DoWeComply.com, a media website focused on social media compliance and the law, is one of the newest companies to crowdfund its project (ending May 17).
DoWeComply.com has selected the Indiegogo platform because it fits its business model and offered an affordable platform that didn't require the developing company to give up ownership or pay large commissions.
"As we looked at our options to fund DoWeComply.com, we realized that we could go to traditional seed or venture capital, but we felt it was premature to explore those options," said Debbie Harris, CEO and Founder of DoWeComply.com. "Crowdfunding DoWeComply.com gave us a real-world opportunity to explore and experience crowdfunding in a reputable way. Crowdfunding gave us an alternative to traditional capitalization."
DoWeComply.com is developing its site out in the open, because the stakeholders believe that the topic of social media compliance is bigger than just them. They are big believers in social learning, and the idea was for people to see the direction they were going in and building a community that was vested in how and where the site developed.
According to Harris and David Mayne, VP of Digital Business for DoWeComply.com, the website will focus on three main areas: resources, partners and news. The partner area, for example, will include a partner directory with companies oriented to the digital marketplace.
The big attraction for partners is that the social media compliance field brings a high-level client that most technology partners are interested in reaching. Partnering with the site can mean a percentage of per-click programs or a sale, whatever works for best for both companies.
An early partner is SocialSafe, which is a company out of the U.K. that stores company's pictures and social media content, which allows businesses to keep a record of everything that has been said or done on their pages or profiles. This is particularly useful when social media efforts are handed over to employees, so SocialSafe makes a record of interactions, conversations, posts, etc.
Mayne says that DoWeComply.com knew that it needed to have multiple areas and parallels, so they are building relationships with technology partners, which is also helping them grow a base of contributing experts, while also standing up as an expert themselves.
As for the news section of the site, DoWeComply.com will take actual court cases involving social media and explain the ramifications to other site owners. Those in the social media space should pay attention, as there are case studies being developed by the day.
