Crowdfund Insider talking with Sean Folkson from Night Food
Why crowdfund this and why choose Indiegogo as your
platform?
We decided to crowdfund because the individual angel
investors we’ve been talking to haven’t been able to commit to such an early
stage company. We need enough money to produce new product so we can do a test
in one of the big-3 pharmacy chains, so there was a finite amount of money
needed to reach a milestone, which I think is important in crowdfunding. By
hitting our crowdfunding target, and being able to take the next step, that
will not only help us move forward, but will make it easier for the angels to
get off the fence and make the decision to invest.
Quite frankly, we’re not thrilled with Indiegogo, but
perhaps that’s for another article? We originally wanted to go with KickStarter, but they
don’t take dietary supplements. IndieGoGo seemed like the next best choice. And,
once I saw that they had campaign tracking, I got the idea to go back to my
roots, and utilize affiliate marketing tactics. We’ve got a few big-time
potential affiliates that we’re talking to. If we’re able to land one, I think
it will definitely push us over the top and beyond.
What have you done marketing-wise with your campaign? Any
tips for other crowdfunders?
I’ve believed all along that the biggest challenge is
getting eyeballs on your campaign. If nobody knows about your raise, you’ll
never hit your target. On the other hand, if you get enough people to your
page, you almost can’t fail (assuming the video, rewards, and everything else
are right).
You can’t just launch a campaign and hope people show
up. Strategically build everything about the campaign to help you get the
audience you’ll need to reach your target. Identify niches, make media contacts
in advance, and set up any marketing partnerships long before you launch. We’re
scrambling right now because we rushed our launch so it would coincide with the
start of Daylight Saving Time. If I had to do it over again, I think we’d have
taken another few weeks to get some other pieces in place before going live.
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