The Narative Advantage: Why Women Are More Successful than Men at Crowdfunding Because of the Language They Use to Describe Their Projects

A leading crowdfunding research report from Andreea Gorbatai, UC Berkeley, and Laura Nelson, Northwestern University, details why women are better at crowdfunding because of the language they use in their crowdfunding campaigns

By Robert Hoskins

Austin, Texas – According to a new crowdfunding research report, it is not what you say, but the words you use to say it when communicating the features and benefits of a crowdfunding campaign. If you are researching how to launch a successful Kickstarter or Indieogogo crowdfunding campaign, we highly recommend that you read both “The Narrative Advantage: Gender and the Language of Crowdfunding” and “The Language that Gets People to Give for Successful Kickstarter Campaigns.”  These research reports will greatly enhance your ability to use the most effective and persuasive language possible to reach donors and investors and instill a desire to support your crowdfunding campaign.

Here is an introduction to what the crowdfunding research report covers:

“Economic and social arrangements in markets and organizations have been shown to systematically disadvantage women across a wide range of outcomes ranging from hiring, performance evaluations, rewards, and promotion in the labor market to financial support in the capital market. Research has identified several mechanisms through which this inequality is perpetuated, ranging from homophily, tokenism and structural constraints to negative stereotyping and women’s own beliefs about their skill level and worth in the labor market.

The Narrative Advantage Gender and the Language of Crowdfunding

In particular, research on financing, small business, and entrepreneurship has shown that women are at a marked disadvantage compared against men with similar skill and experience levels. This difference has been largely attributed to choice homophily among predominantly male funders, and to the type of businesses that women start.

In the venture capital industry, male venture capitalists acts as gatekeepers; this results in less funding and mentorship for female entrepreneurs. In other entrepreneurial ventures, women gravitate towards small business ventures where they are often the sole employee instead of choosing scalable business projects.

In all these contexts, the long term outcomes – financing, and the terms of the financing deals – are the results of many difficult to quantify factors resulting from the interaction between the funder and the entrepreneur. It is thus difficult to isolate the effects that non-verbal behavior, paralinguistic cues, contextual factors, and interactions between the entrepreneur and the funder have on the final decision regarding funding. Some of these factors have been studied experimentally in the laboratory (Brownlow and Zebrowitz 1990; Carney, Cuddy and Yap 2010; Kramer 1977).

The majority of these studies rely on evaluating the effect of these factors on the audience, controlling for language content. But the language we use is intimately connected to how we think, and how others evaluate what we are saying. Moreover, language is connected with socio-demographic characteristics of the speaker or writer, such as gender, age or occupation.

In this study we aim to examine the effect of language on the success of crowdfunding campaigns, and the relationship between linguistic content and gender. Online, text-based campaigns are ideal for examining the effect of language content apart from characteristics of the delivery medium, message sender, and audio-visual information because the message is delivered to the potential donors via an information-poor, asynchronous text interface.

In turning our attention to the language used in crowdfunding campaigns, we examine four different dimensions of language content in campaign descriptions: positive (sentiment) language, vividness, inclusive language, and business language. We then suggest that three of these types of linguistic content (positive sentiment, vividness and inclusive language) are both more likely to be rewarded in crowdfunding campaigns, and more likely to be used by women, while the use of language related to money is more likely to be penalized in the crowdfunding context and more likely to be used by men. We then test and confirm our theory that language mediates the relationship between gender and fundraising outcomes using data from the online crowdfunding site Indiegogo.

Our findings indicate that gender-specific language partially mediates the success of women in fundraising money through crowdfunding. This study identifies an economic institution (crowdfunding) where female-specific linguistic patterns are preferred over male- specific patterns, leading to a reversal in gender inequality with respect to funding.

Additionally, this study contributes to economic sociology research on gender by quantifying the impact of linguistic choices on fundraising outcomes. Lastly, this research contributes to research in computational sociology by employing topic models to refine the product classification of crowdfunding campaigns and quantify crowdfunding campaign text along several content dimensions using the Linguistic Inquiry Word Count dictionary (Tausczik and Pennebaker 2010).”

An outline of the report:

Theory and Hypotheses:

Introduction

Money and Language

1a. Crowdfunding proposal success decreases with the use of money-related language.

1b. Crowdfunding proposal success increase with the use of vivid language.

1c. Crowdfunding proposals success increases with positive emotion.

1d. Crowdfunding proposal success increases with the use of inclusive (relational) language.

Gender and Language

2a. Women use more inclusive language than men do.

2c. Women use more vivid language than men do.

2d. Women use less language related to money than men do.

Language, Gender and Crowdfunding Success

3. Language mediates the relationship between gender and fund-raising success.

 Conclusion

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(512) 627-6622
@Crowdfunding_PR

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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.

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Manta Research Reports that Most Small Businesses are Still Unaware of Crowdfunding as an Alternative Finance Option

Most notably, 23 percent have funded a business project using an alternative lender, other than a traditional bank, but only two percent report having ever used a crowdfunding platform

By Robert Hoskins

Columbus, Ohio – Even though the alternative financing market is expanding at an exponential rate, a new Manta business survey reveals that two-thirds of small business owners still do not think enough funding options are available. Additionally, 69 percent feel the funding environment has not improved in the past 12 months.

Small businesses slow to jump on the alternative financing bandwagon, but interest growing
Alternative funding opportunities, including crowdfunding, are growing at a rapid rate, but the survey showcases a cautious approach by small business owners. Most notably, 23 percent have funded a business project using an alternative lender (other than a traditional bank), but only two percent report having ever used a crowdfunding platform. Lack of awareness and persistent misconceptions may be the cause.

Manta Research Reports that Most Small Businesses are Still Unaware of Crowdfunding

The majority of small business owners who have obtained traditional loans note uncertainty regarding crowdfunding and alternative lending options. Thirty percent of respondents are unsure of the risks, another 20 percent don’t understand the technology associated with these alternative sources and 14 percent report they simply do not trust them. A small number believe crowdfunding sites and alternative lenders are too complicated, while others fear business failure with less traditional financing methods (seven percent and six percent, respectively).

Traditional financing options still most popular with business owners
Manta’s survey revealed that, despite a diversifying lending environment, small business owners overwhelmingly prefer traditional financing options. More than 70 percent of respondents have sought traditional bank loans, savings, credit cards, or help from friends and family to finance their business, while less than a quarter have utilized an alternative lender (other than a bank).

“Small business owners have more diverse options today than ever before when it comes to funding their business,” said John Swanciger, CEO, Manta. “However, we’re seeing a gap between what’s available and the perception among small businesses that the lending environment has not improved. Even though traditional bank loans are difficult to secure, small businesses are still apt to rely on them.”

Of the small business owners who financed their business through alternative lenders, 38 percent did so because they did not qualify for traditional bank financing. Nearly 20 percent sought alternative lending because they needed a small short-term loan, while nine percent recognized the fast access and convenience associated with alternative lending options, and seven percent wanted ongoing access to a credit line.

The survey results also showed that when small business owners received alternative financing, the amounts they borrowed varied greatly. Most (40 percent) borrowed $10,000 or less. Others aimed higher, with 27 percent borrowing $50,000 or more. Remaining respondents were split — 17 percent borrowed $10,000 – $20,000 and another 17 percent borrowed $20,000 – $50,000.

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Utilizing Equity Crowdfunding Campaigns to Cross Pollinate College Education with the Opportunity to Launch Real World Startups and Conduct Equity Fundraising Campaigns

Providing students with a way to contribute their skills to a steady stream of equity crowdfunding campaigns is a great way to gain valuable industry experience and make money

By Robert Hoskins

Real World Benefits of Equity Crowdfunding Campaigns

Depending on the strength of their various colleges, equity crowdfunding programs can help universities begin to leverage the resources from each college and begin to cross pollinate equity crowdfunding campaigns by harnessing the strength of the entire student body.  

Providing students with a way to contribute their skills to a steady stream of equity crowdfunding campaigns would be a great way for them to gain valuable industry experience while earning a college degree.

Instead of working in non-paid internships performing menial tasks, students can invest their time and sweat equity in real world startups by helping startups work their way through the seed investment raising process.  Getting paid with equity shares versus the opportunity to add one line-item bullet point to their resume is a much more attractive option for students worried about paying off their college tuition.

By providing any of the following services below to crowdfunding campaigns, students would benefit from the opportunity to practice their intended field of study as well as enjoy the potential payoff by aggressively seeking risk, innovation and entrepreneurship opportunities.  As a part of the mentoring process students and faculty could setup a management consulting firm that specializes in equity crowdfunding campaigns. 

• Research & Development
  • Recognition for discoveries made at the institution
  • Compliance with federal regulations
  • Attraction and retention of talented faculty
  • Attraction of corporate research sponsors

• Business Administration
  • Accounting/Audits
  • Finance
  • Business Planning
  • Investor Relations

• Computer Science
  • Ecommerce
  • Social Media
  • Programmers/Coders

• Law School
  • Private Placement Memorandums
  • Intellectual Property Protection
  • Copyrights/Patents
  • Legal Contracts
  • Corporate Structures
  • Licensing revenue to support further research and education
  • Technology Transfer Offices

• Mass Communications
  • Advertising
  • Film/Broadcast
  • Journalism
  • Marketing
  • Mass Communications
  • PR
  • Social Media

Learn more about crowdfunding:

• Building a Rewards-based and/or Equity-based Crowdfunding Ecosystem;
• Providing Easy Access to Seed Investment Capital with Crowdfunding;
• Generating More Revenue to Support Co-Working Spaces and Startups;
• Using Equity Crowdfunding Sites to Finance Incubators and Accelerators;
• Taking Advantage of Investor Syndicates that are Seeking Better Deal Flow;
• Splitting Revenue from Incubator and Accelerator Mentors Consulting Fees;
• Streamlining Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs);
• Cross-Pollinating College Education with Real World Startups; and
• Learning to Build Better Alumni and Local Community Relationships

 

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Crowdfunding PR Offers Texas Co-Working Space, Incubator and Accelerator Members a 50% Discount on Media Lists, Press Releases, PR and Media Relations Pitching Services

Texas Entrepreneurs and Startups Located Anywhere in Texas are Encouraged to Take Advantage of Front Page PR’s Free 30-Minute Crowdfunding Consultations to Learn How to Raise $1 Million per Year from More than 20 Million Texas Crowdfunding Investors

  By Robert Hoskins

Company Details:

Front Page Public Relations

Front Page Public Relations has been helping startups, mid-sized companies and Fortune 500 corporations develop corporate communications programs for more than 25 years. Our fields of expertise include building websites, generating persuasive content, developing corporate message maps, and planning integrated marketing communications programs that include advertising, media relations, PR and social media management.

Nothing is more important than the story you tell investors and your future customers. Gaining traction during startup mode is one of the toughest challenges bootstrapped entrepreneurs need to master.  Front Page PR specializes in helping young startups develop interesting, polished and persuasive marketing communications messages that will convince new customers to buy your products and services and persuade angel investors to invest in your business. 

For most entrepreneurs, removing the fear, uncertainty and doubt from the sales equation is a critical 1st step in the business development process.  Let us help you gain some marketplace momentum and start building a loyal customer base.  

Below are some very cost-effective ways to start generating some positive publicity for your business. A typical press release generates around 100 stories on leading blogs, magazines, TV stations and other types of media outlets, not just in the United States, but on a worldwide basis.

Offer Details:

For entrepreneurs of co-working spaces, incubators and accelerators, Front Page PR will offer a 50% discount on the following services: 

1. Building Press/Media Contact Lists

Front Page PR will build a targeted list of media contacts in the United States that cover your product or service category. Front Page PR will spend up to 4 hours @ $150 per hour to build and clean a reporter/media contact list. 

Click here to purchase a Press List at the 50% discounted rate of $300.

2. Writing/Issuing Press Releases

Front Page PR will spend up to 4 hours @ $150 per hour performing a competitive analysis of your top three competitors as well as research how leading publications are covering their stories. Based on this research we will write a 400-word, highly targeted and SEO’ed press release and issue it over Marketwired.com, the #1 news wire service in the United States.

Each release comes with an analytics report that shows how many media outlets picked up the release, how many people read the release as well as the geographical click-through rate for people who visited the company’s website.

This price does not include external wire service costs, which range around $250 for a 400-word release released in Texas that includes one logo. Extra photos and video attachments range from $75 to $125. Large city releases such LA and NY cost around $390.

Click here to purchase a Press Release at the 50% discounted rate of $300.

3. Media Relations Campaign

Front Page PR will spend up to 25 hours @ $200 per hour each month calling, emailing and texting tailored media pitches to a precise list of the top 50 reporters that cover your companies products. The goal of this program is build relationships between your executive management team and the media. It is a very labor-intensive process for your execs who will need to develop a message with our help and scheduling time to prepare for interviews and then spending time speaking with the press. It is a process that does not happen overnight and will grow slowly over a 12-month period and may involve press tours and travel. This option requires signing a 12-month contract.

Click here to purchase a Media Relations PR Campaign at the 50% discounted rate of $2,500.

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Contact:
Robert Hoskins
Front Page PR
(512) 627-6622
www.linkedin.com/in/roberthoskins
rhoskins[at]frontpagepr.com
@Crowdfunding_PR (fastest response)
@FrontPage_PR
@Crowdfunding TX

 

 

Front Page PR Unveils Top 10 Marketing Strategies to Boost 2017 Equity Crowdfunding Campaigns on Angel List, Republic, WeFunder, StartEngine or NextSeed

Does Your Angel List, IndieGoGo, Kickstarter, WeFunder, StartEngine or NextSeed Crowdfunding Campaign Need a Major Advertising, Marketing, PR or Social Media Boost to Sell More Perks, Rewards or Equity Crowdfunding Shares?

By Robert Hoskins

Austin, Texas – Crowdfunding PR announced a new Top 10 List of Marketing Strategies to Boost Crowdfunding Campaigns on AngelList.com, IndieGoGo.com, Kickstarter.com, WeFunder.com, StartEngine.com, NextSeed.com or any other top crowdfunding sites in the United States. These time-tested, proven marketing strategies will help crowdfunders generate a significant amount of marketplace awareness, which in turn will provide a higher number of click-through visits and better conversion rates when pre-selling popular perks, attractive rewards or selling equity crowdfunding shares.  

Also Read: What are the Top 20 Title III Equity Crowdfunding Sites Ranked by the Most Amount of Money Raised in the U.S.

Using this Top 1o List of Crowdfunding Marketing Strategies, Front Page PR shares valuable marketing methodologies with crowdfunding campaign managers to give them a sense of direction on how to research, plan and launch very cost-effective marketing campaigns with little or no budget for a small consulting fee.  This allows bootstrapped crowdfunders to receive professional consulting services at an affordable price so that they can learn how to generate a significant boost for their crowdfunding profiles traffic before and during their fundraising campaigns.

For serious crowdfunding campaigns that have larger, well-thought out budgets and a real business plan, Front Page PR can maximize their crowdfunding marketing programs to achieve maximum reach and frequency by harnessing a combination of advertising, email marketing, event marketing, media relations, public relations, and social media to gain widespread publicity, earn organic search engine traction and accelerate that growth with paid advertising and sponsored content marketing. 

Crowdfunding PR has a 28-year track record of using successful marketing, PR and social media campaigns to launch products and services, grow businesses, build sales/distribution channels and locate customers with the highest propensity to buy a company’s products and services.

For the past 5 years, Front Page PR  has been employing these same time proven marketing skills to help clients produce successful crowdfunding campaigns.

Need Help Planning an Equity Crowdfunding Campaign?

If you would like to learn the best strategies for marketing your crowdfunding campaign and doing the proper amount of prep work before the crowdfunding campaign begins, please contact Robert Hoskins, Crowdfunding PR at (512) 627-6622 for a free 30-minute consultation.

Top 10 Advertising, Email Marketing, Media Relations, PR & Social Media Tools to Boost Crowdfunding Campaigns

Front Page PR offers the following marketing programs for crowdfunding portals as well as their crowdfunding campaign managers.  And while crowdfunding is the buzzword for 2015, these marketing strategies will serve any entrepreneur, startup or business that wants to launch a product or service in any B2B or B2C vertical business segment. If need some help figuring out your marketing and/or crowdfunding strategies, please fill the business lead form at the bottom of this page.

1. Press Releases – A professionally written press release issued on one of the top 3 news wire services is probably one of the most cost-effective marketing strategies on the planet. Depending on the press release’s subject matter and SEO keywords, press releases will be picked up by hundreds of electronic media news outlets in the United States and around the world.

A typical press release generates around 50,000,000 gross impressions and hundreds of click-throughs to a website or crowdfunding campaign.  If you email well-written crowdfunding press releases to bloggers like me (rhoskins [at] frontpagepr.com), we may take your press release, turn it into a story and then publish it on our blog that is followed by a global network of media outlets and crowdfunding readers. All stories require a picture, graphic or logo to be accepted.

2. Writing Effective Press Releases – One of the hardest things to do in the marketing world is find a great copy writer to generate quality and relevant content. There are a number of companies that troll new Kickstarter and IndieGoGo crowdfunding campaigns offering to write press releases and put them on a wire service for a very cheap price. Front Page PR receives lots of phone calls that lost several hundred dollars and didn’t even get a press release written. The main problem with cheap PR companies is that they do not have the English language mastered. All of Front Page PR writers were born and raised in the United States, speak English as their native language and write content in Associated Press (AP) style, which is what all media outlets require.

The other consideration is how much time and effort a PR firm invests in the researching and writing of a press release. This means doing a competitive analysis of similar products and services on crowdfunding sites as well as researching top competitors via Google searches.  This process is important to be able to effectively position your company successfully against the competition.

In addition, a PR firm should spend many hours researching the editorial environments and only target media outlets that contain the highest composition of client’s correct target audience, which will need to have a high propensity to buy the products and services being offered as perks/rewards during the crowdfunding campaign.

Excellent writing requires time, effort and cannot been done effectively for less than $800 to a $1,000 per release depending on the complexity of the subject matter. More importantly, the same prep work that is done to write the press release is also critical when writing highly tailored media pitches that are sent via email and social media to entice reporters to cover a story.

For example, if you are trying to sell triangles, the PR account executive will need to research and find triangle magazines to see what type of stories are being written for their readers. The problem is that most low-priced firms do not put in the time to understand what types of stories will be accepted and which ones will be rejected. Sending a triangle story to a circle or a square magazine will never work.

And, even if by pure luck you convinced a circle reporter to write a triangle story, it would be pointless because circle readers only read circle magazines to learn about circle related products and services. They have zero interest in buying anything but circle products and services.  This sounds like a simple concept, but ask any reporter how many pitches that they receive on a daily basis that do not fit their editorial environment and they will tell you they hit the delete button in less than two seconds.

Thus, hiring a PR firm that can build a precise database of only triangle media outlets and sending only carefully crafted triangle media pitches is essential to generating positive news coverage and feature articles.

3. Social Media Networks – The second most important thing after using PR to generate positive publicity is to build a large social media network so that you’ll have a massive group of people with which to share your news and marketing materials.  

If you have network of 5,000 contacts that each have following of 5,000 contacts, you can use social media networks to reach a potential audience of 25 million people for free.  

It is very important to build social media profiles on Facebook, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, StumbleUpon, Tumblr, Twitter, WordPress and YouTube.  Have social media accounts?  Please follow us and we’ll return the favor.

Don’t have any social media accounts setup?  Need help getting started?  No problem, Front Page PR can get 10 or more social media accounts setup for you is less than a week.

It would be wise to shoot for a goal of 2,500 Friends/Likes on Facebook, 2,500 connections on LinkedIn and at least 5,000 to 10,000 real followers on Twitter. This may take several months, but needs to be done before trying to launch a successful crowdfunding campaign.

4. Sponsored Social Media Posts – If you are new to social media, it won’t take you very long to realize that building a solid base of qualified social media contacts takes a lot of time and effort.  It can sometimes be disheartening to follow several hundred people in a day only to receive a 25% response rate from people that return the favor.

The good news is that Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter all have a wide variety of digital advertising, sponsored posts and content marketing options that can significantly speed up the process of gaining likes, followers, shares and retweets.

There are so many different advertising options that it can be very confusing to know what to try first, what options work best and what kind of budget will be needed to achieve the desired response rates. Hiring an experienced social media team like Front Page PR is the best way to achieve short-term success.

 5. Content Marketing – One of the best ways to build awareness for your products and services is to utilize a content marketing strategy to distribute your company’s press releases, blog posts, photos and videos.  A very cost-effective way to start this process is to setup a free WordPress website.

A WordPress site is great for generating content and then sharing it with all of your social media accounts via its Real Simple Syndication (RSS) feed. Every time you post a new blog, a news story, photos, videos and/or URLs links, the WordPress site will automatically push the new content to all of your social media profiles at the same time with the push of one button.

6. Media Databases – The foundation for every good PR campaign is a highly targeted media database. Front Page PR uses very expensive PR database tools such as Cision, Meltwater and Vocus to do sorts on every media outlet in the United States to find reporters based on  keywords in their news coverage bios and the last several articles they have written. These services cost $3,000 to $5,000 per year, but are a critical tool is creating targeted PR campaigns. 

These tools make it very easy to do a sort and generate a list of several hundred reporters that cover a subject matter, but it is a very time consuming process to clean the list and purge reporters that do not fit the right profile. This is why high-end PR firms charge more money for our services. It is also why our success rate is significantly higher than cheaper PR firms that want to sell you their services online with a credit card without ever having the chance to talk to a live person.

If you would like save some and do the hard work yourself, Front Page PR will build PR databases for clients at $1 per contact. This will be the initial sort that contains 300 to 500 reporters based on the keywords in their writer bios. The problem is that these databases still need to be cleaned to weed out reporters that may have the right keywords in their bio, but haven’t written about the subject matter in many months or perhaps they have a negative tendency. You’ll have to Google search every single reporter on the list to find out who the best reporters are to contact.

7. Media Pitches – Conducting good research on a reporter’s beat, their last three stories and the media outlet’s editorial environment is the key to writing a persuasive media pitch. Media pitches can be sent via email and/or through social media networks based on the reporter’s preferences.  

The best strategy is to send each reporter their own personalized pitch based on what they have written over the past six weeks. Imagine how much time it takes to read the last three stories that a reporter has written and then sending each reporter a personalized media pitch for a list of 300 reporters. It requires a lot of time and effort, but the payoff is well worth the effort.

8. Media Relations – Once a PR database has been built, good PR firms like Front Page PR have very experienced media relations experts that work with the press to build relationships between their client’s executives and reporters. These relationships require a lot of time and effort to build, but will lead to many successful media interviews.

This process also involves media training executives and teaching them how to share the right kind of information with reporters. Providing reporters with news they can use is the best way to generate interviews that lead to feature articles and a long lasting relationship with each reporter. Reporters will return to their reliable sources over and over to write numerous stories once a relationship has been built. 

A good media relations pro will spend anywhere from 20 to 40 hours a week pitching reporters via email and twitter. Most junior PR people make at least $25 to $50 an hour.  This is another good example of why anyone that offers to do a press release for $300 simply cannot afford to do a good job.  Working a list of 300 reporters takes many, many hours of work.  Sometimes it takes several hours of emailing, checking schedules and making phone calls just to get one interview setup. 

9. Event Marketing –  Event marketing is a great tool to use during the bottom of the “U” also know as the “Lull” during the middle of a campaign. When planning a crowdfunding campaign’s launch date, scheduling the crowdfunding campaign so that a major trade show like CES, Cebit or Interop falls right in the middle of the campaign is an excellent strategy.  

This allows a client to generate lots of publicity for the campaign’s launch, more news at the major trade show event (where all industry reporters and industry analysts congregate), and then even more news as the campaign exceeds its fundraising goal and/or stretch goals toward the end of the campaign.

10. Email Marketing – Email marketing isn’t used as much during crowdfunding campaigns as PR and social media, but it is the most successful type of marketing that can be used to deliver paying customers to successful crowdfunding campaigns.

Most startups have a new website, but most haven’t had time to build up a good database of customers. Front Page PR can help clients build double opt-in email databases of interested customers by offering them an opportunity to learn more about a product/service, downloading a free white paper, requesting early bird discounts/coupons, subscribing to newsletters, etc.

A database of qualified customer emails is very useful for pre-selling perks and rewards and building a customer loyalty network. A large database of prospects is also an extremely useful tool when trying to build large social media networks.

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Want to talk a crowdfunding PR professional about consulting services or hiring a PR firm? Please give me a call with all of your curious crowdfunding questions!

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 runs one of the industry’s foremost crowdfunding PR, social media and marketing agencies that has amassed a huge social media following and is dedicated to supporting a wide variety of donation, rewards and equity crowdfunding campaigns.

Equity Crowdfunding Service Providers (CSPs) Needed to Support the Growing Number of Texas Crowdfunding Portals (TCPs) and Texas Crowdfunding Issuers (TCIs)

Join the Texas Crowdfunding Network of securities attorneys, certified financial advisors, securities sales professionals, investment advisors, escrow agents, certified public accounts for Texas issuers

 By Robert Hoskins

Dallas, Texas – Front Page PR announced that the firm is seeking Equity Crowdfunding Service Providers to partner with in order to serve the growing number of Texas Equity Crowdfunding Portals and their Private Placement Memorandum (PPM) Issuers.

The firm is seeking to build an in-depth Texas Crowdfunding Network of securities lawyers, certified financial advisors, brokers, registered representatives, securities sales professionals, investment advisors, banking escrow agents and many other types of ancillary crowdfunding service providers that are authorized to operate within the guidelines of the Texas Intrastate Crowdfunding Exemption Rules.  Click here to join. 

Texas Crowdfunding Portals, Issuers and Service Providers

“Per the Texas Intrastate Crowdfunding Exemption Rules, the top equity crowdfunding sites serving Texas are not allowed to provide any type of guidance or consulting services to their private placement issuers,” said Robert Hoskins, Front Page PR’s Director of Crowdfunding. “These service providers will be needed to help is setup corporate structures, write PPMs, select the most appropriate offering structures, establish accurate offering valuations, set up escrow accounts at Texas banks and ensure that offerings meet strict Texas and SEC securities laws.”

The goal of the Texas Crowdfunding Network is to build the beginning foundation for the brand new Texas crowdfunding industry. As with any new industry aligning the fragmented players and putting them into streamlined business directory where all the players can find each other is critical. This will allow TCI’s to find third-party CSPs that will help them put together their PPMs prior to registering their offering with a leading TCP.

The majority of TCPs are still in the process of filling out their Texas State Securities Board Registration forms. Once filed it will still take several weeks to be approved by the state. In the mean time portals are actively recruiting both accredited and unaccredited investors as well as PPM issuers.

Due to the fact that PPM issuers will need help putting together their financial paperwork and the legal rules that prevent portals for giving any guidance, there is a real need for a database of marketing, legal, securities, investment, investor relations, financial planners, document preparation and banking escrow professionals that issuers can turn to get their paperwork in order.

Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)

To give newcomers some insight into the securities and investment industry, here are some FINRA definitions of the various players and their typical roles in the fundraising and investment process:

Brokers:

• What they are:  While many people use the word broker generically to describe someone who handles stock transactions, the legal definition is somewhat different—and worth knowing. A broker-dealer is a person or company that is in the business of buying and selling securities—stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and certain other investment products—on behalf of its customers (as broker), for its own account (as dealer), or both. Individuals who work for broker-dealers—the sales personnel whom most people call brokers – are technically known as registered representatives.

• What they offer:  Broker-dealers vary widely in the types of services they offer, falling generally into two categories—full-service and discount brokerage firms. Full-service firms typically charge more for each transaction, but they tend to have large research operations that representatives can tap into when making recommendations, can handle nearly any kind of financial transaction you want to make, and may offer investment planning or other services.Discount broker-dealer firms are usually cheaper, but you may have to research potential investments on your own—though the broker-dealer Web sites may have a lot of information you can use.Registered representatives are primarily securities salespeople and may also go by such generic titles as financial consultant, financial adviser, or investment consultant. The products they can sell you depend on the licenses they hold.For example, a representative who has passed the Series 6 exam can sell only mutual funds, variable annuities, and similar products, while the holder of a Series 7 license can sell a broader array of securities. When a registered representative suggests that you buy or sell a particular security, he or she must have reason to believe that the recommendation is suitable for you based on a host of factors, including your income, portfolio, and overall financial situation, your tolerance for risk, and your stated investment objectives.

Investment Advisers:

• What they are:  An investment adviser is an individual or company who is paid for providing advice about securities to their clients. Although the terms sound similar, investment advisers are not the same as financial advisers and should not be confused. The term financial adviser is a generic term that usually refers to a broker (or, to use the technical term, a registered representative).By contrast, the term investment adviser is a legal term that refers to an individual or company that is registered as such with either the Securities and Exchange Commission or a state securities regulator. Common names for investment advisers include asset managers, investment counselors, investment managers, portfolio managers, and wealth managers. Investment adviser representatives are individuals who work for and give advice on behalf of registered investment advisers.
  

• What they offer:  In addition to providing individually tailored investment advice, some investment advisers manage investment portfolios. Others may offer financial planning services or, if they are properly licensed, brokerage services (such as buying or selling stock or bonds)—or some combination of all these services.

Accountants:

• What they are:  Accountants are trained to provide professional assistance to individuals and companies in areas including tax and financial planning, tax reporting, auditing, and management consulting.

• What they offer:  A CPA can help you consider the tax implications of financial decisions you make and assist with other tax-related issues, such as preparing annual tax returns. Some CPAs are also certified by the AICPA as Personal Financial Specialists (PFSs), which means they have met AICPA’s education requirements for providing financial planning services, including assessing your overall financial situation, developing a budget, setting goals for saving and investing, and developing a plan for monitoring your progress and reaching your goals.

Lawyers:

• What they are:  A lawyer is licensed to give legal advice to clients. Lawyers are trained to tell you about the legal impact one financial planning or investment decision might have on another—such as the tax implications of setting up a certain type of trust for your estate.

• What they offer:  As with other professionals, the range of services lawyers can provide will vary greatly from individual to individual. For example, if one of your financial goals is leaving your assets to particular people or organizations, you will want to work with a lawyer who specializes in estate planning.

Financial Planners:

• What they are:  Financial planners can come from a variety of backgrounds and offer a variety of services. They could be brokers or investment advisers, insurance agents or practicing accountants—or they have no financial credentials at all. Some will examine your entire financial picture and help you develop a detailed plan for achieving your financial goals. Others, however, will recommend only the products they sell, which may give you a limited range of choices.

• What they offer:  The breadth and depth of services a financial planner offers will vary from provider to provider. Some create comprehensive plans that delve into every aspect of your financial life, including savings, investments, insurance, college savings, retirement, taxes and estate planning. Others have a more limited focus, such as insurance or securities. Some only prepare plans, while others also sell investments, insurance, or other products. If they sell products, their recommendations typically will correspond with the products or services they sell.For example, an insurance agent will tell you about insurance products (such as life insurance and annuities) but likely won’t discuss other investment choices (such as stocks, bonds or mutual funds). You’ll want to make certain you fully understand which areas of your financial life a particular planner can—and cannot—help with before you hire that person.

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Contact:
Robert Hoskins
Front Page PR
(512) 627-6622
@Crowdfunding_PR
@FrontPage_PR

Front Page PR Seeks Entrepreneurs, Small Businesses and Franchises that Want to Take Advantage of the New Texas Crowdfunding Rules to Market Equity Investment Opportunities

Top 50 cities in Texas are home to 13.3 million residents that will soon be able to invest up to $5,000 per year in private equity investment opportunities

By Robert Hoskins

Austin, Texas – Front Page PR (www.crowdfundingPRcampaigns.com), one of America’s leading crowdfunding PR and marketing firms, announced that the firm is now seeking new startups and entrepreneurs that want to take advantage of the new Intrastate Texas Crowdfunding Exemption rules that allows companies to raise up to $1 million from non-accredited investors.

Front Page PR is one of the leading Crowdfunding PR firms in America

On December 1, 2014, for the first time in 80 years, Texas-based startups and entrepreneurs will be able to sell private equity shares to all residents living Texas. In addition, all parties will be able to use mass marketing to advertise and publicize their equity investment opportunities using media outlets that focus on Texas Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), which are home to more than 26 million potential customers.

Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA)	Population
Houston – The Woodlands – Sugar Land	6,484,279
Dallas – Plano – Richardson – Irving	4,627,393
Fort Worth – Arlington – HEB	2,358,186
San Antonio – New Braunfels	2,334,363
Austin-Round Rock	1,938,858
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission	862,768
El Paso	862,638
Killeen-Temple	445,356
Corpus Christi	443,351
Brownsville-Harlingen	439,437
Beaumont-Port Arthur	413,982
Lubbock	304,682
Laredo	275,686
Amarillo	265,821
Waco	260,728
College Station-Bryan	246,910
Longview	226,407
Tyler	222,781
Abilene	170,164
Wichita Falls	152,426
Midland	150,721
Odessa	145,960
Sherman-Denison	125,901
San Angelo	113,969
Victoria	96,883
Texarkana	93,457
Total:	24,063,107

Approximately 20 million of these customers are over the age of 18 and will be able to invest up to $5,000 per year in private equity placements. Once the state educates its residents and new investors become Internet savvy investors, Texas will represent a $100 billion per year pool of venture capital that small businesses and entrepreneurs can use to raise start up funding.

This will prove to be a boon for the large majority of ideas and business plans that are currently being rejected or ignored by the states 70+ business accelerators and incubators.

Any business that has received the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) rubber stamp to be pre-approved for SBA loans should strongly consider opening a business in Texas. Franchisors and franchises are the perfect business model to help franchisees raise money using the new Texas crowdfunding rules. Unlike many startups that will have an unproven track record, franchises with 5 or more profitable locations should be able to provide investors with a better than average chance of success.

Rural areas are a prime target for economic development in Texas where the demand is present for new restaurants, movie theaters, shopping malls, trampoline parks, entertainment venues, but until now have not had access to traditional venture capital due to their location.

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Contact:
Robert Hoskins
Front Page PR
(512) 627-6622
rhoskins@frontpagepr.com

 

New Crowdfunding Research Firm Wants to Shine Light on Best Practices for Shooting the Perfect Indiegogo/Kickstarter Crowdfunding Pitch Video

In their new research study, Understanding the Effectiveness of the Pitch Video:  A Crowdfunding Research Study, the team plans to measure the effectiveness of crowdfunding pitch videos and their impact on online fundraising

 By Robert Hoskins

Sydney Australia – What type of pitch video helps crowdfunding campaigns achieve success or lead to their failure? That’s what the folks at DigitalMindWorx want to research and document.  In their new research study, Understanding the Effectiveness of the Pitch Video:  A Crowdfunding Research Study,  the team plans to measure the effectiveness of crowdfunding pitch videos and their impact on online fundraising. Conducted by Jess Milne, a Masters student at the Australian Film Television and Radio School in Sydney, the upcoming research study will use an online survey to collect quantitative data that will help inform future creators on how to how to make a compelling pitch video based on past Kickstarter and Indiegogo success/failure rates.

Understanding the effectiveness of the pitch video: A Crowdfunding Research Study

“There is very little research in the crowdfunding arena,” said Jess Milne Masters, a film student. “The pitch video is the most persuasive tool available to crowdfunders I think more research insights are required to help crowdfunders make better and more effective videos.”

According to some sources,  such as the Indiegogo Playbook, including a video with a crowdfunding campaign to demo the product and explain the project can increase fundraising by 115%.

Kickstarter, another popular crowdfunding platform, reported that campaigns with a pitch video succeed at a much higher rate than others (50% vs 30%).

Last, but not least, MWPDigitaMmedia, a professional video production company, reports that projects that have a good crowdfunding pitch video are 85% more likely to achieve their fundraising goal.

“The aim of our research is to relate how the pitch video in a crowdfunding campaign can incite affective and emotional responses in the viewer and ultimately influence the decision to pledge to the campaign,” Masters continued.

With an estimated 49,000 launched projects in 2013 on Kickstarter alone, this research has the opportunity to make a big impact for entrepreneurs and creative types. After data has been collected the unbiased conclusions will be released in a guidebook for filmmakers and other individuals who want to lean how to create a compelling crowdfunding pitch video.

As an incentive all participants of the study will have the chance to win a 200 iTunes voucher after completing the research survey. Click here to participate in the Crowdfunding Pitch Video Research Study, which will be open to all participants until October 1, 2014.

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