding platform? -- On the recipient side, who is the perfect candidate to use Upstart? -- How much can a typical recipient expect to raise from Upstart and in what time frame? -- What is the process for a participant to use Upstart? -- During the funding period, what does a participant need to do to solicit and interact with potential backers?.

Are the backers typically looking for a good financial investment, or are they looking to give back and serve as a mentor to young people? -- What is the biggest misconception people have about Upstart? -- Aside from giving up a percentage of their income for a predefined term, what other costs or fees are participants responsible for when using Upstart? -- What tips can you offer to someone interested in using Upstart to raise money for themselves? -- In terms of potential participants in Upstart, who are the people that tend to get funded? -- How do you see Upstart evolving in the future as a crowd funding platform? -- Scott N. Miller, CEO of Dragon Innovation, Discusses How to Use Crowd Funding to Launch a Technology-Related Project -- Why did Dragon Innovation launch its own crowd funding platform? -- What sets Dragon Innovation's crowd funding platform apart from others? -- How does Dragon Innovation choose which entrepreneurs, start-ups, or inventors it will work with and allow onto its crowd funding platform? -- What are the costs associated with crowd funding using the Dragon Innovation platform? -- Realistically, how many projects can the Dragon crowd funding platform handle simultaneously? -- What would you say is the biggest misconception people have about crowd funding? -- Once a crowd funding campaign is underway, what are some of the best strategies for attracting backers? -- You stress the importance of a promotional video as part of a crowd funding campaign. What tips can you offer on how to produce an effective video? -- On the Dragon platform, do project creators use rewards to incentivize backers? -- You talked about why it's important to have realistic goals. How should someone looking to use crowd funding set those goals? -- How do you see crowd funding evolving in the not-too-distant future?.

Learn More about Crowd Funding from Robert Wolfe, Founder of CrowdRise.

Crowdsource funding is the new way to finance start-ups in a networked world Entrepreneurs, small business owners, investors, artisans, or those who merely have a good idea for a business venture have a new and attainable means of securing capital to grow their dreams. Gone are the days when the only options to raise funds for a new business were venture capitalists, angel investors, or Wall Street. Web-based crowdfunding services are now plentiful and offer a variety of options for the aspiring entrepreneur. However, these services are not typically as well-understood as the more traditional means of raising capital. In The Crowdsource Funding Services Handbook, author Jason R. Rich offers a step-by-step overview of the various crowdsource funding services available on the Web, as well as the necessary documentation required to launch a successful crowdfunding campaign. Contains details on how to evaluate and select the best online platform for crowdfunding efforts Provides details on creating a business plan to the specifications require to raise capital via crowdfunding Provides an overview of the financial projections that will be required for a crowdfunding initiative Proposes a specific approach to creating a "pitch video" to succeed with a crowdsource funding campaign The Crowdsource Funding Services Handbook is a thorough, well-developed resource for those seeking to raise capital to start a business or fund the development of an innovative idea. Author and crowdfunding expert Jason R. Rich provides this definitive, hands-on guide to raising capital in the new economy.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2024. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.