Your share could raise £30
Before you go, did you know that simply by sharing this campaign, you could help it raise £30? It's an effective way to support the cause.
No thanks- Pin it
- SubscribeUnsubscribe
- Embed
Bob Buckley hasn't added a story.
Will you help us continue to bring Hidden Holland beyond
Amsterdam to you via The Dutch Way of Life?
If we’ve never met before, I’m Bob Buckley, the
Founder and Creator of The Dutch Way of Life and I'm very pleased to
meet you.
The Dutch Way of Life is an independent online
media channel (funded by me and my wife) dedicated solely to
exploring and showcasing the locations, the culture, the heritage
and the people in the undiscovered areas of the Netherlands, we call
“Hidden Holland beyond Amsterdam.”
We create and publish original, interactive content via our Facebook and Instagram Channels, on Dutch Culture, Dutch Travel, Dutch Heritage and Dutch Life.
In order to do, we self-fund regular, week-long trips to locations in the Netherlands (chosen by our community) and shoot live-videos, 360 pictures and videos that capture the Dutch Way of Life, first-hand, so we can share it with the world.
What's more, over the last three years, our community has grown more than we could have ever imagined.
Especially since I started TDWOL as a passion project, after living in the Netherlands and falling in love with the way of life there.
We literally started with nothing. No money. No resources. No real idea of how to build a global channel.
Just a dream and a desire to connect with people like us.
But here we are now, in May 2019, having built a loyal and hyper-engaged community of 18,000 people across the world, who interact with our content, contribute to our community, and get genuine pleasure from being part of The Dutch Way of Life.
And although this is still a miracle to us (as are the hundreds of messages we receive every month from our followers), it is the result of our hard but very rewarding (and unpaid) work over the last 3 years.
Between April - May 2019, The Dutch Way Of Life Facebook Channel was able to achieve:
- 975, 200 page impressions
- 127,000 people reached
- 98,500 reactions, comments + shares
- 150,000 views of our videos
I can tell you now, I never imagined that we could reach nearly one million Facebook feeds with our channel and our content.
Because we are not a large media company with investors and backers.
We are just normal people with fire in our hearts and passion in our bellies, and who want to share the place and culture we love, and give our tribe a place they can go online, where they feel safe, welcomed and connected to other like-minded people around the world.
And what binds the TDWOL community together,
above all, is the deep, emotional connection to the Netherlands.
Whether they are Dutch expats who emigrated in
the 1950s to the USA; South African people who want to connect with
their Dutch roots, or they have lived or spent time in the
Netherlands and want to visit their "second home" as often
as possible.
This shared love and passion from our members and followers has been the reason why we continue our work AND why are now the fastest-growing channel in the world for fans of "Hidden Holland."
Why are we raising money on Fundrazr?
We've paid for all our trips to the Netherlands to shoot the Hidden Holland Roadtrips live for our audience...
...and we've spent thousands of hours creating, publishing, interacting with our community and promoting our content to the world.
And it has all been worth for the daily impact we make.
GIven that, what has become abundantly clear to us is that The Dutch Way of Life is my calling. It is OUR mission. We have thousands of people around the world behind us. Now is the time to grow.
So, in a brave attempt to go "full-time" with our channel, both Adele and I gave up our jobs and our clients (I am a coach and consultant) in January 2019 in order to focus our energy and time on turning our passion project into something we can make a living from.
Which means we now have no income at all, until we can find sponsors, investors or customers...which can be very scary!
But we are prepared to make the sacrifice in
order to continue to bring Hidden Holland The Dutch Way of Life to
the world.
And that's why we are asking you, and all of
our wonderful community and friends of The Dutch Way of Life to help
us now.
Because unless we can fund our channel and our basic overheads,
we may not be able to continue our work, which is so important to
so many people across the world. Without income, we can survive
for 3 months until we have to look for other ways to earn our living.
That's why need to raise £12,500 via this
Fundrazr campaign.
What is the LIVE Hidden Holland Roadtrip?
Imagine being able to visit a place without actually going there.
What if you could experience the Netherlands 'virtually?'
Imagine if there were thousands of other people going along for the ride.
Now imagine you could interact and direct the adventure via a Livestream on your smartphone, without ever leaving your sofa.
Because that's what the LIVE Hidden Holland Roadtrip feels like.
The Hidden Holland Roadtrip is a unique concept: it's a LIVE, interactive Travel Show, where our audience gets to travel with us via LIVE video to the Netherlands, experience what we experience and decide and direct the adventure from the comfort of their armchair.
It is a 7-day LIVE Facebook event, where we travel across undiscovered regions of the Netherlands and broadcast our adventures, our roadtrips, our bike rides and our city walks LIVE via our Facebook channel.
During the live broadcasts (usually 3-4 per day
over 7 days) members of our community can watch the show, ask us
questions live on air and connect and chat with other people across
the world.
In that way, we are the eyes and the ears of
our community, and we take them where THEY want us to go. This
is "two-way" content.
In November 2018, we broadcast the first
Livestream from Hidden Holland, via our channel. Little did we know
that we would attract 20,000 viewers in 5 days, nevermind get the
attention of the Dutch press and Dutch politicians...but we did just that!
Here's the article: https://www.bndestem.nl/moerdijk/britse-vakantiefilmpjes-als-city-marketing-voor-moerdijk~a1451ae7/
Then in February 2019, we decided to do a second Hidden Holland Roadtrip to an old town called Gorinchem in the Netherlands.
And that was an even bigger success with our community and our audience! So much so, that the Dutch TV channel, RTL4, featured us on the daily talk show "Late Night With Twan Huys."
Watch us here- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLfXGBPBg5Q
Finally, in April 2019, we planned and broadcast the biggest and most popular LIVE Roadtrip yet from Hidden Holland.
7 days. 10 locations. 25 livestreams. And a WHOLE lot of fun!
We took our audience on bike rides through idyllic Dutch villages.
We streamed live from the top of a 17th-century windmill in Leerdam.
We travelled to the province of Zeeland in the blazing sun to livestream the seals on the beach at Brouwersdam. to our viewers.
And the feedback and hundreds of messages we got from our community, and other people around the world who told us how much they loved seeing their old country and revisiting the places they had missed so much, totally blew us away.
We were almost in tears reading back the thousands of comments.
There's no doubt in our mind now, that the impact of this Roadtrip has shown us that our channel is much more than a content factory or a fly-by-night social media page.
The Dutch Way Of Life has truly become a community, a channel and a vehicle for people who want to experience the Netherlands and connect with something that is deep in their hearts and in their souls, but who do not live near enough to be able to visit regularly...or at all.
It has also become a platform for people, organisations and locations in the Netherlands to showcase and teach the world about their own unique story, achievements and heritage.
The reception we received from the Dutch people we met on our Roadtrip showed us that they too also find our channel special.
And through this, we connect lost friends; disconnected family members; and forgotten heritage of Dutch people around the world.
The messages and the feedback we have had since then has convinced us that we MUST continue to grow our channel and to create these Live Roadtrip Experiences.
Because it's not just us anymore on the journey. We bring thousands of people with us who all LOVE the experience we create.
In truth, you will find nothing in the world like the TDWOL Live Hidden Holland Roadtrips. No other channel is doing what we do.
That's why we're so driven to continue to make this happen.
What will my donation be used for?
If we can raise the £12,500 we are hoping for,
we will be able to:
- Cover the travel, accommodation & production costs of 4 x Roadtrips to the Netherlands over the next 4 months
- Cover our business overheads and make sure we have a house to live in, food to eat, and clothes on our backs
- Buy better livestreaming equipment to improve your viewing experience on the Roadtrips (no more wind noise on the bike!)
- Cover the monthly costs of creating and publishing original daily content and maintaining and managing the community
Right now, we spend around 7-8 hours a day on TDWOL.
But if we fail to raise the money we need, we may no longer be able continue our daily work with The Dutch Way of Life community.
That is why we are determined to make this happen...with YOUR help!
What is your vision for the future of TDWOL?
Once we have created "Season 1" of the
Hidden Holland Roadtrips (that's 4 week-long Live Shows) we plan to
gain additional funding in order to continue broadcasting our Live
Shows AND to build a "Netflix-Style" Premium Content
Channel, where our audience can access high-quality, immersive Video
Content and Virtual Tours, created and published exclusively by our
small team.
And of course, we want to continue to bring the
free daily content to our audience, which they love to watch and
interact with.
In truth, it's my mission to create the world's #1 Immersive and Interactive Media Channel and impact 1 million people, who love the Netherlands, and want to experience the Dutch Way of Life.
And that's why I am reaching out to you and asking for your help.
Because its through cooperation, collaboration and shared vision that achievements are made and great creations are brought to life.
That's also part of The Dutch Way of Life - the "Poldermodel."
How can I best support you?
Please know that we are extremely grateful for any donation that you make, whatever size. and whatever form it takes.
However, we have decided to ask you for a recommended donation of £40 (€46/$52US). By doing that, it means we only need 350 generous members, friends and sponsors to donate that amount each, to achieve our goal and start planning the first ever Crowdfunded Live Travel Show from the Netherlands for JUNE 2019.
Would you consider donating to help us make this a reality?
You support means a great deal to me and all our members.
So thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for taking the time to read this and hear the story of The Dutch Way of Life...
...if you know anyone who would like to contribute to bringing Hidden Holland beyond Amsterdam to the world, AND making a HUGE impact on hundreds of thousands of people, please share our story.
With my deepest thanks and gratitude,
Bob Buckley
Founder and Creator of
#TDWOL
May 2019
PS.Tap here to visit The Dutch Way of
Life Channel for yourself
Highlights
See all activity39Activity
Delete media item?
Delete this item from the media gallery? It will also be deleted from any related story update.
Set as ?
The campaign video will appear in social media and email.
The campaign cover picture will appear in social media and email.
The will appear at the top of your campaign page and in social media and email.
Reset ?
It will be removed from the top of your campaign and won't be used as default in social media and email. The will remain in the media gallery.
Embed
Share a link
Delete update
Delete this story update?
Any pictures or videos will remain in the campaign's media gallery.
Report campaign
Report submitted
Thank you. We take reports like yours very seriously. Our goal is to keep the community safe.
Please know that we may contact you for more information, but that we won't notify you personally of our decision. If the campaign remains available within a few days, it's likely that we determined it not to be in violation of our policies.
Thank you. We've already received your previous report. If the campaign remains available within a few days, it's likely that we determined it not to be in violation of our policies.
Tell us about the problem. Please fill in both fields below.
Record a video
Upload a video
Nothing grabs attention for your cause like a personal video. Take a minute or two to record one now. Record a short video message of support. Or upload one from your device. You can preview or redo your video before you post it.
Nothing grabs attention for your cause like a personal video. Upload a short video message of support. Upload a short video message of support. Or record one right now.
- Most effective video length: about a minute.
- Maximum length: 5 min.
- You can preview or redo your video before you post it.
Heads up! The existing video will be replaced.
Email your friends
Join our team
Tell people why our cause matters to you. Your personal message will encourage others to help. Easy, effective, optional.
Say it in video
Short personal videos by supporters like you are incredibly powerful. Record one right now and you'll help us raise more money. Easy, optional, effective.
Add a personal goal
Set a personal fundraising goal. You'll encourage more contributions if you do. And rest easy. There's no obligation to achieve your goal or bad consequences if you don't. Easy, optional, effective.
We have a video!
Video thumbnail
We'd love to show you our campaign video. Want to take a look?
, you're already on the team.