Hello UNEX Friends and Followers,
Its been a long ride this last year, a lot of changes have happened...and even through those changes I was able to get some work done. I don't want to bore you with all the personal details of my year. However I do want to give a big thanks to all of you who have supported me, and have inspired me to keep working.
I had originally planned for 2013 to be "The YEAR of Underexposed" where I would quit my day job and devote every waking hour to creating. That didn't quite go as planned, and I may have bitten off a lot more than I could handle. Never the less, with the new year quickly approaching, I have created a much more attainable set of goals for 2014 (and how you my loyal readers can help me complete my goals):
(This is going to be a LONG post, but please take a few moments to read it so we are on the same page -B)
1) I want to achieve 1000 Facebook followers on the UNEX Facebook Page. 1000 is a completely arbitrary number (especially when you consider the next part of this goal), and really has no meaning except it is in the triple digits.
If you have been watching the page these last few months you may have noticed my attempts at bypassing the Facebook algorithm for people viewing the posts that I make. It seems like there may be a better solution on the horizon as Facebook has implemented a special tab for followed pages on the main news feed, however for now it seems that for every one of you that see a post that comes from the main blog...at least 50 of you don't (unless I pay them some money, which right now isn't exactly in the budget). So in essence by getting more "organic" fans I hope to raise the numbers of who all is seeing my work.
Right now I have 218 fans of my work. Most of you I know personally, and for that again thank you. To reach my goal of 1000 I will need to build 2.14 fans per day.
You can help by liking the facebook page (if you haven't already). If you like what I am doing, encourage three of your personal friends to do the same, and then have them do the same. Lets just call it a social media pay it forward kinda thing.
1A) I want to set and meet a goal of 50 Facebook Page Views per month. So in basic terms I just want 50 people each month (fans new and old) to just LOOK at the page. Set aside a few minutes and see what I have been up to. I try to post regularly, and not spam all of you. So its worth taking a look.
1B) This one is a little bit of a stretch goal as it combines both of the above goals. I want to reach 50 Viewers Per Post on the Facebook Page. Right now based on that dratted algorithm I average between 3-36 viewers per post. Mostly because people aren't actually seeing most of them. By just taking a moment and looking at the page, that number should easily rise to the goal amount.
2) Even though I have had them under my control, I have found that both Twitter and Tumblr have not been being used to their full potential. I didn't really send out many tweets until just recently (unless you count the blog posts that filter through). But since then because of Twitter I have been able to network with some great people (including Ted Forbes if you remember back to November). However because I have been slacking I have only achieved a whopping 59 followers to the twitter page (and slightly more on all three Tumblrs at 113 including some duplicates which I expect since there are three blogs and I want people to follow all three). So with those numbers in mind I want to expand my reach on other social networks that aren't Facebook to 500 followers on Twitter and Tumblr combined. With a stretch goal to 500 each, but lets not get ahead of ourselves shall we.
By following Twitter and Tumblr not only are you able to get the same content that you get on the three blogs here, but you can get them as they happen. In a perfect world I would like you to all visit me here at this site...but I know that short of adding a bookmark its not easy to remember to check another page. Also in the case of Twitter I also have been using that as the main means of interacting with fans and people that I follow. I encourage you to follow me as well, and ask how things are going from time to time. I love hearing from you all.
2A) Is going to involve this very website you are looking at (if you are looking at the UNEX Website anyway). I would like to get 500 views per month combined on any of the pages within the UNEX website. Blogs, Portfolios, Whatever. Right now (granted I had to reset my analytics engine a few months back) I am getting about 309 as an average with an average of 98 unique viewers each month. This is a pretty obtainable goal, especially to you twitter followers. By clicking on the posted link to view the blog you are helping me get those numbers where I want them to be.
Enough talk about social networking, hopefully I didn't bore you, I know most of you are here for the pretty pictures anyway.
3) I want to complete 4 Personal Projects within the 2014 calendar year. These can either be Photo shoots, a book (printed or ebook), I'll even count a gallery event here (and cheat a little bit on another goal). These are projects that I have floating around in my head that aren't for any particular source. Right now I have 2 that I would like to complete, one which is so easy I'm not sure why I haven't just done it yet. Digressing, I want to create something unique for all of you to enjoy that doesn't involve going to another website or source.
4) I want to shoot 10 sets for Zivity or Suicide Girls. Many of you I would assume make it to this site because of the work I have collaborated on. And I would like to expand that reach as well. Right now since I started working with Zivity I have completed 6 sets in a little over a year or two. I want to get 10 new sets up and posted before the end of the year.
5) I want to have at least 1 gallery showing (even if its only a few prints). I was lucky to have the guys over at Kink Patrol invite me to show at their event in July. And honestly I was too nervous to talk to most of you. Now that I have the kinks worked out (no pun intended) I would like to have another.
6) This one is pretty easy, I want to have a working office set up wherever I end up. Not just a laptop I use while in bed, but a dedicated office space where I can put in time for UNEX and nothing else. Answering emails, writing blog posts, working on images taken on a shoot. Whatever it may be.
7) I want to experiment with 3 new mediums or techniques. Keep me on my toes a little bit. Pretty much self explanatory.
And since we live in the world of Kickstarter, I would like to include two stretch goals. These are goals that are probably bigger than I can achieve...but I am striving for them anyway. I would like to by the end of 2014 have the ability to operate a dedicated UNEX studio as well as (in a perfect world anyway) Move to shooting photos full time without the assistance of a day job keeping things going.
So that's it. These 10 things are what I hope to accomplish in the next year. With your help I have a good feeling that I will be able to make these goals happen. I'm going to stress again that it is going to be with your help. I can't do it alone. What I can promise you is that the more we can move forward together...the easier work will be to complete, as well as the more work you will be able to enjoy from me.
What are your goals for 2014 (photographic or otherwise). Let me know in the comments below, or ask me on Twitter. Lets start the conversation!
-B