5 things you MUST do before launching a crowdfunding project

So, you have a next million dollar brilliant idea and all you have to do is tell it to the world before it pays out? Sorry to disappoint you and burst your delusional happy bubble but that is not how crowdfunding works. You may have the best idea in the world but if you are not going to invest your time and energy into it, chances of your success are pretty slim. Planning is a vital first step in any project and that is why we are going to help you and talk about the five things you absolutely must do before launching your crowdfunding project.

Depending on where you look, you will find a different number of things you need to do. Some sites have lists of 6 to 10 things and some have a number beyond 20. To keep it simple, we have gathered those similar ones under the same number so our list is more of a list of categories than it is specifics but you will see what we mean once you continue reading.

If you make a good plan, the rest of the work will be easy, we promise. But, the catch is that your plan really needs to be good and have everything in it. Have you checked how much tax your project needs to pay and when? Backer rewards? What happens if you miss a certain deadline? Who will help you with what? How will you move forward and what steps will be done at what time? Do you have a camera to take pictures of your progress? Have you gotten an envelope to put all your receipts in? You need to have all of those questions answered and then some. Try to be prepared for everything. It is better to work on a good plan for a month or more before creating a project than to create one and have no idea what you are doing.

Let us make something perfectly clear, there is no such thing as learning too much about crowdfunding. The more you read, the more successful you will be. We have prepared quite a number of educational posts for you, have you read them all? There is nothing wrong in re-reading them. When you are done with those, go check how others are doing with their projects and try to see what are the differences between successful and unsuccessful projects. Learn from other peoples mistakes and try to mimic the behavior of those who have what you want. There is nothing wrong with asking for help or a piece of advice from those who already reached their goals so do not be shy and get yourself some help from as many places and people as possible.

No matter what your project is about, it should have its own website. If nothing else, create a steemit account especially for your project but a stand-alone website works better. All your material, updates and campaigns should link to that website and a website should link to other sites. You need to create a circle of online material where people will be directed to your webpage to learn something and from there to social media to learn something else and round and round the circle goes. Your webpage is the main place that needs to have everything about your project and do not worry, there are easy and free ways you can create one but we suggest that you put aside a piece of your budget specifically for that. Do not forget to put some sorts of analytics tool on your site to keep track of who visits it and when and keep in mind that you can sell your product from there too and install a Fundition widget for free so people can directly support your project there.

It is good when you talk about yourself, you will do so in most of the places and times during your campaign but others talking about you is even better. Try to get some news coverage about your projects and see if bloggers, influential people in your community, and radio stations can promote your project. In our steem-universe, you can see if others can write about your project on their pages and if they can promote your project in various discord shows. With a good PR strategy, you can have a wider audience so try to form good relationships with different bloggers. Pitch your project to whomever and whenever you can because that kind of support goes a long way.

Social media is important, so important that we have written an entirely separate post about it and mention it whenever we can. You should use social media to promote your project but before you launch your project, investigate all the possibilities and see what people are responding to. Learn how to communicate on different platforms and behave around different people online. Keep in mind that you need to have interesting and sharable things and if possible, try to create a little buzz before you launch the project. Let people talk about the project and anticipate it so work on your dramatic-expectation-building by using captivating images and videos to capture their attention.