KickstarterForum.org

SandraNYC wrote:No campaign can ever expect to raise a million. Frankly I am insulted that they would even show you something like that. It is misleading and it is unethical. Getting people all excited about something that will never happen to them. Most of us here would consider ourselves blessed to have raised 10 thousand or more. But a million? GTFO and GTFO of town.

All of these crap marketing programs all do the same thing. The hype you up on what is possible just to get you excited and just to take your money. But little does anyone know, PR actually does the opposite to a campaign. It can actually hurt a campaign.

If anyone were to learn that the reason you got featured by media outlets was because you hired a PR firm it could lead to disaster. Most products get featured by merit, meaning that the journalist has viewed their product and judged it to be good enough to feature in the media.

But using a PR firm? Preposterous. It’s cheating, like using steroids is cheating. Yes some people do it and get away with it, but the vast majority of people who do such things suffer tremendous consequences as a result.

Trust me, journalists are all going on kickstarter and looking at our products. If they don't’ feature you it’s not because they didn’t see it, it’s simply because they were not interested in it enough to write an article about it.

Don’t be sheep everyone, think for yourselves and don’t participate in PR. It’s all a crock of crap.

YabbaJabba22 wrote:Here is a little guide on how to avoid being scammed by any company online.

1. Check references from past clients
2. If you do not hear back from references in a timely manner, then ask the marketing agency for proof that they did the campaign they are taking credit for. Don’t be shy about this, because if they did in fact work with a campaign then they will have evidence of doing so. Remotely accessing their computer during a skype chat is a great way to verify that they they are an active agency doing good work.

NOTE:

Time is of the essence for campaigns. References usually don’t reply fast and most of them don’t reply at all. Never just blindly guess when you are hiring an agency. Assume everything they say is false and give them the chance to prove you wrong.

Most of the scammers talk a big game, but if you ask them to show evidence they won’t be able to provide anything. Never just believe what people email to you, always always verify it through any means possible.

Offering guarantees of success or money back guarantees is always an indicator that a company is a scam. If you have an concept of free will, you should be well aware of the fact that there is no guarantee to force people to buy your product.

I think most of the scams on the fraud watch here offer guarantees in their sales emails, so keep that in mind.

3. If there is no way for the marketing company to prove that they did the work they are taking credit for, you have to pass on them, because they are lying about their track record.

Nouveau wrote:Are they asking you for money upfront? If so, then it does not matter what their track record is. There is no guarantee they will do anything if you pay them anything upfront. We as founders must require guarantees of success, notarized if possible, in order to work with a marketing promotion service.

No one has ever achieved success by taking risks. If success is not guaranteed then move along to someone who does guarantee success, you’ll be thankful you did once your campaign is a raging hit, and you’ll be glad that you passed on these terrible firms who require money upfront.

I have an agency I use who requires nothing upfront, and sends me a guarantee of full funding each time I work with them. I require pictures of their ID, Social Security Card, and Birth Certificate each time so that there is recourse for them if my campaigns are not funded.

Never take chances, you can’t leave your fate up to chance. Find someone who will guarantee what you want and stick to them. So many things can go wrong during a campaign that without a guarantee you have nothing at all.

FighttheFight wrote:Hello everyone. Over the last several months I have been made aware of a PR firm called Crowd PR who states that they worked with a campaign which raised $3.8 million dollars on kickstarter. It’s quite a lofty claim, but if true I must know for certain.

The email I received from this agency is posted here

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Hello,

Your product is a great fit for our Gear PR Program. Check it out here:
https://crowd.pr/gear

We did PR for a $2.1M campaign. They posted our badge on the bottom of their kickstarter page:
https://crowd.pr/kuroi-hana

What websites do you want to get featured by the most?

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I reached out to the owner of this campaign, but there was no response. Likely because only their support address is listed. I did see that their logo is on this campaign’s page, but I want something more as I am not convinced.