This past week I decided on running a Kickstarter to help make the next issue of Vision everything I want it to be. The worlds best riders telling tales of whimsy and inspiration, featuring some of the industries best photographers and displayed in a modern layout. Another reason for the Kickstarter is to pay everybody for their work in order to maintain a good relationship with them. This is crucial as without a good relationship with others in the industry, getting content becomes very difficult. Also supporting the riders and photographers allows them to keep creating great content which is mutually beneficial.
Within the Kickstarter I will have rewards ranging from apparel to printed copies of Issue Three. I think it will not only be a great way to build capital but also to show everyone in the industry how strong of an audience is around Vision. It also will act as bit of a PR stunt to grow the audience. Even if I don't reach my goal, I believe it will be beneficial by attracting new readers. Recently a Kickstarter launched for an apparel company, and by the end of the campaign they had gone from 0 to 70K followers on Instagram. Now I would be happy with a small fraction of those results. Since my audience would most likely grow from this endeavor, it would make it easier to sell ads and build capital. It's a win win situation.
0 Comments
I have a somewhat clear vision (get it?) of where I want the magazine to be by the end of the semester, and I'm going to put it out there for two reasons. Reason number one is I want to write it down somewhere so I don't forget, and reason number two is that some philosopher came up with "Law Of Attraction" which is a name for "like attracts like". Essentially it means if you focus on positive things, those positive things will happen and the same with negative things. Now I don't necessarily believe this but I'll take all the help I can get.
By the end of the semester I want Vision to be to kiteboarding, as what Stab Magazine is to surfing. A publication with a strong online presence, and loyal following that is geared towards the younger generations, great balance of comedic, inspiring, and informing pieces of content that has a huge bias to telling it as they see it versus making sure everyone is happy. It's going to be a bumpy journey and I'm sure I will make some people a touch sour, I already have, but I see a hole in this industry and need for something new and fresh. With the recent release of Chapter One, the industry is booming like never before. This past week I was in Texas on a family trip, hence why there was no post from me last Friday. The whole point of the trip was to Kiteboard in one of North Americas top locations but when we got their and checked the forecast, the wind disappeared. So I spent the week playing beach volleyball and surfing, which is still better than being in the peg.
The day after we got back. it was the release day of Chapter One, a kiteboarding film that was made to put the sport on the map. Now being a bit of a film geek and having looked up to all the riders in the feature length movie for over a decade now, it was like Christmas morning, on steroids. I watched the film not once, but twice that day and had previously talked to the directors and producers about organizing a local showing. They where all for it but the price tag was a little high and the local kiteboarding shop wasn't too interested in helping out. As I'm completely locked into the film, enjoying a stunning cinematic sequence of now world champion, Liam Whaley, and his biggest competitor Carlos Mario Bebe, who is a kid in his early twenties that lives in a fishing village steps away from possibly the best kiteboarding location on the planet, riding in a Brazilian lagoon (the one steps away from Carlos' house) my phone buzzed. Now being the stereotypical teenager that I am, I reluctantly pull myself away from the film to check my phone and I received an email. An email from Liam Whaley. The man who is frozen on my TV, starring in the biggest thing to happen in kiteboarding in the last ten years. This is when I realized, after I pinched myself, that I am so close to what I have been dreaming of since I was seven. The people I have always consider my heros are now becoming my peers which gives me even more motivation for issue three. |
Archives
October 2016
Categories |