E5: The challenges

I'm going to get straight into it with my biggest challenge that I'm always learning from: finding my audience, or in simple terms, getting more views. For me, this is probably the most crucial aspect because it sparks an interest from people in my work and maybe even gets people coming back for more. Building a community has been really tough, but my family kept reminding me that it’s a slow process. They’ve been so supportive that I’m starting to think they might have a secret family business for motivational speeches. Anyway, I’ve come to realize this every time I check the analytics—watching those numbers rise has become my new favourite hobby. Yeah, sometimes they go down, but as long as I keep trying and offering something new, I’m confident that someone, somewhere, is still out there reading.

Speaking of something new, that brings me to my next challenge. When I say I struggle to bring something new, I’m not referring to the books or comics—because, as I always say, "There are no limits to creativity!" I'm referring to a question I always ask myself: "What's the next big thing I can do to top this?" For example, like I mentioned in the other blog about the Christmas calendars, I always try to do something either completely different or somewhat similar, but with a twist. It’s something I love to do, but it’s also something I find tricky to make unique. Another example is my trailers—I want each one to feel new and exciting, not like those TV shows where you’re halfway through and think, "Wait, didn’t they already do this plot back in season three?" 

Before I released my first Christmas advent calendar, I knew I needed to release new content every single day first thing in the morning because I wanted my viewers to wake up and be able to open it. Unfortunately for me, this meant I had to jump out of bed and get it online as soon as I woke up. The reason I switched to releasing it at 4pm instead was because, well, I was at school. So for the first few days of December, my mornings looked like this: waking up at 7 am, racing to my computer, and trying to get my festive content live before sunrise. 

The next challenge came when I first created the website and was using a computer that paused every hour or so, slower than my dad getting ready for work on a Monday morning. As if that wasn’t enough, I was also using a free app that started off great but soon developed a bug. For about three or four months, this app had a talent for crashing and losing all my unsaved work. Every time I made progress, it decided to play ‘let’s see how many times I can make you redo this!'

This isn’t a challenge, but it’s something that might help people. When you’re doing what you love, try not to think of motivation as a challenge. As you work towards your dreams, motivation will come naturally—or you might need to dig a little deeper to find it. But remember, that digging isn’t a challenge; it’s just part of the journey.

And finally, the most difficult challenge of all: balancing everything. The main content, the social media, the trailers, the Spanish page, the updates on the website, etc... To keep everything active and fresh, but doing it all alone is one of the toughest tasks. I know the website might not have loads of content compared to others, but, this entire journey has taken me around four years. Now, I know what you're thinking: "Jaime, that’s just part of the process!" And you’re right! When working on your own dreams and juggling all these tasks, it sometimes feels like trying to walk a tightrope while carrying a stack of plates. But at least it’s never boring!