Raising funding for your new venture is a long, full time process with many obstacles. For new and disruptive technology ventures the opportunity to establish a web presence to accelerate the fund raising process is being ignored. Using Internet marketing to establishing a web presence early in the planning stages is a must in the global competition for R & D, seed, product or growth capital.
Why Internet Marketing is Important to Entrepreneur, Inventors and Innovators for Raising Funding
As inventors and innovators think through their idea, a good business plan is a great place to start. This is because a quality business plan outlines what the new venture’s goals are and how they are going to be achieved. A significant part of most new ventures goals is raising funding.
Is Your New Venture Struggling To Raise Capital?
Traditionally fund raising is accomplished by developing a network of potential investors/contacts, putting together a Road Show presentation, and then trying to get in front of potential investors to convince them that they own the next breakthrough IP. Unfortunately, the reality is that most new ventures will not obtain the funding they need with this method. The traditional methods often fall short of expectations because the pool of known potential investors dries up quickly and the start-up has relied too heavily on resources from an old fashioned advisory board, non-creative business incubator or technology licensing centers for help.
Or is Your New Venture Raising Capital Using Internet Marketing
Establishing a web presence through Internet marketing can greatly enhance a new ventures potential to attract sources of start up or expansion capital because:
- A web presence enables an immediate global reach at a cost undreamed about just a few years ago.
- Much of the world’s wealth is now spread out globally. In addition, many investors prefer to do their own research first. The Internet is the first place they look when conducting research.
- Exposure uncovers new applications for your product that you may not have thought of.
- A web presence establishes subject authority. This is important so that potential investors know that you are an expert in the field.
- Having a properly designed SEO maximized website reduces fund raising costs by reducing the time spent to handle unqualified inquiries as well as virtually eliminating paper flow.
What is Internet Marketing for New or Disruptive Technology Ventures?
Internet marketing for raising capital is best described as a highly controlled method to get the word out about your product, IP or technology application. Internet marketing enables specific target marketing. For example, you can target professional associations, investor groups or even high wealth individuals.
The components of Internet marketing for new or disruptive technology ventures include but are not limited to:
- A well organized SEO website with product pages, investment criteria, demonstrations, pictures, video, company and founder information. The goal is to want readers to learn more about your technology and make contact with you.
- A Blog. A quality SEO optimized blog provides a consistent fresh source of product or company information, the applications for which it can be used and will increase internet traffic 50% or more.
- Contact form/pages with pre-qualifying questions for potential investors.
- Downloadable content such as Pdf files, Power Point presentation and NDAs or CDAs.
- A marketing strategy consisting of:
- Writing calendar for the Blog
- Knowledge of Internet media to be used for publishing information
- Linking strategy
- Investor targeting
- Press releases
Protecting Intellectual Assets
Marketing new or disruptive technology using the internet to attract investors does come with increased risk if your IP is not properly protected. Web pages and documents should only contain enough information to generate interest. No IP information should be disclosed without the required NDA and CDAs. More importantly, IP protection (patents, trademarks, copyrights or know-how) should be obtained before distributing information.
How To Set-Up an Internet Marketing Campaign for Raising Capital
Setting up an internet marketing campaign is not complicated but does take time and effort. A detailed step-by-step example will be in an upcoming post immediately after The Entrepreneur’s Advisor® milestone 100th Blog post (this the 99th post) that lists the top resources for Entrepreneurs, Innovators and Micro-Enterprises.
We hope that you have enjoyed this article and will consider new alternatives to raising funding for your new venture. If you liked this post you may also want to read:
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