WORDS WITH A WISEGUY 10!
Thanks to all of you who have recently signed up! If you want to read any of the previous posts, I usually put them on my website a couple weeks after I email them here. If you know anyone who might be interested in receiving this newsletter, please have them visit TravelwithaWiseguy.com and sign-up!
SINCE LAST TIME …
In our last newsletter, I had just started a bunch of new things. Adding a third video on Tuesdays, Patreon/YouTube memberships, my Google map of all the places I’ve done videos about, and new merchandise. I’d say all of these things have gone well, and I’m continuing to learn how to manage everything (while still being a track coach at Wichita State).
THE NEW STUFF
Having Curt do the Tuesday videos has been terrific. He’s such a pro and you’ll see more and more how good he is when I give him more interesting things to work with. I’m enjoying releasing totally random videos on Tuesday. Honestly Tuesday are more for the diehard fans of the channel than anything else. For example, doing a video with my friend Larry where we watch random viral videos doesn’t get very many views, but it was fun to make, and the diehard fans of the channel seemed to like it. We’ve planned the next month of Tuesday videos, and you’ll see everything from cool interviews with other YouTubers to amazing drone footage from Alaska. Stay tuned!
I’ve been pleased and humbled by how many paid members we’ve gained in the first month. As of this blog, we have 39 people that have contributed between $1 to $20 per month. I ended up doing 6 behind-the-scenes videos from Alaska for members who are at the $5 or more level. The $10 level should be getting a postcard in the mail soon. And I even did a video for the $1 level too. These extra videos are fun and pretty easy to make, so I look forward to doing more on my next trip (see below).
The Google map has been the biggest surprise. I thought there would be a few people interested, but it has received over 10,000 views in July alone. Very cool. I’m excited to continue to fill up the spaces that are currently empty!
We’ve also sold quite a bit of the new merchandise. People seem to like the “death-go-round” shirts. :)
ALASKA
I had a great trip to Alaska! I spent 11 days exploring all around the eastern half of the state. It’s such a huge place and you can’t go everywhere in one trip. I think I’ll end up with about 10 videos from the trip when all is said and done. I released the first one about North Pole, Alaska, this week as a fun way to get things started. Next will be some more “serious” videos with some real fun backroad adventures. It definitely made me want to go back again someday and see more of The Last Frontier!
WHAT’S NEXT?
As you’re reading this, I’m on another trip. I flew to Minnesota to hang out with some friends for the weekend. Then I’ll be driving east, then south, then west back to Wichita. Because of this Alaska trip and a bunch of other things I’m doing, I haven’t had a chance to plan this trip very well. But I think I’m going to drive into Wisconsin for a day, then down through Illinois for several day where I’ll be finding the 10 smallest towns in the state. I imagine I’ll do some other things in Illinois, but not sure what yet. Then on the way back to Kansas, I’m going spend a couple days in Worth County, Missouri (the least populated county in the state). It’s a bit of an open ended trip, so I have some freedom to figure it out as I go. The only thing I’ve done is rent a vehicle, so if you have any suggestions of cool places I should go within the areas I’ve mentioned, let me know!
Q&A
No questions this week on the newsletter, although I got a lot on the membership side about Alaska. It made me think we should do a Q&A about Alaska for a Tuesday video. What do you think?
If you have anything you want to know, send to jwise@goshockers.com and I’ll try to answer them next time!
FOR THE DIEHARDS
I like to leave nuggets down here for those of you who read all the way to the end. Here is what I’m planning to release for the next few weeks (always subject to change). Hopefully you saw my North Pole video Thursday. For the next Sunday-Thursday-Sunday I’ll be doing videos about the Dalton Highway, first going to the Arctic Circle, then going to the top of Alaska, then jumping in the Arctic Ocean (and driving back). After that I have a video about an Alaskan dead mall. Then I’ll be visiting the smallest incorporated town in Alaska – which was quite the adventure to get there. I’m really excited about that one. And then to wrap up the Alaskan series I have a couple videos of driving to the Canadian border and visiting the very unique community of Chicken. I don’t want to spoil the Tuesday videos because I think there are some cool things coming up, but I will say I do a fascinating interview with a small YouTuber who you should all follow.
THAT’S ALL FOLKS!
If you enjoy my channel and want to help it grow, feel free to share videos to your friends and/or family! I also have Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (Instagram is probably the best to follow). Oh yeah buy some merch! (but only if you want)
Thanks for all the support and we’ll see you down a backroad!
John Wise
Comments