13 Top Tips for Getting Funded at a Great Rate
Great. Your application has been approved. In the coming days your loan will go live on Linked Finance.
Now it’s all about making sure you hit your target and getting the best rate you can.
We’ll go all-out to promote your loan to our existing lenders so that you get funded. We’ll use emails and social media to tell our 10,000+ lenders about your business and that usually does the trick.
But you want more than the money. You want to promote your business. You want to win new customers. You want to get funded and to get the best rate you can.
Just 10 to 20 minutes a day for the duration of your campaign will ensure you get the most from your time on Linked Finance.
Here’s a few easy steps you can take to really maximise the impact of your crowdfunding campaign:
1. Get Ready for Your Close-Up
A picture paints a thousand words. Make your profile pop with some polished pictures that show your business in its best light.
People lend to people. The best performing borrowers are the ones that connect with lenders. That connection starts with your photos. So send us some high-quality images of you and the other key team members.
2. Get Your Rate Down from the Get-Go
Smart borrowers use Linked Finance for more than funding. Connecting with our 10,000+ lenders is a great way to win new customers.
Coming up with a really strong special offer will help ensure that you secure new business and get funded at a low interest rate. Ask our lenders to bid €250 at 7.5% in return for a discount voucher, a free trial or gift card.
3. Get A Little Help From Your Friends
Getting your loan off on the right foot is vital when aiming for a low interest rate. Make it your mission to find 10 friendly lenders who will support your loan at favourable interest rates.
Line up 10 friends and family members who will lend €250 to €500 at 5% or 6%. This really sets the tone for the rest of your loan and inspires confidence among our existing lenders. Your friends and family get much better returns than they would in a savings account and you get well on your way to a great rate.
4. Get Your Loan Off to A Flyer
If you get a lot of visitors to your premises, a well designed poster or flyer is brilliant for letting customers and other contacts know that you are crowdfunding with Linked Finance.
A double-sided A5 flyer will give you plenty of room to explain what crowdfunding is, why you are doing it and what the benefits are for lenders. Make sure to include a strong ‘call to action’ and clear instructions about how your customers can support your loan.
5. Get Your Blog On
We live in a digital age. Even my granny has a blog now. Write a blog post or create a new page for your website. Again give clear details about the whats, whys, wheres and hows.
Tell your story, share your plans and give clear instructions about how customers can get involved. We can then share your blog post with our existing lenders too.
6.Get the Press Involved
Crowdfunding is something different. It’s all very fresh and new. Copy-hungry journalists, DJs and bloggers love a good story about a great local business who is taking control of its future.
Put together a press release and email it to every local newspaper, blog, trade publication and radio station in your area. We can help you with this.
7. Get Your Loan in Their Faces
If you haven’t got a Facebook page for your business, you should have! You can set one up in a few minutes and it will bring your business benefits long after your Linked Finance loan has successfully funded.
Share your blog post with your fans and friends on Facebook. Give daily updates about the progress of your campaign, link to your loan and urge your fans to get involved. The people who like your Facebook page are generally friends, family and loyal customers. They already know and love your business so get them involved. They know your good for it.
8. Get Your Connections On Board
LinkedIn is another great network that you can use to promote your loan. Unlike Facebook, LinkedIn is built for business.
You can deliver regular posts and updates about your campaign but use a more serious tone. Focus on the business case for your loan and why crowdfunding makes commercial sense for your business. Stress the financial benefits for borrowers and lenders on Linked Finance.
9. Get Your Followers Funding
140 characters can go a long way! Get your Twitter on and ask your followers to help fund your loan.
Short sharp messages with links to your loan work best and you can use hash-tags to maximise visibility.
10. Get Your Email List Lending
Whether your an email marketing master with a massive database or a busy business owner who only uses email for the day-to-day stuff, you can make mail work for your loan.
Get together a list of email addresses for customers and contacts. Create a compelling communication that encourages customers to get involved. This is getting easier now. You can take stuff straight from your blog post and previous communications. Ensure you have a strong ‘call to action’, clear instructions and a link to your loan on linkedfinance.com
11. Get Your Suppliers Signed-Up
The companies who sell stuff to your business have a real interest in seeing your business grow. Your suppliers will be delighted to hear that you’ve got big plans to expand your business.
They’ll see it as an opportunity for them to make more sales. Pull together a list of your regular suppliers and send them personal emails telling them about your crowdfunding campaign. Invite them to get involved. We all love happy customers and there are lots of account managers who’d happily contribute a few bob to keep one of their best clients sweet.
12. Get Your Community Involved
We’ve all got networks and communities. They could be trade bodies, industry authorities, professional associations, community groups, sports clubs or any other organisation that you’re involved with.
Again, jot down a list and identify the best way to connect with each community and it’s members. Do they have a newsletter? Is there a meeting or event around the corner? Can you get the mailing list?
When you have identified the best way to get in touch, put together another kick-ass communication that encourages the members to support your crowdfunding campaign.
13. Get A Cup of Tea
And relax. Seriously, if you’ve ticked off most of the items on the above list and managed to bring even a few of your own lenders, you’re well ahead of the game.
Even if your loan is not fully funded, don’t panic. Most of our loans go from 50% funded to 100% funded in he last couple of days. So don’t sweat it. You can still keep spreading the word and trying to get more lenders on board but don’t worry if you are still hovering below 50%, there’s plenty of time left and our lenders like to wait until the very last minute before getting on board.
If you would like help with any of the ideas we’ve covered here, please feel free to get in touch.
Just give us a call on 01 906 0300
