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This Marketer Harnessed the Power of Crowdfunding To Help Entrepreneurs Launch Hundreds Of Products With a job title of 'Head Crowdfunding Strategist', Matt Green has already helped launch over 400 products and startups using crowdfunding

By Vishal Sairam Katta

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

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Matt Green
Matt Green

As a highly-successful digital marketer, Matt Green has seen over-and-over how entrepreneurs and startups can launch products using the power of crowdfunding.

This experience inspired Green to build a digital marketing agency called Ideazon that specializes in crowdfunding and helping budding entrepreneurs raise funding. Green decided he wanted to help startups succeed during his time in what became known as Silicon Beach, the tech startup scene in Santa Monica, California. In 2012 he started helping his clients and friends get funding and exposure for their startups through Kickstarter and Indiegogo.

It was during this time that Green got involved in his first crowdfunding successes that ultimately transformed several struggling startups into profitable businesses. It was then and there that Green knew he wanted to help other entrepreneurs with amazing ideas access these extremely effective crowdfunding strategies and take their businesses to the next level.

After these early successes Green immediately started developing the best strategies and tactics to improve the success rate of crowdfunding projects. Green soon developed a crowdfund marketing formula to help maximize the results that virtually any crowdfunding campaign could achieve.

Green also immersed himself in the world of video production for an effective Kickstarter video, Facebook Ads, how to gain PR, and learning all he could about what made a crowdfunding project successful.

He soon pioneered a "pre-launch marketing strategy" that helped build interest for a new product or startup before it launched on Kickstarter and Indiegogo. This strategy is now used by nearly all of the viral crowdfunding campaigns launched today.

Known as "Head Crowdfund Strategist' at Ideazon, Green's crowdfund marketing team has already helped over 400 entrepreneurs launch crowdfunding campaigns. Many of these proven crowdfunding strategies help turbo-charge their client's sales and exposure within a very short timeframe.

Green will never forget his time working with the tech startups in California or the budding entrepreneurs in their college dorm rooms who had a shoestring marketing budget. As a result, Green is committed to giving back to the startup community and other entrepreneurs by offering free crowdfund strategy sessions to people who are serious about launching their first crowdfunding campaign. There are certain criteria that Green looks for when considering whether or not to take on a new crowdfunding project.

Crowdfunding Criteria

Green believes that a successful crowdfunding campaign requires more than just a Facebook advertising strategy and slick marketing. He likes to work with projects that tell a story and that breathe authenticity. "I think that your product and brand have to be authentic. If you're just trying to make a quick buck from the crowdfunding community then they will see right through it" he said, adding that he reviews projects for both originality and brand story. Finding the right project is all about focusing on the mission and how his team can create a coherent message that appeals to the crowdfunding community. He believes that many entrepreneurs can tap into crowdfunding with the right marketing and message behind them.

Being An Entrepreneur

In many ways Green fits the mold of the stereotypical entrepreneur. Long before he started his successful crowdfund marketing agency he started his first business from his college dorm room and spent many of his weekends pitching startup ideas in front of Venture Capital funds. "When I started my first online businesses I made so many mistakes, but those were also some of my greatest learning experiences. I figured out very quickly that as long as you have a great product, exposure, and some funding you can overcome all the little mistakes along the way".

Green is thankful for having gone through the trial and error of launching several struggling startups. "Without my own startup funding issues I would never have discovered the opportunities in crowdfunding and the crowdfund marketing industry itself. Now I run a massively successful company in a booming industry and I get to help other startups achieve their own level of success too".

The Importance Of Building A Team

Green believes that the key to his success and growth has been building a team and not trying to do everything alone. "In the early days I used to struggle unnecessarily because I always did things alone and I didn't like depending on other people, but that can only get you so far. Eventually you hit a limit and you need to surround yourself with experts and people who are on the same mission as you. I see a lot of entrepreneurs and crowdfunders get stuck because they don't ask for help," he said.

To build his own crowdfund marketing agency, Green brought together experts in almost every industry, from video production and graphic design, to Facebook ads and influencer marketing. "We have a great team and we try to be the rock star marketing team for people trying to crowdfund, especially first time crowdfunders that really need the marketing expertise".

Best crowdfunding platform to raise funding in 2020

Kickstarter and Indiegogo, he said, adding "if you have a consumer focused product or gadget". If the crowdfunding community likes the product then they can pre-order it. These popular crowdfunding platforms give entrepreneurs and inventors a place to test new products and ideas and raise funding for their projects. This is known as "rewards based crowdfunding" and it's the most popular type of crowdfunding available today.

Green also helps his clients take advantage of Equity Crowdfunding opportunities that were recently expanded under the JOBS Act. Equity crowdfunding is similar to rewards-based crowdfunding but instead of people pre-ordering a product they actually invest in your company. "Equity crowdfunding is great for tech startups and other industries that may not be a perfect fit for traditional crowdfunding platforms. So if you don't have a product or service for consumers to pre-order, then you can offer actual equity in your company. This has been a game changer for the entrepreneurs and startups we work with," he said.

He added that he sees crowdfunding as potentially overtaking angel investors in terms of the amount of startups that receive funding. "Now we're seeing a transition where entrepreneurs would rather crowdfund and keep more of their company rather than give up a big piece of the pie to traditional venture capitalists or angel investors. So if you need funding plus you want exposure and a lot of good press, then crowdfunding could be the next logical move for your startup," Green said.

Vishal Sairam Katta

Mentor and Advisor

Having dual masters from an Australian university, Vishal Sairam is an independent professional that helps small and medium scale organisations to scale their revenues and operations, especially in the hospitality and entertainment sector. He utilizes market research to develop a targeted social media strategy, an improved public relations programme and upgrades in service offerings.

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