On this episode of Crowdfunding Uncut, Khierstyn chats with the co-founders of Funded Today, one of the most successful crowdfunding consultancies in existence. The Funded Today guys believe smart entrepreneurs and business owners who want to raise LOTS of money on Kickstarter or Indiegogo must become master marketers, sales experts, and direct response gurus. But the reality is that most of them are so busy building a world-class product that they can’t do any of those things, which are full-time jobs in their own right. That’s why Funded Today exists. They’ve built a company that specializes in those things so you don’t have to. On this episode, you’ll hear from Josh and Thomas, the co-founders of Funded Today.
When you don’t need a marketing budget.
One of the things Josh and Thomas from Funded Today have discovered is that when you are using paid advertising – whether on the Google ads platform, Facebook ads, or even direct mail – there can often come a time when you don’t have to worry about your marketing budget and can freely keep on spending money. What’s the scenario where that can happen? It’s when your ad-spend is less than the revenue you’re making minus all your expenses. In that case, you’ve got the green light to keep advertising because your net gain is going up as long as you do. It’s an obvious mindset to some people and a mindset shift for others. You can hear how it works in this situation, on this episode.
How the Funded Today team validates products before moving forward with them.
If you were to reach out to the Funded Today team to find out what it would take for them to come alongside your product to make it a crowdfunding success, what you’d find is a process that takes you through a handful of phases. At the front end, you’ll be required to go through a validation process where your product idea and current resources will be analyzed and evaluated for both potential and ability to succeed. It’s one of the ways the Funded Today guys have found that they are able to increase the success of those who partner with them – by only moving forward with those who have the greatest chance of success. It’s an intriguing idea that will give you lots ideas for how you can increase YOUR product’s chances of success, so don’t miss it!
Crowdfunding is really about two things: Funding and validation.
Though the word “funding” is a part of the name and the fundraising aspect is what most of us think of, Crowdfunding is about more than raising money. The crowdfunding model also enables you to validate a product idea. Is it truly driven by market demands? Is there enough interest by a large enough demographic to warrant a reasonable expectation of success? Is your marketing message dialed-in and effective? These and other questions are answered by the crowdfunding process. Through the many crowdfunding campaigns the team at Funded Today has managed, they’ve taken the time to analyze and understand the data so that they can best advise their clients and make every campaign a success. Thomas and Zach share a ton of great information on this episode of Crowdfunding Uncut, so be sure you make the time to listen.
There’s a lot of value in telling someone their crowdfunding baby isn’t as cute as they think.
The main reason the Funded Today crowdfunding management process has been so successful is that they validate every potential client at the front end of their relationship. It’s a lengthy, in-depth assessment of the probability of success the product might enjoy. Sometimes the numbers and facts don’t come out looking very hopeful. That’s when Thomas and Zach of the Funded Today team say that it’s better to tell the product developer that their dream product – their baby – is not as beautiful as they think it is. The way Zach says it is this: If they can’t raise the funds for your product, nobody can. That means you probably need to rethink your product. Get insights from these two guys on this episode. They know the crowdfunding business.
Outline of This Episode
- [2:25] How the Funded Today company came about.
- [7:25] When do you need a marketing budget, and when do you not?
- [11:44] The services Funded Today offers to crowdfunding campaigns.
- [14:00] How the team uses their email list for clients.
- [16:29] The product validation and due diligence phase for every client.
- [19:01] How the team handles a product/company that fails due diligence.
- [29:55] Why the Funded Today team says projections are impossible to make.
- [34:00] What is different in how Funded Today markets a campaign?
- [46:03] The variety of things that go into a crowdfunding marketing success.
- [50:25] The Funded Today founders offer advice to serial creators.
- [53:03] At what point should creators reach out to the Funded Today team?
- [1:00:10] The “7 Ps” the Funded Today team analyzes to gauge potential success.
- [1:08:29] Why it all comes down to belief and desire: don’t give up!
Resources Mentioned
Sponsors
- BackerKit – use the code “uncut” to get your discount
- Gadget Flow
