Croudfunding is teaching and sharing the joy of giving
The concept is simple: Offer an idea that people would love to support with small contributions. If you get lots of people to buy in, you raise lots of money.
Thanks to the internet, if you have the right kind of product or exciting project, you can launch your campaign via a crowdfunding platform.
With some intelligent promotion, you have the ability to get your idea in front of hundreds, even thousands of potential backers.
You can find backers for a wide variety of projects, campaigns, or products. Believe it or not, the internet is full of people eager to support new concepts and products, or who want to get in on the growth of small businesses. The possibilities are only limited by your creativity.
However, while funding a project might be your main reason to consider crowdfunding for your business… There are many more purposes and ways to use crowdfunding to grow your business.
Here are my favorite 10 ideas how to use crowdfunding for your small business:
1. Fund a Project
OK… that’s the obvious one. Got an idea for a product, a service, a charity project… Get others to put some cash in the pot in return for some exciting perks, and you can raise some serious money in a few short weeks. Here is my first ever crowdfunding campaign (generated €85,571 in 30 days).
2. Generate Tons of Hot Leads
Crowdfunding is hot, it creates buzz, and gets a lot of interest. Add a very low cost perk that qualifies those who take it (e.g. a PDF or a video on your expertise topic) and everyone who takes it is a QUALIFIED lead – that actually paid some money to join your list. My absolute favorite lead generation strategy.
3. Activate Referrals and Word-of-Mouth
Asking for referrals and word-of-mouth is a built-in crowdfunding feature (and benefit). Offer advanced or exclusive perks to people that refer their friends to your campaign.
4. Generate Tons of Free Publicity
There are journalists whose entire job is to scan new crowdfunding campaigns, pick the most exciting ones, and publish stories about them. Due to the short life-span of crowdfunding projects (usually up to 30 days) – the stories they choose are usually published almost immediately… There is no other way to get such publicity so quickly.
5. Engage Prospects and Clients
Again, because of the unique process and short life-span of crowdfunding – you can create tons of buzz, which excites and engages your prospects and clients – both with your specific campaign and your business.
6. Collect Accurate Market Data
I love this part… I use my crowdfunding campaigns to test which perks people love, and which they ignore. A simple split test (two perks, same contribution fee) reveal almost immediately what people are willing to pay for.
7. Generate Tremendous Goodwill
I love running crowdfunding campaigns for charitable purposes, and engage my community to contribute to good causes. Check out our Better World page to see some of the philanthropy crowdfunding campaigns we ran – which generated hundreds of thousands of euros to make the world a better place, while gaining us a tremendous goodwill – within our community, in the media, and of course in the world of philanthropy.
8. Generate Massive Backend Sales
Most crowdfunding campaigns are a one-time-off product. As soon as they collected the money, they manufacture and deliver the product, and the business is back to what it used to be before (or disappear in most cases). We use crowdfunding (including the charitable ones) to introduce, excite, promote and sell front-end products, which allows us to offer backend products to the same backers for many years.
9. Co-Create With Prospects and Clients
Collaboration is in the nature of crowdfunding campaigns – so getting your backers to get involved in the process of designing and creating whatever it is your funding for – is a powerful engagement process. Let them tell you what they want, and promise that when enough people back up that option – you’ll make it happen.
10. Collect Recommendations and Testimonials
One way to do that is simply ask… As soon as they receive the perk they paid for – ask them for a testimonial, review or recommendation. A more effective and strategic way to do it – is to make it part of the perk. Meaning – I’m going to give you XX perk in return for your contribution. But since the contribution is a lot less than the actual price of the perk – I would like to get your testimonial or review as soon as you benefited from the perk…
Interested in Learning More About Croudfunding?
CLICK HERE to check out the Crowdfunding Mastery Course.
Now It’s YOUR Turn
For five minutes… come up with as many ideas as you can… would Crowdfunding be an interesting strategy for your business? And if yes, how?
Let's Brainstorm
Please share your ideas (all of them or just one) in the comment box below… and let’s get WOWing.
Live fully, stay awesome,
Nisandeh Neta




Top Commenters – last 30 Days
Let's Brainstorm
Please share your ideas (all of them or just one) in the comment box below… and let’s get WOWing.
Live fully, stay awesome,
Nisandeh Neta


94 comments



No idea! Make a business plan and look for investors I guess
112 comments



An interesting way to get more visibilaty and new leads. I have to think really hard to come up with an idea in my line of business. But a seed is planted and who knows what will grow out of it.
160 comments

I really have to think this through but checking the Crowdfunding Mastery Course, I can do the same for my new courses. Just need to find out where most people's pain is. So when I really target the dementia caregivers, to lower their stress and give them a course - or sell my LE program, but that involves more one on one.
But actually, what Max also mentioned, you get paid in advance, so it's also a good check to see if this is what people like...
111 comments



I have to admit that I have never used crowdfunding... it sounds to me such a hard work, but reading this list makes me re-evaluate this option.
Also a friend of mine did use it to create her own album and I've noticed that when it's done right not only she didn't have to invest her own money she got the following:
1. HUGE media exposure
2, Loyal fans
3. People even organized for her her tour where she slept at people's homes and saved again money
4. Because of all the above she got a label company to do her next album!!!
Now all I need to think is how to do it with my business..))
276 comments

How could I use crowdfunding in my business?
1. To get paid in advance for services I deliver later
2. To reach a new target audience
3. To fund product development
- How about selling tickets to a training
- Funding the audio and camera's to record the training. (that is what funders get in return, the recording)
- Physical products like board games have a between 1/8 and 1/15 ratio of production cost and retail price. You can sell 500 products through crowdfunding and produce a stock of 4000
4. To plant trees
5. To create a different kind of engagement.
6. To work together with my clients.
404 comments

1. use it to find out whether your project is viable
2. use it to really think things through; maybe after setting it up you decide not even to go live with it
3. use it to raise awareness amongst people of an underlying need - for which ofcourse you have a solution