Mission Statement
This is the beginning of a dream I had after hitting rock bottom, and having a taste of homelessness and humble pie. Needless to say, not the tastiest of pies I've ever had the pleasure of having to eat, but it did teach me any number of valuable lessons. Both from a Life perspective, and the Interpersonal level of seeing how drastically different people treated me or sheer lack thereof in many instances of contact period from those I'd known for years.
Thus whilst dreaming of a better tomorrow, I repeatedly kept coming back to YouTube for either the simple joys of Music & Entertainment, but also to try learning new skills or concepts on Art, Business, How To's on various Side Hustles, Real Estate Arbitrage/Airbnb, Construction, etc...
Then one day I stumbled across those Content Creators (Gary Vee, Mr. Beast, Ali Abdaal, Vanessa Lau, Think Media, Codie Sanchez, Reyes the Entrepreneur, Hustle Ninjas, Alex Hormozi, Graham Stephan, etc...), who were happily breaking down the numbers of what they were making and how, and why "YOU should start doing it too!!"...and it was like the final piece of the puzzle settled in my brain. From its inception I had loved it as a platform, but had never tried to even create 1 crappy video for it in the infancy of things, let alone once it had blown up and real people were watching it from all over the World. Yet here were more and more everyday people who simply took the time to share their hobbies, passions, and day to day lives...and had managed to monetize it in a way that allowed them to live comfortably without ever needing a traditional "Boss" ever again. THIS is the Life I equally now hope to create for myself!
So, originally my plan first formulated during the winter of 2019, while nearly freezing to death in my single wide trailer without any heat, power, or running water. But then 2020 and Covid showed up, and completely changed the game for my plans sadly. It would have been the best time ever to have started, but I simply didn't have the funds or resources capable of filming/editing anything. What I could do though was apply dedicated research/thought into all the steps I would need to do, if I ever did get what I needed...
Fast Forward to October 2022, aka Present Day as I type this, and I have been blessed to finally have those tools at my disposal to make the years of dreaming and research possible. Alas, the funds come from the loss of my beloved Grandmother, but I hope to use her love of Art and Creativity, Compassion for those in Need, Love of God, passions for Cooking, Thrifting/Business, and Making the World a better place as the cornerstones for what will be done here. Additionally, there will be a Nonprofit created in her honor utilizing her beautiful art that she created to help continue giving the way she did while she was alive. As she gave 50% of all her profits to different charities or churches. I hope to make her and the others I've lost over the years proud, and not squander the gifts I've been given.
So, You might be asking yourself, "Where does this all lead to, and why should I care???" And that is the crux of all things for building both a Brand and literal presence online in any sense of scale...but one that I feel ready to answer in the extreme!!!
Welcome to the Home of the Craftiest Ninja, and Rickest of Rick's on Planet Earth! Soon to be making projects BIG and small, via a wide cross section of styles and materials. I have plans for different offshoot channels as well, hence the Network part of the name, and they will all carry The MANN branding before whatever Niche type they are. Such as these examples which are among the 1st to get priority: The MANN - Gaming, The MANN - Paranormal & Ghost Hunting, The MANN - Sounds of Nature, The MANN - Unboxing & Reviews, The MANN - Independent News, The MANN - Travel & Adventure, The MANN - Rockhounding, etc etc etc...
At last check, I have roughly 30+ channel ideas, and a nigh unlimited supply of Content concepts for each. Let alone that more keep coming up as time rolls on, and my creativity evolves with the trends/pop culture. So, the Network will very quickly live up to its name in short order. Especially as eventually I would love to help other Creators branch into this space, and equally make their own dreams of financial freedom and happiness flowing from their own passions exclusively. Thus we move to the 2nd Tier of the Network over time.
Tier 3 will be all the tangent businesses that I also want to start up over time as additional resources come online without fear of risk to the core Network. For these I have some amazing twists on certain industries that I feel have gotten stale or just never properly utilized a wider scope of creativity to apply their products in different ways. Food & Alcohol, Vehicles, Nontraditional Investment Strategies, Housewares, Weapons & Firearms, Sports Goods and Games, Medical & Recreational Marijuana Breeding/Growing/Dispensary, Clothing, Tiny Home Communities, Aquaponics Farms, Metal Casting and Forging, Treasure Hunting Guild, etc etc etc...
Tier 4, Philanthropic endeavors and Global scale efforts to actively combat the problems all over on many levels. I have a bunch of different Nonprofits that I wish to create to go here, and allow others to help me see the visions come true. Key ones though of priority:
1 - Helping the Homeless by teaching them how to build their own mobile Tiny Home, and then giving them a place to stay in it that's safe, full of food, and will pay them to continue making more Tiny Homes to sell or donate to other Homeless in need.
2 - Bees and Butterflies Preservation by actively planting tons of flowers, shrubs, and trees that produce the much needed pollen/nectar they need to sustain and grow their populations. Additionally go outright into Beekeeping, and also start offering Honey and Wax products to further help the funds expand planting as rapidly & widely as possible constantly all over the World.
3 - Ocean Cleanup, across numerous levels sadly. Plastics and trash being the most tangible one that is relatively easy to combat, though slow and tedious. I propose to make a floating island out of said refuse, and that from the Mainland, and use it as a beacon of Green Reuse and Peace. Inspired by Richart Sowa, a guy who made his own Island by bagging up empty plastic bottles, and putting them underneath Pallets with dirt/plants growing into them...pure genius and ingenuity in action! The plants then providing food, protection, and their roots weaving through the network of bottles below to better strengthen the overall structure. Upscale the idea, and allow others who want to build their own from all over, to then come join the floating island chain or slow growing City and eventually maybe even its own Country if large enough. Working to then make it Mobile and Green Powered (Solar, Hydro Wave Generators, and Wind to power electric prop motors around the Island), so that it could rove the oceans cleaning up and spreading its message of Recycling and Reuse over just blindly throwing things away.
But the hidden one that I feel is most scary to long term life on our Planet, is the continued irradiated water being pumped into and out of Fukushima on a regular basis. It's definitely going to have long term ramifications on the genes of animal and plant life, if it hasn't already caused permanent damage after all these years. So, 1st Step is to get them to stop said actions via better solutions, and 2nd is how to repair the damage it has already caused.
4 - Global Hunger issues, prompting a need for what I feel are Self Sustaining Organic Aquaponics Farms that can raise both Fish and Vegetables to feed any number of people depending on scale of operations. With eventually expanding into Grain, Orchards, and Livestock in those areas that can support additional animals/space. Starting at everything either Fresh or Smoked/Dried/Cured, and eventually branching into Canned, Prepared, and Frozen products for wider range and better longevity/shipping capabilities.
5 - Beautify the World through adding Art to more everyday spaces via Murals, Sculpture, Plants, Park Creation or Fixing, etc... Find unused buildings or spaces that have been neglected, and give them new life with color and interest. Whilst adding Positive Messages intermingled with the Art, to in general promote better Mental Health through proactive endorphin boosting methods...possibly adding in Lighting Effects, Music or Sounds, and Smells to further incorporate the other senses too.
6 - Cancer Patient "Spirit Boosters," think along the lines of some Patch Adams style medical theory; Wherein we boost healing through laughter and happiness in as many forms as possible. My Mother sadly passed away from Thyroid Cancer in 2010, and seeing the standard conditions and state of environment that patients had to deal with was disheartening to say the least. They are already going through enough Mentally and Physically, that if you can improve their happiness through simple things like Entertainment, Food & Drinks, Celebrity/Special Visitors, or time spent Outdoors. Make a Wish can specialize in those who are specifically dying, but I want to help the entire system top to bottom.
Thus, over time I have many plans for this Business to grow and scale into the next few years. Hopefully it gets big enough that I have to transition from various LLC's to a full on Corporation to bring them all under one umbrella, aka Tier 5. Then go IPO and start offering Stocks and Dividends to all my faithful viewers.
But that's far enough down the line that I'm not stressing about it, merely wish to fully encapsulate here the scope of my Vision and put it out into the Universe somewhere beyond just my mind. Hopefully with you out there reading this, progress is being made, and you too will be inspired to make your life and the lives of others better! The World has enough Negativity, let's try to counter it with Positive Mental Attitudes and Random Acts of Kindness!
Sincerely,
Rick Nelson, CEO/Owner
aka The Maker Acre Ninja
aka The MAN