You don't want to end up having 24 people pledge $2,581 when your goal was $5,000 or 121 people pledge $5,216 when your goal was $20,000. Not only is this a public embarrassment, it's a big hit to your ego. After all, this can make you feel like you don't have much worth to your fans and that nobody really cares.

This is the stuff your worst dreams are made of, and it's totally avoidable. These six categories of your Circle of Influence will prevent this and each require a different channel of communication and a different style of communication....

In this step you’ll use your Circle of Influence inventory numbers to derive a Funding Estimate. This estimate is a simple approximation of the monetary worth of your human connections and will give you a safe, conservative number to build your successful campaign on.

This is the “safe” part of building your campaign. By assuring that your minimum viable project costs less than your funding estimate, you are alleviating a substantial amount of risk and uncertainty. In essence, you are assuring yourself of a successful campaign and an opportunity to actually do your project and ship it to the public!

We have literally watched thousands of these campaigns and closely observed or participated in hundreds and the evidence supports this notion. Crowdfunding backers as a whole are willing to pay a premium pricefor rewards packages above and beyond the real-world value.

It turns out that 80/20 relates pretty well to how crowdfunding campaigns are funded! In the crowdfunding dataset that I’ve amassed over time, you can see 80/20 occur. This graph shows the cumulative percentage of people who have pledged compared to the cumulative percentage of funds raised....

What most people in this position end up with is a video that is just barely “good enough” because they think, “Hey, it’s done, isn’t it? That’s better than NOT having a video.” This is a BAD scenario to be in because, other than actually talking to everybody in person, your video is your number-one tool for communicating to your potential backers. 

Fortunately, there is a way to prepare, structure, and organize your video approach to minimize procrastination, anxiety, and over thinking. By using a three-part pitch video framework, you’ll squeeze every ounce of potential out of your video in a fraction of the time and with almost no stress.

There are three main sections in understanding and building your campaign’s marketing plan:

The Elements in Play — the four marketing pillars of crowdfunding and the psychology that will increase their leverage.

The Rockstar Tactics — Facebook techniques, email list techniques and one-on-one scripts for phone, email and in-person communication.

The Schedule of Action — a check list of what to do and when to do it. You'll get all that in this section!

Before you hit launch, make sure you know what’s going to happen between now and the end of your campaign. If you don’t handle these things correctly, you are setting yourself up for a struggle through your entire campaign! 

Comes with Launch Checklist: Your campaign is ready to go and you have reviewed what to expect during the forthcoming campaign. You’re almost ready to hit start button! Now, let’s review the steps for the early part of your campaign...