Many of us struggle to save our money from whatever we earn so that we can lead a nice and bit more than ordinary life. However, saving is a task which takes time and it is often hard to save a fixed amount every month. Rather than thinking of saving a small amount every month, why not think of earning something extra? Stock trading is that one field or market where you can earn a great amount of money in the shortest time. But, it is not as easy as it seems. If you are new to the stock trading, then there are certain things you need to look for to avoid losing for the very first time itself.

Here, we are sharing a beginner’s guide to help you with stock trading:

1. Keep your funds aside:

The first thing which is also the most important one is to understand that you shouldn’t put all your savings and money in the stock trading. You should always have a fixed monthly amount which you can afford to invest and even if you are not getting it back and losing, it is not impacting you a lot.

2. Gain some knowledge:

 It is normal that when you will decide to enter the field of trading, there will be many who will suggest many things. Don’t trust people blindly, they may have gained some profit with their ways, but it is not mandatory that it will work for you. So, gather some knowledge and read some materials on stock trading.

3. Hire a broker:

Accept it or not, but the facts remain the same. No one can excel at stock trading merely by reading some materials and doing it part-time. One needs to get into the field, analyze the market, takes a risk and then he/she can know how the market works. So, avoiding putting your savings at stake all the time and getting certain returns, it is better that you hire a broker.  A broker is aware of all the ups and downs of the market, and he knows on which stock to invest getting you a certain return.

Stock trading is a booming market which is never at rest, but it is not something that everyone can know about. You must know how to deal with many things to deal with the best and the safest way.

Crowdfunding is a process in which a large number of people contribute small amounts of money to raise a large sum. The rudiments of crowdfunding have existed in India for a long time. However, organized and effective online crowdfunding in India came into being in the last decade.

Crowdfunding can help raise money for a lot of things. You can use crowdfunding to raise money for someone’s medical treatment, for social causes and for business ideas. There are four kinds of crowdfunding: donations based crowdfunding, rewards-based crowdfunding, debt crowdfunding, and equity crowdfunding.

Depending on the reason for your crowdfunding campaign and the type of campaign you choose, your strategy for the campaign will differ. Here I have tried to write down some tips for medical, social and business campaigns.

Medical Campaigns

If your fundraising in India project is for medical reasons, there are certain things that you can do:

1. Find a crowdfunding platform that has experience in dealing with cases of medical crowdfunding. Impact Guru is one platform that does this.
2. Write a fundraiser which is clear and short explaining why you need to crowdsource your medical treatment. Explain your financial condition and the nature of the illness.
3. In your fundraiser, you should use text, image and video to explain your situation. Post pictures of medical documents in order to build credibility.
4. Post a video of the patient delivering a message if they are in a condition to. Otherwise, find a way to talk about the illness yourself.
5. Use social media and a team to campaign for publicity.

Social change is often possible through crowdfunding. Many NGOs have taken to crowdfunding in order to raise money for their various projects. This has become quite common after the recent government crackdown on foreign funding to NGOs.

1. Choose a crowdfunding platform experienced with the kind of campaign you want to do.
2. Write a fundraiser effectively detailing your project and what you want to do.
3. If you have done projects like this before, provide links and other evidence to them.
4. Fully use images and videos for your campaign.
5. Make a campaign video that summarizes the goals of the campaign and post it with links everywhere.
6. In order to make the campaign video, you can use professional help. This might require money but the returns you get on this will be far more.
7. Use social media to the highest degree in order to raise money.
8. Know the people who are likely to donate to your cause. If you are working for child rights, other child rights activists are likely to donate to your cause.

Things differ a little bit for business crowdfunding. Business crowdfunding is done with a profit motive and is very helpful for startups. If you want to raise funds for business crowdfunding, you should be able to write an effective crowdfunding pitch. You could go for equity crowdfunding or for rewards based crowdfunding, if you are not based in India. In India however, equity crowdfunding has been put on hold by SEBI.

1. Find a website that is willing to host your crowdfunding campaign. Some websites are selective and some are not. Choose the ones you like and then select the one which likes you.
2. Write a good pitch. Explain exactly what your product is going to be and why you think it has a market.
3. If you are going for rewards based crowdfunding, explain why your product is unique and better than its competitors.
4. If you are going for debt crowdfunding, explain clearly why you think you will be willing to return the loan with interest.
5. Use social media to raise as much money as possible. However, do not exclude conventional forms of communication, when you go into campaign mode.