The issue of Liberland really inspires me even if Liberland itself is a bit of a joke that will probably never take off. It shows the huge demand for freedom across the globe even if it is splintered, culturally diverse, and a minority everywhere it is found. It is slick and well done (unlike this website 🙁 … )
How to unite that demand for Freedom, and bring it together for some useful purpose?
I still believe that the Find a Free Country concept of finding a prospective country that already exists with a positive business climate and open immigration and then moving to it enmass is better than other options out there (including the Free State–New Hampshire, Free Cities-Startup Cities, Free Texas/Scotland/Catalonia/etc., FreeBoats, or Liberland), but how to promote it? So far this has been a miserable failure.
Let us look at Liberland again: hundreds of thousands of people signed up over a one month period. No advertising, just viral. I have to think that the reason for this amazing interest/participation is the concrete offer being put forward: citizenship in a new county (regardless of whether the country will ever exist).
Perhaps what we need to do is take a step forward and provide people with something concrete as well. Not necessarily citizenship (since we are not proposing that), but a more “concrete” Membership vs the “ambiguous” Membership currently provided. Not just access to a website (that no one is interested in), but perhaps Membership in a Not-For-Profit Foundation/Trust with a clearly stated goal matching that of the Find a Free Country Project?
Then we can go and try to raise support and money because I need help. After the last hack attack the website is not performing correctly, and I just don’t know what to do. The hosting company I am using provides rather limited technical assistance, and since this an internal issue with my website, I am not sure they will help at all.
What is needed IMHO:
* An independent hosting system,
* somebody with technical skills to manage it (not me),
* more advanced marketing efforts to get more members,
* more advanced solicitation efforts to get more financial contributions,
* etc.
Is there interest in this project, and if so what is the best way of promoting it?
I cannot deny being very disappointed by the progress of this project. I think it has so much promise but is being held back by my limitations as a leader/motivator/marketer. Just think what a small number of freedom loving individuals could accomplish if we set our mind to it? But I just don’t know how to get this thing going.
I already proposed the charity thing on the forum, so I won’t repeat that proposal here, but I think that maybe you answered your own question (on the non-technical related things) in the middle of of the blog post, that you first have to start something in real life, like moving to lets say Georgia and buying and developing some farmland or starting some other kind of business, then you would have actual real life things (like recommending good real estate, giving your own experiences on the local people, laws and other things, etc.) to offer people, so I would guess you would see a lot more interest then.
Another option might be to change the target audience, since I think people from Ireland, the UK and South Africa (the European descended ones) would be way more receptive to your message than Americans, many South Africans have actually already moved to Georgia: http://mirianjugheli.com/2011/01/30/georgian-govt-creates-a-website-for-south-african-boers/
All good ideas but how? The basic premise of this project is to Find a Free Country that is relatively pro-business, with a modest population, and would be open to foreigners seeking freedom. How to reach others who are interested? Perhaps I am over-estimating the number of people who are interested in freedom. Frankly I had given up on this project, but when I saw Liberland I was inspired. 300,000 people signing up. Yes, Liberland is a joke or worse, but if I had 300,000 people sign up I would have 100,000 times increase. What am I doing wrong, or perhaps more to the point: What could I do differently that would better promote this project?
I am not sure whether the “libertarian” websites allow free advertisement of other websites, but if they do, that would be an obvious start (at least as far as Americans go), while as far as the rest go, the Boers in South Africa have their own farming associations, so you could try e-mailing them, as well I am sure there are plenty of websites with forums full of people considering emigration in all three countries, you shouldn’t have trouble finding the most popular ones through Google and then try to direct those people here.
Isn’t there anybody in the alumni network of your college/university who could help you with the marketing of this website? Even though you are a lawyer, don’t many of them in America get MBAs after gaining their undergraduate degrees in law?
When I discovered Liberland, I thought “That’s what I have to do… find a way to offer something concrete like citizenship, membership, etc.” But now as I think about it that is not what Liberland is offering. It is offering razzle-dazzle, flash, a too-good-to-be-true promise. The Find a Free Country Project is offering a logical and reasonable process on how to get together and think through various issues. Not hard to figure out which one will sell better. People don’t want logical and reasonable. They want more hair, a larger penis, and free internet.
Perhaps we need to be bolder? In other words, we need to promote something that is stupid, ridiculous, or impractical (or all of the above), and encourage people to send donations in to support the project. Rather than promoting something that is very doable and practical, but might require some serious thought and preparation, we should promote the creation of a micronation built on eggshells and confetti!
http://micronations.webs.com/index.html
If you want to go down that road, you might as well attract people by offering Super Bowl tickets to the best poster of the year or something along those lines.
No I really don’t want to go down that road, but this isn’t working.
Maybe you could try to organize a merger with one of the websites you think are “slick and well done”?
I think I would prefer to create our own fraudulent undertaking. That way we get to keep all the loot ourselves. I guess the problem is that although I am confident that my concept is sound, doable, and beneficial compared to other ventures, it is simply not interesting to anyone. At least I don’t know how to make it interesting. And it may simply not be possible to make it interesting. I don’t know. Again, rather discouraged.
Why are you discouraged? Shouldn’t your “first order of business” be to find a good place for yourself to live in and move there and start a new life? If that proves to be successful, you should be happy, if others then want to join you in your new communitry, good, if not, I don’t see a reason for you to fret about it.
I am getting too old to constantly do everything on my own. Companionship is not such a bad thing to hope for as an individual, as a member of a community, etc.
What’s stopping you from joining an already existing community? Why not join one of the capitalist minded Kibbutzim in Israel? Or one of the farming communities set up by the White South Africans in Georgia?
I have not found anything that appeals to me. The movements I like I have described on this website. However, I find them all profoundly flawed. Here were my thoughts on the subject, still are: http://www.findafreecountry.info/about/why/
I guess I am doomed to be a lone wolf.
And this project is probably doomed to failure.
Could it really hurt to at least visit one of the capitalist Kibbutzim?: http://www.jpost.com/Features/In-Thespotlight/Kibbutzim-make-a-comeback
At worst there would be no change, at best you would find that community feeling of belonging that you seem to desire.
I really don’t know what else to recommend.
Oh I will check it out when I get there!
Well, you might not get a group going for starting a community in Georgia, but at least this website has helped me with my own emigration decision making process.
thank you very much! I feel a little less like a failure!
You are welcome and thank you!
Its still a failure though… so far.
Maybe reading this book will inspire you: http://www.amazon.com/Iacocca-An-Autobiography-Lee/dp/0553251473
*= would, not will
Read it a long time ago. Failure does indeed offer many lessons if you have the stomach to learn from it.
Yes, but that’s not the only thing to take from the book, he also didn’t let himself get consumed by it, but rather set himself a goal and achieved it (turning Chrysler around from a failure to a success).
Anyway, your “Countries of the future” groups seems to be getting traction, you already have 10 members besides yourself.
I have come to a point in my life that I am no longer interested in doing everything on my own, particularly when I end up doing things half-assed. I cannot do everything on my own, I don’t want to try.