Seedkicks is a crowdfunding platform founded by Emily Collins in 2013. Unlike most reward crowdfunding platforms today, Seedkicks offers entrepreneurs not only resources but also personalized help. While Indiegogo and Kickstarter have been around for a while and have countless campaigns going on at a given moment, Seedkicks has chosen to focus on enabling high quality startups to raise funds and attract investors.
Recently I had the opportunity to interview Emily and I asked her to explain a little bit more about Seedkicks and her experiences with helping startups successfully raise funds through crowdfunding:
What makes Seedkicks different than other reward crowdfunding platforms? 
Seedkicks is a full service crowdfunding platform. Our team works with clients 1-on-1 to plan and strategize throughout the entire campaign process. We want to ensure our clients have the best chance of success.
The problem we saw was that crowdfunders tend to be underprepared and lack a solid plan leading to failed campaigns. Successful crowdfunding campaigns require a solid plan, ample preparation, dedication from start to finish, and fully leveraging your network. That’s where we come in. Seedkicks takes a hands-on approach offering 3 different pricing packages.
Last year you hosted a Startup Crowdfunding Challenge to encourage businesses to try crowdfunding and raise awareness. How did that go?
The Startup Crowdfunding Challenge went really well. It was our first initial push as a company so we weren’t sure what the response would be. All companies that participated hit their funding goal and won some great prizes to help them grow their business. So we’d say it was a success!
In fact we are hosting another Crowdfunding Challenge in March. This time we have partnered with more companies to give away even better rewards. We are so grateful to all of our partners who are giving their time and services to help entrepreneurs grow their businesses.
Do you have any advice for entrepreneurs thinking about launching a crowdfunding campaign?
There is no free lunch. Do your homework before launching a crowdfunding campaign and spend at least 4 weeks preparing for your launch. Also know who your target market is and have a plan to reach out to them.
Have you seen any strategies that work best for successful campaigns?
There is a lot that goes into a crowdfunding campaign. Here are 3 keys strategies:
1. Tell your story: make it personal and get people to connect with you
2. Interact with your backers before, during, and after the campaign
3. Take it offline: Meet with large potential backers in person and pitch your idea
What do you think is the biggest mistake startups make when crowdfunding?
We see a lot of entrepreneurs scrambling to promote their campaign once it’s launched. I think the biggest mistake startups make is not spending at least 4 weeks preparing for their campaign before launch date. The day your campaign launches shouldn’t be the first time people are hearing about your campaign. It’s really important to have a solid marketing and campaign plan.
What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned from starting your own company?
Where do I begin? Starting a business has been an amazing adventure. They say you learn something new every day, but I feel like I learn a million things a day. It’s pretty exciting, but also very challenging.
Our biggest challenge as a company is scaling our hands-on approach. We pride ourselves on great customer service and working with our clients throughout the entire process. We are currently working on ways to scale that model due to high demand.
Can you tell me anything about your plans for 2015? Are there any exciting changes coming to the platform?
In the short term we are focused on getting new clients, making strategic partnerships, and growing our investor pool. Longer term we are going to add equity crowdfunding to our site so that we can offer both rewards and equity crowdfunding. This will give entrepreneurs more options when it comes to raising capital to grow their business. We are also building our investor base to give entrepreneurs more access to capital and a chance to be seen by investors.
Conclusion
Seedkicks is a great platform for startups who are new to crowdfunding and can use some extra guidance when it comes to planning out their campaign. Seeedkicks’ CEO, Emily Collins, noted the importance of taking the time to prepare by getting the word out to your target audience before launching, telling your story, and suggested that it can be useful to reach out to potential investors in person.
