Every million dollar-plus crowdfunding campaign fits into one of two categories

1. It’s a really good idea

Think Pebble, Coolest Cooler, Solar Roadways, Skully AR-1, Flow Hive…

These projects capture people’s imaginations. They are the kind of thing someone HAS to have.

2. There was a crowd behind it

Think Veronica Mars, Double Fine Adventure, Reading Rainbow, or Exploding Kittens.

They have the critical mass behind them to send them into the stratosphere.

So if you don’t have a great idea, then you better have a crowd

Early momentum is vital for crowdfunding success.  To be the proud owner of a six figure Kickstarter project, then you should know without a doubt that your project is going to fund in minutes.

Flow Hive funded in under 8 minutes. For Exploding Kittens, it was 7.

Try and match your funding goal to your crowd. Your initial goal does NOT have to be $1,000,000!

People are sheep

They like to get on board with a success.

They like to know that something is definitely happening before they decide they want to be a part of it as well. Funding early – preferably on Day 1 – is the path to massively exceeding your funding goal.

Your crowd and your funding goal work together to create a movement.

Know the value of your crowd

Looking at the comments on the Veronica Mars project is like reading a big ‘ol love in.

The fans are happy because every update (and we were really well updated) came with a big helping of gratitude.

Rob Thomas and Co know the value of their crowd. They have kept goodwill – these are fans who will be with them all for life. So much so that Veronica Mars star Chris Lowell leapfrogged off the Veronica Mars project to fund his own passion project, Beside Still Waters to the tune of over $200,000.

You might have to run a few projects to get to a million

My friend Magnus MacDonald has now successfully run 6 Kickstarter projects, and has just launched his seventh.

And every time he runs a project, he builds his crowd. Check out his growth.

If you take out the abnormally excellent results experienced by the TiTweezers, each project builds the crowd and funding amount in a fairly linear fashion.

I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t run a $250,000 project this year.

Build rapport

And trust. You have to talk to your crowd regularly – and not just about your crowdfunding project.

If you think you don’t have a crowd, think again. Every person you know is a part of your crowd.

Start talking to people – use tools like Mailchimp and Mailchimp Subscribe to keep them in the loop.

Give your crowd enough pre-warning. Build them up to expect your project. Make sure you have some earlybirds ready to go, and then on Day 1, make sure your crowd know about it first.

Make it snowball

Nothing is going to breed media coverage quite like success.

No-one wants to write about a project that is going to fall flat on its face.

Have your media release and list ready to go, but don’t send it immediately. You need to be strategic about your communications plan. Wait until your crowd are on board cheering you on.

Give the media a story about an innovative project – not another Kickstarter that needs money.

Persevere

Crowdfunding is hard work. Every massively successful campaign has a team working on it – people who come together to make something happen. It’s highly unlikely you’ll hit 6 figures if you’re trying to do everything yourself, because it’s highly unlikely you have all the skills you need.

PR, marketing, communications, crowdbuilding, strategy, and execution. Most project owners are able to execute their project, but they may not have the other skills. That’s why you need a team: a six-figure project executes the whole thing with a plan and a strategy.

It takes months of organisation and planning. That’s followed by what may be one of the best (or worst) months of your life.

You’ll ride the emotional rollercoaster, and if you survive, you’ll then have a whole lot of work ahead of you.

So keep going. Because each project you deliver gets you closer to the million dollar project.