Question
Yesterday I launched my first startup via Indiegogo. Numerous things unraveled, including IGG itself crashing. We do have $970 of support, which I am thankful for.
Our initial goal is to get to $6,000. By doing so, we'll be able to offer other startups, bloggers, and internet entrepreneurs web hosting with:
1. A control panel to optimize site speed and increase page value with improved SEO ranking.
2. A safety switch that automatically allocates free resources at the first sign of a traffic surge or DDoS attack.
3. Direct access to friendly technical support to minimize wait times.
4. Increased security to better handle malicious hacker attacks and privacy invasions.
If we are able to reach $250,000, we'll be able to created a free shared hosting plan. This will greatly help our audience we want to serve as they can launch a project without fearing it will crash on them (as we experienced with Indiegogo).
What we have going for us:
1. An email list of 240. Some saying they would back us at the $1,700 level.
2. A prominent person in the SEO industry who said they would spread the word once we get backed.
3. Willingness to give a commission up to 20% of what someone helps us raise.
4. ~$500 for advertising
What I'm considering:
1. Influencer/Blogger outreach to those that share our audience
2. PR - less focused, but gives stronger credibility signals
3. Sending personal, video emails to each person on our email list asking to back us. Maybe stand on our head to get attention :).
4. Do a secondary "launch" within the same campaign.
If it helps, you can view our campaign at http://igg.me/at/decibite.
-> What one area of marketing would you suggest I focus on?
Thanks in advance!
Answer
You've landed on plan b, congratulations. Go personal with all your messaging. This means offline as well. I can't tell you how many times businesses come to us thinking "social media marketing" is the answer.
Your product involves humans to make a purchase, therefore... Use those relationships. If you have some key relationships, do a webinar or Google hangout and broadcast for users to see or hear more about what it is you're offering. We found this to be very helpful with the recent education client that we had.
I'd also recommend getting around people already raised a fair bit I'm out of money (voice text) sorry.
