I've been away from this blog for over a year, though it hasn't been for
lack of interest in Mars and the space industry. And while I have had a busy
year – my son was born, we just moved to Korea, and I’ve
been working on my Master’s Degree – that isn’t what has kept me from
continuing to blog about Mars.
I lost my motivation for writing about Mars because I felt it wasn’t accomplishing
what I wanted it to. Let me explain:
No matter how many fascinating photos of Mars or the rest of the solar
system were sent back to Earth, most people don’t see them. It doesn’t matter
if I write about them on my blog or even if the big space websites showcase
them; only a small fraction of people are going to go out of their way to find
them. Occasionally there will be a big news item that gets some high visibility
like when Rosetta landed, or Orion launched, but then the coverage drops off.
Space exploration is something out of sight, out of mind for most of the
public. They don’t see or hear about how fascinating it is every day.
You see it. If you are reading this you are probably astounded by the vast
beauty of space. You understand how much we learn by exploring and studying
space. You want more! I want more. Millions of people want more. Unfortunately,
we are a minority. Most of the world won’t find all those fascinating images,
or read about how space research is beneficial to everyone. A blog or website
about space is going to attract people that are already enthralled with space,
but the people we should and must be targeting are those that are
not already passionate about space.
That realization stopped me and my blog in its tracks. Every time I would
sit down to write a post I wondered if it would make a difference—would this
post encourage someone to start believing that space development was important?
Probably not. So for the past 16 months I have racked my brain trying to figure
out how to increase awareness of the space industry.
The public doesn’t see how much further exploration and research of space
would advance our technology and enhance our lives. Space is out of sight, out
of mind for the majority of the public. But what if people heard something
about space every day? What if we could make it impossible for people to go even
a single day without encountering something about a mission, discovery, or
fascinating aspect of space? People would start talking about space and what
they saw or heard. With more awareness people would start to become more
interested and more excited about missions to come, thus support for the space
industry will increase. More support leads to more crowdfunded space
initiatives, more crowdsourced research, and more pressure on politicians to
make space development a greater priority.
That is why I’ve decided to use
this blog and the marketing experience I have to help market space exploration
and development. I will create items that you can use to promote the space
agency in your local area. I will develop and post fliers, design banners,
develop newpaper ads, memes etc. That way all you have to do to promote the
space industry is put up some of the fliers or submit a pre-designed space
promotion ad. In short,
Mars Travel will
produce relevant marketing material for space advocates everywhere. By
crowdmarketing the space industry we will
increase awareness, spark interest, and boost support for further exploration
of space. Together we can propel humanity to the stars and break these earthly
bonds.