Crowdsourcing king Kickstarter.com might not be the best bet for aspiring entrepreneurs to raise funds.

You’ve got a great, unique idea for a product and know that somewhere, there is a need. You must raise money quickly for surgery bills insurance does not cover. Maybe you lack the cash required to get that one-of-a-kind film into production.

Ordinary folks and entrepreneurs alike are flocking to crowdfunding sites to try and raise money and generate the interest that will bring their projects to life. With hard work, ingenuity, and help from crowdsourcing companies, people are donating – or not — to help decide which projects come to fruition.

All crowdfunding sites operate on a similar model. A person/group submits a project idea, complete with a written description, funding needed, deadline for donations, and pictures or a video. If accepted, they create a project webpage that is listed on the crowdfunding site. By being a part of the site’s integrated social media network, the product creator also gets back-end support. Additionally, they receive not only money, but interest, word-of-mouth advertising, and even technical assistance from their backers.

Well, it’s that time of year again. Even if you don’t make a list of New Year’s resolutions, chances are between now and December 31st, you’ll reflect on the highs and lows of the last 12 months and you’ll think about how 2013 will be better or at least different.

Whether your goal-setting style is deliberate or helter skelter, achieving your goals next year will involve a clear definition upfront and regularly reviewing and tracking them throughout the year.

We know what you’re thinking! “Hey, is there an app for all of this?” We’re glad you asked.

It turns out a few techies accomplished their goals and developed  goal setting apps to help you achieve yours.  Take a look at these 5 apps to increase your odds of setting and reaching your goals in 2013.

Happy holidays and best wishes in the New Year from all of us here at Grasshopper!

Love data? If so, you’re probably familiar with basics like pageviews, impressions, bounce rates, and shares. As interesting as these metrics are to watch, are they essential to your business?

“Vanity metrics are things like registered users, downloads, and raw pageviews,” Erick Schonfeld wrote in a TechCrunch article. “They are easily manipulated, and do not necessarily correlate to the numbers that really matter: active users, engagement, the cost of getting new customers, and ultimately revenues and profits.”

The metrics you follow should have a tangible impact on your bottom line. Data should help you make judgment calls, improve efficiency, and grow as steadily as possible.

“It is important for startups to properly instrument the data they track so that they can get a handle on the true health of their business,” Schonfeld wrote. “If they track only the vanity metrics, they can get a false sense of success.”

So what metrics should you be watching? Here are five to help you get started.

What do you know about your website’s visitors? Where do they come from? What are their key preferences? What is your website doing well, and where is it missing the mark? The answers to these questions are crucial for your business and have the potential to save you time and money.

Small business owners, entrepreneurs, and marketers all share a major challenge in creating high-tech products that their customers genuinely enjoy. Assumptions, however, can only take you so far.