Throughout the past few months, we have been looking at the "humble" beginnings of the Internet, to what we now can picture as a "spiderweb" where everything is connected on the web.
But what exactly defines the future of the Internet?
The dominance of Google, our all-time best friend?
The striking back of Microsoft with their cloud technology?
or The continual expansion of Apple?
or.... the rise of new competitors in the market?
Because talking about this big three competitors is too mainstream, I'm gonna talk about something relatively new - KICKSTARTER
Err... that wasn't what I meant, but the kick is the gist of it.
I guess we're all familiar with the term "crowdfunding", we've probably seen so many of these crowdfunding campaigns, or might have even participated in them!
There are many ideas in this world, some have surfaced, some have not. Why have they not been developed into real-world innovations you might ask, and the common answer will be:
Not Enough Funds
Not everyone starts off lucky with a pot of gold in their houses, not all people are backed up by the big companies like Apple, Microsoft or Google. But this does not mean we undermine these innovations and let them exist only in the dream bubbles of those who may be life-changers with their innovations.
Kickstarter was founded in April 2009, and till date.....
They have 96647 successfully funded projects, and over $2 billion dollars pledged to kickstarter projects.
At this point I must say, I'm really impressed. Well this couldn't have been done without the vast online community anyways, considering it is accessible on a global scale.
At this point I must say, I'm really impressed. Well this couldn't have been done without the vast online community anyways, considering it is accessible on a global scale.
It's easy to start a kickstarter project, it can be anything. A brief glance on the website will find you cubes made from recycled plastic trash, to a local project called the SmartEgg (omg this is so cool, but I can't even afford to fund myself, oops sorry!)
But you get the drift. Innovations like these are being heard on such platform, and this basically draws in potential investors or customers who are willing to pay for the product beforehand. There are different levels of pledging, with varying amounts and varying products to be given.
Then you'll be like, so how do these platforms even survive, like it is just a website.
After so many weeks, there is one key thing that cannot be unseen, which is the rise of social media, and the power of the Internet.
Bad things, spread fast. Good ideas, spread fast too. Everything is just a click away, you're just one "Share" button away from expanding the reach of the project that you are supporting, or one that you might be the creator himself!
Here's what CNET has to say about the power of social media for Kickstarter:
But you get the drift. Innovations like these are being heard on such platform, and this basically draws in potential investors or customers who are willing to pay for the product beforehand. There are different levels of pledging, with varying amounts and varying products to be given.
Then you'll be like, so how do these platforms even survive, like it is just a website.
After so many weeks, there is one key thing that cannot be unseen, which is the rise of social media, and the power of the Internet.
Bad things, spread fast. Good ideas, spread fast too. Everything is just a click away, you're just one "Share" button away from expanding the reach of the project that you are supporting, or one that you might be the creator himself!
Here's what CNET has to say about the power of social media for Kickstarter:
Social media is a startup's best friend
Social media shares can be the difference between Kickstarter success and failure. The firm found that funded projects received 250 percent more shares than unfunded ones, with most of the activity occurring on Facebook. Dance, photography, art, food and fashion projects all did particularly well on Facebook, while comics, theatre and craft projects found followers on Twitter.
A key to shareability, the report says, is a well-produced video, such as the one game console Ouya used to help raise over $8.5 million, or a simple and stylish infographic.
I think everything has to work hand in hand, to make ideas work, to make ideas come to life and become part of our reality.
You can start your own project too! (But whether your idea will be well received and supported by the public, is another issue altogether.....)
Here's how you can go about it!
1. First and foremost, you definitely must have a project in mind, perhaps a well-thought out one so that it is more convincing? On the whole, projects that are greatly funded tend to reflect enormous research and quite a bit of hard selling which works. But the project can range from anything, really. Like funding for a theatre production, a new product, a new game!
Here's how you can go about it!
1. First and foremost, you definitely must have a project in mind, perhaps a well-thought out one so that it is more convincing? On the whole, projects that are greatly funded tend to reflect enormous research and quite a bit of hard selling which works. But the project can range from anything, really. Like funding for a theatre production, a new product, a new game!
2. Set a project deadline (just like all projects do) and a minimum funding goal (In life, a goal is a must #thinkingdeep) I guess if you just wanna try things out, maybe you could start small, though it is dependent on the cost of your project if it were to be transformed into reality.
Note that if the funds collected fall below the minimum goal that you've set, no funds will be collected from your potential customers/investors. Which kinda means, you really have to pull people to your product, and eventually give the finished product to them who have supported you.
Note that if the funds collected fall below the minimum goal that you've set, no funds will be collected from your potential customers/investors. Which kinda means, you really have to pull people to your product, and eventually give the finished product to them who have supported you.
3. There are different categories of pledging (as what I've mentioned previously)
Taking the Singaporean lingo, it is just: You pay for what you get.
Obviously you will give your big investors more benefits than those who just pledge probably one-tenth of the amount that the investors pledged? You definitely want to impress your potential customers more by throwing in more stuff for contributing more to your project, isn't it!
And then once you're done with these three steps,
don't forget. THE POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA, (& maybe whatsapp, & maybe the traditional word of mouth too)
Taking the Singaporean lingo, it is just: You pay for what you get.
Obviously you will give your big investors more benefits than those who just pledge probably one-tenth of the amount that the investors pledged? You definitely want to impress your potential customers more by throwing in more stuff for contributing more to your project, isn't it!
And then once you're done with these three steps,
don't forget. THE POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA, (& maybe whatsapp, & maybe the traditional word of mouth too)
Don't forget to share them on whatever social media platforms that you have, or maybe post them to groups with related stuff, to get the attention of people who might jolly well be your potential customers!
Then, you can just sit back, but consistently "promote" your project to ensure that you get the funds, and perhaps start thinking about how to actually get the product out onto the market, to your customers when the funding has reached its goal. After all, this is a legitimate business, and you pay for what you get. When you don't, especially in Singapore, trust me, things will turn ugly....
Then, you can just sit back, but consistently "promote" your project to ensure that you get the funds, and perhaps start thinking about how to actually get the product out onto the market, to your customers when the funding has reached its goal. After all, this is a legitimate business, and you pay for what you get. When you don't, especially in Singapore, trust me, things will turn ugly....
So that's all I have for you today about innovations on the Internet!
See you next week, for we're wrapping up the future of the Internet very soon!
See you next week, for we're wrapping up the future of the Internet very soon!
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