KickstarterForum.org

The name of the agency in question is "Crowd PR". Here is their website just for you to check out: http://www.crowd.pr

This agency has reached to me and requested that I remove my post. I have denied their request for obvious reasons. My Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign got an email from a PR agency going by the name of Crowd PR. They show the PR they’ve done for crowdfunding campaigns, how they’re the best PR agency for crowdfunding. The only problem with all of this is that I did not receive prior written consent before receiving their cold email. I see people have had similar problems with them on other threads (has-anyone-hired-crowd-pr-t11437.html)

It is important that companies adhere to proper email communication techniques. Sending a cold email is strictly forbidden. I was running a campaign and they reached out to me, so I am certain they thought it would be okay but it was not. Content in an email newsletter must follow societal norms and regulations. Without our norms, we truly have nothing. I strongly advise anyone reading this to delete all emails in their inbox until those companies send you written consent. Otherwise, they are in violation of several statutes and laws in the United States.

Link content especially is key. You can't just add poorly designed content in there and expect results to occur. We advise that you contract out and hire a freelancer who can serve the design needs of a growing startup. All went well for a time, but shortly after our campaign launched we hit a roadblock.

Any feedback on this?

We’ve hired about 10 Kickstarter public relations companies in total over the course of our pr campaigns, but have not worked with Crowd PR.

Some have worked amazingly, with PR resulting in coverage blogs all over the place. I’ve never heard of crowd pr or crowd.pr whatever their name is, but I can tell you one thing for sure. Don’t hire crowd pr unless they come to you with the proper introductions. Allow me to explain further. You must automatically disregard any pr firm/agency who emails your Kickstarter campaign directly. If you don’t already know of this firm (and it sounds like you don’t already know of crowd pr) then it means they are not good at their work. All of the good marketing agencies are already known. Stick with the pr firms you know. Crowdfunding is tricky and PR is high risk. If this Crowd PR was so good at what they do, they would be known to you and the community. But they are not. Red flag right there my friend. A Kickstarter campaign is a big deal, and you can’t afford to take any risks on a pr firm or agency who may or may not be a total noodle. Rule of thumb: if you don’t already know this PR firm, then steer clear. Plus I did a google of them and I see no awards anywhere, so there’s that too.

Choosing the right PR agency can do wonders for a campaign, online publications are a vital source of backers. Journalists can be hard to get in touch with, so relationships with journalists are key. I don't' know anything about Crowd PR. This is why choosing the right firm is so hard, because not every agency is able to maintain connections to journalists and publications. Many of them don’t even know what that is. Hope this helps and best of luck with your Kickstarter friend!

Crowd PR has no association with any of these companies that have Crowd in their name. I received a PM from the founder of Crowd PR and an offer of a skype chat. During this chat, I was shown clear evidence that Crowd PR is an active agency producing results frequently. I apologize for my accusations.

This is a common thread I see on this forum, and we all need to be smarter and more careful about the accusations we make. There are over 20 companies that are called Crowd something or another, and I am somewhat embarrassed that I naturally assumed they were all the same company.

I used to work in a "boiler room" where we would sell things by telemarketing so I know all about this kind of pushy tactics. If you've ever watched the movie called boiler room you'll know they are the same tactics. First off is that they get really aggressive in trying to contact you. They will go so far as to message your personal email, facebook message you, or even give you a call. Their whole aim is to get you to hire them and to do that they will do whatever it takes to engage you in a conversation.

The next thing they do is lay out what the return on investment from this kind of crap is. Beware beware beware, because generally there is no return on investment from marketing. I've tried and failed in life so many times that I know this for certain. People just pick what they pick and that's the way it is.

After they sell you on the "ROI" (abbreviation for return on investment) they then proceed to "feel you out" to see what they can get away with charging. I've read medium posts about people paying $50,000 for advertisements and not seeing any of that initial investment back. Holy smokes don't let that happen to you.

Most of what these firms get you to do are pay them directly for the ads instead of paying facebook directly. I think most of us here should be smart enough to see why they are trying to do that, but just in case you don't know why its because they want all of the money for themselves and not your crowdfunding campaign.

If you say no to them, then they will promise more and more. Franky I don't recommend anyone go with a company unless they get a written assurance + contract guarantee of what your goals are. So if you want to get featured on 1000 websites then that must be guaranteed by contract. They are then bound to repay you if the end result does not match the contract guarantee.

The guarantee is most important above all else. If you are looking to raise over 50,000 then you must get a money back guarantee from the firm for it. Every bonafide company offers a money back guarantees, remember that.

So if the firm is unable to offer you a guarantee they don't go with them. These firms can be so busy in getting you to sign your name on the dotted line that you need to be on guard against not being guaranteed.

Just wanted to chime in on this since I work in marketing as my day job. You’ll encounter tons and tons of service pitches during your crowdfunding campaign, especially on Kickstarter and from what I hear Crowd PR will be one of them who reach out to you (their website is http://www.crowd.pr).

I don’t know about Crowd PR, and maybe they are a pr agency, but I have found some effective ways to sort through the marketing services to find the ones that are actually good. There are actually a few of them. Always remember to ask them EXACTLY what they will do for your Kickstarter project specifically. If their plan doesn’t make sense, or it is a generic response, toss it in the trash. That question alone will eliminate 99% of the service pitches your Kickstarter gets. Next, you must ask the pr agency what similar Kickstarter projects and campaigns they have promoted. If they’ve got nothing similar then don’t go with them. That simple process I just described should help lead you to the right choice for your Kickstarter.

Here is a screenshot of their website:



Now, before you get so excited to launch make sure that you read this guide provided by Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2017 ... d5e654fc91

They are a not an American company. Let's start with their name I have read other posts on there that Crowd PR used to be based in India. All of these PR firms are the same PR agency in India from what I hear. Not like that matters though, PR as a whole and basically every PR agency who emails crowdfunding projects on Kickstarter is a social relations program. They're all the same. Utter crap, you don't even need a PR firm to get press for your crowdfunding campaign. It's all a carnival, as a matter of fact, you can just submit your Kickstarter projects through the contact form of each media outlet you want.

There is no need to hire out for marketing. Anyone who tells you otherwise has never run a campaign. Just hit that launch button, sit back, and watch the backers roll in. That is how it always happens, and if you feel the urge to market your product make sure that you resist. Journalists keep a watchful eye, media relations has some value perhaps but the real driver here is sales. A true influencer has over 700 likes on all of their social channels, you can believe that for certain.

We as crowdfunding campaigns and project creators must be vigilante against Crowd PR and their crafty marketing. I hear stories of one false hire of a service and it ruins a campaign. I do not want this to happen to me, my campaign, or my Kickstarter project so I search reviews of every crowdfunding promotion service before I even respond to their emails and this goes for Crowd PR as well. It is the wise thing to do as a project creator. I won't let the marketing get the best of me.

Fiverr is never to be used during a live campaign. US companies should only work with US employees, be sure of that. An excellent article about what to do during a live campaign can be found here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/chancebarne ... se-funding

If a crowdfunding public relations company is accused of fraud and scamming, that is enough for us to beware. My faith is that Kickstarter creators are very honest people, and an accusation from us carry's the most weight. I will not even consider this company at all for my crowdfunding campaign. Seems like a bad company to me based what I have read on Wikipedia. Their company website beware to all who read this.

When considering to launch or not, it is important to get all the data possible before you begin. One of the things I like to do is read several guides before getting started. With so many common pitfalls to entrepreneurs, we founders must be intelligent with artificial intelligence. The software to make things possible is on the horizon. Here is a great one for the community to read: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/307250

Also my dear community, the company in question also has a news publication they run:
https://medium.com/crowd-pr-crowdfundin ... ws-reviews

WOW so this blew up fast, thanks for all the feedback and I would like to send a big shout out to my friends and family for making this post possible. When they messaged our campaign last year, I told them that I require prior written consent, notarized, and delivered via UPS to my PO Box. Then and only then I accept communications from people other than friends and family. Stay safe out there everyone!

For the official record, it is not legal to email companies. The FTC has strict guidelines in regards to this practice, read more about that here: http://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business ... e-business

Quote:

Do you use email in your business? The CAN-SPAM Act, a law that sets the rules for commercial email, establishes requirements for commercial messages, gives recipients the right to have you stop emailing them, and spells out tough penalties for violations.

I think they are a crowdfunding campaign marketing program because they do not work on 100% commission. That's a dead give away right there. Also, take note of what Kickstarter says about Crowd PR. They don't work on straight commission. You can see their client was featured by Business Insider, but that provides little data that can be used. I am unsure of them and their sophistication of marketing strategies for media planning.

Here is that article: http://www.businessinsider.com/risks-of ... gns-2016-6