KickstarterForum.org

[aknicholas]

I just got an email from someone calling himself Paul Miller via Kickstarter. It promised all sorts of marketing help.

The same profile picture appears over the name "Gregg Bates" here: http://www.kickstarterwarrior.com/?page_id=23

The same content appears on gogowarrior.com and gogobacker.com

He claims a Harvard MBA (I have an MBA from a less prestigious school, and I'll say the quality of the content falls short of what one would expect given the credentials claimed.)

I'd like to see Kickstarter do something to help reduce spam. But I'm not sure what should be done. Any ideas?

[Backertree]

Hey Mate! Thank you for sharing. It's always interesting to hear about the 'crowdfunding marketing companies' that are popping up.

I believe Kickstarter doesn't allow more than 10 messages sent in a row otherwise the account gets flagged then reviewed by their team (with further action completed accordingly). Unfortunately all that happens now is that these businesses pay people to constantly create new accounts and continue to send thousands of messages a week.

Now I have no problem with people doing this, assuming the services that they person was offering were top notch and legitimately helpful. Most businesses that offer marketing services specifically in the crowdfunding industry do not offer useful services, instead services that include fake shares/likes/followers, copy and paste press releases, promotion to millions of fake Twitter followers, etc.

I know this probably seems hypocritical as I also offer marketing services but these people give myself a bad name and it is disappointing seeing more of these guys popping up every few weeks.

Kickstarter themselves do actively ban duplicate spamming accounts and everything but there is only so much that could be done. I am thinking they need to filter the names of these companies in private messages so that they get notified whenever someone sends a message that includes the word 'kickstartermarketer' or whatever the flagged business name is.

It can sometimes be worthwhile to look into who is sending the message as sometimes they can be a good business that is just starting and are trying to get the word out but I wouldn't count on it. Do your research, ask questions, and interact with crowdfunding related forums to get other peoples opinions on services and pricing before you go ahead.

All the best with your campaign!


Kind Regards,

Jake
Team Backertree!
www.backertree.com

[aknicholas]

I can't see how a legitimate marketing firm could help after a project has already launched. A reputable marketing consultant requires time to review strategy and content. Cutting corners + lack of business training = not legitimate.

[Backertree]

I semi-agree with that statement, but there are still things that can be done. For example, press outreach can (to some extent) be completed after the campaign has already launched. The same can be said for running PPC advertising campaigns, working on an advertising strategy, improving the campaign copy, etc.

Generally these are small tweaks so it can help to work with a consultant on improving everything, but from a creator's standpoint, getting these aspects polished before launching is key.

The thing to keep in mind is that the entire crowdfunding process is learnable. While I do believe the industry is currently lacking in education, there is still enough information online and available for free to learn to be able to create, prepare, and launch a successful crowdfunding campaign of any level. For larger campaigns, it can help to have assistance/guidance to save time and potentially money in the long run (as learning to crowdfund from scratch can be a drawn out process).

Kind Regards,

Jake
Team Backertree!

[BeetBlueJohn]

I agree with this, and I would even go so far as to say that your service also falls under the useless category. I've had friends warn me against using you as well

Hey Mate! Thank you for sharing. It's always interesting to hear about the 'crowdfunding marketing companies' that are popping up.

I believe Kickstarter doesn't allow more than 10 messages sent in a row otherwise the account gets flagged then reviewed by their team (with further action completed accordingly). Unfortunately all that happens now is that these businesses pay people to constantly create new accounts and continue to send thousands of messages a week.

Now I have no problem with people doing this, assuming the services that they person was offering were top notch and legitimately helpful. Most businesses that offer marketing services specifically in the crowdfunding industry do not offer useful services, instead services that include fake shares/likes/followers, copy and paste press releases, promotion to millions of fake Twitter followers, etc.

I know this probably seems hypocritical as I also offer marketing services but these people give myself a bad name and it is disappointing seeing more of these guys popping up every few weeks.

Kickstarter themselves do actively ban duplicate spamming accounts and everything but there is only so much that could be done. I am thinking they need to filter the names of these companies in private messages so that they get notified whenever someone sends a message that includes the word 'kickstartermarketer' or whatever the flagged business name is.

It can sometimes be worthwhile to look into who is sending the message as sometimes they can be a good business that is just starting and are trying to get the word out but I wouldn't count on it. Do your research, ask questions, and interact with crowdfunding related forums to get other peoples opinions on services and pricing before you go ahead.

All the best with your campaign!


Kind Regards,

Jake
Team Backertree!
http://www.backertree.com

[BigBoJackson]

Looks like you stopped them. I clicked the link and the website was dead. Great to see the community having an impact against this kind of stuff

[Johnny Appleseed]

Looks like it forwards to a new domain now...

[mike420blazed247]

Yeah it's doubtful that a harvard MBA is doing kickstarter marketing.