Titan Note Earns more than $500k with Four Days to Go via Perks-Based Indiegogo Crowdfunding Campaign

Titan Note’s innovative technology promises to make pen and paper a thing of the past for taking notes in school and office environments

 By Robert Hoskins

Malmo, Sweden – Titan Note, the pocket-sized transcription device, has passed their most recent stretch goal of $500,000. Titan Note is a groundbreaking device that will forever change the way someone take notes. Since the beginning of time, people have taken notes by hand. Titan Note paves the way for the future and it is giant leap forward in a field that has not seen much progress. Titan Note uses cutting edge speech recognition that records audio by multiple microphones. It is equipped with advanced voice biometrics to identify who is speaking. It’s sleek and simple design is portable, water resistant, and now comes in a variety of colors.

Titan Note allows students around the world can now spend their time focusing in class, rather than taking notes that cause distraction

“Titan Note is a device that millions of people will benefit from. Students around the world can now spend their time focusing in class, rather than taking notes that cause distraction,” Titan Note CEO Erik Jansson said. “We’re very proud to announce new features for Titan Note and continue to perfect the device.”

Titan Note transcribes in real-time, so there is minimal delay between recording and transcription. Titan Note’s application allows users to edit and add information as the transcription is rolling in. The word error rate for Titan Note is roughly the same as human transcription, so there is little need to go into the Titan Note application and edit. Titan Note can decipher between multiple speakers in a large lecture hall or office and is effective up to 70 feet. Titan Note is equipped with noise-canceling microphones combined with noise-canceling algorithms to filter out background noise and improve the accuracy.

On Indiegogo, Titan Note began with a goal of $35,000, which was quickly surpassed over only a couple of days. After fully funding, Titan Note announced a new goal of $150,000 then they were onto another goal of $250,000, which was rapidly reached. After that exciting jump, Titan Note was onto their next goal of $500,000. By reaching this stretch goal, the campaign has unlocked two new colors, genius green and success yellow.

Titan Note’s technology has incorporated extra features to make note-taking more fun. Titan Note is also endowed with a Bluetooth speaker that is able to play music through the Titan Note Application. The application will be available for free on Android and iOS. In addition, the device doubles as a power bank for any USB compatible charger. To ensure Titan Note is never left behind, it is equipped with an anti-lost system that will alert the user via the Titan Note app.

Titan Note created their first hardware prototype almost a year ago and are working hard to add more languages into the device’s translation capabilities. The team at Titan Note is thrilled to announce their new stretch goal of $1,000,000. They will be updating the device with new features and colors and will be introducing Savvy Silver and Focus Blue as two new color options. Two new features will include being able to upload old recordings to the app for transcription and getting timestamps to see how long each person has been talking.

Titan Note is currently being sold for $80 on Indiegogo. To learn more about Titan Note or to pre-order, visit bit.ly/TitanNoteIGG.

When Titan Note CEO, Erik Jansson, was in college and university, many complained that it was hard to listen and take notes at the same time. It was then he realized that there had to be a better way. It was then he got to work developing a more advanced and accurate method of taking notes. Jansson has a goal to save people time, headache and missed information with the introduction of Titan Note.

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Robert Hoskins
(512) 627-6622
@Crowdfunding_PR

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Mr. Robert Hoskins is a seasoned marketing veteran with a proven track record of helping entrepreneurs, startups, small businesses as well as Fortune 500 corporations launch successful marketing communications campaigns to gain market traction for a wide variety of products and services.

On a regular basis, Mr. Hoskins consults with crowdfunding campaign managers as well as crowdfunding sites, portals and platforms to deliver successful crowdfunding marketing campaigns.

Google search “Robert Hoskins Crowdfunding” to see why Mr. Hoskins is considered one of the industry’s foremost crowdfunding experts that has amassed a huge social media following, which is dedicated to supporting donation, rewards and equity crowdfunding campaigns.

IndieGoGo Crowdfunding Campaign Seeks Starting Goal of $50,000 to Spread Early Literacy Skills to One Million Preschoolers Through Storybooks, eBooks, Smartphone Apps, and Ed-Tech Website

Teaching Preschoolers Pre-Reading Skills Improves Academic Development, Promotes Lifelong Learning, Increases Family Engagement, and Instills Confidence and Perseverance When Faced With Challenges

By Robert Hoskins

Toronto, Ontario – Ruth Rumack’s Learning Space (RRLS) launched a $50,000 IndieGoGo Crowdfunding campaign that will pre-sell a set of five Alpha-Mania early childhood learning storybooks and other perks that will make teaching pre-reading skills fun for children, parents, teachers and caregivers. The Alpha-Mania storybooks are the result of teaching early literacy programs to thousands of young children over the past 16 years. Click here to watch the video.

Ruth Rumack’s Alpha-Mania Crowdfunding Campaign to Promote Early Childhood Literacy

All five of the Alpha-Mania books are written and ready to publish. The goal of the crowdfunding campaign will be to pay for large publishing production runs of the Alpha-Mania storybooks, and then digitize the materials and turn them into eBooks and Smartphone apps, and eventually expand the program to an online educational web series and website where caregivers, parents and teachers will be given access to a full library of ed-tech early literacy games and reading resources. The plan is to make ed-tech materials easy to download and use on a wide variety of Smartphones, iPads, tablets and other types of eLearning devices.

Over the years, the Alpha-Mania pre-reading program has given thousands of young children a head start in developing their early literacy skills at RRLS as well as numerous established daycares, preschools, and nurseries throughout Canada. The plan is now to expand the RRLS learning experience and share it with a global audience.

“Using the power of crowdfunding, we would like to not only pre-sell these lifelong learning materials to people and schools that can afford them, but also use a significant portion of the fundraising campaign’s proceeds to ship storybooks to educational centers where they will have the greatest impact,” says Ruth Rumack, RRLS’ Founder and Director of Education. “Regardless of a child’s living environment, many parents are simply not aware of the tremendous benefits that all children receive from learning phonological awareness at an early age.”

“Printing and shipping storybooks to customers is very expensive and time consuming,” adds Evan Brooker, RRLS’s CEO. “But once we raise enough money to digitize our materials and turn our pre-reading games and interactive activities into Smartphone, tablet and laptop apps, we can sell and distribute them worldwide for a fraction of our current costs. Instead of educating thousands, our goal is to raise awareness and teach millions of people the benefits of engaging their children with early literacy skills in order to build a strong foundation for reading and problem solving before they enter kindergarten.”

Crowdfunders who donate to the Alpha-Mania crowdfunding campaign will receive many valuable perks/rewards that will be sold in singles, multi-book packaged deals for small schools and will provide large school districts discounts when materials/training classes are purchased using licensing agreements.

Students, parents, teachers and schools who contribute money to the crowdfunding campaign can choose between unique perks such as attending the launch party, chatting with the author, or naming a character in one of the upcoming stories. Check out the crowdfunding campaign for more details.

Please buy one of the following Alpha-Mania perks to raise awareness for the benefits of teaching preschoolers early childhood learning skills:

• Alpha-Mania eBooks for Smartphones and Tablets
• Alpha-Mania Printed Storybooks for Parents
• Alpha-Mania Book, Tote Bag & T-Shirt
• Alpha-Mania 5-Book Story Book Series
• Alpha-Mania Skype Chat with Author
• Alpha-Mania Name a Character
• Alpha-Mania Family Portrait and Summer Camp in Toronto
• Alpha-Mania Training Classes for Teachers
• Alpha-Mania License for Daycares, Preschools & Kindergartens
• Alpha-Mania Mass Volume Book Deals for Large Schools

Early childhood learning years are critical for preschoolers because research shows that children gain a tremendous advantage in their ability to learn when they are taught to develop, not only academic skills, but also non-cognitive social and emotional skills and behaviors that lead to their long-term success.

There are many non-cognitive skills that are critical for an individual to strive for and succeed in when reaching long-term goals. Researchers have found that habits such as tenacity and perseverance can have just as strong an influence on achievement as intellectual ability.

What attitudes do children have about learning? Do they feel like their abilities in a subject are fixed — “I’m just not good at reading!” or do they recognize they can grow — “I can learn to read, but I need to learn some Alpha-Mania strategies to figure out tricky sounds and words in order to master the fun puzzle of reading.”

“Growth mindset,” for example, is more likely when students believe they can achieve and when they believe that intelligence is malleable rather than fixed. This also helps develop non-cognitive skills such as perseverance, self-regulation, and effective strategies for enhancing student motivation and engagement.

A large portion of the crowdfunding donations will be used to provide Alpha-Mania to underfunded schools and libraries. Donors will receive the satisfaction of knowing that they helped a small child develop pre-reading skills regardless of their current position in society and give them a head start in developing academic skills that will lead to a lifetime of learning as well as arm them with the confidence, tenacity and perseverance they will need when faced with tough lifetime challenges.

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Just in Time for Spring BBQs – the GoBQ grill is the Perfect Portable Solution for the Football Tailgating Crowd

The GoBQ Grill is the coolest way to cook a hot meal at the game partying with friends and then put it safely away before the first kickoff

By Robert Hoskins

Chicago, IL – Grilling enthusiasts across the globe are gobbling up a good opportunity to buy a GoBQ Grill during April. Right now outdoor adventurers can get a hot deal on a cool way to grill food at tailgating parties as well as other types of remote grilling opportunities such as hikes, trips to the beach and remote backpacking trips. Apparently the portable grill is serving a big appetite. In less that two weeks, their Indiegogo campaign  has raised more than 120% of their $30,000 goal with 196 backers from over 19 countries worldwide.

The GoBQ Grill is the coolest way to cook a hot meal and pack it away safely before the 1st kickoff!

The Indiegogo campaign can be found here:http://www.IndieGoBQ.com.

I guess that means it’s time to buy a grill and get ready to start cooking outdoors, but now grillers won’t have to be confined to their backyards or tethered to their SUVs.

Weighing in at only eight pounds, the patented GoBQ is a revolutionary grilling system complete with a metal grate cooking surface large enough to feed a family, chain basket to hold charcoal, and lid to contain heat.

But unlike other grills on the market, all GoBQ components fold in on themselves to become a black cylinder that resembles a small, sleek duffel bag. Take it with you camping, tailgating, picnicking, biking, boating or fishing, and people everywhere will ask, “Wait, that’s a grill?”

“What makes the GoBQ unique is you can sling it over your shoulder or stuff it in a backpack,” says co-founder and product chief Eric Goeken, who invented the GoBQ and built its early prototypes in his own garage.

After only five days on the market, critics are already weighing in on the ingenuity of the GoBQ. “Imagine a lightweight portable charcoal grill with nearly 200 square inches of cooking surface that fold up into a tiny little package,” says barbecue and grilling expert Derrick Riches of bbq.about.com. The GoBQ “could revolutionize the portable charcoal grill forever.”

The body of the GoBQ is made of a silicon-coated fiberglass material that can withstand flames and high temperatures. The fabric base, nickel-plated metal grate and charcoal basket all fold up to fit neatly inside the grill’s fabric lid, which also folds together to become its own compact carrying bag. Set up and tear down are a breeze, as the GoBQ body cools to the touch soon after dumping the charcoal embers—unlike other metal grills, which can take forever to cool down.

“The GoBQ is a game changer,” says company co-founder and CEO Todd Zaroban. “Those other so-called portable grills are either too cumbersome to carry or too flimsy to properly cook anything. We believe it will change the way people think about outdoor cooking.”

GoBQ is targeted to ship in August of this year, just in time for college and NFL football tailgating season.

The GoBQ Grill is a portable, packable grill made of heat and flameproof fabric that folds up like a camping chair to fit in a backpack or store in a drawer.  The GoBQ is the patented brainchild of start-up company Grillfold LLC and its founders—product design and engineering guru Eric Goeken, and Todd Zaroban, a successful entrepreneur with 25 years of marketing, branding and web development experience.

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SolarCity Launches First Solar CrowdBonding Campaign to Raise $200 Million Directly from Consumers

Earnings up to 4% on solar bonds to be paid by income received from monthly solar payments made by thousands of homeowners, schools, businesses, and government organizations across the country

By Robert Hoskins

San Mateo, California — SolarCity (Nasdaq: SCTY) launched the nation’s first registered public offering of solar bonds, creating a simple way for individuals across the United States to earn attractive returns on their investments while also participating in the nation’s transformation to clean energy. The company filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this morning to issue up to $200 million in solar bonds initially, and launched a new online investment site http://solarbonds.solarcity.com to make them available directly to consumers.

SolarCity Launches First CrowdBonding Campaign Nationwide in United States

SolarCity is currently providing more than one out of every three new solar power systems in the U.S. The earnings on its solar bonds are to be paid by income received from monthly solar payments made by thousands of homeowners, schools, businesses, and government organizations across the country.

Solar bonds offer consumers a new alternative to other savings and fixed income investment products—such as savings accounts, CDs, treasury bonds, and municipal bonds—and meet a growing appetite for investment opportunities that are both financially attractive and support important goals such as protecting the environment and creating American jobs.

SolarCity has created funds to finance the installation of approximately $5 billion in renewable energy assets with investments from a number of the world’s leading financial institutions and corporations.

Today’s offering marks the first time that individual investors will be given access through a public solar bond offering; providing a new opportunity to participate in the rapid growth of the U.S. solar industry and the transformation of America’s energy infrastructure to clean power.

Solar bonds will be available online through SolarCity’s investment site to all U.S. investors who are at least 18 years old and meet SolarCity’s eligibility requirements, with no fees for purchase. Investors will be able to purchase solar bonds for as little as $1,000, with maturities ranging from one year to seven years and interest rates of up to 4 percent.

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Over the Past 35 Years, LearnToPlayMusic.com has Transformed the Music Lesson Industry Three Times, Generated More Than 25+ Million Book & Video Sales and is about to Launch the Next Spotify / Oyster Music Content Platform

Created for Musicians by Musicians, @LTPMusic has been pioneering the way people learn to play music utilizing printed music books, videos, CDs & DVDs, eBooks & WebTV shows and soon will be launching a brand new type of digital music teaching platform

By Robert Hoskins

Los Angeles, California – For a company that has defied convention by flying under the radar for most of its life, www.LearnToPlayMusic.com (originally called, Koala Music Publications) has a lot of reasons to celebrate on its 35th birthday. The company has just launched a new ecommerce website and wrapped up production on the first season of its acclaimed WebTV series, Music Space. Soon it will be unveiling a new state-of-the-art digital music lesson content platform that will provide the next game-changing evolution of the music learning industry for up and coming musicians.

As rock-n-roll musicians from the same music scene as AC/DC, playing on bills supporting INXS and other iconic Australian rock bands, Gary Turner and Brenton White found their passion in teaching people how to play music. Frustrated at the lack of music training materials for the contemporary guitarist, the duo sensed a huge business opportunity. In 1979 they drew up a business plan on a napkin and soon thereafter founded Koala Music Productions in Adelaide, Australia (click here to read the rest of the story).

LearnToPlayMusic’s Free Ebook and New Digital Music Teaching Platform

“When we first started, if you were a kid who really wanted to learn how to play the guitar, or the piano, or the violin, you had two options; you took lessons with a teacher or you bought a music lesson book from the local music store and taught yourself,” said Gary Turner, LearnToPlayMusic.com’s CEO. “In today’s world, kids are armed with laptops, tablets, and smartphones and now social media and digital content sharing networks are the focal point of their lives and are used 24×7 to keep in touch with friends and family. To tap into this new lifestyle, we realized that once again that we needed to transform our business. In 2009, we started this journey by digitizing over 35-years worth of music lessons, music books and an entire library of analog instructional music videos.”

“We have been tracking the success of subscription-based digital music, eBook and movie downloading services and platforms such as Amazon Prime, Oyster, Netflix, and Spotify. These media companies have been very successful at transforming the way they interact with and sell content and new services to customers,” Turner continued. “We think the music learning industry is going to be very impressed when we unveil our new leading-edge digital music platform, which will make it much easier for aspiring musicians, their parents and music teachers, music schools and music stores to get involved and share the wealth from the booming digital music industry.”

Turner added that, “Soon we will be launching an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign that will allow musicians and anyone in the music teaching industry to get involved in building our platform. We will be offering some really cool perks to support and fund the project and give everyone that contributes a small piece of the action.”

To receive more information on LearnToPlayMusic.com’s new Digital Media Platform please register at www.learntoplaymusic.com/freemium or contact Gary Turner at gat@learntoplaymusic.com.

A full press kit is available at www.learntoplaymusic.com/press-room.

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Magnetic, Snap-On Wireless iPhone Charger Launches Kickstarter Crowdfunding Campaign in Miami

Revocharge is a smartphone charging system that provides power to phones wherever they go – setting customers free from cables and cords and delivering true mobility

By Robert Hoskins

Miami, FL –  The Revocharge magnetic, snap-on, wireless charging system crowdfunding campaign for iPhones and Androids is live on the Kickstarter platform. Revocharge is a smartphone charging system that provides power to users’ phones wherever they go – setting them free from cables and cords and delivering true mobility. Cutting cords and charging up anywhere and everywhere has never been easier as Revocharge launches its smartphone charging system.

Revocharge Wireless Charger for Mobile iPhone and Android Smartphones

With the launch of the convenient Revocharge charging system, users can charge up anywhere and everywhere wirelessly at full, plugged-in speed, thanks to conductive charging (meaning full speed!) and Autosense charging-optimization technology. Everyone has experienced the dreaded moment when they need to use their phone only to find that it’s nearly out of power with no cables or power outlets in sight. Until now, very few wireless charging options existed that could give users the ability to be truly mobile. Revocharge finally lets the mobile phone catch up with the truly mobile lifestyle.

“We’ve made a product that we know will help revolutionize the way people use their smartphones,” said Revocharge founder Cemal Samsilova. “We’re excited to introduce our wireless charging system to the Kickstarter community, and look forward to delivering this mobility-enhancing set of tools to a global audience.”

Revocharge is ready to go, and to bring this cord-cutting tech to the masses, Revocharge has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund initial manufacturing costs.

Revocharge wireless charging benefits:

• A fast, full charge on-the-go –Using direct pin-to-ring conductive charging (which results in efficiency up to 90% – or up to 30% more than peak performance of alternatives), your phone gets a full charge at full speed from the convenient snap-on battery pack.
• Our Autosense technology optimizes the charge for any smartphone, boosting efficiency. Most chargers are only optimized for one type of device.
• Unleash your phone – Go truly mobile! Cut the cables and cords that are tying you down. Charge up wirelessly!
• Complete ecosystem – Revocharge provides power to your phone at home, in the office, in the car, on the go – literally anywhere. It uses earth magnets to attach to different mounts, creating a whole ecosystem of tools to keep you charged everywhere you go.
• Smart case – In addition to becoming a wireless, compact mobile charger when you snap on the battery, the Revocharge smartphone case is sleek, functional and offers complete access to headphone jacks, volume controls and USB ports for easy syncing.

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IgnitionDeck Acquires Crowdfunding Assets Fundify and CrowdPress to Power Star Citizen-Class Fundraising Campaigns on WordPress

The growing software developer has embarked on a strategy to buy up  and integrate the world’s most powerful crowdfunding tools on the WordPress platform in order to build best-of-breed fundraising platforms

 By Robert Hoskins

Apollo Beach, Florida – IgnitionDeck, Inc. announced that it has acquired two of the most popular and powerful tools that offer customers a  no-commission-fee crowdfunding platform. Fundify was purchased from Astoundify and CrowdPress was purchased from BoxyStudio. These assets position IgnitionDeck as a powerful force in the crowdfunding industry and gives the company a dominant position within one of the leading online publishing platforms, WordPress, which accounts for more than 60 million websites worldwide.

IgnitionDeck – The Crowdfunding Industry’s Most Popular WordPress Platform Templates

IgnitionDeck’s No-Commission-Fee crowdfunding tools let fundraisers host their own donation pages, keep all of the money that they raise, and control their relationship with users. Self-hosted campaigns offer a professional-looking and money-saving alternative to sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, which charge commissions on all funds raised, limit fundraising time periods, impose their own branding, and control the communications between fundraisers and donors.

A crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter campaign that raises $2 million would pay a platform commission fee of 5% or $100,000 for doing nothing more than allowing a client to upload a video, write a crowdfunding profile and add up to 20 perks.  A similar campaign running on Indiegogo that falls $1 short of its goal would pay a 9% commission or $180,000.

For example, Star Citizen, one of the most funded crowdfunding campaigns in history utilized a Kickstarter campaign, running between October 19th and November 19th, 2012. It raised $2,134,374, but had to pay a Kickstarter commission fee of approximately $106,718.

Roberts Space Industries, Chris Robert’s  Star Citizen is the Most Funded Crowdfunding Campaign in History, Dwarfing Kickstarter and Indiegogo

To circumvent paying this fee for their second crowdfunding campaign, Star Citizen’s Chris Roberts turned to IgnitionDeck to help him host his own fundraising campaign using his video game’s website, Roberts Space Industries, versus going with Kickstarter.  Star Citizen used IgnitionDeck for the first $13 million, thus at 5%, saved ~$650,000 by going IgnitionDeck direct.

After that, Star Citizen hired Turbulent to further customize the Star Citizen/Roberts Space Industries site and as of July 13, 2014, the Star Citizen campaign had raised approximately $48,050,064 from 498,029 pledges, which is more than any Kickstarter or Indiegogo campaign.

Customers that have a large community of followers and feel comfortable in setting a goal of $2 million or more on Kickstarter would save a minimum of $100,000 by hosting an IgnitionDeck crowdfunding campaign on their own website. The more money raised, the more IgnitionDeck will save them.

After the experience with such a successful crowdfunding campaign, the IgnitionDeck management team realized that they needed more functionality.  Of all the tools they analyzed, it was clear that buying the functionality that the Fundify and CrowdPress themes provided would be strategic to the future direction of IgnitionDeck’s WordPress crowdfunding platform.

Launched in 2012, Fundify soon became one of the most popular tools for hosting multiple crowdfunding projects simultaneously, enabling people to “be their own Kickstarter.” The CrowdPress design theme provides a customizable front-end to Fundify’s functionality. All of these solutions– IgnitionDeck, Fundify, and CrowdPress– let hosts avoid the typical 4% to 9% commissions levied by commercial crowdfunding sites, have sold thousands of copies, and enjoy active user communities.

According to IgnitionDeck co-founder Nathan Hangen, “The IgnitionDeck and Astoundify teams have had multiple positive interactions. During one recent conversation, we began toying with the idea of bringing Fundify into the IgnitionDeck product suite. Within weeks, both teams knew it was the right thing to do, agreed on the terms, and shook hands.” Says Astoundify co-founder Adam Pickering, “We’re proud of Fundify, and all of the success and good will that it has generated. We are glad to see it become part of the IgnitionDeck family– it’s a perfect match.”

In January 2014, Indiegogo announced Indiegogo Outpost, which replicates IgnitionDeck’s ability to embed a crowdfunding campaign on a host’s website. The Outpost feature was scheduled for release Q1 2014, but it has not yet been delivered as of this writing.

The Fundify theme only costs $60. IgnitionDeck yearly license fees range between $79 and $349. WordPress hosting for a 90-day campaign costs about $20.  All forms of online crowdfunding incur transaction fees from a payment processor such as Amazon, PayPal, Stripe or WePay.

WordPress is a robust publishing system that takes most non-computer literature users a day or so to learn. The other option is to hire  a WordPress consultant who is familiar with off-the-shelf tools like IgnitionDeck and Fundify to create and launch a custom crowdfunding site for you.

In addition to standalone crowdfunding platforms for single campaigns, the IgnitionDeck Enterprise Edition allows anyone to build a full-scale, white-labeled crowdfunding site that can be branded and setup to compete directly with Kickstarter or Indiegogo.

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Latina Shopping Channel Launches Indiegogo Crowdfunding Campaign to Provide Latinas with a Place to Shop and Socialize

Comadre.com will also be a valuable networking tool to connect Latina customers with Hispanic businesses

By Robert Hoskins

Coppell, Texas – Servicing the demand for four decades of rapid growth in the Latino population, Comadre.com has launched an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign to set the stage for the launch of a new social shopping website designed especially for Latinas.

The site will be the first social shopping network built by Latinas for Latinas. It will bring together two things Hispanic women love the most: shopping and socializing. The Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign is now underway and Comadre.com executives are excited to get their project off the ground, not only because the website will offer new shopping opportunities for Latinas, but because it will allow them to network and socialize and stay connected to their culture.

“By supporting us, you are helping to build an online community that keeps us connected to our culture, our heritage and our traditions,” said Lillian Romero, Latina

“By supporting our campaign, you will help us build an online community that keeps Latinas connected to our culture, our heritage and our traditions,” said Lillian Romero, an upcoming Hispanic woman entrepreneur, who believes in the value of hard work and is eager to support other Hispanic businesses.

Comadre.com will give Hispanic women a fun, stylish and unique place to shop and socialize. The site will also be a valuable networking tool to connect Latina customers with Hispanic businesses of all types, so in essence it will be a vehicle to strengthen Hispanic economic clout and support other Hispanic entrepreneurs.

The Indiegogo campaign is underway to raise money not only to build the website, but to make it work. Comadre.com owners will use the funds to import products from across Latin America so that their selections are appealing to Latinas everywhere. They will reach out to Hispanic business owners to build relationships with those who wish to sell their products on Comadre.com.

Finally, they will invest in a targeted marketing campaign to get the word out about the site and new technology to make the site easier to use and keep it current as technology changes.

The website will be bilingual and contributors receive a variety of perks depending on their level of support. The lowest level of support is $10 and highest is $1,000. Those who support at the $1,000 level receive various perks and a lifetime “Founder Discount Card.” Site owners are quick to point out that even those who don’t invest monetarily can help the site come to life by mentioning it on their social media accounts like Facebook and Twitter.

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Dogological Indiegogo Campaign Strives to Save Dogs’ Lives and Teach Abused Children How to Love

DVD program teaches dog owners to train their dogs from the dog’s point of view and will help them tap into their dog’s natural intelligence and desire to please

By Brad Jaffe, Owner and Founder, Dogological

Dogological uses a compassionate, simple and psychological approach to training dogs by empowering dog owners through teaching from the dog’s point of view. In February, we started our Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign, in partnership with Gabriel’s Angels, a non-profit organization whose mission is to deliver the power of healing through pet therapy to neglected and at-risk children, nurturing their emotional development and enhancing the quality of their lives.

Gabriel’s Angels expanding wonderful work with at-risk children by adding more therapy dog teams to serve an additional 10,000 children in Arizona

We’ve been fortunate to have over 50 backers donate a little under $6,000 thus far and we recently announced the extension of the campaign to April 13 at 11:59 p.m. PDT. We’d like to thank our current funders and we look forward to the new support we will be receiving in the next couple weeks.

The funds received from the campaign will make the Dogological dog teaching program available to dog owners worldwide by helping with the production costs of the Dog Teaching Method At-home Program DVD set.

The 6-set DVD program will teach dog owners to train their dogs from the dog’s point of view and will help them tap into their dog’s natural intelligence and desire to please. This non-confrontational method is a contrast to today’s well-known pack-leader dominance models.

For a sneak peek into what the program will offer, see these previews for walking your dog and teaching your dog how to sit.

In addition to contributing to the creation of Dogological’s program that instructs how to have well-mannered dogs through compassionate and simple teaching techniques, a portion of the funding will also be donated directly to the expansion of Gabriel’s Angels’ non-profit pet therapy program, to meet the needs of over 13,000 abused, neglected and at-risk children in the Arizona area looking for empathy, love and trust that only therapy dogs can provide. These therapy dog visits have proven to provide children with unconditional love and teach core-behaviors.

The Humane Society estimates that 2.7 million adoptable cats and dogs are euthanized each year and lack of training has been identified as one of the factors that leads to euthanization. We believe that if dog owners can easily access affordable dog training methods, dogs can be kept out of shelters and these numbers can be lowered.

Over the past 15 years, Dogological has worked with over 6,500 owners and their dogs, including a number of dogs that now serve as therapy dogs at Gabriel’s Angels. We have perfected a program for communicating with dogs in a way that they understand. My goal is to be able to make the Dogological method easily available to anyone and everyone that wants to have a well-mannered dog while preserving a great mutually beneficial relationship together.

The campaign is also supporting the expansion of Gabriel’s Angels because we have tightly aligned missions. Gabriel’s Angels helps heal and nurture children that have been exposed to abuse, neglect, and abandonment through the gentle loving presence of therapy dogs, while Dogological helps to prevent dogs from being exposed to harsh and abusive methods. Just as children never deserve to be hit, intimidated or humiliated, neither do dogs.

With your contribution you are helping to empower dog lovers all over the world with the information, skills, and knowledge to teach their dogs through gentle, loving techniques and prevent many dogs from being relinquished or euthanized due to “so called” undesirable behavior. The icing on the cake is helping more children to find relief from trauma or sadness through the unconditional love of a Gabriel’s Angels therapy dog.

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RockthePost Predicts Legalization of General Solicitation Will Change Startup Investing Forever

The SEC general solicitation rule change washes away some limitations on promotion of fundraising campaigns that have been in place for 80 years

By Robert Hoskins

Many changes are going to take place in the startup investment industry as the SEC lifts its ban on general solicitation on Monday, September 23.  With this implementation, the startup ecosystem will see an 80-year-old securities law modified for modern times, allowing private companies – startups in particular – to publicly advertise that they are seeking investments.

Alejandro Cremades launches crowdfunding project as a solution to help save the U.S. economy.

Among the exciting developments, leading startup investing platform RockThePost will unveil the following, in conjunction with Title II of the JOBS Act taking effect on Monday:

1. Prominent featuring of startups publicly announcing investment rounds
2. Investor verification system that shifts the burden off startups
3. Secure transactions where Escrow accounts act as a safe haven for early committed investors
4. Full transparency – third party identity checks and legal business verification, crowdsourced due diligence, bank-level security
5. Smart matching of investors to startup investments that match their preferences

RockThePost CEO, Alejandro Cremades, notes that “our startups have had mixed feelings on general solicitation, but the ones who are planning to take advantage of it are really excited about the exponential exposure from which they can benefit tremendously.”

According to the Center for Venture Research, only 258,000 investors have made an angel investment out of the 8.7 million accredited investor households eligible to invest in the U.S. The general solicitation ban lift will allow startups to publicly fundraise via methods such as equity crowdfunding, harnessing the power of the internet and social media to reach potential investors in all corners of the country. We expect a large jump in angel activity in the coming years as individual investors seek higher returns on investment and feel more comfortable investing in startups.

The nature of startup investing is risky, but to grow the nest egg, investor money has to be put to work. With a financial shift underway in which low yields and high interest rates are prevalent, investors are forced to look beyond traditional investment avenues to reach their financial goals.

A 2013 UBS report, Investment Strategy Guide, recommends that 7 to 11% of any given investment portfolio be allocated to new alternative investments, which includes buying equity in early stage companies (note that only accredited investors may participate in private offerings).

Startup investing involves high risk. However, investing early in startups has the potential of yielding high returns as seen below.

• $1,000 in Facebook in 2005 = $624,500 today
• $1,000 in Airbnb in 2009 = $589,667 today
• $1,000 in Dropbox in 2008 = $391,500 today

RockThePost does believe that openly fundraising in the startup investing world could significantly help startups gain access to capital in an economic environment in which investors are more readily looking for high-return investments.

General solicitation will potentially increase the number of transactions happening between investors and startups. RockThePost expects these changes to drive the U.S. economy as small businesses have created almost 65% of the net new jobs for the past 17 years.

By democratizing access to startup capital for entrepreneurs and bringing startup investment opportunities to a new investor demographic, RockThePost aims to be the go-to destination for both startups and investors.

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More News on the SEC 80-Year Ban on General Solicitation:

• Mary Jo White, SEC Approves JOBS Act Requirement to Lift General Solicitation Ban on Crowdfunding for Accredited Investors

• SEC Issues Call for Crowdfunding Suggestions to Promote Small Business Capital Formation

• BlazeFund Launches New Innovative Equity Crowdfunding Platform

• Front Page PR Offers Broker Dealers General Solicitation Campaigns to Market the Oncoming Wave of Equity Crowdfunding Investment Opportunities to the Next Generation of U.S. Accredited Investors

• Jeff Pulver’s Zula Equity Crowdfunding Campaign Pushes Israel’s OurCrowd into the Worldwide Lead of Broker/Dealer Crowdfunding Deals

• Wowcher Selects BankToTheFuture.com as Equity Crowdfunding platform for Fabfob fundraising campaign

• New Equity Crowdfunding Portal VentureHealth Launches to Provide Life Science Crowdfunding Investment Opportunities for Accredited Investors in United States

• Equity Crowdfunding Investments Surpass $16 Million on MicroVentures Broker/Dealer Crowdfunding Platform

• Ingenious Britain in the UK offers 25% Stake in New Equity Crowdfunding Platform on Crowdcube