What the heck is crowdfunding, you ask? It's a means of raising capital, usually over the Internet, from people who believe in what you're trying to accomplish. Technology consultant Scott Steinberg co-wrote the The Crowdfunding Bible to guide could-be tycoons through the process, and we interviewed Steinberg to help PCWorld Business Center readers emulate the success of such ventures as the videogame project, which has raised nearly $3 million through crowdfunding; or the watch project, which has raised more than $10 million.

PCWorld Business Center: What are the key lessons entrepreneurs interested in crowdfunding should take away from this book?

Scott Steinberg: Any crowdfunding campaign is going to involve a great deal of effort and participation. It is fundamentally a consumer-marketing effort. You see the successes, but what you don't realize is that there are 100 failures out there for each success that go completely unnoticed. To be one of the success stories, you need to be able to instantly grab a backer's attention and engage in a running conversation with them.

Weeks in advance, you want to begin your preparation. Get pacing and cadence down. It's a war, not a battle. Have as much ammunition to fight with as possible. Do as much research as you can, think about who your audience is, how to reach them, and create your assets like videos, screenshots, websites and blogs in advance. A support network is essential to put into place; and if you can swing it, it can be a huge victory to get a personality to talk about your project.

If you create momentum beforehand, you'll have support for your launch on day one. If you rally support beforehand, you'll have a plan and assets in place to conduct a running campaign throughout the duration, not just the first 48 hours.