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Crowdfunding 'Backing/Backer' sites - do any of them work?

Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2016 1:15 am
by zelphacomics
Hey everyone,

Although my campaign has reached its goal and has moved upwards since (very happy about that), I am still on the look out to share my comic book campaign with as many potential backers as possible. Beyond the ridiculous amount of private business emails about paying for this-and-that I get daily (I know you all get them too), I discovered there are sites solely dedicated to crowdfunding 'backers'.

My campaign for Paper Rock Scissors N' Stuff Wars (https://goo.gl/o43tSb) was recently featured on crowdfundbackers.com - which is cool - but does anyone know, or can share their experiences, about sites like these.

Do they actually produce real support or are they smoke and mirrors. Of course the type of product campaign you are running matters, but still, you hope sites like these can deliver at least a couple of pledges.

Also, which sites should I avoid at all costs.

Thanks

Lue
Zelpha Comics

Re: Crowdfunding 'Backing/Backer' sites - do any of them wor

Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2016 2:46 pm
by julee
I'm not sure about crowdfundbackers.com, but the ones that I've most seen on Kickstarter was the BackerClub members.
I am 2 time creator, so on my first campaign, there were so many BC members approaching to register my campaign on their sight. Not being so certain, I passed on my first campaign. But after I had failed, some of my backers recommended me to try posting it there next time. So on my 2nd campaign, I tried BC from the beginning.

Out of all the ROI (fb ad, google ad, twitter ad, other marketing agencies, sns marketing..etc.,) the BC rendered me the most in actual pledges (24 pledges, compared to 2~6 pledges of Facebook Ad or Google Ad which I invested over 500~800$ each). And the fee (379$) was not charged until I reached 100% goal, so I think it's quite a safe try.

There are many similar sights now mentioning about super backers...etc., but if you see the actual super backers, I see the BC members the most.

Good luck :)

Re: Crowdfunding 'Backing/Backer' sites - do any of them wor

Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2016 9:09 pm
by TechsterBrett
There are many sites out there which are only interested in collecting a paycheck it seems like. However, this is why it's important to properly research each and every one of them prior to posting or paying for sponsored ads promoting your campaign. The best way I've found to do this is by directly contacting someone that works for and/or established the site in question.

Another great way that I've discovered to promote and post your campaign link for Free is by utilizing Google+ groups and LinkedIn communities that are specifically for Crowdfunding purposes. Entertain all your options before jumping into the deep end of the pool and maybe start out by using a couple of them after you've narrowed down your list.
Goodluck!

Re: Crowdfunding 'Backing/Backer' sites - do any of them wor

Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2016 12:21 pm
by jukich
Hmm, thanks for the Google+ tip. Did not even think about that!

Re: Crowdfunding 'Backing/Backer' sites - do any of them wor

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2016 2:19 am
by TMO
A few month ago, I backed something and recommended a link that is supposed to provide me 5% back. I never got the funds. That was for the Shooz project. Apologies but I forgot the name but that has caused me to be leery about any claims about promotion efforts that gives additional rewards not done directly by the creator.

TMO

Re: Crowdfunding 'Backing/Backer' sites - do any of them wor

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2016 8:40 pm
by Cristina
This post has been moved to the Kickstarter and Crowdfunding Questions Only (Strict) section.

Re: Crowdfunding 'Backing/Backer' sites - do any of them wor

Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2016 10:01 pm
by Malto
I dont know if its answers your question, but when you see Twitter Accounts like from Ryan West (CrowdfundingNinja...), ok there are thousends of followers, and he tweets the projects out there in the world every few minutes, but there are almost no likes or retweets! So, perhaps this happens on all such services or Websites? And many projects he promote for many days, there are not enough Backers anymore...

Re: Crowdfunding 'Backing/Backer' sites - do any of them wor

Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2016 3:01 pm
by TiMe22
Malto wrote:I dont know if its answers your question, but when you see Twitter Accounts like from Ryan West (CrowdfundingNinja...), ok there are thousends of followers, and he tweets the projects out there in the world every few minutes, but there are almost no likes or retweets! So, perhaps this happens on all such services or Websites? And many projects he promote for many days, there are not enough Backers anymore...


It's not that hard to create a Twitter account with a lot of followers, the difficulty comes to connecting to a lot of real people :) That said I don't really believe in the Backerclub concept, as far as I have seen they all try to get you on their system for the commissions and then back-out (lower their pledge to €1) just before the project finishes and after you paid the $379 or so fee...

Re: Crowdfunding 'Backing/Backer' sites - do any of them wor

Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2018 11:48 pm
by kcqd7540
Ryan West is a huge fraud and we had previously figured out bits and pieces of his scheme.

https://www.facebook.com/whenyoursoulscreams/posts/1778673002358253?fref=nf

Ryan West is really Ryan Neral and he is scamming people out of their money. Thankfully he has left some breadcrumbs to follow.

• The company he currently uses is “The Crowdfunding Ninja”
• He is emails from info@thecrowdfundingninja.com
• His Company name on PayPal is “Social Media Promotion Group”
• His registered email address on PayPal is: info@socialinfluencergroup.com
• His name on fiverr is tryant, also associated with Tryant Computers.

The Social Influencer Group Webpage is now suspended:
http://socialinfluencergroup.com/cgi-sys/suspendedpage.cgi

The sites “Social Influencer Group”, “The Crowdfunding Ninja”, and “The Social Martketing Team” are all owned by the same registrar
https://www.networksolutions.com/whois/results.jsp?domain=thecrowdfundingninja.com
https://www.networksolutions.com/whois/results.jsp?domain=socialinfluencergroup.com
https://www.networksolutions.com/whois/results.jsp?domain=thesocialmarketingteam.com

Other complaints:
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/social-influencer-group-james-westinghouse/internet/social-influencer-group-james-westinghouse-edward-ryansigkickstartermarketinggroupcom-1282431

Notice on the Ripoff Report page that the author’s name on the rebuttal of the complaint is “Edward Ryan” and it is signed “James Westinghouse”

Ryan West is probably a pseudonym created to avoid revealing his real name, which may have previously been tarnished.

https://social-influencer-group.pissedconsumer.com/socialinfluencergroup-com-sig-review-201703091018748.html

On fiverr, his name (tryant) and picture match the picture and name of his computer company on his LinkedIn profile, which also matches the picture in the supposed “facebook posts” for campaigns he isn’t actually doing.

https://www.fiverr.com/tryant/share-your-kickstarter-to-50-facebook-groups

Other Fake Profiles:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009469036600&pnref=lhc.friends
https://www.facebook.com/ryan.neral.35
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanneral/
https://www.facebook.com/ryan.neral

The name on his LinkedIn profile also matches the registrar name on http://www.ninjacrowdfunding.com, which he forgot to make private.

Admin Name: RYAN NERAL
Admin Organization:
Admin Street: 145 ROPANGO WAY
Admin City: HEMET
Admin State/Province: CA
Admin Postal Code: 92545
Admin Country: US
Admin Phone: +1.9098158585
Admin Phone Ext:
Admin Fax:
Admin Fax Ext:
Admin Email: HFCNEWS@GMAIL.COM

This was or is his computer company:
http://tryantindustries.com/

He is also creating his own campaigns to try and scam more people.
https://www.indiegogo.com/individuals/7151636
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/monster-checker--3#/
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/vizysearch-the-visual-search-revolution#/
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1083375335/monster-checker-app?ref=profile_created
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1083375335/monster-checker-helps-parents-get-children-to-slee?ref=profile_created

Hope this helps someone else from getting ripped off by this scammer.

Re: Crowdfunding 'Backing/Backer' sites - do any of them wor

Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2018 8:37 am
by lowkey
somebody done his homework there.