2024 Goals / Projects
Updated on 4/25/2024. See monthly status reports on the blog.
1. Build support
- Reach out to 120 contacts at state, municipal, federal, nonprofit, retail, and search and rescue groups by the end of 2024
- 10 months or ~40 weeks until the end of 2024, so reach out to three people a week
- Reaching out can include
- Calling them
- Emailing to get an appointment with them
- Mailing them summary maps, map sets, notecards, 11 x 17 mailers and then following up those mailers with phone calls
- Attending their public meetings
- Meeting with them (This is by far the preferred option. I’ll learn more.)
- Build relationships with at least three people who support the thru-hike at:
- Federal level
- BLM, Heinrich
- Carson National Forest and Santa Fe National Forest
- State level
- Lujan Grisham
- County level
- Santa Fe, Taos, Rio Arriba. Mora
- Municipal Level
- Santa Fe and Taos
- Village of Penasco?
- Smaller villages along the High Road, like Chimayo?
- Local non-profits
- Santa Fe Sierra Club Chapter
- https://nmvfo.org/
- https://www.groundworksnm.org/
- https://www.nmoutside.com/business-directory
- Search and Rescue
- Taos Search and Rescue, Santa Fe Search and Rescue
- Other “long” or “short” thru-hikes
- Like the ones listed here (Wikipedia) and here (Endless Mountains). Also request that they add the SF2T thru hike.
- Especially interested in
- The Lone Star Trail near Houston. It is approximately the same distance as SF2T. It has its own Wikipedia page (I should try to get a wikipedia page), page on usda.gov, hiking club, and guide book.
- The Tahoe Rim Trail. Also approximately the same distance as SF2T.
- The Colorado Trail.
- Retail
- Notify every guide I can
- Postcards and bookmarks at High Dessert Angler
- REI
- Taos Cow
- Every outfitter between SF and Taos
- Tourism information sources
- Hospitality
- Sipapu
- Places in Tres Ritos
- El Pueblo Lodge in Taos
- El Monte Segrado
- Stay over at 3-5 more places in Taos to scout out the best place to stay within a short walk of the Plaza. Also try places along Witt Road. (expensive…)
- Stay over at a few more places in Santa Fe that are within a close walk to the Plaza. (expensive…)
- Federal level
- Develop a credible, vetted document that outlines the potential economic impact of the thru-hike, drawing from resources like HeadwatersEconomics.org
- Attend the 2024 Outdoor Economy Conference
- Total cost $2,325. Find $380 for attendance tickets, $450 for plane fare, and five nights x $139, plus $500 for incidentals and $300 for merch for the event. This may be too expensive to pull off.
- Attend the 2024 Outdoor Economy Conference
- Create a CRM in Formaloo (which I can use for free)
- Use CRM to send out at least two direct mail campaigns before the end of the year.
- Use CRM for supporters, people I want to be supporter, potential donors, potential paid supporters/members, volunteers, and other interested parties
- Create a nice two-pocket folder of key information to give to people I meet with.
- Get five MOUs by year’s end
- One by May. Two by July. Two more by October.
2. Build an audience
- Post 3x per week on social media
- organize the photos and videos I have
- focus on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn
- Speak 3X
- Ask REI
- Ask to speak at a meetup group or two for practice
- Do a short talk at the library? With enough promotion…?
- 1,000 newsletter subscribers
- Start sending the newsletter twice a month
- I need a great lead magnet
- The thru-hike in one or two night overnights
- Day hikes along the thru hike
- 50 things to do in Santa Fe and Taos and/or along the High Road to Taos
- Offer a pdf of the trail guide?
- 100 paid $40 per year supporters
- “Friends of the Santa Fe to Taos Thru-Hike
- $40 gets them
- Summary map (as a poster?)
- Section maps set (11 x 17, water resistant paper)
- Set of notecards (5) and postcards (10 postcards; two of each version)
- 5 bookmarks
- Trail guide. 132-page printed book with color interior, 4.5″ x 7″. Print on demand from BookVault for ~$5 each. Keep it under 6 oz. Also print/sell via Amazon for $8.99. Also use an Amazon Prime account so I can ship books to interested parties for free.
- Build mailing list from subscriber emails
- Possibly offer to send a gift of a postcard set or something to any email subscriber who will also give me their mailing address. Or offer to mail a sticker or a few postcards for free to people. To get it to them, I’ll need their mailing address.
- Bookmarks and postcards around Santa Fe
- Will need another ~500 bookmarks ($55 at enviroprint)
- 500 sets of 5 postcards will cost $35 x 4 (I already have the first postcard).
- Get cellophane bags to make nice little postcard sets. $8.99.
- Publicly share route on Gaia, All Trails, Wikipedia, and five other sites
- YouTube videos
- Summary / Explainer video of thru-hike
- 9 seconds, 30 seconds, 60 seconds, 2 mins, 7 mins, 15 mins
- ~10 min video for each section
- Videos about looking for board members, volunteers, partners
- 1 min promo video for newsletter
- 1 and 5 minute video for paid members/supporters
- About 2024 goals and major projects
- Asking for donations
- 10 second, 30 second, 2 mins
- About the pea clams and other wildlife
- About prepping to do the trail (gear, fitness, timing)
- About day hikes, or doing the thru-hike in day hikes and 1-2 overnights
- Things to do in SF, Taos, and in between
- Summary / Explainer video of thru-hike
- Get 1,000 visitors a month to SF2T.org
- SEO for all existing pages
- Add the blog
- Create at least five new posts purely for SEO traffic
- Speed up the site
- Check other core vitals status
- 30 inbound links
3. Document the thru-hike
- Get out to the section between La Cueva Canyon and FR 438 asap
- May not be possible until May due to the road closures
- Complete the full thru-hike route twice in 2024. (In 1-2 night overnights)
- Finish my document about doing the thru-hike as a series of day hikes or in 1-2 night overnights
- Get a much better digital camera so I can take higher-res photos and videos for marketing, print projects and merchandise (and print BIG)
- Redo all the section explanations on the site so they read better and are typo free.
- Continue with the maps project:
- Summary map at 11 x 17 and post size
- Section maps at 13 x 19 on water resistant paper. (Sell on site, offer as part of the paid member package)
- Create ~100 inset and other maps for the trail guide. These can also be used for the website and social media. Would also be good for talking to any business or organization that’s near a specific part of the thru-hike.
- Get a four BIG maps made. These would be for rolling out on conference tables and being able to show people the turn-by-turn route of the thru-hike. It would also them to see/understand/grasp the trail in its entirety, but also show them exactly where it goes, so they can anchor their understanding of it. That requires being able to see details – a lot of details. And that requires some size. I’m thinking of getting at least four 36 x 72 posters made, which would fit on a standard door. I can get them printed for $50 each at PosterNinja.com. I would also like to attempt to print one larger map here, on my 13 x 19 printer. Thinking of printing it in tiles; three tiles wide (so 54 inches wide) and nine tiles tall (so 108 inches tall). Might do this one hortizontally, rather than vertically, which would make it fit on a big wall. Like the wall in my office…
- Create the thru-hike guide.
4. Manage the thru-hike organizationally
- Find 2-3 more board members. Great board members.
- Keep the finances of the thru-hike organized
- Keep a time log of my time. Have it be available via the website, though password protected.
- Keep a log of expenditures I’m making for the thru-hike
- Get clear on how much I can deduct from my own spending/support/time for the thru-hike
- Re-do the bylaws
5. Permits
- Permits from Santa Fe and Carson National Forests to lead hikes and backpacking trips. I have the applications for the permits from both forests, and I was very kindly walked through how to fill out the application for Carson National Forest.
6. Sell merchandise, annual memberships and the trail guide on the site
- Use Printful and WooCommerce to sell branded merchandise like
- t-shirts, socks, tote bags, water bottles, tin mugs, sun hats, dish towels, grocery bags
- Possibly also post on AirBnB experiences to lead hikes (even free hikes) or walks from the Santa Fe Plaza to Santa Fe Conservancy trails
- Use WooCommerce and Bookvault to sell the thru-hike guide on this site