Getting friends to back you?
  • riddlemethis
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    Getting friends to back you?

    by riddlemethis » Fri Mar 16, 2018 9:22 pm

    How can i convince my friends and family to back my project? I have the preview link and I know that i need all the backers I can get but I am unsure if they will back me or not. I am also afraid to ask them to back and then I fail. what does everyone think here?


    Over 10 projects created, launched, and funded. Most recent campaign: http://bit.ly/1io3HZh
  • p90xsmalls
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    Re: Getting friends to back you?

    by p90xsmalls » Sun Mar 18, 2018 6:00 am

    Just keep bugging them about it. Eventually they will cave in and back you, but make sure you start doing it well in advance of your launch.
  • gustofwisdom
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    Re: Getting friends to back you?

    by gustofwisdom » Sun Mar 18, 2018 8:53 am

    Just ask, the worst they can do is say no.
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    drudge
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    Re: Getting friends to back you?

    by drudge » Wed Apr 25, 2018 4:12 am

    If they are a true friend, then they should back you regardless.
    we will not be silenced! we are just getting started!
  • WildFlower
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    Re: Getting friends to back you?

    by WildFlower » Mon Aug 13, 2018 4:34 am

    I feel bad asking so I never did lol, but I think they would back if I told them about it since they're good friends. Just mention it and if they back it then they do, and if they don't they don't. Don't pester them too much because it makes it look like you're just using them. Respect boundaries.
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  • POFTY
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    Re: Getting friends to back you?

    by POFTY » Mon Aug 13, 2018 7:30 am

    I did ask my friends to "like" and share my campaign page, but I don't really ask them to back my project. I think if they like my product, they will back it.
    I don't want my friends to get sth they don't need. I am looking for the people really need my product...XD

    _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

    Preview: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/po ... n=50e8afd8
    Our website’s link: http://www.tspin.co/
    Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihETktb-Epw
  • Vanessa
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    Re: Getting friends to back you?

    by Vanessa » Tue Aug 14, 2018 11:07 am

    It won't hurt if you ask some help from friends. I saw this blog post that suggests securing 30% of your funding goal from family, friends and relatives. https://www.krowdster.co/blog/crowdfund ... steps.html
    #1 Crowdfunding Campaign Optimization, Crowd Building & Promotion App https://www.krowdster.co/
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    RFIDsecur
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    Re: Getting friends to back you?

    by RFIDsecur » Tue Aug 14, 2018 7:22 pm

    It really depends on your friends and family. So if you have a close supportive network then it is likely they naturally will wan to support you.
    If you have a less close relationship or no family at all, if your friends support you but can't afford to financially then it is perfectly reasonable not to expect them to.
    In which case if they can, perhaps ask them for help and support in other ways, such as contacts to influencers or connexions to a journalist for example, or someone who can help out with the yourAdvertising. There are lots of ways for them to engage and support you.

    If you have no on to call upon then you need to focus on engaging online with forums and link building like building and engaging that way to get the support you will need financially on launch day.

    The algorithm is looking at who supports you early days, what SM buzz there is about your campaign what interest there is from KS itself from the new campaigns page on the site, etc.. lots of ingredients make the pie that gets your early success not just one element, if you are short on an ingredient work harder on the others.
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    nomlinz
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    Re: Getting friends to back you?

    by nomlinz » Thu Aug 01, 2019 3:58 pm

    Really though, the best way to get them to back you is to ask.

    Go into your crowdfunding campaign not expecting the platform to provide any funding (this prepares you for the “worst case scenario”). The way to get fully funded is to get your own audience, the way you direct them to your campaign and the way you motivate them to pledge to your campaign. Getting a detailed list of anyone who you’ve ever met or somehow connected to you is a great first start for doing this.

    So, let’s talk about how to create and organize a list of contacts. Doing so will help you build an audience of who to communicate with. There are people

    - Who are discovering you through your product
    - Who you know or who are your friends and family and you’re connected to.

    People in the second group might not have any idea you’re working on this but you have some connection with them. This segment is what we’re focusing on right now. We’ll split them into different tiers:
    Tier 1: someone who you know pretty well and you’ve had contact with in the last 2 years. If you reach out they’ll say “oh yes, of course I know who this person is”.
    Tier 2: someone who is an acquaintance. Someone you’ve met at some point in your life and have not contacted so often. Maybe a business colleague with. Someone who you’ve met through a mutual friend or someone you’ve just met once.
    Tier 3: people who you haven’t met yet. People you’ve connected with through LinkedIn or friends you’ve made through Facebook.

    The reason why we split them into different categories is because you’ll be speaking to those people differently according to your relationship with them. You’ll be speaking to them very differently depending on if you have a shared history or if you’ve just met a few times.

    Export your Gmail address book
      Go to contacts in Gmail
      Click “export”
      Select “all my contacts”
      Select “CSV” format

    Export your Facebook friends email list
      Create Yahoo email (only purpose is to export list, we’re not using the email at all)
      Click “Contacts”
      Click “Import from Facebook”
      Click “Continue”
      Go to “Contacts” app on Mac
      Click “Add Account”
      Add “Yahoo” account
      Select all contacts
      Click “Export as vcard” (do this about 500 contacts at a time since there are file size limits)
      Upload to vCard to CSV converter
      Copy the first name and email into the same Google Sheets as the Gmail contacts

    Once you have all your contacts in one big sheet, you’ll start deleting rows of those who you don’t know or who you don’t want to talk to about your project. The other rows that are leftover manually sort them into different tiers so you’ll know how to communicate with them about your campaign.

    Here is a link to a Google Sheets template you can use (be sure to copy it over to your own Drive!): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HV0fpiUlYzEYoaXnJ3Jgxn3l25gYNARhWywUufpyr0U/edit?usp=sharing

    By now you’ve already compiled a hefty email list of friends, family and acquaintances and maybe even started running ads to get additional fans and leads for your campaign launch.

    Now what?

    It’s time to create a communication strategy for your campaign so that people will know what you’re doing, when you’re launching and how to contribute to your campaign.

    The most important idea is to tell people on your list about your launch.

    Here are some tips for these emails (from Tim Ferriss’ dissection of the Harry’s campaign):

    - Make it personal. These people are closest to you and, thus, to your product or company. They’re friends—so write to them like they are!
    - This is for friends, not press. If you send your prelaunch campaign to friends who are part of the press, make sure they know it’s not the time to “break news” about your company. If you can’t trust them not to do so, don’t keep them on the list. You want press when your company is actually live.
    - Encourage your recipients to spread the word. Make that ask explicitly—don’t be shy!
    - As a rule of thumb, assume the email will be forwarded, and craft your message accordingly (i.e., don’t disparage the competition etc., etc.,).
    - Set up email signatures—with links back to the prelaunch site and social channels—before emailing the world.
    - Consider appending a visual asset. We included a simple product shot of our razor with the phrase “Harry’s is coming,” hoping to pique interest.

    Friends and family
    One month (or 3 weeks) before your launch date, send an email to EVERYONE in your targeted list, cordially explaining your idea and asking if they’re interested in what your making.

    As opposed to sending one email and BCC-ing everyone, use high-touch, one-to-one customer service from the very start and take the time to send personalized emails (or at least emails that look as personalized as you can).

    You want your potential donors/customers to feel singled out and to see that you are writing direct to their priority inbox, not like they are just one of many.

    Here’s an example email, edited from Harry’s pre-launch email.

    Hi [name],

    After months of [what have you been working on], we are really excited to only be weeks away from our nationwide launch of [project name].

    You’re important to me and I wanted you to be the first to know about our plans for launch.

    In the meantime, I’d love your help in spreading the word! Here’s how:

    Click here to share us on Facebook

    Click here to share us on Twitter

    Click here to share us on Reddit

    Click here to add us to your Pinterest board

    Click here to share us via email

    [add share links using: https://codebeautify.org/share-link-generator]

    Thank you so much for all of your help and support. I can’t tell you how much we appreciate it. Look forward to continuing to share [project name] with you and appreciate you telling the world!

    All the best,
    [Your name]


    Be sure to keep in mind that there are three tiers of people and you want to be sure to communicate with them accordingly. You’d provide more cordial greetings and friendly back and forth with those in tier 1, while those in tier 3 (who probably don’t remember you much), will need a lot more prodding.

    The Campaign Before The Campaign
    Campaign before the campaign (tier 1): With one week to go, send out a follow up message to each targeted person, one at at time. Something along the lines of:

    Hi [name],

    [Start off with something personal]

    Here’s a preview of the project I’m launching! [include link]

    It is [fill in project information].

    This project is incredibly important and I’d love to have you on our side before we launch.

    Will you pledge to contribute $[dollar amount] on [launch date and time]?

    All the best,
    [your name]


    Campaign before the campaign (tier 2): With one week to go, send out a follow up message to each targeted person, one at at time. Something along the lines of:

    Hi [name],

    How are things coming along with [last point you connected on previously]?

    I just wanted you to know that we’re launching [name of project] next week to [big idea i.e. revolutionize the drone market].

    It is [fill in project information].

    This project is incredibly important and I’d love to have you on our side before we launch. We’ve already had pledges from [list legitimate people who have voiced support].

    Will you pledge to contribute $[dollar amount] on [launch date and time]?

    All the best,
    [your name]


    Campaign before the campaign (tier 3): With one week to go, send out a follow up message to person in tier 3, one at at time. Be sure to keep in mind that these are more like “cold” leads, where you have to include additional information for them to actually want to participate in this launch.

    Hi [name],

    We’re launching [name of project] next week to [big idea i.e. revolutionize the drone market].

    It is [fill in project information].

    This project is incredibly important and I’d love to have you on our side before we launch. We’ve already had pledges from [list legitimate people who have voiced support].

    Will you pledge to contribute $[dollar amount] on [launch date and time]?

    All the best,
    [your name]


    Make sure your email includes:
    - What it is you are launching
    - How important this project is to you
    - That you need their support
    - A verbal confirmation that they will contribute to your campaign on Day 1

    Don’t go live until you can account for 30% of your goal in confirmations. Seriously. Have conversations with people who can see your preview page, get them to commit to donate the day you’re live. It’s a life saver.

    Best of luck!
    Hi! I run the popular blog Crush Crowdfunding and have helped people successfully raise over $7 million on Kickstarter and Indiegogo. Get the proven step-by-step system to launch a successful crowdfunding campaign: http://bit.ly/crushcfhandbook
  • NinaGood
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    Re: Getting friends to back you?

    by NinaGood » Sat Dec 03, 2022 9:06 am

    Special thanks for a trick with Yahoo, as a permanent client of this service I find your advice very useful. Usually I get all the helpful info via official Yahoo customer support service https://yahoo.pissedconsumer.com/customer-service.html , but I am always opened for new tips and tricks from the web.

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