In all the craziness of the Coronavirus outbreak and the implications it's had on the community, I almost missed a pretty proud moment for myself, a milestone for America Josh! I've written over 400 posts and almost existed for 3 years!
I started America Josh in April 2017 because, well, truthfully, I didn't know anyone in the city and didn't have too much to do with my time. At the same time, I realized that the communities online were asking the same 25 questions over and over. There were some existing channels to get answers, but I couldn't find one place that held up-to-date trustworthy information.
I thought to myself:
Could I use my website skills and social media skills for good (and not evil, like I had planned)?
So I collected some information from Facebook about what most people were asking about and I spent hours researching and writing the first few pages of information.
America Josh 1.0 & Launch
I designed a logo (that you can see there on the right) and started sharing information with the community that I had come across, and more importantly, frustrations I had myself and had worked out ways to overcome.
The idea initially was just to have a relatively static site that held all the answers to common problems.
You can see that by my first ever blog post on April 11, 2017: Hello World. It doesn't contain much and includes:
That being said, the blog is the one part of the site that I can’t make much of a guarantee about. If I have time, I will update this regularly, and if I don’t, well then I won’t.
Oh how little I knew then…
As time rolled on I noticed how much regular humans who had moved their lives internationally were looking for constantly updating information in line with trends and the ever-changing world. I realized that traffic was really starting to grow on the site and the community was growing too, and I needed to re-think the day-to-day of the site.
America Josh 2.0
It was time to make things a little more professional, and improve my offerings to everyone.
Companies were reaching out to me for comments around issues, and they were also looking for ways to reach out to people who might benefit from their products.
This shift meant that I needed to re-think the brand and image of America Josh, just slightly.
So I launched a new brand, and a new website, modernizing the features and adding all sorts of value to those who visit (like my visa locations list which gets hundreds of hits per day).
I built partnerships with companies like OFX (money transfers) and Nova Credit (credit cards) to offer community members better tools and better rates to get them started in their new lives.
As of today, I have written and sent 147 newsletters to America Josh community members, I've written 402 articles (I missed this milestone slightly) of new information that is relevant to those living abroad + 88 pages of information that update constantly.
I've run webinars, drinks with new friends, dinner with new friends, and First Wednesday parties. I've met so many of your wonderful selves and heard so many of your incredible stories.
America Josh into the future
Moving is always going to be somewhat hard, I and I want to be there for the in-person and digital community as much as possible.
With ultra concerning issues like Coronavirus facing so many, I can guarantee that I will be here to provide trustworthy and honest information as much as I can. I'll continue developing tools to rapidly assist you, and if you ever have anything to contribute, I'd love to hear from you.
I look forward to so many more events, so many more webinars, so many more articles, and so many more weekly funnies.
Thank you
I can't thank everyone who reads this website, sends me emails, and attends my events enough.
I LOVE DOING THIS SO MUCH. I love meeting you, I love answering your questions, and I love learning what is going on in your world. Thank you for being such an important part of my journey.
Thank you.
