What is V.T.M.E.?

The V.T.M.E., magazine is a magazine for you, me, and everyone else. It tells the usually untold stories of us. With V.T.M.E. magazine, friends, loved ones, and even acquaintances can submit articles to me about a person they would like featured in the magazine. The next steps are a full-on interview and preparation of a factual, clear article on that person to be featured in the V.T.M.E. magazine.

V.T.M.E., magazine is unique and unusual because too often we celebrate only those who are outwardly successful. Regular magazines clamor to feature the rich and popular, forgetting the majority who are everyday people. V.T.M.E. is here to change that. It is all about the everyday people and perhaps even the rich and famous but without all the pomp, and celebrity glamor, just as regular folks living their lives.

I believe a magazine and project like V.T.M.E. is long overdue for the world. With your support this project can be born and in no time expand to something truly magical and impactful.

V.T.M.E., magazine is geared towards the following content and sections:

* Positive things about Women, men, mothers, fathers, relatives, neighbors, firefighters, grandparent(s), children, teachers, police officer, the LGBTQ community, and so on.  V.T.M.E., will focus on outstanding or positive things this people have done or do for others and their community. It’s like celebrating our everyday heroes. The heroes who make sure a certain kid or kids can go to school every day, the hero who gives his/her sick child or relative hope for life and a good future, the hero who fights for justice, the hero who protects, the hero who is just the best parent or guardian. That kind of positivity and recognition is what V.T.M.E. strives for.

* Powerful Outstanding Women (P.O.W.) and their achievements. While V.T.M.E., serves everyone across gender or whatever demographic exists, we also strive to encourage and recognize women. From being a single or married mother to battling illnesses, raising kids, or just overcoming the everyday life struggles and obstacles, women live through so much without the slightest recognition of what they do. Therefore, by writing about these P.O.W., I hope to be able to share their stories to encourage other women and cheer them on.

* Outstanding children. Every child is special, and every child deserves to love, hope, dream, and achieve. It is how we build a future that is great. V.T.M.E., will feature Outstanding Children who might be dealing with an illness with the aim of creating exposure to their condition for them to get help, support, or some contribution towards their hopes and dreams.

* The homeless. Those who have no homes are people too. Several homeless people have a story to tell and may just need a little help getting back on track with their lives. Homeless people’s lives matter and V.T.M.E. will remind us all.

Other Sections in the Magazine

V.T.M.E., is mainly focused on positivity and the sections above help to drive that in. But there will be other sections that matter too such as health, beauty, and anything that promotes positivity. These other sections are designed to be valuable and practical. I want to focus on insight that is actually helpful, not vague or generic content on health and beauty. V.T.M.E., is all about authenticity as well. We won’t be about churning out just any content or focusing on how much sales to be made. V.T.M.E. will be about value. The funny thing is with value comes everything else; sales, recognition, and of course the change I am hoping to bring. This is why your support now is so vital otherwise we might be stuck on ground zero and impact nothing at all. Help us get this off the ground by pledging your support now. Check out the rewards that follow each pledge below. We have created perfectly curated reward options you would love and ultimately benefit from.

Why a Magazine?

Yes, there are several other ways to spread positivity but I chose a magazine for many reasons. First off, magazines are popular across times and age both in print and digital form. A magazine provides easily digestible entertainment in the right format for consumers. Most magazines typically contain subjects of interests to the readers and are also relatively inexpensive. A magazine easily inspires. Given the vast number of people who intentionally and unintentionally read magazines, it seems like a most suitable medium for this project.

On the other hand, experts would tell you that a magazine serves two purposes, entertainment and advertising.

As far back as 1907, an Ad executive James Collins told a congressional committee this,

“There is still an illusion to the effect that a magazine is a periodical in which advertising is incidental. But we don’t look at it that way. A magazine is simply a device to induce people to read advertising. It is a large booklet with two departments – entertainment and business. The entertainment department finds stories, pictures, verse, etc. to interest the public. The business department makes the money.”

By entertainment, people can find what they are interested in and like in the magazine. This entertainment can in form of pictures, stories, and more. Business via advertising has a different goal from entertainment, which is to both inform and make money. Unlike a regular television or online ad, magazine advertising is digestible, understandable, and more likely to yield results.

In the case of this project, we can get the best of both worlds. V.T.M.E. magazine will entertain, inspire, engage, interest, and encourage with our unique content and stories. This is most important to us.

In the rewards section, you can find that some of the perks include advertising, this not only benefits you as a backer but benefits the magazine to keep it going and in business.

Who is V.T.M.E. for?

Anyone and everyone. It is for those who want to spread or show the love and appreciation in their hearts for a friend or loved one. It’s for those who need a dash of positivity and encouragement to go for their dreams and hold on to hope. And that’s pretty much all of us. V.T.M.E., is a magazine that will cut across demographics. There will be no segregation or separation of who can read V.T.M.E. magazine. We will cut across gender, age, achievements, social status, sexuality, race, and so on. Every piece comes with a message for everyone.

The Impact

It’s not very difficult to see that everyday people are hardly recognized. It’s also not hard to see how little positivity is spread in these times. Bad news always travels fast. The world is more self-centered than ever or is that what we have come to believe because we hear so little of those truly giving back love and kindness. Raising your child with love and looking upon others with the same kindness is a positivity worth sharing and acknowledging. Going above and beyond for strangers, friends, family, and a community is also worth sharing. A sick child who simply needs support to fulfil his dreams is worth publicizing and all of these are the impact V.T.M.E. magazine will have. V.T.M.E., will spread encouragement, hope, love, kindness, and help people find the help they need.

We are offering something relatable and unique. I see this as a gift to the world. Please help us make this possible.

What will you be funding/Financial needs?

The financial goal and need for this project is $165, 000.

In a nutshell, you will be funding everything it takes to put content together for the magazine and get it out there to the world. You will be funding a solid path for the magazine to reach people and get the desired end result.

The funds raised will go towards this breakdown:

· Pay the talented writers, photographers, illustrators, designers and personnel.

· Travel to meet, interview, photoshoot and prepare articles.

Following requests with an article to feature a particular person, we would meet face to face with this person. An in-depth interview will be conducted, pictures taken, videos, and the information put together to prepare a thorough, readable article on this person in the magazine. Travel expenses become necessary if we have to meet people in other states or even countries. When interviewing we will make sure we take the proper precautions to ensure the safety for everyone by abiding to wearing mask and practicing safe distance.

· Need for cameras, stands, lighting, background/backdrops, printers, and other equipment.

A few items will be vital to make all of this possible and the include some listed here.

· Printing, publishing, and distributing the magazine.

· Building a website.

V.T.M.E., needs an official website to update, inform, and display our work and progress. It will be a home for the magazine and a touchpoint for many.

What Happens if we are Overfunded?

That will certainly be great and a reason to jump for joy. Being overfunded gives us more to work with and further ensures the success of the project. With overfunding, we can confidently stretch our goals and even do something more for backers.

Why Crowdfunding?

It’s no secret that crowdfunding a literary item can seem like an unworthy pursuit. But thankfully, times have changed and now more than ever, literary projects can now get the proper backing they need through crowdfunding. Books, magazines, and so on need money. From putting content together, to publishing, printing, distributing, and even getting readers and subscribers, you need funds. A crowdfunding platform like Kickstarter, not only gives us backers for V.T.M.E. magazine but a much-needed publicity. Without a platform like this, we might not get the exposure needed to bring this project to life. The funds gotten from your kind and thoughtful contribution are not profit but are spread towards the need to publish this magazine, ship rewards, fees where necessary, build a website, and more.

With Kickstarter it’s all or nothing. If at the end of this project we have made our goal, then you will be charged and I will reach out to discuss receiving your rewards.

Vision for V.T.M.E. Magazine

V.T.M.E. magazine is more than the results of the present. My vision which I believe will be all of our vision for V.T.M.E. magazine is to see it grow in popularity and impact. I look forward to a time when V.T.M.E. magazine becomes a top attraction to tell and read stories of you and I; a time where people easily recommend this magazine to each other to encourage and inspire; a time when businesses can equally look to V.T.M.E. magazine as a platform to reach out and gain exposure. We promise authenticity and useful information with every section of V.T.M.E. magazine. Please be a part of our story and journey.

Spread the Word

When it comes to spreading negativity or bad news, no one seems to skip a beat. I hope you can take the same approach to spreading good news and positivity today by sharing this campaign to friends, loved ones and the public. If there is any organization, media, or persons you think we should partner with, please let us know at (email: visualizethroughmyeyes@gmail.com or phone: 770-765-6420).

Thank you so much!

I sincerely appreciate and anticipate your support!