21/03/2013 – “I do, therefore I am” – E.C. Adams

Descartes said “I think, therefore I am”, but that has nothing to do with my blog post of today, which is about taking the plunge – closing your eyes and jumping – in other words: DOING. So I couldn’t quote D. I had to come up with my own words of wisdom. “I do, therefore I am”. Sounds nice too, doesn’t it?

Ok – Let me explain.

Today I did something that I would have never done a year ago. I tried something new, something I barely understood (and still have trouble understanding). Something outrageous. Something called Crowdfunding.

Crowdfunding, inspired by crowdsourcing is described as “the collective cooperation, attention and trust by people who network and pool their money together, usually via the Internet, in order to support efforts initiated by other people or organizations. Crowdfunding occurs for any variety of purposes, from disaster relief to citizen journalism to artists seeking support from fans, to political campaigns. Crowdfunding can replace the need for specialized grant applications or other more formal and traditional fundraising techniques with that of a more casual, yet powerful, approach based on crowd participation. Examples of the basis of Crowdfunding can be seen in Cooperatives (co-ops) around the world.”  [Michael Sullivan]

A friend recommended it and another friend, someone who works in marketing, funding and ancillary services, looked into for me, because me being me, I was skeptical.

I created an account, laid out my case (I need to raise money for a professional book cover) and two hours later I’ve already collected 20% of the funds I need.

Outrageous, right?

Follow this link to my proposal. I am giving away free copies of my book to donors (plus other tokens of my appreciation) – http://www.gofundme.com/2d62ck

I still cannot believe something like this – so new and hip – is not only available, but used by thousands of individuals and also by large companies, to fund ventures/projects. And what’s even better: I’m doing it too! Outrageous!

[Image: Forbes.com]