Financing / Crowdfunding : Any crowdfunding experts? by Brent Bokovoy

Very good Points!! Thanks for the input.

Well, very often (if not MOST often) most of your investors come on in the last week, that's just a fact (it's the same in live events, theatre, etc,.) so don't be discouraged at this point. But crowdfunding is a lot of work and not what people think. I worked with Vet TV, who raised the largest kickstarter sum ever (at the time) ~~$300k. But the campaign already had a built-in niche audience whom they could groom; as well they had to spend ~~$30k in advertising through facebook and others. So it's something that you needed to prep beforehand, in truth. As far as hiring mid-campaign - it might be better to redouble efforts to advertise your project, get onto other people's mailing lists and newsletters, find some influencers who will mention the project. A campaign manager would be doing those things and if you are paying them, you might better do those things yourself and put what you would pay them into marketing and advertising.

Thanks Shadow. That's pretty cool! Yeah, I might do a little more facebook advertising. I put in about $100 in my first week so far. I'll probably put in $100-$200

this week and see where I am when I'm halfway done in another week and whether I should keep putting money into the campaign.

I'm with Damian Lloyd on this. Back in my music marketing days, I followed the philosophy of "Build it and they will come? I think not. But build a relationship with trust, and they will flock to you."

Damian, I am not sure which part you disagree with Shadow about? I agree with everything you and Shadow has said, they are not at odds.

I'm a crowdfunding expert, but in EQUITY crowdfunding, not donation crowdfunding. All the tips for Kickstarter are out there on the web. But there is Kickstarter burnout now, so I admire you for going for it. If you ever want to get into the Equity Crowdfunding method, check out my course. I raised over $1 million for my movie that way. I think it is the wave of the future for indie film finance.

BTW, out of 893 investors, we only knew 6 of them. Strangers from all over the world invested -- not friends and family. Friends and family are burnt out after 10 years of Kickstarter.

https://www.equitycrowdfundingmasterclass.com/

Oh, you can hear the interview with me on IndieFilmHustle: https://indiefilmhustle.com/equity-crowdfunding/

I will shamelessly plug my book here. Before you can crowdfund, you have to learn how to crowdSOURCE. I have 3 case studies (short, feature, doc) within on people who sourced and then successfully crowdfunded. Also, two chapters on turning your sourced crowd into supporters on the financing side. Kindle and paperback on Amazon. Free audiobook (with subscription) on Audible

https://www.amazon.com/Crowdsourcing-Filmmakers-Indie-Power-Crowd/dp/B07...

https://www.audible.com/pd/Crowdsourcing-for-Filmmakers-Audiobook/B07N6L...

David, I have followed your story for a bit and have been intrigued by it for awhile. I will look more into that. RB, thanks...I actually read your book 2 years ago and really enjoyed it. I just clearly didn't do a great job in implementing all of the advise.

Appreciate you, Brent. And don't be hard on yourself, my friend. This is a brick by brick, long game approach. Also, keep in mind, the climate isn't the strongest at the moment either.

CONGRATULATIONS AND GOOD LUCK

Thanks RB and Kimberly!!!!

Most welcome, Brent.

Your campaign video and page looks good. You're already onto a good start.

I was successful in raising $10,700 for my short film in 30 days + an additional $1800 in cash afterwards. Post every day on social media. Record live events on FB to give updates, interview 1 cast & crew member every few days, thank every single donor as soon as they donate by posting on social media and tagging their name so it shows up on their profile wall. Email once a week to every person you know with a new updates on the campaign's financial progress, link to your social media, the rewards they can get, and remind them why you're making the film. Ask someone to do a matching funds pledge and set a deadline for it and promote: "We have a matching funds donors for $1,000 so any donations that come in by the date of ___ means it will be match with $1,000, but we won't get it unless we reach our goal!"

Generate excitement, deadlines, fear of missing out, and let them know the reason why you're passionate about making the film. And since it's about mormons, contact every single organization or influencer in that space and ask if they would be interested in promoting it. I could write more, but this should be enough.

Here is my campaign that was successful. But I've already replaced my pitch video with the film's trailer as I've completed it already.

https://www.seedandspark.com/fund/fugitive-zero#updates/28414

Hey Joe, thanks a lot for all those tips! Those are all really good, I'm going to start implementing them right away. I just watched your short film, really cool and congrats on making it! Really well done and a cool story. So you're looking to turn it into a feature now? Thinking about another crowdfunding campaign?

Well the near impossible happened. Someone completely random to me found my kickstarter and put in 8k last night, the day before it ends. I had pretty much given up on it...but it's going to make it! Thanks for all the tips!!!

Great job! Yeah some people just want to see your commitment before they support you. Well done.

Phenomenal news, Brent! Congratulations!

Congratulations! Contact me and I can share some resources.