Jessica Stalker Online Course Expert

Hi there,

To give you some background on my experience, I've helped crowdfunding campaigns raise over $50M over the past 3 and a half years, and I have great experience in presenting the teams behind these projects.

Campaigners who work in teams raise over 3 times as many funds as campaigners who choose to work alone, so it's important to position your team correctly when putting your campaign in front of the crowdfunding community. I would ask everyone on the team the following questions and craft their bios based on their answers:

- Who are you, and how are you connected to the project?
- What problem(s) are you trying to solve with your research and findings?
- How will it make a difference in people’s lives?
- What was your "ah-ha" moment that inspired you to do this research?

I also recommend creating an eye-catching graphic for the campaign page that includes each team member's bio, headshot and other fun facts or data.

Hope this helps!

As others would agree, reaching out well before would be ideal. It takes time to build relationships, but if you're reaching out to a bunch of journalists, here are some tips:

- Make a Twitter list with all of the contacts on your media list where you can skim the feed once or twice per day. Engage with these journalists- retweet their content, leave a reply, answer any questions they ask, etc. The more often you engage with them, the more likely your name is to stick out when you reach out and pitch them! Here is a GREAT article about building relationships with journalists with a 6-week plan: http://spinsucks.com/communication/media-relations-done-well/
- Be sure to craft a compelling pitch to accompany your press release- it should be a teaser of the release so the journalist can decide whether or not they want to read more.
- It's also a great idea to craft another pitch and press release for the day you launch. At that point, anyone who has written about your project will have the chance to update their readers.

I hope this helps, and best of luck with your campaign!