Is crowd-funding your way forward?

Crowd-funding is on trend – everyone is using it from start-ups to Olympic sports teams.  Is it something you could use to help your business move to the next level?

Anyone can launch a crowd-funding campaign – and there’s a blog here about creating a good pitch – but the question is ‘is it right for your business?’

Crowd-funding is aimed at people who want to invest some of their money – and is particularly aimed at getting a lot of very small investors to build up a bigger amount.  It’s based on the belief that getting many people to part with £5-£10 is easier than getting one person to give £1000.

To persuade people to invest that ‘no-brainer’ small amount you need both a really good story and a good distribution plan to get the word out.

‘Give me some money!’

‘I’m starting a new business’ really isn’t enough to persuade people to give you money.  You need a compelling reason and to show that you’ve thought this through, done your research and have a sound plan.

First-time investors need something to engage their emotions and get their plastic out.  Serious investors – and there are a few who visit the crowd-funding sites regularly looking for good investments – are looking for sound business sense and a plan that looks like it has legs.

If you are starting with a dream and not much else, you’re unlikely to get much support.  If you’ve clearly done research, planning and can give numbers and evidence that you have a market who are interested you could find it an excellent means of getting your project funded.

WIIFM?

Investors are looking for some kind of return on their investment.  

For small investors that might be a thank-you webpage where they can post a short message – or a low cost giveaway item that is relevant to your project.

The more money people invest, the more they’ll expect in return.  If you’re launching a product it might be the first off the production line offer for a much lower price than the RRP; for instance if your product retails at £20 and they invest £50 – they’ll receive three personalised versions of the product before the general release into the market.

If your project is related to developing something that is less tangible, like a knowledge-based service – you might need to be more creative about what you offer as rewards for investors.

The best advice I can give you is to go on your chosen site and do a search – see what the most successful pitches offer as rewards.  What could you offer that’s similar and relevant to your business?

If you think you’ve got a good project – go for it, but remember you will have to drive the project forward both in promoting your crowd-funding page and in delivering to meet your promises.

How to build a press list

If you haven’t done this already, you may be missing an opportunity.

Most PR agencies will recommend that you send information – press releases – to relevant publications to get new coverage, but if you don’t have a PR agency or the budget to engage one – how do you get into print?

There’s a blog here about how to write good press releases, but first you need to know who you’re writing for.

It may appear easy to start with your local newspapers, but it may not be the right place for your business.  The reason that many companies start here is because they seem to be more accessible.  There’s a good chance you know someone who knows someone at your local newspaper – but, unless your story appeals to their readers they won’t publish it, just because you’re a local company.

Editors of industry journals are often grateful for good articles as they are frequently run on a tight budget and don’t have lots of money to pay freelance journalists.  However, remember that you’re writing an article – not a sales pitch.

Get focused

First understand who your target market are.  Who are you trying to reach?  Not just a generalisation – be specific.  The more specific you are the easier this exercise will get!

What publications do these people read – for business?  Do they read online or hard copy publications or a combination of both?  What are their industry journals?

Does your local newspaper or magazine have supplements around this industry or subject area?

Don’t forget local radio and TV stations – sometimes stories are picked up by national media from local stations.  A drive-time or breakfast show interview can reach many more people than a local newspaper.

A good press list probably has between 5-10 publications on it.

Know your media

Don’t just send your articles in by email – call up and speak to the editor or journalist who covers the area you want to write in.  Find out if they accept unsolicited articles, what kind of material they want, how long a typical article should be, what kind of press releases will work best for them, how they like to receive information – by email, in a Word document or via a telephone interview.

The secret is in raising your head above the parapet and creating a relationship.  It can be valuable as you’ll stick in their memory as the expert on your subject and may be asked to contribute to articles they’re writing around a subject.

Do read at least one or two issues of the publication before you approach anyone.  It won’t do you any favours if you haven’t bothered to check out for the kind of articles they publish and the style and tone of their publication.  It will win you brownie points if you can refer to a specific article in the most recent issue and comment.

When you write for them aim to match the style and tone so it ‘sounds’ right for them.  This may mean having a slightly edited version of a press release for different publications.

A press release can be sent to several editors, but an article should be unique to a single publication.
If you get an article accepted by one publication they will be more than a bit cross if it appears elsewhere – especially if it comes out before their item.  They certainly won’t be interested in any more material from you.

Do your planning and preparation and you could be surprised at how easy it is to get good material published.

What makes a good marketing flyer?

Everything is digital these days – but then you have to go to a live event and have nothing except your business cards to promote your business.  It’s time to create a flyer.

Before you call up your designer or open Photoshop, think about what you want to achieve and the best way to do that.

What’s the message?

I go to a lot of networking events and pick up lots of flyers covered with information, many with no clear message.  They just seem to be general information leaflets – with a ‘this is everything we do’ type of message.  Most of them go into the recycling bin!

If you’re going to invest in a flyer what do you want people to do when they read it?  What needs to be included in the message to increase the chance of them doing that?

Invest time in creating a great headline

Your headline should get attention and all the great copywriters emphasise that you should spend 80% of your writing time in crafting a really good headline.  To do this you need to know your target audience very well – what words will they respond to?  You need to get their attention quickly – and get them to want to find out more.

Make sure your headline stands out

Don’t bury your headline in a sea of copy and graphics.  White space may be expensive when you have so much to say and only a small area to say it in, but it’s much more expensive to fill it up and lose both the impact and the connection with your reader.

If you’re having a two-sided flyer consider giving one side to your headline with some appropriate graphics – and maybe a one-line introduction that makes people want to turn it over.

Three tips to increase retention

1. Paper flyers are really easy to scrunch up and throw away, which is why I recommend that clients think about investing a small amount more and having your flyer on card.
2. What size should it be?  One of the most effective sizes is a tall card that is one-third of an A4 page.  Some people use the whole A4 sheet and fold it into three to make a small trifold brochure.  This size fits in most bags and the inside pocket of a jacket too.  It’s also easy to pop into a standard envelope.  Postcard size works too, but A5 can be just that bit too big to fit anywhere.
3. Have information that is of value.  Five tips, three steps, a 10 point checklist.  This ensures that it stays around people’s desks for longer as there’s useful information on it.

One word of warning – don’t DIY (unless you’ve studied graphic design)! Get a designer to put it together, it will look so much more professional.

LinkedIn – personal or company?

Many of my clients ask me whether they should be posting on LinkedIn as themselves or their company.  The answer is both, BUT – unlike Facebook, where Pages get a lot of traffic, company pages on LinkedIn are less visible.

The pages that do get traffic tend to be the bigger organisations, institutions and associates.  Company pages on LinkedIn don’t get the same level of engagement that Facebook pages enjoy.  Does that mean you shouldn’t bother creating one?

No – do create your company page.  If you can’t find the ‘button’ – it’s under the Work icon next to your avatar on the right-hand end of the menu bar.  If you can see it, scroll down a bit and you should see it at the bottom of the drop-down.

Why have a company page?

If someone searches on your company name it means you’ll show up both on LinkedIn and also on Google.  LinkedIn rates highly on Google because the site has so much activity so you may find that if you search on your name and your company name your LinkedIn profiles will rate even above your own website.

When you have a company page you can pull the log from there onto your personal profile next to your current role.

It gives you a higher profile and allows you to post social media posts in more locations giving you a higher profile.

Where should your primary focus be?

If you’re investing time in LinkedIn to build your business remember that people buy people and are more likely to connect with you personally than to follow your company page.  

When you’re messaging someone you’re less likely to do so if you feel as though you are talking to an organisation rather than a human being.

If you post an article on your profile then by all means put the link onto your company page and do take advantage of the showcase pages to outline your key products or services.  

It’s hard to develop a relationship with someone who is ‘hiding’ behind a company profile so my advice is to use your personal profile to make contact with people.  By all means suggest they follow your company page too, but don’t get excited if you don’t have many followers.

Your personal profile is a powerful tool to make contact with the people who are likely to become your clients when they’ve got to know you.