Crowd Funding Is The Next Best Hope For The Caribbean And The Rest Of The Developing World

Crowd funding is a once in a lifetime opportunity for just about anyone to raise money he or she needs to finance ones' education, personal projects, a business, an event, music, films or any other idea. The industry has grown from $2.7 billion in 2012 to $34.5 billion in 2015 and is expected to grow to $96 billion by 2025.

Its rapid growth is helping hundreds of thousands of people and entrepreneurs to pay off bills or realize their dreams—and help many crowd funding portals to pockets hundreds of millions of dollars in transaction fees.

In fact, there will be more than 2,000 crowd funding sites to choose from by 2016—and the industry will soon surpass venture capital and angel investing as the #1 form of funding for small businesses allowing more than 250 million Americans to participate and invest for the first time under new equity crowd funding laws.

BUT WHAT IS CROWD FUNDING?

Crowd Funding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising many small amounts of money from a large number of people, typically via the Internet.  This form of fund raising is often used by not-for-profit organizations, entrepreneurs, software developers, musicians, filmmakers, and artists to successfully raise funds and foster awareness for great projects.

As an alternative form of financing operating outside of traditional financial systems, historically crowd funding has been executed via mail-order subscriptions, benefit events and, or other methods; however, it is the Internet based method that is growing at the quickest pace.   For more information please visit index.php?option=com_sppagebuilder&view=page&id=82&Itemid=971

EXPERIENCED NON-CARIBBEAN CROWD FUNDERS ARE RAISING MILLIONS:

Not surprisingly, the United States of America is far ahead of the world in embracing crowd funding technology. They are creating the blueprint that can be embraced by Caribbeans to raise the financing they need from the "crowd" to fund their own projects.

FUTURE CROWD FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR CARIBBEANS:

The growth in crowd funding presents unprecedented opportunities for Caribbeans. In fact, according to Forbes Magazine, the World Bank estimates that crowd funding will reach $90 billion by 2020. If the industry "trend of doubling year over year continues", the crowd funding market will see volumes of $90billion by 2017.[iv] Other studies have projected the industry to grow to $96 billion by 2025.

This is great news for Caribbeans like Ian Harnarine, an early adopter of Crowd Funding. In fact, Harnarine created a Kickstarter campaign in 2011 to raise funding for his narrative short "Doubles With Slight Pepper". After a brisk promotion, Harnarine raised $10,300 from 45 Kickstarter backers.

Other successfully funded crowd funding campaigns launched by Caribbeans included:

• Brown Girl in the Ring by Sharon Lewis which raised $35,025 on Indiegogo
• Everyday Heroes by St Lucia-based Guyanese Onel Sanford Belle who raised over $9,251 on Kickstarter

WHY SHOULD YOU BEGIN DRAFTING YOUR CROWD FUNDING PLAN?

It's a brave new world, where everyone has equal access to opportunities. Now is the time to brainstorm new ideas, organize your thoughts and execute your success plan. We have listed some of the steps you should take to ensure that your crowd funding campaign is designed, implemented and deployed successfully.  Use our tips published at index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=406 as a starting point on your journey to realizing your goals.

Upon review you will learn the following:

• Importance Of Preparing: Developing Your Idea
• Importance Of Strategic Social Media
• Importance Of Finding Ubiquitous Product/Service With Great Appeal
• Importance Of Great Design: Produce A Great Video
• Importance Of An Helpful Media Page
• Why You Shouldnt Ask For Money Immediately
• Importance Of Building Interest Before You Close
• Importance Of Communicating Often & Keep It Personal
• Why You Must Appeal To Your Existing Fans
• Why You Must Appeal To Everyone Else With Great Rewards
• Importance Of Offering Complimentary Rewards
• Why You Must Target & Connect With Business Supporters
• Why You Must Secure Partnerships That Will Enhance Value You Offer Supporters

THE INDUSTRY IS GROWING FAST: YOU DONT WANT TO MISS THIS OPPORTUNITY: [v] [vi]

The crowd funding industry raised more than $2.7 billion and successfully funded more than a million campaigns in 2012 , according to a Massolution report, with an 81% increase to $5.1 billion expected for 2013 . By 2025, the global crowd funding market could reach between $90 billion and $96 billion — roughly 1.8 times the size of the global venture capital industry today, according to a 2013 study commissioned by the World Bank.

CROWD FUNDING IS RE-WRITING THE RULES:

Since the founding of the Federal Reserve Bank in 1913, a handful of private banks have controlled the money supply. The creation of the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) in 1934 ensured that banks maintained their control over the people by making it illegal for individuals to market private share offerings to potential investors via websites, social media, print & television ads.

CROWD FUNDING IS DISRUPTING THIS CONTROL:

New domestic & international crowd funding laws now allows anyone to raise money to finance their projects or business in return for equity, rewards or personal satisfaction and keep a greater share of the money raised.  A great article was published recently by Forbes Magazine regarding the impact of crowd funding on the venture capital and the angel investment market—that will allow an entirely new class of investors totaling more than 250 million Americans, under Title III and Title IV of the JOBS Act to participate and invest for the first time under new equity crowd funding laws.[i]

MORE GREAT ARTICLES TO READ ..

If you would like to learn more about Crowd Funding and how it can be used to grow your business we encourage you to review the following articles and ebooks:

• Where To Sell Your Successfully Financed Crowd Funding Projects Or Gadgets?
• How To Market Or Finance Your Crowd Funding Projects On A Shoestring Budget
• Crowd Funding Is The Next Best Hope For The Caribbean And The Rest Of The Developing World
• Crowd Funding Is The Greatest Con In History Or The Greatest Opportunity - What Do You Think?
• Submit Your Crowd Funding Services For Free Listing In Better Way To Crowd Fund Directory
• Crowd Funding Is The Greatest Con In History Or The Greatest Opportunity

• Social Networking Is The Greatest Con In History Or The Greatest Opportunity

• Who Is Winning The Social Media and Crowd Funding War: The Battle For Good Vs Evil

• DIY Crowd Funding Opportunity Kit

• DIY Crowd Funding Public Relations Kit
• 101 + Websites And Media Outlets To Promote Your Crowd Funding Campaign Or Business

[i] Forbes Magazine, http://www.forbes.com/sites/chancebarnett/2015/06/09/trends-show-crowd funding-to-surpass-vc-in-2016/2/#64146a9a76da

[ii]Statista Survey, http://www.statista.com/statistics/251573/number-of-crowd funding-platforms-worldwide-by-country/

[iii]Massolution Crowd Funding Report, http://www.crowdsourcing.org/editorial/global-crowd funding-market-to-reach-344b-in-2015-predicts-massolutions-2015cf-industry-report/45376

[iv] Forbes Magazine, http://www.forbes.com/sites/chancebarnett/2015/06/09/trends-show-crowdfunding-to-surpass-vc-in-2016/2/#64146a9a76da

[v] Massolution Crowdfunding Industry Report, Exerpts published on Crowdsourcing.org, http://www.crowdsourcing.org/editorial/global-crowdfunding-market-to-reach-344b-in-2015-predicts-massolutions-2015cf-industry-report/45376

[vi] Massolution Crowdfunding Industry Report, Exerpts published on Crowdsourcing.org, http://www.crowdsourcing.org/editorial/global-crowdfunding-market-to-reach-344b-in-2015-predicts-massolutions-2015cf-industry-report/45376