Summary: There are many folks out there handing out crowdfunding tips like candy on Halloween. But how many of them really know what they're talking about? My guest today is Derek Miller, a guy who is one of the Kickstarter success stories who has earned the right to coach others on how to be successful in crowdfunding. The tips he gives for developing a successful crowdfunding campaign on this episode are worth their weight in gold. We talked about pre-campaign essentials, how to build trust during the campaign and the best investments you can make with limited funds to ensure your campaign is as successful as possible. You won't want to miss this conversation. <br> Want a crowdfunding tip that truly helps? Here it is: Decide exactly who your audience is going to be - an agency? Companies? Niche hobbyists? <br> Before you go too far into your planning for a crowdfunding campaign you need to know exactly who your ideal customers are going to be. Your product or creative endeavor may be a great thing, but who is really going to buy it? You can't guess at that, you need to know for certain. In this conversation, Derek Miller explains how there could be many different audiences for your campaign and why you need to do the homework required to figure out who the best audience is and optimize everything to get their attention. That's a crowdfunding tip that is truly helpful and will set you up for success. <br> The most important thing a creator should do before launching a crowdfunding campaign<br> When I asked Derek Miller for his number one tip for crowdfunding success he said that every campaign Creator needs to do one thing before they even think about setting up a crowdfunding campaign. Talk to your fans and audience. Make sure you have asked every question you can think of, then go back and ask more questions. You need to know exactly what the pain points are of the audience you were trying to market to so that you can cover all the bases and address the issues you haven't even thought of. That will enable you to test your product long before you put it on Kickstarter and optimize it in ways that really meet the needs of your audience. Derek has lots of great crowdfunding tips like this that he shares on this episode, so make sure you listen.<br> Derek’s top crowdfunding tip: Don’t waste your money on things proven not to work. Stick with basics like building an email list<br> There are many practical things you can do to make your crowdfunding campaign successful, but if you only had one thing to focus on, what should it be? Derek Miller says one of the most important things you can do is to capture the email addresses of people who are interested in what you have to promote so that you can directly communicate with them about your progress, the launch of your campaign and everything that comes after that. Having a captive audience that is interested in what you have to sell is the most vital thing to the success of any product launch, whether through crowdfunding or typical marketing channels. You don't want to miss any of the crowdfunding tips that Derek has to share, so make time to listen to this episode.<br> The future of crowdfunding success will be dependent on one word: Trust. Work hard to establish a professional and trustworthy image before starting a campaign<br> Derek Miller believes that the crowdfunding space is becoming more and more crowded, which in turn requires that campaigns be more professional and clear about the level of integrity behind their campaigns. In a word, it's about trust. The campaigns that are successful on Kickstarter and Indiegogo in the future will be the ones that effectively communicate trust to their audience. If you hope to be successful with your crowdfunding campaign, Derek Miller is a great resource for you to learn from and he shares many of his own lessons learned, including the mistakes in the successes, on this episode. <br> Key Takeaways<br> <br>
