Includes bibliographical references and index.

Preface -- Introduction -- You don't need to launch today -- The crowd is the new gatekeeper -- Crowdfunding is the rock concert for entrepreneurs -- I made these mistakes so you don't have to -- Make it about them -- Backers are individuals, not numbers -- How to make friends and lose money -- Go small to win big -- Build a better community -- Don't quit your day job ... until you quit your day job -- You are your own gatekeeper -- Appendix a: 125 crowdfunding lessons in 125 sentences -- Appendix b: the one-week checklist -- Appendix c: recommended reading -- Projects mentioned in this book -- About the author -- Endnotes.

Jamey Stegmaier knows crowdfunding. He's a veteran of seven successful Kickstarter campaigns (and counting) that have raised over 1.4 million, and he's the proprietor of the widely read Kickstarter Lessons blog. In this book he offers a comprehensive guide to crowdfunding, demonstrating that it can be a powerful way for entrepreneurs to grow their businesses by building community and putting their customers first. This book includes over forty stories of inspiring successes and sobering disasters. Stegmaier uses these examples to demonstrate how to (and how not to) prepare for a campaign, grow a fan base, structure a pitch, find new backers, and execute many other crucially important "nuts and bolts" elements of a successful crowdfunding project. But Stegmaier emphasizes that the benefits of crowdfunding are much more about the "crowd" than the "funding." He shows that if you treat your backers as people, not pocketbooks - communicate regularly and transparently with them, ask their opinions, attend to their needs - they'll become advocates as well as funders, exponentially increasing your project's chances of succeeding.

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