We’ll look after the regulatory nitty gritty. Your job is to market market market.
Small Change has investors. And yes, some of them will invest in your project. But our investors don’t know you. Which means that you must market your deal with vigor to drive traffic to your offering. A funding portal’s role is to enable you to raise money through Reg CF. We can’t help you make your pitch. That is up to you.
In order to raise money from the crowd, you need to reach your crowd and keep them engaged. This is how you do it.
We’re providing you with some tools for marketing success in this outline, including templates, tips and examples that work. Use these to create compelling and coherent communications to inspire the crowd and accelerate investments in your offering. It will be worth your while.
There are lots of other ways to tackle marketing — make a calendar, market unrelentingly to everyone you know and get creative!
Start here
You can raise funds using a number of different securities regulations. The most regulated of those (when it comes to advertising) is Reg CF (Regulation Crowdfunding).
We’ll highlight anything in this outline that you should pay close attention to.
The crowd is not the only set of eyes following your offering. The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) wants to make sure you are following the rules, because, after all, you are selling securities. Don’t fret. We’ll help you out with some tips.
The gist of Reg CF
Reg CF lets everyone (over the age of 18) invest in your project. No longer must they be a wealthy or experienced investor. Investors can be your family, friends, fans and neighbors.
In order to ensure that all potential investors have access to the same information, through the 2012 JOBS Act, Congress required that all offering information be centralized so that an investor can access all of the relevant offering information in one place. Small Change, a registered funding portal, is considered a centralized site and is permitted to host Reg CF offerings.
And this is why you should point all communications, marketing and advertisements back to the Small Change platform and why all investor questions should be directed to the platform chat room.
What can I say before my offering launches?
If it’s a Reg CF offering, you should say absolutely nothing. The rules are clear. You can’t reference in any way, either publicly, in social media or privately, in conversations that you have that you are planning a Reg CF offering. (Family and business partners are excluded from this rule.) You can continue normal marketing of your company or your project. The SEC deems any public posts or communication about a yet to be launched offering to be a direct violation of the regulation — so be extra careful!
Test the waters?
There is an option to market your offering before it is listed on our platform. It is called “Test the waters.”. However, it requires careful planning since any testing you do pre-registration will need to be included in your registered Form C.
If this is of interest to you, talk to us.
What can I say once my offering is live?
You can market your offering in one of two ways – communications that don’t include any of the terms of the offering and those that include only the terms of the offering.
If you want to advertise the “terms” of the offering, you are limited to including this information:
- A statement that you are conducting an offering.
- The “terms” of the offering.
- Factual information about your project limited to legal identity, address, phone number, your website and a short description of the project.
If you want to talk share more information, you cannot include the “terms” of the offering.
It’s important to understand that there are two distinct ways to communicate your Reg CF offering . You cannot mix non-terms with terms.
What are the terms of the offering?
- The starting and closing date of your raise.
- The offering goal, or the maximum amount you are trying to raise.
- The type of security you are selling, whether debt or equity.
- The price of each security.
- The minimum investment amount.
- The return you are offering.
This is the list you should practice not saying – whether you are talking to someone, writing an email or designing marketing materials.
One last thing.
Be measured with your words, no matter what the offering type. Don’t use adjectives that you can’t qualify. In fact, don’t use adjectives at all. Don’t make absolute statements or any guarantee because things might change. Be careful not to promise anything. Don’t imply a good outcome – after all there are plenty of risks associated with investing. Be balanced in what you say. If you mention a potential positive attribute, mention the associated risk(s).
We’ll help show you how.
Let’s get to work. Some resources for you.
- Here’s a quick primer on site signage along with some downloadable sign templates we’ve prepared for you. We’ve also provided Small Change logos you can download.
- There’s lots to talk about with social media and we tackle it head on.
- Email is one of the most effective ways to reach investors you know. You’ve just got to know what to write.
- You can download a square Small Change logo. Or download a logo with text. Use them in the marketing materials you create.
- Everyone loves a video. If you plan to add one to your campaign, be sure to add a risks disclaimer that is easily readable. You can download them here.
If you haven’t already read our educational materials for investors in Reg CF offerings, please do. And here’s a link to the regulations.
