Justin Valmassoi and his zines. Check out his campaign here.

Drawing a blank when you come to the Our Story part of posting your campaign pitch on IndieGoGo?

We understand. Sometimes it's hard to introduce yourself, your big ideas, and your hopes and dreams, all in a few short paragraphs.

So we've put together a few tips to help you write about your personal story in the most compelling way possible.

1 – Find your angle.

What makes your campaign stick out from the others? What is unique about your experience or the narrative behind your campaign? Are you the only one doing something like this? Or perhaps you're the youngest — or oldest?

Is this a love story? Is it based on a true story? Is it uniting people who used to be enemies? Are you fulfilling a lifelong dream? Is your campaign the first of a series? The start of something? Or maybe the end of something?

Tell us what is unique, novel, and important about what you are doing.

2 – Identify a critical problem or issue — what are your campaign contributors helping you solve?

Justin Valmassoi does an excellent job of this in his campaign story. It goes something like this:

I'm going to the Chicago Zine Fest in March with two zines I publish. But it actually costs me $3.01 to publish each zine that I sell for $3.00. I don't have the cash upfront to spend the $421.40 I need to print enough zines for the fest, so I need YOUR help for upfront printing costs.

Think of ways your campaign might fit into the same narrative.

– Something that's going well, plus a little bit of history about yourself.
– What's the hitch? The bad news? The problem?
– How can your audience help you solve that problem?

3 – Tell them who you are.

Be able to sum up not just your campaign but yourself as well, using the 'elevator pitch' approach. Make it personal and authentic. Don't assume everyone reading your IndieGoGo campaign page already knows who you are. Some things to include in your few-sentence bio: your professional experience, where you're from, why this is important to you, your passions and hobbies, how you got to where you are today, and what you're working on next.

4 – Be specific about what you're raising money for.

The scope of your campaign might be larger than the specific thing you're raising money for. So be specific about what the funds you raise will go toward.  Build your credibility by mentioning how you have smartly used money in the past towards your project, or how you plan to use the money if you don't reach your funding goal.

5 – What is the relevance of your time line?

People love a countdown. So if you're trying to raise money by a certain date for a specific reason, tell us. Are you keeping it short to meet a deadline? Ending your project on a significant date? Drawing attention to your time line can instill a sense of urgency and encourage people to donate.

And at the very least, remember, if you get stuck writing about your campaign, start with the basics: the who, what, where, when and why, and then fill in the details.

Good luck!