US$1.7 Trillion In ‘Dry Powder’ Available for Global Real Estate Equity Crowdfunding Investment Opportunities in 2017, CBRE Survey Finds

North America is Preferred Region for Global Real Estate Investors | London, Los Angeles and Sydney Most Popular Regional City Targets

By Robert Hoskins

Los Angeles, California – Stronger economic growth, the availability of debt capital, and a more positive outlook from investors is expected to drive global capital flows in 2017, with $1.7 trillion of ‘dry powder’ available to deploy in real estate this year, according to the CBRE Global Investor Intentions Survey 2017.

US$1.7 Trillion In Dry Powder Available for Global Real Estate Equity Crowdfunding Investments in 2017, CBRE Survey Finds

The CBRE 2017 global survey reveals that investors have ample capital and a strong motivation to invest in real estate because of its relatively high income yield. North America is the preferred region for investors, with London, Los Angeles and Sydney the most popular cities in each of the major regions. Office is the most popular asset sector, with logistics up strongly in 2017 and a very close second.

The survey results reveal that the sum total of planned capital expenditure in real estate by investors is $1.7 trillion. The majority of investors indicate that their buying activity will increase or remain the same compared to 2016. Those investors planning to spend more (40%) outweigh those planning to spend less (16%) by a margin, indicating a continuing positive attitude to real estate as an asset class.

Despite a volatile global political environment and key European elections set to take place in France and Germany, investors are relatively unconcerned about global or local politics. Investors’ main concerns are: an undefined ‘global economic shock’ (22%) and ‘faster than expected rises in interest rates’ (21 percent). The latter concern is felt much more strongly this year and is the biggest change from 2016.

“This time last year, investors were reeling from the volatility in world stock markets, now they are seeing equities reach record highs and economic sentiment is positive. Although there is uncertainty about the direction that economic policy will take, there is also a growing anticipation that changes will unlock growth. While there are some clouds on the horizon–emerging market debt looks problematic as does Greece’s financial situation–economic momentum, alongside the yield advantages of property as an asset class, should ensure another year of substantial capital flows into global real estate,” said Chris Ludeman, Global President, Capital Markets, CBRE.

In last year’s survey, investors had shifted decisively in favor of core assets and away from secondary and value-added risk classes. That trend has partially reversed in 2017 with a fall in demand for core assets and an increased interest in core-plus and opportunistic assets. Nearly half of investors (48%) cite the high price of real estate as the main obstacle to deploying capital. This increased interest in core-plus and opportunistic reflects that issue, but it also shows that investors are slightly more ‘risk on’ than they were last year.

In the Americas, Los Angeles is the stand-out preference for investors. Dallas/Fort Worth has moved into second place. Washington, D.C. is the biggest mover, entering the top six at fourth position, having not featured last year. Atlanta moves up one place and Seattle is in seventh position, having not made the top tier last year.

Within EMEA, London remains the most attractive city for investors. Berlin has moved up two places to become the second most preferred destination. While there is some concern about European elections, so far this does not seem to have dampened appetite for real estate. The survey shows that, despite the uncertainty over Brexit, investors are increasingly interested in the UK.

In APAC, Sydney is once again the top destination, with Tokyo second by some distance. Australia’s cities remain highly popular with APAC investors because of their liquidity, transparency and positive long-term prospects. Seoul has dropped out of the top six and Hong Kong has moved in.

Office is the preferred sector for investors (26%), with multifamily (21%) and logistics (22%) also highly popular. The preference for retail has dropped sharply from last year (21% to 12%). Americas-based investors have a strong preference for logistics and multifamily; two sectors that have performed extremely well this cycle due to changes in technology and demographics. EMEA and APAC investors have relatively more interest in the offices and retail sectors.

The responses were spread across a range of investor types. The most numerous were fund/asset managers, who accounted for 34% of survey participants. Insurance companies, pension funds and sovereign wealth funds were responsible for 10%. The other most numerous respondents were private property companies (11%), private equity companies (9%), listed property companies (incl. REITS) (8%) and developers (8%).

CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBG), headquartered in Los Angeles, is the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (based on 2016 revenue).  The company has more than 75,000 employees (excluding affiliates), and serves real estate investors and occupiers through approximately 450 offices (excluding affiliates) worldwide.

CBRE offers a broad range of integrated services, including facilities, transaction and project management; property management; investment management; appraisal and valuation; property leasing; strategic consulting; property sales; mortgage services and development services.

# # #

Robert Hoskins
(512) 627-6622
@Crowdfunding_PR

---

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-based crowdfunding campaigns.

Advertisement

How to Use Crowdfunding PR, Social Media, Websites and Email Marketing to Launch Successful Kickstarter, Indiegogo or Title IV Equity Crowdfunding Campaigns

Crowdfunding PR helps crowdfunding sites and their campaign managers plan effective marketing campaigns that give fundraising efforts a higher than average chance for crowdfunding success!

By Robert Hoskins

What’s the best way to get the word out about a crowdfunding campaign?

Build an in-depth website including a well-provisioned press room full of information such as a primary PR contact info, logos, head shots of executives, press releases, press coverage, product photos, graphs, charts, white papers, and anything else that a reporter needs to write a news brief or a feature length article at 4:00 am in the morning without talking to anyone.

Always cover the: who, what, where, when, why and how much. Use the website as an electronic sales person that provides comprehensive FAQs that lead customers, crowdfunders and investors directly down the path that you want them to follow with regard to product/service education. The goal is to remove all fear, uncertainty and doubt from the sales equation.

Next, offer them a free white paper or something worth of value such as early bird discounts, VIP memberships, etc. that makes them want to share their email address and phone number with your team for future fundraising marketing efforts.

Use this process to build up an email list of 5,000 or more customers that have expressed a desire to purchase your products before the crowdfunding campaign launches. This step will be a major factor in determining its ability to achieve crowdfunding success on the very first day of the campaign.

Build an extensive social media network on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and as many other social media networks as possible. Grow your social media network by sharing the content from your developing website as well as distributing leading industry news stories for your industry.

And, as you are tweeting out the leading news articles, begin building a database of the reporters, their twitter handles and any subject matter experts quoted in the articles. Also note the frequently used buzzwords, catch phrases, and learn what formulas a reporter likes to use when they write a story.

Use these terms to SEO your crowdfunding profile so that customers who are searching for similar products and service to buy may find the crowdfunding campaign accidentally.

Follow reporters, industry analysts and subject matter experts and make friends with them, a process known as building media relations. Learn what they care about, what they do for fun, and what subject matters they like to talk about.

There is a huge difference in trying to pitch a reporter with a cold, un-researched email versus building a relationship with them before asking them to write a story for you. This strategy should also be used to target angel investors, venture capitalists, private equity and institutional investors.

The most important thing to let them know is that based on “my” extensive research, the articles that “you’ve” written, and the “buyers” that have invested/purchased my company’s product and services are a “perfect match” for your “editorial environment” or your current “investment portfolio.” And it is important to note, that this process usually takes around two-to-six months and needs to be done prior the crowdfunding campaign’s launch.

Issue well-written press releases on one of the top four paid wire distribution services. To reporters “free” or “cheap” wire services equal a potential fraudulent company since they are not willing to pay to use a real wire service and, if so, they may not be a reputable company.

Think of press releases as an extension of content marketing. Add links in the press releases to content on your website that goes into a much deeper discussion of the press release’s primary message. Include a “call-to-action” that tells readers exactly what you want them to do.

Also, write the press release as if you were writing the press release specifically to fit within a trade publication’s editorial environment. The easier it is for reporters and bloggers to cut and paste a story, the easier it will be for you to get media coverage.

And don’t think for a minute that a reporter will find your release by themselves. Instead email a copy directly to the reporter, which by now should now know who you are if you have been doing a good job of building a good media relations as detailed above.

Only target publications and media outlets that contain a high composition of the desired target audience with the right purchasing authority and a high propensity to buy your product or service. In other words, if you wouldn’t spend any money to place an advertisement in any given publication, don’t waste your time trying to pitch your story to a reporter that writes for an audience that really has no interest in purchasing your type of product or service.

All of these crowdfunding campaign prep-work marketing strategies should be done at least two months prior to the crowdfunding campaign. The more months that are spent on prep-work before the campaign begins the better the company will be positioned to achieve success on their crowdfunding campaign.

This entire process will educate the founders and their crowdfunding campaign managers and allow the whole team to learn about the industry, their competitors and how to effectively position their product/service and make it desirable in a very competitive global marketplace.

Why? When potential donors/investors like a crowdfunding campaign’s product, the first thing they will do is research how many likes it has on Facebook, what kind of professional resume the founders have built on Linked and how many followers they have on Twitter.

Next, they will do Google searches on the founders’ names, the company name and its brand names. If they find very little or nothing when searching for information on the company, the crowdfunding campaign will be doomed because it means the company clearly does not understand marketing, social media or PR.

However, if there are several pages of Google search results with news stories, press releases, product photos and a huge following on social media, this means that the founders are dedicated, hard-working employees that have exemplified a better than average chance of being successful long after their crowdfunding campaign concludes simply because they understand marketing.

If all of these crowdfunding puzzle pieces are in the correct place, potential crowdfunders will be convinced that there is a very good chance of receiving the high-tech gadget they want to pre-order to help the company get off the ground.

 

What is the biggest unexpected problem crowdfunders face?

The single biggest problem that founders and crowdfunding campaign managers face is not putting together a realistic marketing budget. It will cost at least $20k to shoot a great crowdfunding video and spend several months mastering the marketing prep-work outlined above.

For example, if you went and hired someone off the street and paid them $7.25 times 40 hours a week times 4 weeks a month times 3 months in a prep-work marketing program, that would equate a marketing budget of $3,480.

The reality is that most good marketing people will bill out at least $25 per hour and great talent will bill out at $100 or more per hour.

So using this math, crowdfunding campaigns should plan to spend at least $15,000 for marketing, social media, and PR support and another $5,000 to shoot a great pitch video and write a well-written crowdfunding campaign profile with language that sells. The campaigns that are raising millions of dollars are typically spending at least $50,000+ on one or more forms of digital advertising networks.

There is a whole sub-crowdfunding industry that will offer press releases, backer programs, social media posts, etc. for a couple of hundred bucks. The problem is that they simply will not provide the success that crowdfunding campaign managers are hoping to receive.  These companies know that founders don’t have much money, but are willing to take whatever they can get.

The same is true for marketing companies that promise to work for a 35% post-paid commission after the campaign ends. The problem is that several days into a crowdfunding campaign that raises hardly any money, these commission-only companies will sever their ties, move onto the next campaign with a better chance of being successful and leave struggling founders hanging out to dry.

We get calls from angry crowdfunding campaign managers all the time that have gone through this disappointing experience. There is no such thing as a “Free Lunch.”

What do crowdfunders need do to achieve excellent results for their campaigns?

In our four years of working with founders on their crowdfunding campaigns, we have seen a trend that is worth pointing out. The single best strategy to prepare for any type of crowdfunding campaign for any founder, entrepreneur, startup or existing small business is to perform an in-depth competitive analysis on as many competitors as possible.

This means researching a minimum of 100 campaigns on both Kickstarter and Indiegogo. The same is true for equity crowdfunding campaigns. Examine successful campaigns as well as ones that have failed.

1. How are their crowdfunding pitch videos shot?
2. How are their crowdfunding profiles written?
3. What perks sold the best/worst and how were they worded and priced?
4. What was their original crowdfunding goal?

Even better is to search for companies that failed on their first campaign and then raised millions of dollars on their second campaign, such as the “Coolest Cooler,” and then examine what the changed between the first and second try.

The second most important thing that successful crowdfunding campaigns need to have is enough support from family and friends to raise the first 30% of the crowdfunding goal.

Nothing is worse than a campaign that only raises $100 during the first several days.

This is why smart founders will set their goal as low as possible so that they can raise 50% of the goal on the first day. A low goal doesn’t mean they can’t raise a million dollars!

What is the number one piece of advice for anyone wanting to do a Kickstarter or Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign?

We highly recommend taking out a yellow writing tablet and going to Crowdfunding PR’s free crowdfunding training classes at https://crowdfundingtrainingclasses.wordpress.com.

Crowdfunding PR Offers Crowdfunding Training Classes to Help Campaign Managers Plan Cost-Effective Marketing Campaigns Using Social Media, PR, Email and Content Marketing

Reading through these free tutorials will educate founders on the various components of the crowdfunding process. For each section, founders should write down their thoughts about what they might want to do to raise money for their own crowdfunding campaign.

Next, take advantage of Crowdfunding PR’s free 30-minute telephone consultations for founders that are considering launching a crowdfunding campaign. If they are willing to learn about crowdfunding first and then write down their initial thoughts on what they might like to do with their campaign, it will lead to a much better first conversation on what they want to achieve with their Kickstarter, Indiegogo or Title III/Title IV equity crowdfunding campaign.

Call Crowdfunding PR at (512) 627-6622 to setup a call!

# # #

Robert Hoskins
(512) 627-6622
@Crowdfunding_PR

---

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-based crowdfunding campaigns.

Is Title IV Reg A+ Equity Crowdfunding the Right Fundraising Tool for Your Growing Business?

A Checklist of Goals for Businesses Considering Raising Money with a Title IV Reg A+ Crowdfunding Campaign

By Robert Hoskins

Is Title IV Reg A+ Equity Crowdfunding the Right Fundraising Tool?

Austin, Texas – Trying to figure out if Title IV Reg A+ Equity Crowdfunding is the right fundraising tool to help your company move to the next level? Most people consider Reg A+ to be one step below issuing an IPO (Initial Public Offering) at a fraction of what it usually costs, thus it is also known as a Mini-IPO.

Most financial analysts consider existing businesses with several years of operations and generating significant revenue from multiple product/service lines to be the best candidates to launch a Reg A+ crowdfunding campaign. Smaller investment bookrunners will argue that even startups and small businesses are good targets to raise money using Reg A+, especially if they have goal of going public in 18-to-24 months based on certain revenue milestones.

Top Title IV Reg A+ Crowdfunding Questions:

1. Do you have a strong management team?
2. Do your founders or investors have any “Star Power?”
3. Do you need to raise more than $1 million?
4. Have you developed an effective 30-second elevator pitch?
5. Have you developed a 3-minute crowdfunding pitch video with a strong call-to-action?
6. Have you developed a “Pitch Book” for investors?
7. Do you have a lead investor of $25k+ or more?
8. Have you raised at least $100,000+ or more from prior investments?
9. Is your business growing at 20% or more month over month?
10. Have you generated at least $100,000+ of lifetime revenue?
11. Is your business projecting  2x to 3x year-on-year profit growth?
12. Can you provide investors with a 3x to 10x ROI over the next 3 to 5 years?
13. Is your market valuation worth $5 million or more?
14. Is your market capitalization realistic from a VC’s point of view?
15. Have you run a successful rewards/perks-based crowdfunding campaign?
16. Do you have a database of at least 5,000+ customer email accounts?
17. Do you have a database of at least 1,000+ investor email accounts?
18. Have you generated at least 3 or more press articles in the trade press?
19. Do you have a $20,000 or more for a advertising/crowdfunding PR budget?
20. Do you have a strong LinkedIn resume and a large social media following on Facebook and Twitter?

If you cannot answer “yes” to the majority of these questions, then your business may not be ready to launch a Reg A+ equity crowdfunding campaign. These are many of the milestones that private equity investors and venture capitalists like see in a pitch deck to make your company worth serious consideration for a seed stage or private equity investment. If not, use this list to set some goals and objectives for your business and work hard to achieve them.

Title IV Reg A+ vs. IPO

If you think you are serious about issuing a Reg A+ offering, it would be wise to read through the following white papers on Title IV Reg A+ vs. IPOs. Learning how a bookrunner works with various investment banks, institutional investors, venture capital and private equity firms can provide valuable insight into how Wall Street has been raising money for startups for the past 100 years.

The white papers will also provide key insights into how much money it will cost as well as the actual fundraising process including what it takes to put together a “Pitch Book” and how to market it via “Dog and Pony” investment road shows. The key to raising for a company’s management team to travel from city to city meeting with potential investors to pitch Reg A+ investment opportunities.

• A Guide to Title IV Reg A+ – White Paper
• IPO (Initial Public Offering) Guidebook – White Paper
• Managing Key Investors in IPOs (Initial Public Offerings) – White Paper
• Fatal Flaws in Selecting an IPO (Initial Public Offering) Underwriter Selection – White Paper

Title IV Reg A+ Background

The SEC has previously stated that the primary purpose in adopting Reg A+ was to provide a simple and relatively inexpensive procedure for small business use in raising limited amounts of needed capital. Reg A+ issuers submit a paper-based offering statement to the SEC; this offering statement is essentially an abbreviated version of an IPO prospectus and it must be “qualified,” or cleared, by the SEC and delivered to prospective purchasers.

In addition to SEC review, Reg A+ offerings have traditionally been subject to review under state securities laws (also known as “Blue Sky” laws). In comparison, a traditional registered IPO listed on a national exchange is exempt from Blue Sky requirements. Securities sold in a Reg A+ offering are freely transferable in the secondary market, though Reg A+ issuers are not subject to Exchange Act reporting requirements.

Title IV Reg A+ as Outlined by 2012 JOBS Act

Title IV of the 2012 JOBS Act directed the SEC to expand Reg A to exempt offerings of up to $50 million in equity, debt or convertible securities. The law mandated that issuers relying on this new exemption would be required to file audited financial statements with the SEC on an annual basis.

However, without infrastructure currently in place for A+ securities to trade on national exchanges, lawmakers left it within the purview of the SEC to settle the state jurisdiction question by establishing the definition for “qualified purchaser” in the rulemaking process.

The 2nd Tier of Title IV Reg A+ Offerings

The SEC’s final rule was adopted on March 25, 2015, and became effective during the summer of 2015. In the rule, the SEC expanded Regulation A into two tiers: Tier 1 for offerings of up to $20 million and Tier 2 for offerings up to $50 million.

By removing key procedural obstacles and introducing common-sense investor protections, this new Reg A+ framework creates a viable capital-raising alternative for issuers that want to remain independent and innovative. Below are some of the key provisions included in the SEC’s Reg A+ rule:

• Testing the waters: Issuers may solicit interest in a potential offering with the general public, either before or after the filing of the offering statement.
• Blue Sky: Offerings made under Tier 2 are generally exempt from state securities law registration and qualification requirements. And while Tier 1 offerings would still be subject to state Blue Sky regulations, the states’ new Coordinated Review process has dramatically reduced the burdens associated with this process.
• Offering Circular: Issuers can confidentially file statements for SEC qualification. Offering circular must include audited financial statements and balance sheets for the two most recently completed fiscal year ends. The Offering Circular format is narrative disclosure, similar to what is required from smaller reporting companies in a prospectus, but more limited in certain respects.
• Proceeds: For Tier 2 offerings, there is an annual offering limit of up to $50 million in equity, debt or convertible securities, including no more than $15 million from selling security holders. For Tier 1 offerings, the annual limit is $20 million, with not more than $6 million from selling security holders preceded or accompanied by a preliminary offering circular.
• Transferability/Liquidity for Investors: Securities sold in these offerings are not “restricted securities” under the Securities Act, and thus are freely tradable in the secondary market.
• Ongoing Reporting: Issuers that conduct a Tier 2 offering must electronically file annual and semiannual reports with the SEC, but those who conduct Tier 1 offerings generally have no ongoing reporting obligations.

Are Title IV Reg A+ Shares More Liquid?

Securities offered under Reg A+ are freely tradable, which makes them more valuable to employees, investors and founders.  This is beneficial for investors but also for issuer constituents, who may be early investors or insiders, seeking liquidity.  The issuers’ choice of venue is mostly to do with the size of the offering and the company’s market capitalization.

Need Help Preparing a Title IV Reg A+ Offering?

How Much Money Would You Like to Raise?

What Industry Do the Business Serve?

Company Website

30-Second Elevator Pitch (required)

Founder Name(required)

Founder Email(required)

What Crowdfunding Goals Do You Need Help With?(required)

Building a Company Website with Great SEO Developing a Strong Social Media Following Generating Positive PR Articles in the Press Completing One Successful Crowdfunding Campaign Developing an Email Database of ~5k+ Customers Developing a Database of ~1k+ Potential Investors Developing a Customer Acquisition Program Growing Sales and Distribution Channels Raising a $20k Social Media and PR Budget Our Business is Ready to Launch Something Not Listed Here

Submit

Δ

# # #

Robert Hoskins
(512) 627-6622
@Crowdfunding_PR

---

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 on a regular basis 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-based crowdfunding campaigns.

In addition, due to the overwhelming demand from the general public for information on crowdfunding, he empowers entrepreneurs, startups and existing businesses with the internet’s most affordable crowdfunding training classes, which provide insight to startups around the world on a 24 x 7 basis.

Crowdfunding PR Rolls Out Title IV, Reg. A+ 2-Month Crowdfunding Prep Work Program to Help Startups and Existing Businesses Learn How to Launch More Successful Crowdfunding Campaigns

The Crowdfunding Prep Work Program Helps Campaign Managers Amass a Large Crowd of Followers on Social Media and Utilize PR to Generate Hundreds of News Articles on Leading Media Outlets

By Robert Hoskins

Austin, Texas – Want to learn how to launch a successful Title IV, Reg. A+ equity crowdfunding campaign? To help crowdfunders achieve this elusive goal, Crowdfunding PR announced a special two-month Crowdfunding Prep Work Program that will significantly improve a crowdfunding campaign’s success rate by amplifying its management team’s social media profiles and by utilizing an effective crowdfunding PR campaign to generate hundreds of stories via electronic news media outlets prior to the crowdfunding campaign’s launch.

How to Plan a Successful Crowdfunding PR Campaign by Following this Secret Step-by-Step Process

Social Media Campaigns
Conducting a strong social media marketing campaign is one of the biggest challenges that many Title IV, Reg. A+ Crowdfunding Campaigns will face. Improving weak social media credentials for companies is critical to crowdfunding success. What many entrepreneurs and startups need to recognize is how important social media is in the world of crowdfunding.

“The very first thing that an investor/donor does when they read through a crowdfunding profile they like is to look up the company and its team members on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to check out their credentials,” said Robert Hoskins, Crowdfunding PR’s Director of Crowdfunding Campaigns. “Having a strong resume on LinkedIn, lots of likes on Facebook and an army of followers on Twitter is crucial to determining the strength of the team and the likelihood that they have the tenacity and marketing skill set to deliver on their crowdfunding campaign’s promises.”

Public Relations/Publicity Campaigns
The second biggest task is generating stories on electronic news media outlets and blogs prior to launching a crowdfunding campaign. Not only can a well-orchestrated crowdfunding PR campaign generate hundreds of free, positive trade press articles to support the fundraising effort, but the same targeted, search-engine-optimized (SEO) press releases will continue to drive new investors, potential customers as well as sales/distribution partners to the business long after the crowdfunding campaign ends.

“Most investors/donors will do a Google search to see what they can find online for both the company and its team members,” Hoskins continued. “With a two-month crowdfunding prep work campaign there will be several pages of search engine results that link to the client’s website pages, their social media posts/profiles and the crowdfunding campaign’s temporary landing page until they launch an equity crowdfunding campaign on SeedInvest.com, StartEngine.com, Republic.co, WeFunder.com or any other Title IV, Reg. A+ equity crowdfunding sites.

Contact Crowdfunding PR
If you would like to speak with a crowdfunding PR, social media and/or marketing expert regarding your crowdfunding campaign, please call Robert Hoskins at (512) 627-6622.

# # #

(512) 627-6622
@Crowdfunding_PR

---

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.

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

Mr. Hoskins is one of the crowdfunding industry’s foremost crowdfunding advocates and has amassed a huge social media following that is dedicated to supporting donation-, rewards- and equity-based crowdfunding campaigns. Due to the overwhelming demand from the general public for crowdfunding information, he empowers entrepreneurs with some of the internet’s most affordable ($20) online crowdfunding training classes, which provide insight to startups around the world on a 24 x 7 basis.

VerteCore “Lift” Indiegogo Campaign Shows Strong Demand During the First Week of Crowdfunding Campaign for Comfortable, Convenient, Spinal Decompression Device

High demand for the VerteCore’s mobile decompression “Lift” effectively positions the company to begin competing with inversion tables such as Teeter Hang Ups, Elite Fitness & Ironman Gravity

By Robert Hoskins

Dallas, Texas  – VerteCore Technologies reported that its first week of Indiegogo crowdfunding has raised almost 30% of its fundraising goal. The funds raised on Indiegogo will be used to pay for its first production run that will manufacture enough FDA Class 1-cleared medical devices to fulfill all customer orders beginning June 2016.

VerteCore Lift: Affordable, Comfortable, Convenient, Mobile Spinal Decompression for Lower Back Pain

In addition, VerteCore will begin negotiations with large retail outlets including Wal-Mart, Costco, Target, Dicks Sporting Goods, Academy Sports and other big box retailers to carry the VerteCore Lift alongside the very popular gravity inversion tables.

When customers have a choice between a large, heavy inversion table that requires assembly versus a lightweight, portable VerteCore “Lift” that is much easier and convenient to use, most will choose a “Lift,” regardless of price, because they are much easier to use and integrate into the customers’ daily lifestyle.

“Everyone that suffers from chronic back pain has either tried or at least thought about trying a gravity inversion table to help relieve their back pain, including both of our co-founders,” said Paul Leake, VerteCore Technologies’ CEO. “They do help relieve back pain, but the problem is that they also give you headaches from the blood rushing to your head and create a fair amount of ankle and knee pain when hanging upside down. They also take up a lot of time doing nothing but hanging upside down if you use them one or more times per day.”

“This is precisely why we invented the VerteCore ‘Lift.’ Instead of hanging upside down uncomfortably for 20 to 30 minutes, our easy-to-use, dual-support brace utilizes a high-tech, patent-pending ratcheting system that allows customers to stretch out the spine to their precise comfort levels in just minutes and then allows them to continue with their normal daily routine while their back is decompressing,” Leake continued. “Instant relief from back pain and the freedom to move around like normal is a godsend for people with chronic back pain. If you think inversion tables are good, you will agree that our VerteCore Lifts are completely awesome.”

VerteCore Lift Benefits:

• The Lift will provide immediate back pain relief without hanging upside down
• Is easy to put on and adjust to the precise amount of decompression needed
• The Lift is very comfortable to wear
• Can be worn be worn over or under regular clothes
• Can be utilized anywhere, anytime during daily activities
• Allows activities such as jogging to increase circulation during decompression
• Increasing circulation accelerates the body’s natural ability to heal itself
• One size fits most tall and heavy people with waist sizes ranging from 22” up to 52”
• Includes an option to be fitted with an extension that allows up a 72” waist size
• It is small and when folded can be stored in a space that is 18” long x 10” wide x 4” tall
• The “FDA Class 1-Cleared” device only weighs 4.3 lbs.
• Comes with a 90-day, 100% satisfaction, money back guarantee

Gravity Inversion Table Shortcomings:

• Requires hanging upside down uncomfortably for 20-minutes
• Blood rushes to head when hanging upside down
• Ankles and knees hurt while hanging upside down
• Not designed for large/heavy people
• Danger of tipping over if not setup correctly
• Very heavy (~50 lbs.) and hard to move from room to room
• Requires large 7 feet of perimeter space for use
• Requires large area for storage
• Requires the assembly of a lot of moving parts that can break
• Requires two people and one-hour to complete assembly

The VerteCore Lifts are on sale right now via an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign for only $299 while quantities last. After the crowdfunding campaign the MSRP will go up to $599, so order one right now to get this limited time 50% discount and save $300 bucks. They come with a 100% satisfaction money back guarantee so there is absolutely no risk to order. They will start shipping the first orders 30-days after the crowdfunding campaign concludes.

Or for customers on a budget, VerteCore has added a down payment option. Customers can make a very affordable $99 down payment that will secure their place in line. As the delivery date nears customers can:

1) Pay the $290 remaining balance (plus shipping if required), or;

2) Finance at $99/month

And once you have your Lift and let your friends try it on and they experience what it feels like to decompress their spine, they will want to buy one too. Field sales people will earn a 30% commission for every “Lift” they sell. Call (888) 928-LIFT to learn more.

# # #

Crowdfunding PR Rolls Out 2-Month Crowdfunding Prep Work Program to Help Startups Learn How to Launch More Successful Equity & Rewards Crowdfunding Campaigns

The Crowdfunding Prep Work Program Helps Clients Amass a Large Crowd of Followers on Social Media and Utilizes PR to Generate Hundreds of Articles on Leading Edge News Outlets and Blogs

By Robert Hoskins

Austin, Texas – Want to learn how to launch a successful Title III equity crowdfunding campaign? To help crowdfunders achieve this elusive goal, today Crowdfunding PR announced a special two-month Crowdfunding Prep Work Program that will significantly improve a crowdfunding campaign’s success rate by amplifying its founder’s social media profiles and by utilizing an effective crowdfunding PR campaign to generate hundreds of stories in the electronic news media prior to the crowdfunding campaign’s launch.

Learn How to Plan a Successful Title III Equity-based Crowdfunding Campaign Using Cost-Effective PR, Marketing and Social Media Campaigns

Crowdfunding Social Media Campaigns

One of the biggest challenges that most crowdfunding campaigns face are weak social media credentials and the lack of a large group of social media followers that are needed to support crowdfunding campaigns with donations and/or investments. Building strong, professional Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter profiles and amassing the largest possible group of followers on social media networks is crucial to conducting a successful crowdfunding campaign.

Crowdfunding PR Campaigns

The second biggest task is generating stories on electronic news media outlets and blogs prior to launching a crowdfunding campaign. Not only can a well-orchestrated crowdfunding PR campaign generate hundreds of free, positive trade press articles to support the fundraising effort, but the same targeted, search-engine-optimized press releases will continue to drive new investors, potential customers and sales/distribution partners to the business long after the crowdfunding campaign ends.

“What many entrepreneurs and startups need to recognize is how important social media is in the world of crowdfunding,” said Robert Hoskins, Crowdfunding PR’s Director of Crowdfunding Campaigns. “The very first thing that an investor/donor does when they read through a crowdfunding profile they like is to look up the company and its team on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to check out their credentials. Having a strong resume on LinkedIn, lots of likes on Facebook and an army of followers on Twitter is crucial to determining the strength of the team and the likelihood that they have the tenacity and skill set to deliver on their crowdfunding campaign’s promises.”

“Next, most investors/donors will do a Google search to see what they can find online for both the company and its team members,” Hoskins continued. “With a two-month crowdfunding prep work campaign there will be several pages of search engine results that link to the client’s website pages, their social media posts/profiles and the crowdfunding campaign’s temporary landing page until the GoFundMe.com, Indiegogo.com,Kickstarter.com or Title III equity crowdfunding campaign goes live.”

Crowdfunding PR Campaign Consulting

If you would like to speak with a crowdfunding PR, social media and/or marketing expert regarding your crowdfunding campaign please call Robert Hoskins at (512) 627-6622 or fill out the contact form at: https://crowdfundingpr.wordpress.com/about-crowdfunding-pr-campaigns/ to setup a telephone consultation appointment.

# # #

(512) 627-6622
@Crowdfunding_PR

---

Mr. 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.

Hoskins is one of the crowdfunding industry’s foremost crowdfunding advocates and has amassed a huge social media following that is dedicated to supporting donation-, rewards- and equity-based crowdfunding campaigns. Due to the overwhelming demand from the general public for crowdfunding information, he empowers entrepreneurs with some of the internet’s most affordable ($20) online crowdfunding training classes, which provide insight to startups around the world on a 24 x 7 basis.

Hoskins adamantly believes that the crowdfunding industry will empower everyone in the United States to rediscover the possibility of living the American dream with a little hard work, a great business idea and the dedication to researching, planning and launching a well-thought-out crowdfunding campaign. He consults on a regular basis with crowdfunding campaign managers as well as crowdfunding sites, portals and platforms to deliver successful crowdfunding marketing campaigns.

---

Brown Lane Studio Launches Equity Crowdfunding Campaign on CrowdBoarders.com, One of the World’s First Social Investing Networks

The venture capital  raised will be used to carry out the company’s growing expansion plans to meet the rising demands for the firm’s creative services

By Robert Hoskins

Dallas, Texas – CrowdBoarders announced that Brown Lane Studios has launched an equity crowdfunding campaign to sell five-percent of its equity shares to raise $300,00 to fund future expansion.  J. Michael Brown is the sole owner of the futuristic studio that offers the Dallas creative community an exciting eco-system of private studios, commercial studios, media services and events of all kinds social networking mixers and parties “under one roof.”  The company has seen rapid growth over the past two years.

Brown Lane Studios has launched an equity crowdfunding campaign to sell five-percent of its equity shares to raise $300,00 to fund future expansion

The equity crowdfunding offering consists of nine different levels of public investment ranging from $20-$5,000. The venture capital  raised will be used to carry out the company’s continuing expansion plans to meet the rising demands for the firm’s creative services.

Please visit https://crowdboarders.com/brown-lane-studios to view the equity crowdfunding campaign’s financial details.

Similar to rewards-based crowdfunding campaigns, early J. Michael Brown investors will receive complimentary studios services dependent on their investment level in addition to their equity shares.

CrowdBoarders.com is a next-generation social investing network which connects investors with a stream of crowdfunding investment opportunities that are now open to accredited investors and more than 20 million non-accredited investors who reside in Texas.

The Brown Lane Studios is located at 1499 Regal Row, Suite 505 Dallas, TX 75204-2431.  Investors are invited to visit the studio for a free tour. Please call (214) 771-7395 for more information.

# # #

(512) 627-6622
@Crowdfunding_PR

---

Mr. 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.

Hoskins is one of the crowdfunding industry’s foremost crowdfunding advocates and has amassed a huge social media following that is dedicated to supporting donation-, rewards- and equity-based crowdfunding campaigns. Due to the overwhelming demand from the general public for crowdfunding information, he empowers entrepreneurs with some of the internet’s most affordable ($20) online crowdfunding training classes, which provide insight to startups around the world on a 24 x 7 basis.

Hoskins adamantly believes that the crowdfunding industry will empower everyone in the United States to rediscover the possibility of living the American dream with a little hard work, a great business idea and the dedication to researching, planning and launching a well-thought-out crowdfunding campaign. He consults on a regular basis with crowdfunding campaign managers as well as crowdfunding sites, portals and platforms to deliver successful crowdfunding marketing campaigns.

---

Crowdfunding PR Raising Money via Wells Fargo Project Work to Build the Very 1st Equity Crowdfunding Co-Working Space, Incubator, Accelerator and Training Facility Center in Austin, Texas

Click on this image to vote YES for our Crowdfunding Co-working Incubator, Accelerator and Crowdfunding Training Facility on Wells Fargo’s Work Project Contest for Small Businesses

Show our crowdfunding campaign some love by clicking here and simply voting “Yes,” and then share this story with your friends on social media. Your one vote will help us WIN!

  By Robert Hoskins

Austin, Texas – Front Page PR’s 2015 Mission is to teach local communities how to buy distressed properties such as vacant warehouses and strip malls and invest a little bit of money to turn these properties into crowdfunding co-working spaces where entrepreneurs and startups can congregate and dream up new product/service ideas.

The Wells Fargo Works Project for Small Business. Please Click to Vote YES!

Utilizing co-working spaces, Front Page PR can teach startups via crowdfunding training classes how to use a new finance tool called “Equity Crowdfunding” to raise the sufficient seed capital needed to setup a business, transform their creative ideas into prototypes, pay for the very first manufacturing production run, and then convert these companies from fledgling startups into successful revenue generating machines.

Equity Crowdfunding was legalized in 2012 by the JOBS Act. By October 2015, the SEC should release the final Title III equity crowdfunding rules. Startups will then be able to use General Solicitation market their investment opportunities to over 180 million non-accredited investors throughout the United States. The result? Leading finance experts and venture capitalists agree that the crowdfunding industry will grow quickly into a $300 billion per year industry.

The biggest marketplace challenge is that 99% of the population is unaware of crowdfunding and will need to be trained on how to invest in new startups and how to raise money using equity crowdfunding campaigns. Our crowdfunding classes are complete, but the biggest problem we face is how to pay for an actual crowdfunding training facility, converting it into a co-working space, staffing it with experts, and then marketing the facility to the general public.

We would like to spend the $25,000 Wells Fargo prize to start the process of setting up a Crowdfunding Incubator/Accelerator facility for small businesses and utilizing it over the next two to five years to teach people how to use crowdfunding sites to raise seed investment capital. The business model should fund itself in less than 12 months based on monthly co-working memberships alone, but we need enough money to get things started.

Our Incubator will provide a directory of crowdfunding experts that mentor entrepreneurs/startups on how to use donation-based or rewards-based crowdfunding to raise enough money on sites like GoFundMe.com, Kickstarter.com, or IndieGoGo.com to get a business up and running. Our crowdfunding training classes will show startups the step-by-step process of how to conduct successful crowdfunding campaigns.

Our Accelerator will provide a directory of legal, finance and securities experts that will help businesses take their companies to next level by selling equity shares or debt in their company to investors to raise even more money. The investor training classes will show new, non-accredited investors how to vet deals and ride the coattails of super angels by utilizing investment syndicates.

Once the Incubator/Accelerator is established and producing successful startups, we plan to license the business model so that others can replicate this crowdfunding training business template anywhere in the United States, providing a tremendous boost to the US economy.

Why launch a Crowdfunding Training Center? After serving as the Director of Corporate Communications for several Fortune 50 companies, I was bitten by the entrepreneurship bug and jumped off the corporate ship in 2001.

Since then I have thrived on the joy of building industries one small company at a time and the love for sharing my accrued knowledge gained from a vast array of B2B industries, international sales & distribution channels and working with media organizations to maximize publicity.

My track record includes building a broadband wireless industry in 2001 with the Broadband Wireless Exchange Magazine, an Arizona solar industry in 2009 with the Arizona Solar Power Society and I have been working for the past three years on building a crowdfunding industry with Crowdfunding PR to score a hat trick in 2015 when the SEC approves the title III equity crowdfunding rules.

Please support our fundraising campaign to build the 1st Crowdfunding Co-Working Space, Incubator, Accelerator and Training Center in Austin, Texas. Click here and vote yes!

# # #

Want to help us build a Crowdfunding Training Center?

Name(required)

Email

Cell Phone

How would you like to be involved?

Submit

Δ

MassVenture’s First Texas Equity Crowdfunding Investment Opportunity Now Available to Everyone in Texas

Located in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the first equity crowdfunding deal will allow any Texan to invest in a multi-million dollar real estate project for as little as $500

 By Robert Hoskins

Cedar Hill, Texas – San Antonio-based technology start-up MassVenture, Texas’ first approved investment crowdfunding portal, launched the state’s first ever Texas investment crowdfunding project. Located in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, this project will allow any Texan to invest in a multi-million dollar real estate project with as little as $500.

MassVenture launched the state’s first ever Texas equity investment crowdfunding project, which is limited to Texas investors

The Cedar Hill, Texas real estate investment on MassVenture serves as the first publicly-issued investment crowdfunding project in the state. It will provide for construction of a senior living campus and is designed to meet a growing demographic with an under-served need in a community that currently has more than 340,000 residents living within the primary service area.

“In the crowdfunding market, real estate investment looks to be one of the top sectors for growth and returns,” said Amir Mirabi, VP of Business Development for MassVenture. “Texans love to help one another, and so do we. As we say, It’s Your State, Own It.”

With the posting of this project, MassVenture becomes the first state-approved crowdfunding portal to list a project. Investors who sign up for free on the portal can view the offering for a state-mandated 21-day pre-funding period before the actual crowdfunding campaign commences.

Investors can ask the equity-offering issuer questions regarding the project, the property, the principals or any other matters in advance of investing.

Nathan Roach, MassVenture CEO, added, “Crowdfunding is a great tool for quickly mobilizing interest and investment into Texas-based projects, and the transparency and wisdom of the crowd is a great way for Texans to collectively pool their resources and see a project through to fruition. We see real estate crowdfunding as a great community and economic development tool. What better way to Invest in Texas than to truly invest in Texas?”

MassVenture’s principals, spanning legal, technological, finance and economic development backgrounds, helped craft and advocate the newly enacted state crowdfunding rules that came into effect in November of 2014, making Texas the 13th state in the nation to have such rules.

Investment crowdfunding works similarly to rewards and donations-based crowdfunding, but instead of products, consumers get to purchase ownership in companies and/or their projects, with the prospect of considerable returns. The new state-based crowdfunding rules are unique in that they also open up investment to a new class of investors – non-accredited investors with a net worth of less than $1 million and income of less than $200,00 per year – who traditionally have been left out of early stage venture funding under current federal regulations.

# # #

Front Page PR Seeks Startups at Texas Incubators Accelerators that Would Like to Try a New Method of Raising Seed Investment Capital via Texas Equity Crowdfunding Sites

Equity crowdfunding campaigns have the ability to help entrepreneurs raise enough seed capital to pay for a co-working space and put together marketing and business development plans to gain market traction

By Robert Hoskins

Austin, Texas – Front Page PR, in tandem with the Texas Crowdfunding Network, is now offering entrepreneurs, startups and businesses in Texas the opportunity to learn how to use top Texas crowdfunding sites to raise enough seed investment capital to get their companies up and running. Anyone interested in a free 30-minute crowdfunding consulting session to learn more about crowdfunding should call Robert Hoskins at (512) 627-6622 or send a tweet to @Crowdfunding_PR.

Front Page PR Helps Startups and Small Businesses Plan Successful Texas Equity Crowdfunding Campaigns

“Various Texas incubators and accelerators offer attractive deals that promise to provide $50,000 of matching funds and another $50,000 from venture capital partners for any company as long as they can bring their own $50,000 to the table,” said Robert Hoskins, the Texas Crowdfunding Network’s Executive Director. “The problem is that most startups are bootstrapping their companies and do not have enough money to qualify for these types of expensive cash-up-front accelerator programs.”

“Even though incubators/accelerators have the best intentions of helping startups,” Hoskins added. “There are simply too many startups and not enough seed investment capital to go around. According to a leading Austin Accelerator Research Report even the top Texas accelerators rarely invest more than a total of $150,000 per year in startups. At $50k per deal that means only enough funding for three companies per year.”

Recognizing this widespread problem, the Texas State Securities Board created a new source of alternative financing called “Equity Crowdfunding” that provides businesses, including Texas incubators and accelerators, with a new way to raise enough seed investment capital to fund more companies, create more jobs and stimulate more economic development in Texas.

Equity crowdfunding sites now allow businesses to build an online business pitch called a “crowdfunding profile,” which can be viewed by prospective investors 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week. Investors that like deals they find can purchase equity shares via online Texas crowdfunding sites in a similar manner to how Kickstarter and IndieGoGo or ecommerce sites work.

It is completely free to build a crowdfunding profile. And spending as little as $5,000 to $20,000 to produce the necessary pitch deck/video, disclosure documentation and targeted marketing campaigns to drive investors to crowdfunding profiles makes it possible for any Texas business raise up to $1,000,000 of seed investment capital per year.

Every adult in Texas can now invest up to $5,000 per year in equity investment deals they like. At $5,000 each, a small business only needs 200 investors to raise up to $1 million per year. Marketing campaigns with an average 3% response rate have the potential to drive up to 600,000 Texas investors to a company’s crowdfunding profile. And then, it only takes a very small conversion rate of those investors investing anywhere from $500 to $5,000 each to reach the desired crowdfunding goal.

When trying to raise seed capital most angel investors like to see some sort of traction in the marketplace. Smart companies will only try to raise enough money to deliver a finished product/service that can be sold as well as some marketing programs to begin customer acquisition.

After a successful first round, companies that spend their money wisely and build a solid customer base will be able to raise larger secondary and tertiary rounds as they gain momentum in the marketplace.

“Raising multiple rounds of funding to stair step their way into a successful business model is a good strategy to develop a loyal base of customers and crowdfunding investors,” Hoskins commented. “It is also a great way catch the eye of angel investors and venture capitalists who will be watching Texas Crowdfunding sites for rising stars that are still at an early stage, but growing quickly.”

Front Page PR has a 25-year track record of helping small startups launch their businesses and begin rolling out their products and services to local, regional, national and global markets. Using integrated marketing campaigns that harness the power of targeted content marketing, email marketing, PR and social media, Front Page PR can help any small business build a loyal customer base and begin preparing for a successful equity crowdfunding campaign. Front Page PR offers up to a 50% discount on various marketing services for qualified members of Texas-based co-working spaces, incubators and accelerator programs.

If your business would like to learn more about the Texas Equity Crowdfunding industry, please join our free Texas Crowdfunding Network Meetup Group or visit our Texas Equity Crowdfunding Blog to read more about how to setup a Texas Crowdfunding Portal or Issue a Texas Equity Crowdfunding Offering. We can also help setup Equity Crowdfunding Community Outreach Programs and Crowdfunding Training Programs to educate members of chambers of commerce, SBDC offices, economic development councils and large business associations on how to capitalize on equity crowdfunding to fund startups that need access to seed investment capital. 

# # #

Contact:
Robert Hoskins
Front Page PR
(512) 627-6622
@Crowdfunding_PR
www.linkedin.com/in/roberthoskins