Crowdfunding Lesson #2: The Personal Appeal

Of all the mistakes I made planning my first crowdfunding campaign, this was the greatest:

I didn’t want to ask for money.

Alright. It sounds stupid, but hear me out.

I hate begging for money, and I wouldn’t want to run my business simply on charitable donations from coerced friends. That’s how some crowdfunding campaigns feel — and I know; I see a lot of them in my Facebook feed of comedians, writers, artists, and other such out-of-the-boxers.

My vision for the campaign was a “pre-order” campaig...