Hey, it's Ernest from Trip Astute. In this video, I thought we'd do a quick review
of our goals on our channel and also announce our big summer giveaway.
(light chiming music)
Earlier this year, I did a video on our channel goals for 2018. A lot of stuff has
changed in my life so I thought I'd see how we're tracking in terms of our goals,
and maybe even see how we want to adjust them. So, let's review the list. Number 1:
Drone footage. Our goal was to do a lot more drone footage this year. I think we
had a good start to the year, but it's been a few months since I've flown the
drone. We have a few trips lined up the rest of the year, so I'm hoping we get a
chance to fly it more and get some cool footage. Number 2: Giveaways. I think
this is one goal that we're definitely meeting this year. As we've been working
closer with some brands, they've been willing to give us products for
giveaways, which has been awesome. So I think we'll continue to do them whenever
we can, including at the end of this video.
Number 3: Community videos. This is one goal that I want to improve on. I
think I feel a little bit self-conscious doing videos about us and our life, but I
think I need to get over it. I would love to share with you guys how I work and
create our videos. Because I've learned so much over the past year, I'm actually
working on a course to help people who are interested in starting a YouTube
channel with tips I've learned and wish I knew when I started. Number 4: 4K
video. I'm very happy to say that we've upgraded almost all of our cameras and
most of our videos are now being posted in 4K. It may not seem like a big deal,
but going from regular HD to 4K meant that I not only had to upgrade my
primary camera from a Canon PowerShot G7X to a Panasonic Lumix GH5, but also had
to upgrade my laptop and drone, and even invest in better storage solution since
4k takes up so much space. I'm saying all this not to complain because I'm
actually really happy with my current setup, but I want you to know in case
you're also thinking of making the jump from 1080p HD to 4K. It's a pretty
serious upgrade. Number 5: Videos on LA. We definitely have not done a good job
on this one. I struggle with this goal since I know only a few of you are from
LA, so I don't want to clog up the channel with too much LA content. But I
think it's still worthwhile for us to share some of the cool places that we
explore in Los Angeles, especially since it's such an interesting and diverse
city. Number 6: Collaborations. This is still a strong goal of ours. We did
launch our Travel Creator Interview series where we interviewed several
travel creators in our space like Dustin from Waller's Wallet and Jason from Nomad
Travel Hacker. If you haven't watched it, then definitely check it out. I've got a
few more that we're currently planning, including one with a big credit card
channel and also a large travel channel. We're still in the initial planning
phase but I'm hoping that these both come together soon. Number 7: Partnerships.
This goal has been going well when it comes to gear. We've managed to develop
some great relationships with brands like Travelon, Loctote, HappyLuxe, and
others. And in return, they've generously been able to give us ways to connect
with you through giveaways and product reviews. To be honest, I did lose my
partnership with Bankrate since I wasn't generating enough credit card
applications or traffic, but it's totally ok with me. I never wanted to promote a
product or service because of the money. I've always said that we will only
promote items and services that we actually like and use, and that includes
credit cards. It was a bit of a financial hit for us, but perhaps it was a good
thing. Maybe it's something that we explore in the future, but from now, I'm
happy with just using my own personal referral links for cards and not being
pushed to promote more credit card products. Lastly, my unofficial subscriber
goal has been to get to 10,000 subscribers by the end of the year. I
think we're still on track to get there. A big thank you to all of you for
helping to grow our channel by liking, commenting, and sharing our videos with
others. Ok, now for the fun part. We wanted to put together a summer giveaway with
some of our favorite travel gear items. The giveaway is for the following things:
Travelon Anti-Theft Heritage Backpack, which we reviewed earlier this week,
Travelon Tech Accessory Organizer, Platypus half-liter SoftBottle, and a
set of three Humangear GoTubbs in the 5.3 cubic inch size. Entering our
giveaway is really simple. All you need to do is visit our website and enter
using our contest link. I've included a link in the
video description. You don't have to purchase anything and there are multiple
ways to enter and gain entries. By signing up for our social media channels,
you'll not only earn an extra entry into the contest, but you'll also get content
that we share outside of YouTube. All you have to do is click on any or all of our
options to enter. The more options you complete, the more entries you'll earn. And
of course, there's no pressure to enter. We'll randomly select one lucky winner
on September 1st, 2018. Keep in mind that the contest is only open for US
residents. Though if you're not based in the US, don't worry. We're planning more
giveaways very soon they'll be open to everyone. If you enjoyed this video or
found it useful, please give us a thumbs up and consider sharing our video with
others who might benefit from our content. Until next time, travel safe and
travel smart.