waybu sunglasses

Sunglasses Brand Launch: How Michael Lauchlan Used Crowdfunding To Achieve His Goal

Over the years, Michael Lauchlan has evolved into a stand out in the crowdfunding industry.

He is currently a crowdfunding marketing professional, enjoys traveling, as well as a blogger covering the industry in his spare time. His expertise has led to a lot of success, including a campaign for Waybu Sunglasses.

The sunglasses proved to be a major hit, as he was able to exceed his $15,000 goal by close to $10,000. How was he able to pull this off? Lauchlan shared some tips with us on how he approaches crowdfunding, and just how someone can maximize their results.

Pursue what you’re passionate about

In the crowdfunding industry, backers can easily sniff out those who are truly passionate about something, and those were just trying to make money.

I only pursue opportunities when I feel very passionate about a product. Otherwise, it’s just not worth it to me. Maybe there are additional opportunities to make money out there, but no one wants to be labeled as a fraud.

Don’t rush into a launch

As soon as a person gets an idea, their first instinct is to launch a crowdfunding campaign as quickly as possible. That doesn’t make a lot of sense, especially without a true name in the industry.

Even as someone who has a good amount of connections, I would never jump into a situation without taking the time to put a proper presentation together. That first impression makes all the difference in the world.

Think like a backer

The job of any entrepreneur in crowdfunding is to market an idea or product in the right way. No one is going to dish out money for something that doesn’t seem valuable in any way.

It’s always helpful to think like a backer. How would you end up spending your money if you only had $50 to invest in one crowdfunding project? It’s a challenge for a lot of people, but it should never be expected that backers are just going to throw around money.

With the sunglasses, the focus was on then being eco-friendly, extremely light and durable. Those are three qualities that are very much in demand with sunglasses all the time. I worked to make sure that what I was offering wasn’t just a copy of other items out there. Provide something innovative and unique.

Get to work

Getting the money is one thing, but fulfilling the promise to backers is another. If an entrepreneur has just one unfulfilled crowdfunding campaign, it can soil their name for years to come.

The money raised should provide motivation. If possible, exceed expectations. That’s going to set up the potential for success later on with other campaigns. It’s not a shock that people who are successful with crowdfunding years ago are still successful today. 

Learn from mistakes, and build on the positives

Finally, after an initial campaign, learn as much as possible from it. Take the good and the bad. Each campaign should be better than the next one. Each campaign will be slightly different, but similar principles can be applied to all.