Andrew Furst's Blog, page 96

What Didn’t Work In My Latest Crowd Funding Campaign

It seems like the world of crowd funding is getting, well, crowded. Some of the good advice that I got on my first campaign still applies; get your friends and family involved early, keep up an active campaign, and keep it interesting with good perks.  But some of the tactics I used last time failed miserably and I will never use them again.

On my first campaign with Indiegogo, I was thrilled when I met my funding goal. As part of that effort, I engaged a third party to help increase my gogofactor, a measure of various activities that Indiegogo uses to rank your campaign.  Higher rank = better visibility = a better chance you’ll get contributions outside of your network. The company that I engaged was GoGoRocket (now GoFundRocket). They provided a two pronged approach:

Front end plan – work I should be doing regularly:

Provide at least one update to the campaign daily – g. progress reports,  new perks,  etc.
Provide regular comments –  e.g. thank your contributors
Add new videos to the campaign regularly (this was a real winner)
Add new images to the campaign regularly
Make small contributions to your own campaign (don’t use PayPal) to keep it active.

This is all great advice,  but save your money you can find it all here

Back end plan – designed to increase my GogoFactor and rank on Indiegogo

Increase traffic & referrals
Added social media reach
Campaign optimization
Get featured on top 5 crowd funding Facebook pages
Action Reports

The first time around, I was very interested in learning from the experience, so I collected data and compared it to my ranking. I saw some good correlation with the front end plan. But with no way to measure the back end campaign, I presumed it helped because I met my goal.

Here is where I failed to learn and here’s how it cost me $500+.

Round Two – GoFundRocket

As I started the campaign for my second book, I contacted GoFundRocket enthusiastically and signed up for their Full Boost plan ($289).  Their frontend plan was unchanged, so I went to work building my new spreadsheet and graphing the data.

I saw a single burst of traffic early in the campaign, clearly attributed to GoFundRocket. But after that, I wasn’t able to discern what effect they were having.  So I plodded along optimistically.

Unfortunately, over the next month and a half, my rank steadily declined, I wasn’t getting the promised action reports, and they offered no options except to stay the course. I eventually requested a refund, which was denied and I was threatened with legal action.   You can read more about that in a future post. But here’s the summary:

GoFundRocket Summary:

While the front end plan seemed to provide short term gains,  it turns out you can get the same advice (if not better) from sites like  Hacking Indiegogo’s GogoFactor.  Save your money, go there. While they may have been able to offer benefit in the early days of crowdfunding, their services are irrelevant with the huge number of campaigns out there. That along with the bad customer experience, I give them a D.  Do not use them.

Round Two and a Half  –  GoGoWarrior

Somewhat discouraged, but not ready to give up, I explored other options and settled on a company called GoGoWarrior.  They promised better results with a 100% money back guarantee.  This turned out to be a case of fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.  The net result (which will appear in a future post) was that my rank continued to decline, they did not provide the promised daily reports, and I requested a refund. My request was met by the chirping of crickets.  The company turns out to be based on India and I’ve not heard from them yet after several emails. Oh well there goes another $249.

GoGoWarrior Summary:

GoGoWarrior is 100% scam – do not use them.  I give them an F.

Lessons Learned

Don’t bother with third party rank boosters,  they don’t appear relevant any more.  Here’s how I graded GoFundRocket and GoGoWarrior. I will elaborate on in future posts.

Click the image to expand

The post What Didn’t Work In My Latest Crowd Funding Campaign appeared on Andrew Furst.

Are You Not There? – Say What?

Are You Not There?

Say What?  is an ongoing series of laconic exchanges on Buddhism in the format of a comic strip. 

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One Minute Meditations



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Compass Songs (My Favorite Poems)



Dialectic Two-Step



Modern Koans (interesting questions)



Sunday Morning Coming Down (Music Videos)



Relics (Timeless Republished Articles)



Say What?



Quotes



Verse Us (Poems I Write)



Meditations on Gratitude

 
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My November Guest – Robert Frost – Compass Songs

My November Guest

by Robert Frost

My Sorrow, when she’s here with me,

Thinks these dark days of autumn rain

Are beautiful as days can be;

She loves the bare, the withered tree;

She walks the sodden pasture lane.

Her pleasure will not let me stay.

She talks and I am fain to list:

She’s glad the birds are gone away,

She’s glad her simple worsted grey

Is silver now with clinging mist.

The desolate, deserted trees,

The faded earth, the heavy sky,

The beauties she so truly sees,

She thinks I have no eye for these,

And vexes me for reason why.

Not yesterday I learned to know

The love of bare November days

Before the coming of the snow,

But it were vain to tell her so,

And they are better for her praise

 Compass Songs is an ongoing series of works by poets that I enjoy. Poetry, as the Zen Masters have said, is like a finger pointing to the moon. It speaks the unspeakable.

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Tell Me A Story VII

Tell Me A Story is a an ongoing series of lightening story prompts. The rules are simple

Set a timer for 5 minutes
Read or view the prompt
In the comments section below write a short story, poem, or rant as you are moved in the moment

Prompt: See the photo above.  The sculpture depicts the leader of the Venetian Revolt of the early 25th Century. Recount what you believe to be the most compelling story of her life.

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How Is Nirvana Better Than Suicide? – Dialectic Two Step

Estimated reading time: 5 minute(s)

How Is Nirvana Better Than Suicide?

Question: In Buddhism, would a fixed state of selflessness be “neutral” and no better than a feeling of nothingness?  If given the option to experience pure nothingness and non-existence, I would absolutely choose the latter. Thus far, my has life been full of suffering. How is Nirvana better than suicide?

Response: First of all publicly contemplating suicide should be the first thing we talk about here. Please make sure that you reach out to someone nearby if you are having suicide ideation, a plan, or hopelessness. You can contact Samaritans at http://samaritanshope.org/ or call (877)870-4673.

If your question is more a hypothetical, then I think we should break out some of the misconceptions in your question.

First, a fixed state of selflessness is not an accurate definition of Nirvana. Anything we experience in life is not fixed. The Buddhist principle of impermanence reminds us that everything we see is subject to change; both ups and downs.

Nirvana is not a fixed experience of anything. It would be more accurate to say that extinguishing fixed ideas about ourselves and the world is what it’s about. Put simpler, if we acknowledge that all things shall pass, we can let go of the hopelessness that comes from thinking things will always be the way they are. In your case, knowing that things change can be a step toward freedom from suffering. Today you may be suffering, but tomorrow may hold joy or satisfaction.

Ultimately, the choices that we make are what guide our contentment. At its bare essence we choose to suffer or not to suffer. Coming to this realization is not easy, and can even sound off putting at first. But if you think about it, if you are forced to choose between changing the world or changing yourself, the latter is a little bit easier.

Dialectic Two-Step  is an ongoing series of my thoughts on questions that come my way.

Wisdom lies neither in fixity nor in change, but in the dialectic between the two. - Octavio

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Verse Us (Poems I Write)



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Lives Given, Lives Saved – A Three Minute Meditation

Lives Given,  Lives Saved

A three minute meditation on war, veterans, tragedy, and gratitude

These Meditation Videos Are Best Viewed In Full Screen

 One  Minute Meditations is an ongoing series of short videos, poems, and commentary intended as a meditation.  Offered as an opportunity to step back from your cyber routine and settle into a more natural rhythm, if only for a minute.

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Quotes



Verse Us (Poems I Write)



Meditations on Gratitude

These videos are produced for those of us who spend an inordinately large amount of time in the cyber-world.  They are not a substitute for unplugging from your devices and taking a stroll near trees, water, or a patch of unkempt grass.  Getting out into the world - touching, smelling, hearing, and seeing nature is the best way to reconnect with our prime purpose.  

What is our prime purpose? We are feeling and sensing machines.  We are the universe looking back on itself. We are witness to the wonders and dangers of living in this corner of the cosmos.  We are the seekers looking for connection a little further beyond yesterday's borders and boundaries.

But sitting and staring at the screen robs us of the sustenance that we rely upon for wonder and sanity.  These videos are an opportunity to bring the sensations of nature to you, while you're in the cyber-world. Its an opportunity to relax your gaze, resettle your posture,  and regain some depth in your breath.  Listen and watch the video and allow your self to open up and recharge.

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Rose Hip November – Sunday Morning Coming Down

Rose Hip November – Vashti Bunyan

Bunyan released her debut album, Just Another Diamond Day, in 1970. The album sold very few copies, and Bunyan, discouraged, abandoned her musical career. By 2000, her album had acquired a cult following; it was re-released and Bunyan recorded more songs, initiating the second phase of her musical career after a gap of thirty years.

Sunday Morning Coming Down is an ongoing music  video series.  The songs fit my definition of music for a lazy couch bound Sunday morning. Get Each Week's Sunday Morning Coming Down in your email box First Name:

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Rose Hip November

by Vashti Bunyan

Rose Hip November

Autumn, I’ll remember

Gold landing at our door

Catch one leaf and fortune will surround you evermore

Pine tree, very tall

Waiting for snow to fall

Mist hangs very still

Caught by dawn in castle moats around the sleeping hill

Now a pipe is heard

Happy is the shepherd

Shepherdess and dog

Father of the pastureland and mother of the flock

Rose Hip November

Autumn, I’ll remember

Gold landing at our door

Catch one leaf and fortune will surround you evermore

Evermore…

Evermore…

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Neverland? – Say What?

Neverland?

Say What?  is an ongoing series of laconic exchanges on Buddhism in the format of a comic strip. 

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Relics (Timeless Republished Articles)



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The Toad – Tiny Drops (Photography)

The Toad
Toad1Toad2Toadbw

The Toad

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Meditations on Gratitude

 
FIVE LIMITLESS THOUGHTS

May all living beings have happiness and its causes

May all be free from unhappiness and its causes

May all dwell in equanimity, free of attraction and aversion

May all quickly find the great happiness that lies beyond all misery

May all enjoy inner and outer peace now and forever

NAMO AMITOFO

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Those Who Clean – Meditations on Gratitude

As I’m living this life of abundance,  I remember as a teen working as a housekeeper at a nursing home.  It’s a job I would not wish on anyone. It’s hard, often undignified and dirty work. Cleaning toilets, beds, and floors is so important in maintaining health and sanitation. Our lives depend on it. Yet, we take the work completely for granted.  The pay is poor,  leaving those who do the work in poverty.

Last weekend, I was able to enjoy a beautiful long weekend in Bar Harbor, Maine. Because it was off season we found very reasonable rates at a luxury hotel in town that normally charges a steep premium. During breakfast, my wife overheard a sad conversation. One of the servers was bemoaning the fact that she was unable to sleep in a warm bedroom and even watch TV, because she was so broke. All this in the midst of opulence.

While my gratitude offers little to this woman and her colleagues,  perhaps adding my voice to the many who are advocating a living wage for all will be of help.

Meditation

I breathe in humility

I breathe out thanks

I breathe in with deep dependence on others

I breath out with gratitude to those who toil in the cold and dirty places

I breathe in deep love of those who keep my world clean and disease free

I breathe out  a commitment to advocate for a living wage for all

I breathe in love

I breathe out generosity

Meditations on Gratitude - A weekly series of people and situations I’m thankful for and a short meditation.. Get Each Week's Meditations on Gratitude in your email box First Name:

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Relics (Timeless Republished Articles)



Say What?



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Verse Us (Poems I Write)



Meditations on Gratitude

 
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