With the first 10 days of 2026 now in the past, I've noticed a silence. A silence across social media. A silence from others. If people have set goals for the new year, they aren't related to social media - which is great for people like you and I. The competition will be less saturated for striving forward to make a mark in the digital realm and build brands and businesses. I can count the number of people on one hand I've seen leveraging social media to build something at the top of the year. I've seen the available social media tools for creators and opportunities available. A thinner crowd is a good sign for those looking to make REAL growth strides.
To start off this week a bit different, I received some great news in my personal life- that I've been invited to go on a trip to Japan with my family in November this week. While this is a blessing for the obvious - in addition to having the chance to see my friend who is moving to Japan in March - I love it for the pressure it puts on me to put all of my ventures in the green before then. CrossOver Everything, Unpromoted Sounds and my e-commerce store - in order for me to enjoy the trip, they will need to be secure. 10 months feels like a long time away, but look how quickly January crept up on us. Looking that far in the future has been something I've been doing for some time now, and it feels great to have something else in the far future to be excited for.
In terms of what's new around here at UnPS, we're joyful to announce a new series on our YouTube channel, titled "Daily Checks." In these videos, we will be looking at my social media figures from the previous week, so viewers of the channel will have the resources to make decisions on their own marketing and promotional pushes to know what they want to try in the next week for themselves. A value of ours here at UnPS has always been to be the ones who walk first so others can run, and this series will allow us to do this at a much higher degree. The video will be linked upon release on Sunday at 3PM EST.
Our weekly video is also live now as well, and this week we are looking into branding exercises for up and coming artists. As the video states, branding is the one thing that will delay success for artists more than anything else. We go into 6 exercises and question categories to guide the thinking of upcoming artists.
You can check the video out here: https://youtu.be/vp0MfpuEwr8
This week, the "yourman3VAN" team is onto the next single of the year with "Miscalculated." Fans of yourman3VAN will recognize the connection to one of 3VAN's first big singles in "Calculators" back in January of 2025. This song serves as a spiritual successor to the song, and borrows from the same sonic palette while staying situated in the current 'yourman3VAN' sound. Be sure to give it a listen and see if it finds its home in your playlists.
You can stream "miscalculated" here: https://social.tunecore.com/linkShare?linkid=egGuem9glsCz4Y7fgogmsg
Our quote of the week comes from Jay Yang (jayyanginspires on Instagram), where he offers this powerful reflection: "Most people won't support you at the start. Not because they hate you. But because they can't see what you see. They wait for proof. For applause. For others to believe first. If you want to build anything great, you have to master the skill of cheering for yourself. Because by the time the world finally gets it, you'll have already made your vision a reality."
I challenge you to reflect on this quote and see how it applies to your life over the next week. Does it change how you approach conversations about what you're working on? Does it change the proximity of how close you keep certain people to you in contrast to others? Does it change how you choose to support people and ask to see their vision? There's a lot to unpack in this quote and integrate into your life if you choose to. I hope that you find a way to let it shape your professional pursuits and lead to more growth. Blessings and peace to all once again, and look forward to the next week!
~ Evan aka 3VAN aka yourman3VAN
Links:
Evan's IG page: https://www.instagram.com/evan.unpromotedsounds/
Brand IG page: https://www.instagram.com/unpromotedsounds/
TikTok page: https://www.tiktok.com/@unpromotedsounds
FaceBook page: https://www.facebook.com/people/Unpromoted-Sounds/61585570558510/
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unpromotedsounds?sub_confirmation=1
Stream yourman3VAN: https://yourman3van.supertape.site/music
Watch yourman3VAN: https://www.youtube.com/@yourman3van?sub_confirmation=1