Crowdfunding: Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and Ecommerce with CrowdCrux | Crowdfunding Demystified

Anddd it's another "Ask Sal" podcast episode!! Since I don't really do consulting, this section of the podcast gives me an opportunity to directly answer reader and listener questions.

Tony Lialin asked:

"Hi Sal. I have a software product. I'll be on Kickstarter in 20 days and I'm curious if there are any tactics in particular for software that worked better on a Kickstarter vs a tangible product. I'm curious what your advice might be."

This is an Ask Sal podcast episode, where you submit your questions and I answer them!

Today’s question is about IP (intellectual property). How much time should you spend worrying about IP? How should you market your product when you don’t yet have a patent?

I cover this and more in today’s reply.

Let me preface this by saying that I’m not a lawyer and this reply is just my opinion. I recommend consulting a lawyer if you want accurate answers to questions about IP.

Yesss! It's another "Ask Sal" episode, where you submit your questions and I answer them! Todays question was asked by Lisa from TurtleMoonPress.com:

"I have a Kickstarter question. I recently published a coloring book and I then donated 50 copies to a hospital where one of my students is currently staying. I'd like to replicate this with other hospitals or charity organizations. Can I use Kickstarter for this?"

I'm about to reveal whether or not you can use Kickstarter to raise money and donate books or other products. I'll also talk a bit about nonprofit crowdfunding and how it differs from rewards-based crowdfunding.

• How long it took the team to prototype and test the product
• What they did to get funded in 4 days and 4 hours
• Why cross-promotion with like-minded campaigns is powerful
• The importance of launching a blog
• How the team earned media attention

If you have 0 social media followers and don't want to promote your Kickstarter campaign, you're in the right place.

I know I talk a lot about building up your crowd before crowdfunding, but there are always exceptions to the rule. Today, I talked with BJ Minson, who has raised over $400k on Kickstarter with three different campaigns.

He breaks down exactly what he did to get funding from regular Kickstarter backers and smash his goal. Not only that, but he shares how he did this ethically, with strong company values that promote American manufacturing.

Guess what!? This is an "Ask Sal" podcast episode where listeners submit their questions, and I answer them! The question today is a little bit different, because it focuses on personal crowdfunding. Katie Schwabline asked:

"How can I help finance my son's medical expenses with crowdfunding?"

I have to admit that this is a bit of a depressing and heart-wrenching episode. Katie is going through a very difficult time. I'm going to try to help her by providing actionable advice and setting realistic expectations for an online medical fundraising campaign.

This is an Ask Sal episode of the podcast, where you submit your questions and I answer them! Thomas Setteducato asked:

“How do I use real estate crowdfunding for my property?”

I’m about to talk about how you can use RE crowdfunding to finance a commercial or residential property. This is a very new sector of the industry and I’m excited about the possibility for investors to earn passive income from cash-producing properties.

I’ll also be linking to a website that I set up that’s specific to real estate crowdfunding. I’ve filtered out some of my best podcast episodes, along with my new ebook, which is getting some great reviews!

This is an “Ask Sal” episode where listeners submit their questions and I answer them! Navid asked:

“How can we spend our time and money to ensure that we get eyeballs on this campaign and that it gets before viewers and gets pledges on Kickstarter?”

In my answer, I’ll talk about a few ways that you can promote your Kickstarter campaign, get more exposure on the website itself, and some tools and resources that you can use.

http://www.crowdcrux.com/sevenfigurefunding

In this episode of the Crowdfunding Demystified podcast, I spoke with Brian Dally, the CEO and Co-Founder of GROUNDFLOOR, a real estate crowdfunding platform that is open to non-accredited investors.

The website has funded more than $8 million of real estate loans across 98 projects and has repaid investors more than $2 million of principal and interest!

http://www.realestatecrowdfundingexplained.com

This is an Ask Sal podcast, where you submit your questions and I answer them! Andrew Cross asked:

“This is the second time I’m launching a campaign. What are the best ways to get external traffic to your Kickstarter page?”

While some crowdfunding campaigns will receive 90% of their backers and pledges from the Kickstarter ecosystem, the majority of campaigns tend to see a 50/50 or 60/40 breakdown. There are even some projects that drive 90-100% of their own traffic!