Crowdfunding on YouTube
By: Ryan Prussky
YouTube has adapted a great deal in the last couple of years, making itself more accessible for users, as well as introducing new ways of making money from your content. In June of 2014, YouTube created a tool called Fan Funding, which allowed for viewers to donate money to their favorite creators. This could help them continue to make the same type of videos their fans have grown to love, or allow them to expand their content, with a full length film, or better production value. However, fan funding is unfortunately only available in select regions, including Australia, France, Mexico, Spain, United Kingdom, United States, and Japan. Although fan funding is not implemented globally yet, there are similar fundraising tools that can be accessed around the world. I am of course speaking about crowdfunding, and any of the many websites devoted to fundraising for various reasons. As of 2012, there was over 250 crowdfunding websites, most prominent being Kickstarter.
Crowdfunding is a great alternative to fan funding, it is one solution to how you can gain access to funds. Crowdfunding is basically fundraising but with built in social media and sharing tools to help accelerate the process. Essentially opening up an electronic fundraising system that can be accessed at any time, as opposed to holding a fundraising event, spending money on the venue and having a limited time frame of receiving funds. It is crucial that you create a flawless pitch for your project that will interest future investors. Once you have crafted the perfect pitch and shared your post, it is time to spread the word in any way you can. It usually takes a little bit of time for your campaign to gain traction. Commonly you will not start to see others outside of your network start to join until at least 40 percent of initial funds have been made, which is usually achieved by the support from your communities.
The reasons why people will commit dollars to your cause is because of the message and reason behind your post. This expands from the unique way that you choose to raise fund, the enticing reward you offer in exchange for dollars and for investment crowdfunding, a financial return. The more planning ahead you do prior to your first post, the better it will be. Reach out to new platforms by joining groups on various social media platforms and forums to leverage those people to help in your fundraising. Try and set realistic fundraising goal’s by estimating how much your network can yield. This allows for donors to see that you truly have a goal and are not simply trying to take their money.
It’s possible that your campaign will go viral but you’ll need to do all the legwork first to get traction, so don’t rely too heavily on that. While do so is no easy feat, it is possible if it is done the right way. To start you will want to create a fun and informative video pitch about your project and the team behind it. Use your first 30 seconds to engage your target audience and keep your entire presentation between two to three minutes, just like a movie trailer. Movie trailers are built to give the viewer a desire to see more, while not showing them everything, just like how you should sell your brand. Spread the word everywhere, leverage your entire network, friends, colleagues, social media pages, groups, and put a link of your project in your signature. This is not just funding, it is crowdfunding, and it is a necessity to get a crowd. Keep your audience and network engaged with frequent updates about advancements in the fundraising and project itself. It is a must that you remain strategic and consistent with your updates, never letting your investors out of the loop.
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