ZoneBitcoin EditorialCreating an ICO is good, but making it a success is better.
If you are reading this article, it is because fundamentally, you are thinking of creating your own cryptocurrency and possibly raising funds specific to this universe, right?
We are talking more and more about these incredible fundraisers. There are thousands of new tokens and hundreds of cryptocurrencies today. 2017 and 2018 were the crazy years of ICOs. The total amount of funds raised was around $5 billion!
Well, unless you want to create a useless token in some kind of big joke like was the case with the Ethereum Useless token, creating an ICO is and remains a serious matter.
It will take a lot of energy and a lot of time. You should build a dedicated team and above all communicate as much as possible about your ICO.
Creating your ICO from A to Z can also be relatively expensive. In general, it is accepted that it takes 30 euros to launch the entire campaign. But, it of course depends on your project, your team and the size you want it to reach.
If your project is not very ambitious, it could cost you almost nothing (!). That said, it's just the time that can be long. Indeed, between the pre-ico preparations and the official launch, there can be a period of a year, or even more. But generally, between pre-ico and ico, it takes 3 months if you do it right.
Regarding the team involved in the project, as with the creation of a startup, there is no general rule. That said, try to surround yourself with people who are at least competent and invested in the project. What would ideally be needed is people for each pole: developers, Blockchain specialists, marketers, possible partners and community managers (who have a central place in ICOs, like you will see it later in this guide).
Besides, this part of surrounding yourself is not the easiest. You will have to surf Linkedin and specialized forums to talk to and convince your future associates.
Finally, in the land of ICOs, know that there are no established rules: competition is tough, time is an illusion and the future value of tokens depends on nothing other than the harsh law of supply and demand. The more people want to buy your token, the more value it will have. There is no miracle solution.
To help you get through it despite everything, here in this guide are all the steps to follow. Here we show you how to create your ICO but also and above all, how to make your ICO successful.
1.Define an idea and make sure you really need an ICO
If you want your project to succeed, it must offer the solution that the market currently needs, and that solution must be objectively better than that of your competitors. After all, a cryptocurrency and an ICO are solutions to a given problem. To achieve this, you need to have in-depth knowledge of that market, know your target audience, and most importantly, know what they will be willing to give you their money for. So, again, think about a real problem.
Stanislaw Zarychta
@stahooo
Even more than the problem, try to make your crypto the essential tool for using your service. For example, the blockchain hydrogen project launched crypto HYC to create hydrogen service stations. So, to pay for these famous gas stations, you will have to pay with this crypto.
There you get the idea: give real value to your crypto by giving it meaning and utility. This is how it will really be in demand. Basically, your token and your service/product must be closely linked. It is thanks to your token that your service/product can be purchased. There you have it, the first key.
If most ICOs fail, it is simply because their token has no real use other than speculation. Many entrepreneurs followed the trend and wanted to create an ICO simply for the sake of creating an ICO.
I want to add that as long as you don't have a real meaning, a real destination for your crypto, then wait until you have the genius idea. Otherwise, you risk wasting your time.
Besides, even if you have a good idea, try talking about it on BitcoinTalk. Crypto investors and connoisseurs are generally frank enough to tell you if the token seems interesting to them or to throw in the trash.
If you are courageous by nature, take the big problems of the world and try to provide a solution. It will always be an ethical token, if not profitable. And, this will reassure us about the future of the human condition.
2. Analyze your competition
If you have found the right idea, know that you will not be alone. Besides, if you have no competition at all, you should be wary. It's a bad sign in general.
Look at your closest competitors, the means they used, their teams, their promotional materials: in short, look at everything. This can give you tons of information about your future and potential investors.
3. Check the legal aspects and determine if your ICO is legal in your country.
ICOs are currently the most regulated aspect of cryptocurrencies. This is explained by the incalculable number of ICOs which were big scams. As a result - and we understand - many countries wanted to regulate the thing.
Nonetheless, in most countries, ICOs are legal, regulated, or subject to future regulations. To date, only China and South Korea have explicitly banned ICOs in their respective jurisdictions.
In the United States, citizens are required to disclose any income earned and wealth held abroad to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Additionally, the US Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) pursues ICOs that do not comply with their strict know-your-customer (KYC) policies.
Because of this, a growing number of projects, such as Goldmint, Datum, many others, prohibit US citizens from participating in ICOs. In general, this is stipulated on the site.
The ideal would be to hire an experienced cryptocurrency lawyer (if possible) to avoid making the slightest legal error.
Keep in mind, however, that even if you are not breaking any laws, any shady activity on your part, especially when it comes to dealing with investments, may result in your project being labeled a scam and scam by the community. And that is clearly the worst that can happen.
4. Create your ICO token
You know, basically, creating an ICO is creating a token, in fact. This is the most exciting part of this whole adventure. You need to have a solid distribution plan. It very much depends on the needs and plans of your ICO. For example, there can be many different stages in the token sale:
- private sale,
- the pre-sale
- the official sale
In fact, different structures work for different ICOs. In 2013, NXT had managed to amass over 16800 in Bitcoin, simply collecting donations for an anonymous wallet via the BitcoinTalk forum. Interestingly enough, after all these years, NXT's ICO still ranks first in terms of investment returns. Well, yes, sometimes there are nice surprises. Like this guy who crowdfunded a potato salad for $18.
Next, you need to clearly state how exactly the tokens are going to be distributed at each stage. Decide in advance how many tokens will be issued in total, how many will be distributed among your team members, and how many will be sold at each stage of the token sale. Finally, decide in which phase you will issue additional tokens.
When it comes to blockchain platforms used to issue tokens for ICOs, the market really isn't that competitive (at the moment anyway).
According to data from ICOWatchList, 81,7% of projects use the Ethereum platform, while the remaining 9% opt to develop their own custom blockchain platforms. There are of course other services such as Waves, or Stratis or Hyperledger. Note, however, that their combined market share only represents 3,7% market share. Yes it's Vitalik Buterin who must be happy.
So, maybe you too will opt for Ethereum blockchain. Creating the token itself is a relatively easy process, especially for Ethereum's ERC20 tokens. The Ethereum website even has the code you'll need to use. However, it can be a little more difficult to customize certain aspects of the mass sale logic of your tokens. Therefore, if you are not really tech-savvy, consider hiring a professional to do it for you.
(We are preparing an article on ICO platforms to find out a little more).
5. Write your white paper/The famous WhitePaper
The white paper is the technical document that describes your entire project. Ideally the white paper should cover all aspects of your ICO: the vision of your project, its development strategy, its architecture and objectives, information on the token and its distribution, legal issues, your resources, your team, your investors and your advisors. Understand that the more precise your white paper is, the more likely your project is to be supported. Besides, I don't know if investors really read the white paper, because it remains relatively indigestible. Even if there are only 6 people in the world reading it, it's already important. These 6 people, as little as they are influential, can give you a positive image on your project. This allows the most curious to understand you better. Certainly, to better invest in your token.
6. Create your website
Understand right away that people are only really interested in three things: the team, the project objectives (the roadmap) and the measures in place to ensure the protection of investors' interests. It is in fact these three criteria that are the most important when you decide to create an ICO that will appeal to the public.
The team section of the site should contain names, high-quality photos, short biographies (specifically focused on the skills of the team members, relevant to this particular project) and links to social networks. The ideal is the Linkedin link.
The roadmap is another extremely important section of your site. It’s even a crucial part, once again. It should contain clear, achievable goals and deadlines. A roadmap showing important milestones already achieved will undoubtedly give investors much more confidence in your project.
Ideally, your timeline should include defined dates for an alpha release, a beta release, a public release, and any future milestones you deem necessary to mention. Dates should not be vague, you should be as specific as possible. An estimate of the costs associated with each task outlined in the roadmap would also be a good idea.
Finally, make sure that all information regarding token distribution is easily accessible to your potential investors. Tell them how much of your project currency will be split among the development team and how much will actually be available for purchase.
Traditionally, links to the project's social networks are listed at the bottom of the site.
Once your content is ready to publish, consider the aesthetic layout of the site. To create an ICO, know that the site is the very foundation of your success. The absolute majority of projects these days opt for a one-page structure. It is undoubtedly a very convenient and easily accessible way to present all the necessary information in the exact order it is supposed to be. However, you and only you will know the structure best suited to your project site.
Security.
Now one thing you definitely don't want your site to be lacking. Once your ICO has started, thousands of people will flock to your website at the same time, especially if you have done well in terms of communication. The worst thing that could happen is that your site is inaccessible.
Choose a very good quality hosting service. You should not skimp on this point.
Additionally, hacking and DDoS attacks also pose a very common threat to any project running an ICO. Many official sites have been hacked and wallet addresses replaced. As a result, investors unknowingly sent their money to scammers.
Also, if you are launching a major PR campaign, be sure to take all necessary precautions to protect your project from phishing attacks. It is quite common for scammers to accompany a DDoS attack on your server with a spam attack on all social channels with a message saying: “our site is temporarily down, use this link instead”. You get the idea: the site is fake and it is a virus waiting for users.
Design.
The design of the site should ideally reflect the nature of your project, it should be reliable, smooth and professional, while remaining user-friendly. Even a tiny mistake in text formatting, for example, will ruin many investors. Consider hiring professionals to create and design your project site.
Here is roughly what the ideal site for an ICO should include:
- Registration Form
- Video presentation
- Roadmap: what, when and how you are going to do
- Description of your ICO
- The team: good quality photos, short biographies, links to social networks
- "The media talks about us" if possible.
- Documents: terms and conditions, legal document, white paper, etc.
- Partners, advisors, public figures if you have.
- Home
- Project social media account contact details and links
Know that to create a successful ICO, you will need to be as international as possible. The most useful languages for translating all your information are Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, German, French and Spanish.
Since creating a successful ICO from scratch costs around $60, you will only need to allocate a relatively small amount for translations. Depending on the language pairs, the translation of a 000-page white paper by a professional or organization should cost between 25 and 150 euros, depending on the size. You can use a freelancer site (but choose a very good translator) to do this. Otherwise, you can use Airdrops (I will do a detailed article on it).
If you decide to create a multilingual site, make sure you hire professional translators who are really good at their job. Even the smallest mistakes can make your project look unprofessional and lose potential investors.
7. Public relations and marketing
So, you've made good progress so far. You've found the killer idea, assembled a dedicated team, written your white paper, created your token and ensured that your ICO campaign is in order. Now it's time to take action. In other words, it's time for you to do some publicity. Otherwise, there is no chance of you making money or your tokens selling.
This is clearly the hardest part of the thing. But, you will see that thanks to airdrop and bounty, this can be done quite easily.
First, make sure you allocate a significant amount of money for marketing. A good marketing manager who will be in charge of your project's social media feeds will cost you at least 2 euros per month.
Also be sure to use paid ads sometimes. This includes announcements on specific platforms, announcements on forums, etc. Around 5 euros for paid advertising should be allocated.
Finally, consider how much money (or tokens) you are willing to allocate to airdrops and bounty programs as they are part of your marketing campaign.
Similar to site design, planning a PR campaign requires you to look at your project from the perspective of a potential investor. Ask yourself how and where you will inform your audience. The best possible place.
As you must know, the entire cryptocurrency market and traders and investors alike live with one thing: FOMO or fear of missing out. People will invest in your business if they see a lot of media talking about it. Subconsciously, if they see a lot of people talking about your ICO, they will think it's important. That this is the ultimate time to go ahead and invest in your token.
Communicate as often as possible and on all media. Don't be afraid to overdo it. It’s never enough in ICOs.
Then, register on the bounty and airdrop platforms and be generous. Token hunters are happy to share your project if you reward them.
Join the crypto community if you haven't already.
Here are some methods to infiltrate the crypto investing community:
Forum: The essential part of your public relations campaign. In fact, most ICOs have taken place on Bitcoin-related forums. BitcoinTalk is the one you should really focus on, as it is the largest and most popular of these platforms at the moment, especially when it comes to announcing new cryptocurrencies. Of course, you should not forget about forums such as Bitcoin.com, AltcoinTalks, BitcoinGarden and many more.
ICO Calendars: people should be able to stumble across your campaign. Many ICO calendars allow potential investors to track upcoming ICOs, and you should take full advantage of these services. Notable examples include calendars from CoinTelegraph, TokenMarket, ICOAlert and many others.
Reddit: Pay close attention to Reddit. Reddit has over 40 subreddits related to Bitcoin alone, and it is perhaps the most active social network when it comes to cryptocurrencies. There are also many sub-segments dedicated to altcoins, as well as those focused entirely on ICOs, such as r/icocrypto (active and upcoming), r/ico, and r/ICOanalysis. Additionally, be sure to constantly monitor the platform and use the search bar to find and follow discussion threads related to your project and its ICO. Researching and answering questions should be an integral part of your marketing campaign.
Quora Threads: Quora is a site where users come to ask questions. Some questions are referenced first in the first Google page. This shows you the power of Quora. Play the game and ask a question related to your ICO. Then respond with your solution. Who knows? Perhaps your problem is a problem for many other people who will type the question into search engines.
Telegram: This is clearly the most widely adopted messenger app by the cryptocurrency community. Most importantly, both services allow you to set up channels, which is an extremely useful way to keep your audience up to date on your campaign. Additionally, you can also organize a chat for your potential investors to communicate and discuss the project. The more open you are to it, the more funds you will attract. Additionally, you can use existing channels and discussions to promote your ICO.
LinkedIn Professional Groups: Since your project site provides links to your team members' LinkedIn accounts, the service becomes another extremely useful tool for promoting and building trust in your potential investors. This is where they will be able to see how deeply rooted your project is in the cryptocurrency community. Additionally, there are professional groups such as ICO Launch Group, ICO Group and many others where you can discuss and promote your campaign.
Facebook Groupes: Definitely create a Facebook page for your ICO, as for many people this might be the easiest way to contact a startup. This is of course not where you will do most of your work because Facebook prohibits ads related to cryptocurrencies. However, there are still many dedicated groups, where you can post your project.
Marketing by email
You need to keep people updated with a weekly email. You can also remind them of your ICO start date a month, a week, a day, or even five minutes before it starts. Although, don't force them. Don't send too many emails. You don't like being sent lots of emails either, right?
Bountys and Airdrops are also significant and they give you free advertising.
Today, it has become essential. Since it's not easy to advertise on social media, there is an alternative that crypto enthusiasts love.
These programs provide financial rewards (you give away your tokens for free) in exchange for promotional actions from Internet users.
So, for example, you offer the equivalent of $0,50 for sharing one of your tweets on Twitter, or sharing on Facebook. You can also offer tokens to YouTubers who would make a video about your project. You can also reward a person who has written an article on medium or steemit. Finally, you have a wide choice of promoting your ICO in this way.
They become a sort of ambassador for your project. Plus, do you know the power of word of mouth? Well, it works a bit like that with airdrops.
That said, don't overdo it. When investors know that all the good articles or videos have been "sponsored" it can take away value from your project.
Important warning
If your campaign is to be successful, you will need to publicize it in every way possible, making sure you reach as many people as possible. But it is essential that you and your marketing team be very careful with every post, post or response.
Even if only a few users on a forum, subreddit or a single person suspect you of being a scam, then it will be deadly for your project.
8. Finally, launch your ICO
Congratulations, at this point, you have almost finished your ICO. But, how long will this last? Here are some examples of ICOs with different durations:
Mastercoin (now Omni Coin) – ICO lasted a month, generating approximately $750 worth of Bitcoin
Stratis – ICO lasted 36 days, raising almost $600
Ethereum – The token sale lasted 42 days and generated $18 million (it was early days at that time).
NXT – ICO ran for 51 days, raising around $14 but with no promotions.
Taking into account the statistics above, simple mathematical manipulations will lead us to the ideal duration of a successful ICO: 40 days. Of course, this is an average figure based on a few campaigns and in no way a golden ratio of any sort.
However, it reflects the current market situation to some extent. The time frame is long enough to generate the famous FOMO and you have time to promote without overdoing it. Likewise, you do not make your investors impatient.
Some ICOs take far too long and the raising paradoxically becomes more perilous. Emphasize the urgency. Create FOMO once again and don’t let your potential investors hang around too much.
Likewise, there are too many projects for you to be long. It is therefore also necessary to show the progress of the entire journey since your decision to create your ICO.
Most importantly, you need to have security specialists on your site. At any time, your site can come under attack, as was the case with the Coindash ICO on July 17, 2017. Their site was hacked on the very first day of their ICO campaign, resulting in the loss of 7 million dollars.
What happens after an ICO?
If your ICO was a success, it means that the community bought your tokens. At the end of the campaign, it's your project's turn to deliver. Now is the time to distribute the tokens, continue to follow your roadmap, and do your best to deliver the most value possible to customers and token holders.
Essentially, this is just the beginning of your project. So you have received your funding in some way to start your project.
To tell you the truth, the ICO was the easy part. Now that your project has raised the necessary funds, development of the final product should begin or, preferably, continue on a much larger scale. At this point, your project not only has the funds to complete its project, but also has a moral and financial obligation not to let investors down.
Your investors believed in your project, they supported you. It's up to you not to disappoint them.
Get your token on exchange platforms (the absolute grail)
Of course, it's good to develop your product, realize your dream of becoming a successful entrepreneur, and make the cryptocurrency community a better place by developing a great project. That’s why you decided to create an ICO, right?
But now, around you, people are waiting for one thing: to get rich. And yes, they all want to be able to win something.
To do this, your token must be in high demand. It must be valuable. And, to do this, your token must be listed on at least one exchange platform. The token listing requires different conditions, but if your project offers something unique and valuable to the cryptocurrency community, you should have no problems receiving it.
The basic attributes that any coin must have if it wants to be listed on an exchange:
Part Name – This should be self-explanatory, it's either the same name as your project or something very similar.
Cryptocurrency symbol – Typically a three-letter ticker representing your forever token. The number of letters can sometimes be up to five, without numbers.
Description of your project and its token – You should provide each exchange you are trying to list your token on with a clear mission and pitch for your coin.
Why would they want to list it? What makes your token different from hundreds of coins?
Coin Logo – You will need to design a smooth and memorable logo for your token. Think of Bitcoin’s instantly recognizable orange logo. Most exchanges accept logos in PNG format with a transparent background.
Launch Date – This should be the first day of your ICO campaign.
GitHub Link – Most exchanges will require source code before even considering listing a coin.
Source code reviewed by a trusted third party – Again, this should be self-explanatory.
Compliance Fees (in certain cases) – Some exchanges, in the event that sufficient due diligence is required, may require you to pay a compliance fee before your token can be listed. Bittrex, for example, used to warn its users that a $5 fee might be charged, but they appear to have since abandoned this rule.
If you are unsure which exchange to apply to, here is a list of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges by trading volume:
Bitfinex
Bithumb
Bittrex
HitBTC
bitfly is
Poloniex
GDAX
Creak
Bitstamp
Binance
I hope this article on how to create an ICO has been useful to you. In any case, know that in any project, it is always perseverance that pays off. So, be determined!
Original article in English: https://cointelegraph.com/ico-101/how-to-launch-an-ico-a-detailed-guide#be-a-part-of-the-cryptocurrency-community
