We now have our first trailer for Tijuana Jackson's Prison Logic Movie and it is so frigging hilarious! Special thanks to so many people including James Lopez, Will Packer and Smith Global Media. But the biggest thanks goes to all of my campaign contributors.
Yup! This all started as an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign. I thought if I had a successful campaign it would attract investors. In the end I still had to come up with a quarter of the budget from my own pocket.
The numbers were as follows:
Total of 874k social media followers and subscribers.
That's 1,912 contributions averaging $105.97 each, for a total of $202,616.
This means of my 854k social media followers .021% contributed to my campaign.
It's all on Indiegogo for those who are interested in seeing.
Some of those contributions were in the tens of thousands because I agreed to give my professional services (acting/producing) in exchange. This raised the general average to $105.97. If I deduct those big contributions the average contribution would be right around $67 per contributor.
But based on my research these are good numbers. No featured news story. No consistently featured page ranking on the Indiegogo platform. No press. No controversy. That was all grass roots and little Facebook boosting towards the end of the campaign. However, that didn't pan out for us.
"So when people ask if crowdfunding is easy I say, "Hell fucking no it's not easy. It was harder than writing, directing, starring and co-funding my own movie. I'm still trying to fulfill all of the perks. Most demanding job of my life."
And as Mark Zuckerburg announced in 2018, "You’ll see less public content like posts from businesses, brands, and media,” which means organic reach for small brands, entrepreneurs, personalities, crowdfunding campaigns, etc. are on a constant decline, particularly on Facebook and Instagram. This makes outreach nearly impossible without a marketing budget.
No wonder people get ill during their crowdfunding campaigns. A successful crowdfunding campaign is often either a result of extremely hard work or a scheme.
In many instances what appears to be a successful crowdfunding campaign is self funded by larger entities trying to disguise their crowdfunding success as grassroots.
These types of schemes are also used to generate narratives the lead to pre-sales of video games, DVDs, tech gadgets, software, etc.
You can learn more about big companies on crowdfunding campaigns and how it hurts the smaller creators here (1).
That's what you're competing with when trying to reach the crowdfunding platform's feature page. That's why being featured can seem impossible. All campaigners are not created equal.
Another big mistake was having expensive perks and as a result I could not capitalize on my early traffic. The key is to get little contributions from a whole lot of people. Also, more often than not people underestimate the work required to have a successful crowdfunding campaign.
Even though I've achieved my asking number I don't consider my crowdfunding campaign successful because according to research a successful campaign is usually funded 200%-1000% above asking. That was not the case with my campaign.
But this is why you should never ask for 100% of what you need. Ask for half and raise one third of asking by day one of your campaign. This will require you to raise a third of your budget before launch. If your campaign is done correctly the lower number will be easier to achieve and a successful looking campaign can generate bloggers, vloggers, podcasts and other media interest resulting in more contributions. But don't count on it.
"I was certain with the early success of my crowdfunding campaign I would get heat seeking blogs to at least give me a mention, but I got nada."
So before starting your own campaign I suggest you look at the numbers realistically. Don't assume that a huge social media following will result in a successful campaign. I assure you, it's not as easy as it seems. Don't believe the hype. Do your research.
I've compiled a bunch of free crowdfunding information which you can use to get started: Crowdfunding Info
Best of luck.
#LifeManagementTribe #TheLMT #TeamLMT #Crowdfunding #CrowdfundingCampaign #GoFundMe
Login with a social network