At the time of writing, Conscious Step has raised $14,437 on Indiegogo, with 6 days remaining in the duration of their fundraising campaign. Founders Prashant Mehta and Hassan Ahmad were once in your seat – reading everything they could get their hands regarding the topic of online fundraising and working nights and weekends to prepare the launch of their Indiegogo campaign.
As passionate proponents of conscious capitalism, the team has “taken the best quality socks you’ve ever worn, lovingly crafted them in working conditions of the highest ethical standards, and matched each design in support of a different social cause.”
They are fundraising to produce 6,000 pairs of socks, and in the process, feed 6,000 malnourished children, plant 60,000 trees, and contribute to getting clean water to 500,000 people in Nepal! Conscious Step will be promoting a variety of special discounts in an effort to hit their goals. Please take a moment to pledge and get some new socks that feed hungry children, plant trees, and help provide thousands with better education opportunities.
I had the chance to speak with Prashant Mehta about raising money on Indiegogo and the topic of social entrepreneurship. Check out our conversation below.
How did you go about preparing your marketing campaign? What did you learn?
I didn’t realize how long it would take to schedule PR meetings with some top industry bloggers. I thought by having a unique product I’d be able to get bloggers and writers to put articles quickly, but I realized the value of inside connection. Throwing press at blogs is really just a numbers game.
In our case we partnered with charities with large networks, so we relied on their help significantly. We used GOOD a great deal to create awareness among its network of aspiring individuals, and were lucky enough to get some social media press from them as well. We switched our focus to fashion recently, but the key is to try different things. Certain blogs won’t necessarily turn into sales, while others could be game changers.
Besides going after blogs and press, use your own network and ask them to share among friends and family a few times. Take the time to explain your project. Often times, that one quick post with no explanation comes across more spam like than friendly, and a couple messages throughout your campaign with brief explanations really makes a huge difference.
How have you gone about attracting backers outside of your personal network?
It’s always different, and it’s never perfect. Your learn so much and make so many changes along the way, it’s best to just be ready to adjust and use the experience to learn as much as possible. A crowd funding campaign is also used to learn if you have a valued product, and long-term objectives should stay in focus because of that.
Way before the launch I had been attending events and talking to people. Although connections don’t always come through as they say they will, the more people the you know the better chance you have of getting the right eyes in front of your project.
Want more insights like these?
See: Kickstarter Advice From A $269,000 Campaign Creator
4 Tips For Kickstarter Success From Bleedback Comic Book Campaign
5 Kickstarter Tips from Six Figure Crowdfunders
