Updates

Posted on July 20, 2011

As with any new project, changes are going to be required to get it to where it needs to be. Making some minor changes on background things may not even be noticed, but there are some things that are important enough to the readers to warrant a special page to make those announcements.

Therefore, we have created a new page that will show up on the left menu bar of the main site, right at the top, aptly titled: “Updates”. Any time you come to the main page, always check that page first, as new items of interest will be dated, latest ones at the top, and you can always tell immediately if something is new since your last visit.

For those who aren’t aware of it, there is a tool within Google called “Google Alerts”, which can be accessed here:
http://Google.com/alerts

We have many different alerts set up for all of our web topics and products, and every time something new shows up anywhere on the web, we are notified by email. Sometimes we get a lot of garbage with it, because of the way the search engines work, but we are always trying to refine our searches so that only noteworthy items show up. This is very helpful to stay on top of current news in the industry, so that we can let you know about it.

We also get a lot of newsletters from various other sites, not the least of which is Truck Camper Magazine, and an article this morning about keeping cool in extreme heat caught our attention, as many of us are stuck in this heatwave hitting the midwest right now. The article actually was compiled from actual readers who contributed their own hints on keeping cool, one of whom mentioned Hella fans. It seems these are very highly efficient little fans which draw only about 18% of the current that a normal Fantastic vent fan draws. The reader did a lot of boondocking on the Mexican beaches and relied on solar power, so these little fans worked well for him, as they would in any kind of RV or camper.

This, as well as another item (soon to be many more) has been noted on our “updates” page, and more detailed information can be found on the appropriate product pages of our site.

For those waiting for the full version of the minivan camper book, we are still progressing on it. There are many details that have to be worked out in the exact measurements in order to create the working drawings that will work with nearly every minivan. We keep running into glitches… like the fact that on the new Toyota minivans, when you take the middle seats out, it still leaves a sliding bracket on the floor, which could get in the way. We have to make sure that our design will either hide that bracket or straddle it. Since we don’t own one of those vans, and have no dealers close by, we have to try to go by pictures on the web.

We also have some preliminary pictures of the van that we will be using as a model to create our concept van. We still have to upload those yet. Many of you have said there’s not enough pictures on the site, to which I agree. But we can’t wait until every little thing is perfect before introducing the site to the public. It will be growing, changing, and “hopefully” becoming better as time goes on. The input from readers will help to make that happen. We aren’t mind readers. Only YOU can tell us if we are headed in the right direction with it. Tell us (in the comments) what YOU want to see there!

Those of you who have downloaded the original edition of the book are probably annoyed with all the blue links to product pages on our site. To alieve that issue, we are taking the product links out of the second edition of the free book, as well as the paid version. We are also adding a few topics that we thought of after releasing the first edition.

The issue with product links was also brought about by the Amazon Associates program pulling out of Arkansas. Now we are discovering that no matter which way we go, the individual stores do not provide product links that are consistent in size or looks, so we seem to be headed toward text information about the products, with links within the text to our recommended vendors, rather than to individual products. It may require searching within that vendors site to find the product by model number. That could hurt sales a little bit, but only testing will tell for sure.

Where there might be confusion over what the product is, or what it looks like, we will try to provide a generic image of the product, and then make a recomendation from among our vendors as to where you can find it.

We are providing all this because we happen to be very experienced RV’s and campers, and feel that others can benefit from what we know. But we are also marketers, and this site is helping to provide supplemental income to us over and above our Social Security. I spent most of my life in construction-based work, and have no fancy pension to rely on. Over half of what I had in a 401k was lost after 9/11 because it was in a profit-sharing program. I left their employment in August of 2001, with no idea what the coming month would bring. By the time I could get it out the following spring, after my employer had their taxes done, half of it had disappeared. So I make no apologies for what sales I make from web work. I’m not doing all this work out of the kindness of my heart. Nothing ever happens ANYWHERE without a sale being made first.

If you already have what you need, or can buy it cheaper somewhere else, then by all means do so! I would! But if you find value in what I provide, then maybe you will keep it in the subconcious of your mind that I also have the sources for what you DO need.

For those who have an aversion to making money “for” anyone on the web, you should be aware that every time you click on a link, whether it be a text link or banner, on ANYONE’S site on the web, the chances are extremely good that someone made money from that click, regardless of whether you bought something or not. That’s called PPC or pay-per-click marketing. If you have ever downloaded a free program from somewhere, you just made money for the person providing the link, even though you didn’t buy anything. That’s called CPA or click-per-action marketing.  When you go to one of the stores we recommend and buy something, we make money from a “kick-back” from that store for sending you there. That’s “affiliate” marketing.  If you don’t believe that, then you have a lot to learn about online marketing. All this information on the web is not provided out of the goodness of people’s hearts or because they have excess time on their hands. The smart ones make money from it. It’s just that most of them won’t come right out and tell you that they do.

But whether you ever buy anything from our site or not, it’s OK. Some will, some won’t, but life goes on and the ones who do buy will make up for the ones who don’t. That’s already allowed for in the number crunching. So enjoy what we provide, and to those who DO buy, we extend our grateful thanks ahead of time.

We are interested in what you have to say about the book, though. We are in dire need of testimonials right now. If you would like to review the book and provide a testimonial for us, we can make it anonymous, or add your name to it, or if you have a business you would like to promote we have no problem with giving you an active link to that business site. It’s your choice. Send us testimonials through our contact form on our main site.

You can use the contact form on the site to let us know your thoughts privately, or your relevant comments can be added to the blog. We read them all. However, they must be on topic, and no spamming is allowed.

Thanks.