The success of your campaign depends on the number of people you can reach, engage and motivate during your campaign and the weeks leading up to it.
This is a tall order for an already busy entrepreneur. Many campaigners are now realizing the most effective way to run a crowdfunding campaign is by utilizing a Virtual Assistant—Like the ones at Zirtual.
Tim Ferris recently said: “The #1 resource we found for outsourcing is Zirtual… Do not run a Kickstarter campaign (or your life) without…”
By delegating crowdfunding work to your VA, you can focus on what’s important.
Your VA works behind the scenes and allows you, your product, and your launch to shine.
So, how exactly do you use a virtual assistant to boost your crowdfunding campaign efforts?
This three-part series is a must use for any crowdfunding campaign. The three parts contain a breakdown of tasks, deliverables and emails to use with your VA.
No guesswork needed.
Your VA, is only a copy and paste away…
1.) Research
Timeline: 1-2 Months Before Launch
Research Task #1: Find Similar Campaign Traffic Sources
Make a list of ten similar and successful campaigns in an Excel Document. Then send this document to your VA, with the following email:
Hello (Insert VA Name),
In this project, our goal is to find out which sites are sending the most traffic to Kickstarter projects. Here’s how to do it:
1. Go to a Excel Doc with list of campaign links.
2. Copy the short link (e.g. http://kck.st/QyhA7X) below the bottom-right corner of the video
3. Open a new tab or window in your browser
4. Paste the short link URL into the new tab or window and add a + at the end
5. Click enter to get to a bit.ly site
6. Use the dropdown menu on the right to select “total” for the time frame
7. Put the top results (anything over 1%) in the attached spreadsheet.
Thank you and have a great day.
Research Task #2: Find Relevant Bloggers Using the “Tim Ferris Photo Hack”
Using the initial list of campaigns sent to your VA, you can use the product or campaign photos in combination with images.google.com. By pulling the images into this search bar, you can see which bloggers and media outlets covered each campaign.
Outsource using this email:
Hello (Insert VA Name),
We are looking for relevant bloggers for our campaign by finding out who’s covered similar projects. Here’s how to do it:
1. Go to the Excel Doc of similar campaigns and complete steps 2-5 for each site.
2. Select 2-3 images that you think a blogger may include in a post (you can use the image from the video)
3. Right click each image and “save image as”
4. Go to images.google.com and drag one of those files into the search bar
5. Check out all the links. If you find a media outlet / blog that you think will cover us , put it in the attached spreadsheet.
6. Repeat steps 4-5 for each image.
Thank you and have a great day!
You now have dozens of blogs that have a high probability of relevance, all neatly organized in a spreadsheet.
If you are looking for more sites have your VA explore other similar sites using: http://www.similarsites.com/
2.) Reach
Timeline: 1 Month Before Launch
Now that you have a strong list of bloggers and media contacts it is time to start engaging with the list. Have your Zirtual determine their following and then see if you have any direct connections with any of the bloggers and media contacts.
Outsource using this email:
Hello (Insert VA Name),
Please use the Excel Doc with Blogger and Media contact information to fill in the Facebook, Twitter, Email, RSS, and Pinterest columns in the media list spreadsheet for all the bloggers. It should be easy to see how many Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest followers they have.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you and have a great day!
3.) Relationships
Timeline: During and After Launch
Relationships Task #1: Weekly or Bi-weekly Updates
Continuous updates throughout the campaign may look like window dressing, but it’s essential to your campaign. Updates empower your funders to spread your campaign by making funders feel like team members.
Transforming your funder from customer to team member is a turning point in your campaign. When funders feel like part of your team they share and promote your campaign like it was their own. This is the goal behind campaign updates. But the more funders you have, the harder this task can be.
That’s why you can write an update weekly or even with every milestone and then your ZA will copy and paste to Social Media, the campaign page, email list etc.
Outsource using this email:
Hello (Insert VA Name),
Please copy the following into all our social platforms and broadcasts:
Hey there everyone! Great start to the campaign, I am humbled by everyone’s support and the feedback we received in Week One.
I did want to let everyone know we have a secret perk coming out this week, check it out here….
{{End of Post}}
When finished please send me a snapshot of everything and ensure that the messages get out.
Thank you and have a great day.
Relationship Task #2: Thank You
Thanking a funder is another way to create a personal aspect to your campaign and it also is an easy way to spread the word on your campaign.
Outsource using this email:
Hello (Insert VA Name),
At the end of each day please create an updated list of funders, funder emails and perk purchase.
If they left a message or anything out of the ordinary, please make notes in the excel documents as well.
I will check this Doc in the evenings and we can address questions in the mornings to assemble an FAQ.
When finished please send me a snapshot of everything and ensure that the messages get out.
Thank you and have a great day.
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