What I Wish I would Have Known before Launching My IndieGogo Campaign

In my previous post I explained that I am testing 2 crowd funding sites. With one week left on my Indiegogo campaign, I've learned more about the complexities of getting your campaign to go viral. Some things you should know before launching your campaign. Here is my email to The Indiegogo Happiness Team expressing that I wasn't very happy.

I thought I read and understood how your platform works. In hindsight, I
think the preliminary info is lacking. The site brags that starting a
campaign is easy and simple. That is true, but I've discovered that getting
your campaign to go viral proves to be quite complex. The first thing that
caught me off guard was once I launched my campaign the confirmation email
said I needed to get 2 donations to just appear in the search results. I
begged friends to do that for me. I wiped my brow in relief a few days
later when 2 came through. I understood my gogo factor was influenced by
how viral my campaign link became. I'm a solo entrepreneur so I read as
much as I could of your tips to spread the word and I did as many tips as I
could. Unfortunately, it wasn't until a few days ago when I got my report
by email saying my gogo factor was down and I was looking at the analytics
that I read the asterisk that referrals were counted if I used the link
that appears WITHIN my campaign. For the first half of my campaign I had
posting/sharing the organic URL in the address bar. I was crushed. So then
I began a new wave of posts and begging friends and family to post the
"correct" link (a bit embarrassing because I'm quite sure everyone that
knows me is tired of hearing about this fundraiser by now). Maybe if I tell
you why I chose to do an Indiegogo campaign, it will be easier to explain
why I'm disappointed with about 1 week left until it expires.

I was hoping to get the generosity of strangers that were moved by my
mission and story. I knew my project was well vetted, my fundraising goal
realistic and I had a great video and superb rewards. After reading some of
your success stories, I thought, "I can do this." I was reaching out to
strangers because I know my friends and family are broke. If they weren't,
I would have just asked them all for donations directly. So far my loved
ones have ponied up $295. The whole point of this was to get $5 bucks or
more from people I don't know. But yesterday was the devastation when I
browsed through 67 pages in the "small business" category (multiple times
because I was convinced I had overlooked it somehow) for my campaign. I
kept thinking, I must rank above all these people with 0 donations and why
are there pages and pages of expired campaigns taht people can no longer
donate to? Then I went to FAQ page for help and read "Why can't I find my
campaign" to find out that after a few weeks if a campaign hasn't raised
$500 it no longer shows up in the browse results. I cried and I'm crying as
I write this. I realize with 7 days left I have failed. I cannot do a new
campaign and start over to try to do this "right" a second time. There's no
time. I would like to suggest that these "make or break" requirements be
made part of the "get started" stuff before people launch a campaign or at
least email that info to the admins. It would have been nice to know I had
to meet certain milestones to be visible in browse results. I like to go
into things with my eyes open and I feel I had to dig for this info. Whats
the point of improving my gogo factor if I don't even have a chance to
increase my rank in the browse results? That was the whole point of doing
this! Am I missing something here? Is there any hope for my
campaign<http://igg.me/p/199621?a=998868>with 7 days left? I
appreciate any advice to rescue my campaign.

--

Frugal Foodie Find!

I've shared another local frugal food find a while back. Snappy Dawgs is a food cart that serves delicious food during the week on the corner of Main St and Fairfield Ave in front of the Fairfield County Courthouse. But I work on Saturdays and they don't come on the weekend. I am partial to restaurants that deliver because I can't afford to close my business to go get lunch. So, one of my customers informed me that Amici Miei delivers too. Well then, I put that on my to-do list. And today I ordered a thin crust pizza from there called "Rurale" and had to share this with you!

It is topped with red sauce, mozzarella, mushrooms (fresh ones not those slimy ones from the can either), and big slices of prosciutto. And get this! With tax, I paid (drum roll.....) $8.50! I gave the delivery girl a $10 and told her to keep the change as her tip. I was in NYC the other day and paid $9 for a panini that wasn't even half the size of this pizza. What a rip off that was! These personal size pizzas are pretty big and a great value. Could easily share among 2 people. And if you live or work in downtown Bridgeport, I suggest having it delivered.

Save up to 80% on custom printed products at Vistaprint. Order today!Get Paid to Tweet! http://ad.ly/publisher/refer/251902558

Another Positive Review!

When your run your own business, it's always validating to get positive feedback. I stumbled upon a blog last month named "This Mama Works It" and mom blogger, Tammy, shares how she sells her kids clothing on ebay. She has a following and I thought her audience was similar to my target demographic. Maybe her readers are unsure if ebay is the right option for them to get rid of gently used kids clothing. Let's face it, posting those auctions take time which is a limited commodity for most parents. Gumdrop Swap is a guaranteed sale as opposed to waiting for a possible sale by online auction end. 

Tammy was excited to try the service. And she posted her review today. I gave her a free month to try this service and I am allowing her to give away the same offer to a lucky winner. Go read her review and giveaway rules.

Get Paid to Tweet! http://ad.ly/publisher/refer/251902558

I want to MARRY this salad dressing

This is NOT a paid endorsement. But I try to share every good find I come across. A local sandwich shop serves this as their Greek dressing (I order the antipasto salad from them). And I was blown away by this salad dressing. I was turned off by the appearance because I'm used to a cloudy Greek dressing with feta cheese and flecks of pepper or bits of olive maybe. But this was mostly olive oil and some herbs and spices. Looked bland but boy was I wrong! It was the perfect compliment to the veggies in my salad. My taste buds danced for joy! I order this salad at least once a week. So I finally inquired what was the brand of this dressing. Thankfully they didn't refuse to tell me. It is called "Yasou Greek" and the deli owner even showed me the bottle (I'm a visual person so at least if I forgot the name I would recognize the label). So, my next question was, where did she buy it, assuming she ordered it by the case. I was planning to buy some bottles from her. But surprisingly, she found it at a local grocery store and admitted that its sells quickly and not always there when she needs it. I went to this store looking for it and was sooooo disappointed that it wasn't in stock. Even my best googling skills brought meager results but I finally found it on Ken's Foods website. But my research showed the dressing is made by Ulysses Foods in MA. I'm not sure if that is a subsidiary of Ken's but I confirmed through their customer service that it is the same dressing before ordering a case of 12 bottles. Yes, 12 size 8oz bottles. Affordable priced under $18 for a case but the shipping was over $11 so I will be selling a few bottles to interested friends and family after I get them hooked for $4 a bottle to cover my expenses. If you see this in your local grocery, I highly recommend that you try it!

Get Paid to Tweet! http://ad.ly/publisher/refer/251902558

They say the neon lights are bright On Broadway

Fela Kuti (15 October 1938–2 August 1997), was a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, pioneer of afrobeat music, human rights activist, and political maverick. If you've never heard of him or afrobeat music, I urge you to read the Wikipedia entry about him.

I'm not being compensated in any way to write this review. I just want to share my enthusiam for the arts in general and encourage others to enjoy this Broadway production I had the pleasure of experiencing called FELA! I use the word experience because I did more than watch this production. The lead in the show speaks directly to the  audience members and you feel as if your have time traveled to Fela's last performance at the "Shrine". The music is infectious and dancing is unavoidable. "Fela" even made the audience get out of their seats for some dance lessons in the aisles. The set design permeates the entire Eugene O'Neill Theater. You sit amidst the props and grafitti art covered walls. The show is full of multi-media enhancements and a feast for the senses. I got in trouble for snapping this photo with my phone.

The cast of this production seems to be in overdrive the whole performance and have amazing stamina. I don't know how they can physically do 2 performances in a day on the weekend. I saw the Sunday matinee. SO if you are in or planning to visit New York by September of this year (production travels to London in the fall) do yourself a favor and see this show! (Some adult subject matter so this is not a "family show")

Purex Complete 3-in-1 Product Review

I don't get a Sunday paper so I don't get the booklet of coupons they publish. But I'm all about trying free stuff so I signed up to try and review products for P&G. then I chose to try the Purex 3-in-1 laundry sheet from products that were available. The concept is that you place the sheet in your washing machine with your clothes and then transfer it WITH your clothes when you dry them. I have a high efficiency washer and I was glad that their were instructions just for that on the back of the package. But I usually use the cool setting on the dryer and the product suggests a warm dryer setting. So I would not recommend for others who do that to save energy or if you hang your clothes on the line now that its spring. It does make it convenient though, not having to pour powder or liquid into those tiny compartments in my HE washer. The website says "As part of our holistic approach to sustainability, Purex developed Purex^® Complete 3-in-1™ Laundry Sheets with significant consideration to our environmental impact." which I can see how you aren't left to recycle (or some still may trash them - I cringe at that thought) those bulky plastic bottles that liquid detergent comes in. But I wonder how many years it takes the uses sheet to disintegrate? It's thicker than a standard dryer sheet.

I used the 2 sample sheets on 2 loads of colored clothes in warm water (mostly my husbands workout clothes and boxers) The clothes came out soft and clean. The samples I got were in the "spring oasis" scent which I found to be overpowering when I opened the package. Reminds me of Irish Spring soap. But after my husband's stinky workout clothes came out of the dryer they smelled 100 times better! It's a bit masculine and strong for my toddler's clothes. Even though they were clean and soft. So I would use this product again for my husband's stuff. I love that "man fresh out of the shower" smell! I would buy and try the "pure and clean" scented ones depending on the retail price.

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Rave Reviews for GDS

The business was featured in the Connecticut Post newspaper on 12/14/09 http://www.connpost.com/ci_13996370
 
GumdropSwap has also been reviewed by mommy bloggers with rave and reviews! http://musingmainiac.blogspot.com/2009/11/gumdrop-swap.html


http://madamedeals.com/2009/11/16/gum-drop-swap-online-childrens-clothes-swap/


I am expecting to more reviews in the upcoming weeks. It is very exciting to know parents are finding this business useful and affordable. I am learning daily about being a “momtrepreneur” and trying to find a balance between that and being a wife and mom.