I am sorry to bump an old thread, but I promoted Aura and the Developer left so I feel that the Aura users who were waiting for the YouStock platform deserve to be show an alternative that now exists
https://steemit.com/hive-172229/@punicwax/how-to-conduct-a-token-ico-using-steem-engineThis is going to be a Guide for Conducting a Token ICO. This can be translated to any User Issued Asset (UIA) or other Token that exists on a liquid platform which automatically lists the Token. I will explain what Tokens are so everyone understands, as well as show some examples. I will show how to do both the Free ICO Model and Token Sale Model.
Steem-Engine
This is a video Guide for using Steem-Engine
https://youtu.be/PXIbT7aOJLUIn the Video an old app is used for the Password, you can now use the KeyChain Extension for Mozilla or Google Chrome.
Once you get used to Steem-Engine you can launch a Token for 100 STEEM which is only about $15.00 at this moment, when the value of STEEM goes up, the bar to entry will be higher as 100 STEEM might be $50.00 soon, or $100.00, etc. So try to understand Steem-Engine and put a Token up when you can, I will write a full guide for making a Token soon.
Tokens
The first Tokens were Bitshares Assets on OpenLedger. These were made to be distributed like Stocks, or Certificates of Ownership of something with 1 Token = to 1 Unit, or like Concert Tickets. These then became the place where Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) started.
The second Tokens I was ever aware of were Ethereum Smart Contracts. A Smart Contract is basically a code that executes exchanges as designated. A Smart Contract is built on the Ethereum Blockchain in geth, which is the native Ethereum language, usually in the form of an App, called a dApp, hosted on the Ethereum Blockchain. Geth is used to create the exact perameters of the Smart Contract.
The most well known Smart Contract is probably Cryptokitties, which was like a super simple Collecting game. The Tokens were Cats, which had Contracts governing them. They would breed, and make more Cats and you could sell them for Ethereum, the rarest ones sold for Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars.
Mark Cuban has a Token called Unikoin which is video game bets using Tokens. PGL is a Token used in the Ethereum dApp Game called Prospectors. You mine or earn Gold in the game, which converts to PGL.
Token Sale or Free ICO
When conducting an ICO you have to decide if you are going to sell Tokens, or give them away for Tasks, Bounties, etc. Ethereum Tokens were built to be sold, and Tools were created put in place machanisms to send Ethereum to an address and Tokens would be automatically issued to your Ethereum Wallet. But this limits it to Ethereum users, who have Meta-Mask or other sometimes confusing Ethereum Tools.
Steem-Engine is simple, like Bitshares Assets, with a much slighter learning curve than OpenLedger, lower Price Entry, and an entire Crypto fueled Social Media Platform attached, Steemit.
Token Sale ICO
In a Token Sale ICO you make an Announcement post here, and on Bitcointalk.org where you call it:
[ANN] YOUR TOKEN NAME [SYMBL] - Tokenized STEEM AssetYou would there put all the information and links for your coin, the Market Link. And in a Token Sale you add that you are selling the Token.
You would say maybe:
"Send 1 STEEM or SBD to @yourusername and receive 10 My Tokens"
If you do this you need to create a community on Steemit, Facebook and Discord if you can, and make everyone aware of every move you make because they are the ones directly funding you, and they see it as an investment.
And you must do Buy Backs and Token Burns or you are stealing from someone.
Free ICO
In a Free ICO you create similar announcement pages and groups, and list Tasks to be done, where users can report Tasks finished, and what they will earn. Then you should do Airdrops, meaning find random active Steem-Engine users and send them a non-substantial amount of Tokens, meaning an amount that they can't go kill the Market with.
If you are Selling Tokens, do NOT Airdrop, that is giving Free Tokens when others paid. It will hurt the Market, and Investors seeing their money dwindling might sell, causing a chain reaction of sales, and Buyers taking the Buy orders off the Market. If you are Conducting a Free ICO Airdrop, and someone wants to Buy your Free Token, they understand the risk and clearly intend to hold the Token and you may sell it to them at a reasonable price. But do not Airdrop a Token you are primarily selling.
When issuing a Free Asset you alert the users when a Dump is coming, allowing them to prepare to buy cheap Tokens. You then use the Funds to create something profitable for the community, or schedule a Buy Back. A Buy Back coming will trigger Buy Orders, because people want to buy a cheap coin that has a legitimate promise of being bought back.
Buy Backs
When doing a Buy Back, funds have to be secured first. There is then a Countdown, usually months out. You tell Token holders how much is going to be used in the Buy Back. Users can then Buy up whatever is on the Market, this allows you to secure an even larger amount by selling to them. Do not Flood the Market without Warning.
After a Buy Back, there were 2 Price raises.
1. When they bought what was on the Market, and relisted it for sale at a higher price. This innately raises the price as everyone collectively unconsciously agrees the Coins are worth more.
2. When you Buy the listed Tokens, as you Buy up the Tokens listed for higher prices, the price innately goes up. And you can now take those Tokens and list them even higher.
Token Burns
There is also a Buy Back and Burn, which could be as simple as creating a Steemit account, never saving the password, and sending Tokens there. Token Holders can then Track the number of Tokens in Circulation, and the number Burned. This way it becomes rarer and rarer, and therefor more valuable than it was before the Burn.
This also gets into the Existing Supply, Total Supply and Decimals, which are set during Token creation and this becomes more important as the Token becomes a Currency.
Token Discussion Community
We will be helping people create Tokens and help Incubate them here.
https://steemit.com/created/hive-172229 
Poll
