The Kharisma Magazine The Kharisma Magazine (Full) Premiere Issue | Page 172

{ PREMIER ISSUE 2018 } KHARISMA MAGAZINE
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ING FOR A CROWDFUNDING MARKETING FOR .... BUSINESS

get to be first people to get their hands on it .
They ’ re supporting start-ups , and they know that they ’ re getting it for a lower price than what will be in retail in a couple of years .
Kharisma : There are two main platforms that you mentioned : Indiegogo and Kickstarter . If someone is considering doing a campaign , how do they determine which platform to use ?
Khierstyn : Well , it depends how you look at it . I ’ m a little biased because of the campaigns that I ’ ve managed have all been on Indiegogo and the difference in the platforms is it ’ s very much like an Apple versus Android . Apple is very regulated and closed source and doesn ’ t let you do a lot of stuff development wise , as opposed to an Android which is open source and is like a free for all . So Indiegogo is really great for the project creator because you can do pretty much anything you want on there .
You don ’ t need to apply to have your campaign put up . You could just press launch and you ’ re up there . You have a lot of flexibility over customer data and you could do affiliate schemes on its own . It ’ s really flexible and easy to work with . Generally , if they love your campaign and you reach out to Indiegogo , they will give you a campaign strategist to work with you to optimize your page and make sure that your campaign is ready to make money for both you and for them .
So , they ’ re much easier to work with than Kickstarter . The benefit to that is , it ’ s the platform people think of when you think about crowdfunding , so it ’ s the go-to . Also , they have a lot more traffic than Indiegogo , maybe like three to five times . You ’ d have to verify that . But frankly , I don ’ t think the traffic matters because well , to be fair , there is a lot more campaigns that go on there , so where you get more traffic , you get more
competition as well . Also , Indiegogo has a generosity platform for cause-driven campaigns .
Kharisma : Finally , what would you say to someone who is considering crowdfunding to launch a product or service into the marketplace ?
Khierstyn : To guide them on the successful path , the first thing is to either build an audience around their product , or they want to validate their idea . Which means that proves that somebody will buy it . You have to validate it before you even think about crowdfunding . I mean , how do you really know that someone is going to give you money for your product ?
There ’ s a really good book by Pat Flynn called , Will It Fly . I interviewed him on my podcast , because I kept ranting that people missed this first critical part of crowdfunding and that you have to look at it like launching a business . You have to make sure there ’ s a market for it . Pat Flynn has a really great process for it , and it ’ s all about talking to your customer beforehand to see what their pain points are , what they struggle with and what is the niche , the area that you ’ re looking to serve . Once you ’ ve validated your product and you know 100 percent that someone is going to buy it , you should keep talking to your customer because it really helps to understand what they struggle with and it is going to help you craft your marketing message .
Kharisma : Awesome ! So , the critical thing is to validate , validate , validate and then validate some more . Thank you so much , Khierstyn !