Start-ups shouldn\u2019t rely on crowdsourcing platforms to generate traffic, according to Melbourne-based start-up iLID, which is raising funds on Kickstarter for its iPhone-inspired product.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n iLID was founded by Darren Inglis and Simon Dunn-Vaughan, who claim to have created the world\u2019s thinnest iPhone wallet, complete with a money clip, card holder and key holder.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The device, which is only 17 millimetres thick and clicks to the back of the iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S, also has a hinged back, allowing users to transform it into a display stand.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYou take your phone, wallet, key, ID and your credit care everywhere. That stuff gets bulky,\u201d Inglis says.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWith the iPhone bringing the world to our door, what better way to keep it all together than in one protective case?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Inglis and Dunn-Vaughan met last year in the Philippines whilst on a shipwreck diving trip together, although the business opportunity didn\u2019t present itself straight away.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cSix months later, we caught up for a beer in Melbourne. His girlfriend had just got him an iPhone case, and I\u2019d seen some weird story on the internet about a wallet you could hold on your wrist,\u201d Inglis says.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWe thought, there\u2019s something in this, so we started knocking it up and throwing some names around… We went to some industrial engineers and knocked up some designs.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After investing $20,000 of their own money, the pair decided to approach US-based online crowdsourcing platform Kickstarter to raise additional funds.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Kickstarter is a funding platform for creative professionals, allowing users to post their projects and find funding for them from the Kickstarter community.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It is powered by an all-or-nothing funding method, so projects must be fully-funded or no money changes hands.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d followed a few projects on Kickstarter earlier. I saw the success they had, and it\u2019s got such a good market, so we decided to go with them,\u201d Inglis says.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n To be eligible for Kickstarter, you must be a US resident. Inglis used a contact in the US to get around this.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “We were lucky enough to have a good friend in the US who was able to help us,” he says.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Inglis believes people\u2019s perceptions of crowdsourcing platforms are beginning to change, which is good news for start-ups.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWith all the trusted payment gateways, such as Amazon and PayPal, a lot more people are willing to support these things,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOur Kickstarter campaign finishes on the 12th<\/sup> of December, and we just reached 37% of our funding target [of $10,000].\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNinety percent of the projects on Kickstarter \u2013 once they pass 30% of funding \u2013 go on to be successfully funded.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The company is gearing up for its first worldwide shipment in January, identifying Australia, the United States and Canada as key markets, with distributors in the US showing particular interest.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWe had 20,000 hits on our website this week. 60% of that came from America and then it was an even split between Australia and Canada,\u201d Inglis says.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n While Kickstarter has helped to raise the profile of iLID, Inglis says start-ups shouldn\u2019t rely solely on crowdsourcing platforms for traffic.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been using PRWeb, and we\u2019ve submitted ourselves to StumbleUpon, Facebook and Google Adwords. We\u2019ve been writing to blogs and publications as well,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Start-ups shouldn\u2019t rely on crowdsourcing platforms to generate traffic, according to Melbourne-based start-up iLID, which is raising funds on Kickstarter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":59765,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43492"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43492\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}