During the month of October, we are taking a look at social media services and breaking down their key attributes to introduce you to some of the latest players in the game. Click to learn more about the Investigating Social Media Services series.
Kickstarter is a popular service used by many start-ups, causes and more. Considered a “crowd-funding” platform, it has helped fund more than 50,000 creative projects ranging from films to games, to music and art, technology… etc. We would actually consider this more than a social media service, but we wanted to share this platform to show that anyone with an idea, product or mission can make it happen.
How it works: Backers support creators. You simply set up your project and get started. Marketing your project is an important component of recruiting backers. Kickstarter helps you share on social media, and can provide some tips for promoting to potential backers.
Start-up companies can use Kickstarter to literally get started. Established companies can leverage Kickstarter to help back a campaign they want to support, fund research, support new products or ideas and more.
Check out the best of Kickstarter from 2012. You will be impressed with the creativity!
And, some of my recent favorite ideas:
- Bitlock: Keyless Bike Lock: For those of us always losing our keys…
- GIFpop! GIF Cards: Goodbye e-cards!?
- Emotiv Insight: Brain Fitness and Performance: Say what!?