Tips From The Crowdsourceress Behind Pono Music’s MultiMillion Kickstarter Campaign

Vann Alexandra Daly goes by Alex but she's also known as the "Crowdsourceress" for her role in raising millions of dollars via Kickstarter for numerous films. Her reputation led Neil Young's people to recruit her for the Pono Music campaign on Kickstarter which she has led past $5 million and counting. These days Alex Daly is also sharing tips and spreading the word about crowdfunding with the support of the Knight Foundation.

I met Alex Daly at the MIA Music Summit where she was a panelist on the Alternative Funding for Artists panel I moderated.

You can check out the MIA Music Summit panels for yourself but our attempt to share some tips got crunched at the end of a wide-ranging discussion about music and crowdfunding that also included PledgeMusic's Benji Rogers and Juan Pablo Capello, cofounder of Idea.me.

Fortunately Alex Daly (LinkedIn) is in much demand for her views on crowdfunding, as well as her skills at crowdfunding, and she can easily be found on the web sharing insights or at various spots around the country as a Knight Foundation speaker in support of crowdfunding.

Secrets to Crowdfunding with Vann Alexandra Daly from Knight Foundation

Marika Lynch came up with "Six secrets to crowdfunding campaigns" from the above video for the Knight Blog.

Crowdfunding Tips from The Crowdsourceress

"Give your video extra TLC"

"Secure early donors"

"Consider stopping your campaign if it’s not going well"

"Have fun with rewards"

"Keep donors in the loop"

"Be wary of the timing of your campaign"

Mobilize Your Support Before You Launch

These are pretty basic tips but they're also quite solid. In particular, it's worth considering her suggestion to "secure early donors."

Alex Daly's campaign tend to be with people who already have a "built-in audience." The Pono Music campaign, which is at $5,135,397 with 15 days to go as I write this, is a perfect example.

Neil Young's involvement made it easy to reach out to all sorts of well-known figures and involve them in promo videos and the like. It also makes it easier to find early donors.

Lining up visible supporters is the complement to lining up early donors but that doesn't mean you need to know a bunch of famous, rich people to succeed with your campaign.

Whatever level of fanbase you've developed and whatever additional support is coming your way, make sure that everybody knows well before you launch what's ahead.

And in that process find advocates who will be willing to take some time and provide early marketing support, by appearing in your video or tweeting regularly, as well as solid pledgers who will pledge in the first couple of days, ideally on day one.

For more from Alex Daly, see the Knight Blog and check out:

Alex Daly at Big Think: The Crowdsourceress

Interview: Crowdsourcing with The Crowd Sourceress:

More:

• MIA Music Summit To Feature Music and Technology Leaders In Miami
• Highlights From MIA Music Summit 2014
• Winners Of MIA Music HackDay At The LAB Miami

Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (Twitter/Facebook) is currently relaunching All World Dance. To suggest topics about music tech, DIY music biz or music marketing for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.