Crowdfunding is NOT as easy as it sounds. It is becoming increasingly difficult as crowdfunding platforms become more and more saturated. A few years back I kickstarted an Adult Coloring Book and was able to get a LOT more kickstarter traffic than the children's book I kickstarted this year. Now, that could be due to the fact that the adult coloring book came out right as that fad was getting popular, but it seems that overall it is more challenging now to get funded on kickstarter if you plan to rely solely on the kickstarter traffic.
A REVIEW OF MY EXPERIENCE
After I launched my children's book, I was emailed daily by various marketing agencies promising that, for a rather high cost, they could get the project a lot more traffic. The only two that stood out were Crowdfundsocial and First Wave PR. I went with Crowdfundsocial because their "money back guarantee" stood out to me.
......$350 later I felt sick to my stomach.
I can barely spend $20 on a shirt.
My experience with them started out rather rocky. They sent their facebook ad mock-up and it was pretty clear that they had selected a blanket statement that they used on their numerous other clients. Had they even looked at my project? I am still not sure. It said something like, "This kickstarter project is taking the world by storm!" .... I had made about $400 at this point. Not exactly what I'd call "taking the world by storm." But I decided not to question their judgement and went with it.
...and then silence.
Eventually I received a few emails that were very unhelpful and impersonal. They sent one that claimed they had been reviewing my project and had a few suggestions. They sent a general list of suggestions that you'd find on a crowdfunding blog. "...make sure you have a video." Another email that was trying to sound specific to my project stated that they had discussed what my project needed in order to be more successful. Their answer = go spend MORE money on the First Wave PR agency.
At this point it had been nearly two weeks and I still had not had any backers aside from fans that I could trace to my own efforts. I sent them many emails asking for my money back, or a little bit more transparency into what they were doing on their end. They replied that it was too late for the money back guarantee, so I decided to try to be patient.
Eventually there were about 4-5 days where I started to get a few really generous backers whom I couldn't track. Only a two of them actually wanted books. My guess is that the CrowdFundSocial team was targeting crowdfunding backers, not necessarily children's book lovers. But it seemed that I had at least made my money back! ...or so I thought.
*********AFTER THE PROJECT CLOSED, I was looking through my backer list, and the "generous backers" that had come from Crowd Fund Social WERE ALL FAKE ACCOUNTS!! The payment failed on EACH OF THEM. My current guess is that they are fake profiles from Crowd Fund Social that they used when I began inquiring on the money back guarantee****** I traced other projects that they had "backed" and it appears they are all projects that have hired Crowd Fund Social***************
Here's what happened after the project was backed:
(the red triangles are the alert symbol meaning that the payment failed - the red lines I put in to block the REAL backers names to respect their privacy)
I have spoken with many other crowdfunders who have had the EXACT same experience with CrowdFund Social, and also with First Wave PR. Please be cautious before you hand them your money.
******UPDATE: FUNDING FROM "OTHER" (meaning they weren't family, friends or fans) totaled around $157 - since many of the "backers" ended up being fake profiles
Sooooo...for all of ya'll who may be considering hiring Crowd Fund Social, here is my Pro/Con list
PROS
****PENDING***** Most of the backers that seemed to come from Crowd Fund Social's efforts seem to be fake accounts and the money isn't coming through. Crowd Fund Social MAY BE A SCAM!
*Low Risk.....maybe?
...Or so they claim. Make sure to look into the small print about the "Money Back Guarantee" because they were not willing to give me my money back when I was not getting any results, so be sure to talk to them.
*You Won't Wonder, "What If"
At least for me, I figure I would have continued to think, "Well, maybe if I had hired them, I would have been more successful."
*Quick Response Time
Communication between them was pretty timely. They would usually email back within a day or two.
*Generous Backers
The backers that SEEM to have come from CrowdFundSocial's efforts were extremely generous, and did not even want copies of the book. ***UPDATE: THEY WERE FAKE BACKERS*****
*Generous Backers
The backers that SEEM to have come from CrowdFundSocial's efforts were extremely generous, and did not even want copies of the book. ***UPDATE: THEY WERE FAKE BACKERS*****
CONS
*It Seemed Impersonal
I am not sure that they even looked at my project. Their emails claimed that they did, but never mentioned anything specific to my individual project. Their suggestions were always generic.
*Felt as if they put the project on a conveyer belt
They possibly use the same formula for each project. The backers that I assume came from their efforts seemed to not be interested in children's books, per say, but they were very generous. So it SEEMS that Crowd Fund Social can get you backers, but maybe not backers that are particularly interested in your specific project.
*Not a Lot of $ Profit $
At least in my case, it didn't help much. Perhaps a bigger project, or one with a niche would find them more helpful.
*Not Very Transparent
It was hard not knowing what they were up to, what their strategy was, and what was happening on their end.
This company has a lot of skill and potential. They are really good at marketing their company. Like I said, it's hard for me to spend money, but they had me convinced it was a good investment. I just wish that they would take their used car salesman tactics and actually help promote people's projects like they promise to. CrowdFundSocial - if you are reading this - I know your business could be even more successful if you ACTUALLY do what you profess to do. You'll feel better at the end of the day and sleep better at night.
*Not Very Transparent
It was hard not knowing what they were up to, what their strategy was, and what was happening on their end.
This company has a lot of skill and potential. They are really good at marketing their company. Like I said, it's hard for me to spend money, but they had me convinced it was a good investment. I just wish that they would take their used car salesman tactics and actually help promote people's projects like they promise to. CrowdFundSocial - if you are reading this - I know your business could be even more successful if you ACTUALLY do what you profess to do. You'll feel better at the end of the day and sleep better at night.
That was just MY experience. Read about another person's experience with CrowdFundSocial HERE.
Please comment down below with YOUR experience with them.
Please comment down below with YOUR experience with them.
