How Do I Get Investors For My Niche Site?

by LockDown

Posted: 16 years ago 13 replies

INTERNET MARKETING

Was wondering how I would go about finding investors for a roll out campaign to launch a niche site of mine. I own an identity theft protection service but need investment money to get it rolling. I have a business plan and need an initial $250,000 for television, radio, and internet.

- Keith

#investors #niche #site

RyanLeisure

16 years ago

Is that your own product? Did you just start it? Are you looking for ways to promote it, or just money to promote it?

Thanks
1 reply

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LockDown

16 years ago

Yes, It's my site and I need to do more than just the internet promoting methods like adwords, seo, etc...

Our main competitor has 1 million subscribers and I have a better service
then they offer. Thing is, they are getting all the money thrown at them by investors and they have done nothing but deceptive marketing and their service isn't as secure as mine.

- Keith

Thanks
1 reply

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JonnyAndrews

16 years ago

Originally Posted by LockDown

Keith... and this is sneaky so don't hit me if I go over the line...

I've found the best way to break into a market and really blast off is to "buddy up to" these dudes and promote them first BEFORE they know you have a product.

Obviously this stuff works great in the "Biz Op" market as everybody expects it already...

In your case it may make sense to set yourself up as something of a reporter in that location. Interview these guys, get them to promote you and your interview first...

Hold off a few months on releasing the product so you can build your list via their subscribers and the interviews.

Then you can launch your new thing with a big list of people and essentially "steal" their business.

Of course this isn't a new idea... people in IM do this every day. Now most of the top 10 - 15 guys have the most inbred subscribers possible.

So promote the interview stuff FIRST. Build a massive list and then you'll be your own JV when you launch your service.

Does that make sense?

Thanks

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TheVCF 16 years ago

Keith,

Please find all of the Excellent Suggestions RE: Business Financing, e.g. a site / venture such as yours in the former Warrior Forum / archives at:

The Warrior Forum - Business Financing?

I would Love to see / hear if anyone has any other / new ideas RE: financing / finding investors for a new business / venture / site such as yours (and/or ours) as well!

I hope this all helps and Have a Great Day!

- Michael
- Thanks
- 1 reply
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- LockDown 16 years ago
  
  The big list thing just won't do it. I need to hit the masses hard.
  
  - TELEVISION
  
  - RADIO
  
  - INTERNET NEWS SITES/Banner AND text ads
  
  The service is unique, no one does what we do and it fills a great need for individuals seeking to protect their identity the "correct" way without revealing their social security number, date of birth, drivers license, etc...
  
  Our competitors do the opposite. They ask for power of attorney, store your personal information on their server/database and even enroll you over the phone/cell phone, and record the call! Their employees gain access to that data as well. That is not identity theft protection at all.
  
  And this is a HUGE market, with great potential. It's a NEW market and with a service like mine I could easily gain over a million subscribers at $7.99 per month. THAT'S HUGE.
  
  Thanks
  
  1 reply
  
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  RyanLeisure 16 years ago
  
  I don't understand how you protect someone's identity without any of their personal information or SS number. What do you do exactly?
  
  Thanks
  
  1 reply
  
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  LockDown 16 years ago
  
  I've virtually automated my competitors process. ID Theft protection is done by extracting your personal information from people search databases, and setting up fraud alerts with the 3 major credit burueas and we foward any fraud alerts to 3 phone numbers you choose so you get notification wherever you are. My competitors only set fraud alerts.
  
  Their service is old skool brick and mortar as mine is automated, more secure, and DOTCOMISH.
  
  Thanks
  
  1 reply
  
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  RyanLeisure 16 years ago
  
  Do you just alert the people, or do you actually do something about it? I subscribe to the Identity Theft Shield by Kroll and Prepaid Legal. They are the best in my eyes because they actually restore your identity FOR YOU, rather than just sending you a packet of information of how to do it yourself. They watch the 3 credit reporting agencies as well as public and criminal records to make sure you are protected against all forms of ID theft, not just the financial part.
  
  Thanks
  
  1 reply
  
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  LockDown 16 years ago
  
  We proactively allow you to prevent ID theft from ever happening and we back up our service with a $1 million dollar guarantee. ID theft has many facets to it. Our fraud alert call forwarding gives you FAST notification if there is any hanky panky going on with your credit, if a thief steals your identity etc. the FASTER you know the FASTER you can put everything on LOCKDOWN and prevent any financial nightmare from happening.
  
  It's when you DO NOT know about anything happening when you get in trouble. Kroll only offers recovery services but what good is that if you
  don't cover the other bases? Do they back up their service with a gaurantee? Do they even have a service gaurantee?
  
  Keeping your ID secret is the first step in ID theft protection and that's what my service allows people to do. and it's continual until you become "classified"
  
  Thanks
  
  1 reply
  
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  RyanLeisure 16 years ago
  
  Actually Kroll is proactive. They monitor EVERYTHING not just the financial part. The difference is, if something DOES still happen, THEY fix it themselves. Yes they do guarantee their service...not with a $1 million guarantee...but with an UNLIMITED guarantee. They fix it no matter how much it costs.Most companies only monitor your credit, which is only one part of identity theft (there are 5 parts). Not to mention Kroll is the premier company in identity monitoring and restoration. They are the only company I could find hat actually offers full identity restoration in the event that it is stolen.
  
  I'm not putting down your service, I'm just trying to figure out what it is you actually offer. Didn't you say you don't take their personal information or SS number? How do you lockdown someone's identity without that information?
  
  Thanks
  
  1 reply
  
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  jasonl70 16 years ago
  
  I say go the ppc route (banners and text, search & content)..
  let your business bootstrap itself. If it's reallty as great as you say, it seems you should be able to raise the 250k from organic growth.
  Go the traditional media route once you've reached a plateau with the ppc.
  
  Thanks
  
  1 reply
  
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  -Jason
  
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  JohnMcCabe 16 years ago
  
  Identity theft seems to be earning 'evergreen' status among the news media.
  
  If you can prove what you wrote above about your competitors, package the story as a David and Goliath tale, with you as the crusading David. Be prepared for a backlash from Goliath, though.
  
  As far as people throwing money at your competitors, I would imagine it's because they have over a million subscribers. Venture capitalists by definition are interested in getting the highest return on their investment, not necessarily the best product or service.
  
  Without that million subscribers ringing the register every month, even if you do find an investor you should brace yourself for the amount of equity they'll ask for...
  
  Thanks
  
  1 reply
  
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  Killer Joe 16 years ago
  
  Hi Keith,
  
  For what it's worth, let me put my two cents in here...
  
  From past experience I can tell you that you might have an uphill battle trying to raise such a small amount of cash ($250K) for a project like this.
  
  As crazy as it sounds, your dream needs to get bigger at this stage, and for a few reasons.
  
  First: Only an Angel Investor will play at this level. And they may have a hard time cashing out. The stakes aren't big enough to interest Venture Capital. And here is why...
  
  VCs only want to play if the stakes are high. If you look at it from their perspective it makes complete sense. Why screw around with a bunch of little investments, and have to manage those investments, when a few large investments can have the same payout without all the hassel. Time is money to this crowd like you wouldn't believe.
  
  Second: Digital media buys (TV, radio) are often bought in blocks. The standard model is around $250K per week, running 5 weeks consecutively. Minimum. That's 1.25MM as the opener.
  
  This model is also based on a return of $1.70 in sales for every $1.00 worth of ad spend. If you can reach that, the sky's the limit. This is done through test marketing, if you can reach that magic $1.70 return on the $1.00 spent, the money faucet opens and the campaign goes full tilt. That means million$ are pumped in or the project fizzles.
  
  Now the reason I am telling you to upgrade your initial $250K investment criteria is not to throw water on your fire, it is to get you to understand that raising significantly more money initially can actually be easier than raising such a small amount.
  
  The advantages to starting out with a package that will interest 'big money' are many.
  
  The monies invested need velocity. The original backers will often be looking to cash out within 24 months or so. It varies, but most VCs won't put any money on the table unless there is a clear cut exit. That means all the monies needed to make the project purr have to be lined up or commited to in advance.
  
  Ideally, cashing out means taking the company public, in many instances. From what you are describing, a $8MM monthly cashflow fits that model fairly well.
  
  Bottom line: Take it up a notch or two, and think long term. These kind of dreams do happen. But only to the big dreamers.
  
  I know, I worked with a bunch of guys on a start-up and we took it from working out of a garage to raising $18 Million on NASDAQ. These things are totally possible if you have the right team.
  
  You also need the right bait to attract the big fish and that bait equals big dollars. So from now on your business plan should include how your $2.5MM start up capital is going to play out, and how much control of your business you are going to allow to be collateralized in return for the money.
  
  My bet? I'll bet you knew this stuff already...
  
  Much success,
  
  KJ
  
  Thanks
  
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