advertising, social-networking, low-capitalI’ve no Facebook (and will never create a real Facebook profile), I don’t know many (if any) people who would be ‘useful’ for advertising (even though I know a lot of people), I do not have Twitter, and I have absolutely no idea, wish or capability for starting to use social media profiles nor do I know people to use them with. I also do not have the possibility of real-life networking and my budget is extremely limited (non-existent?) unless I get funding.
Having said that, how should I promote or even start my campaign for a product on sites like Kickstarter or Indiegogo? Since I’m not from the US, I’d go with Indiegogo though. Is it even possible without paying for advertising and while having no useful social connections?
If you wish to stay outside of SM with your personal life… you still can create presence on SM for your brand/product/service.
It might not give you an immediate marketing/pr boost, but, as a minimum, it will be great for SEO purposes.
On the subject of crowdfunding itself, no, advertising won’t work.
To succeed a crowdfunding campaign you need to be active well in advance of launching the campaign so as to build a list and line up industry contacts who will back you in the first couple of days. Social proof plays a big role in crowdfunding: successful campaigns are 50% funded within the first couple of days more often than not.
Related reading on crowdfunding:
For the rest, sorry, but you need some kind of online and/or social media presence.
Crowdfunding campaign backers are a bit like VCs. They invest in the idea, of course. But they primarily invest in the team – meaning you. They’ll want to know about you, about who you are, about how passionate you are, about your story, about why you can succeed, etc. Without any online or social media presence, you’re setting yourself up to fail, plain and simple.
As such, you really need to suck it in, create your website, create a list, create the requisite accounts on whatever social media is useful in your niche, and start getting social online. We’re in a celebrity economy – accept it.
The latter idea is nothing new, by the way. To borrow Paul Krugman’s words from 1996:
The celebrity economy. The last of this century’s great trends was noted by acute observers in 1996, yet somehow most people failed to appreciate it. Although business gurus were proclaiming the predominance of creativity and innovation over mere routine production, in fact the growing ease with which information could be transmitted and reproduced was making it ever harder for creators to profit from their creations. […] In short, instead of becoming a Knowledge Economy we have become a Celebrity Economy.
You can create a dummy Facebook account and Facebook page for your company or product. Same goes for twitter or any other social media platform. You are not required to put in your real name and address, so don’t worry much about it.
I’m guessing you have a website for your product? If not, then start there. Once you have one you can submit it to sites like ProductHunt and Reddit, to get free exposure. No need to pay for advertising.
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