I've been doing a lot of thinking, researching, planning.... all that stuff that Eeengunnears are supposed to be good at..... Please!
You know how anally retentive Eeengunnears like to list out things.... so here's a chronology of my thought process over the past few weeks.
I did a post a while back titled "What it costs to Discover America on 2 Wheels". Here's the link to that post - http://willsonwheels.blogspot.com/2010/02/what-it-costs-to-discover-america-on-2.html
I had been hearing so much good feedback from people that read my blog and said how they loved my writing and my videos and my how-to stuff and everything about what I was presenting that I figured that my efforts were worth something. I mean after all, I had put over 1000 hours in this little venture / vacation / pleasure cruise.... yeah right.... this Discovering America on 2 Wheels thing.
So I followed a widely accepted model for monetizing a blog and put a PayPal "Donate" button at the top of the blog and listed out my expenses thinking that my host of loyal fans / readers would be willing to pay some nominal amount.... say $5 for the much expressed pleasure of reading my blog and viewing the images and videos.
Good God! You would've thought I asked people to support some sort of freakin' criminal activity or something.... I mean I was AMAZED at the lack of support.... like there was NO SUPPORT!
Not only that.... but there was actually a connotation by several readers of wanting to distance themselves from someone with the audacity to ask for a piddly donation for the work I was doing that providing hours of entertainment / education / release to the readers of the blog and viewers of the videos.
Now here's the KICKER!
I got 1 donation for $25.... and guess who it was from?
MY EX-WIFE!!!!!!!
Can you believe that?
God bless her.... I mean that sincerely.... we have cooperated, coordinated, butted heads, had civil and uncivil discussions over the years since our divorce.... but that lady gave me the only donation I got!
Anyway.... so what's the point to this point?
Well - there's 2 points....
First, I have to calls 'em the way I seez 'em.... and the way I seez 'em is that I can't monetize the Discovering America on 2 Wheels blog.... not directly anyway.
Second, I said in the post requesting donations that I would see if there was any support for the proposed Leg 3.... the 1250 mile tour from Santa Fe NM to Los Angeles CA....
.... and there wasn't ....
so that's on hold.... for now.... at this point, I'm not doing that tour until some time later.
So where does that leave Discovering America on 2 Wheels?
With a flat on the side of the road or what?
Hell No....
You know.... I keep hearing the same thing over and over from people.... and what is it I hear?
You gotta know your audience!
Let me translate that for you in my sarcastic - what the hell does that mean - kinda way.....
What "You gotta know your audience!" really means is.... "I don't know what to say about the efforts you're putting into your blog but I have to say something intelligent cause you asked me my opinion so I'll throw out this You gotta know your audience thing!"
It's like about 95% of what most people say.... it's not specific, it's not actionable, it's completely non-commital, it doesn't help.....it sounds good, but it don't mean JACK!
So what am I doing?
When you try something.... a particular direction.... and it doesn't come out the way you planned.... it doesn't work.... sometimes you just have to back off.... scratch your head.... and try it a different way.... until you find something that does work.
So what works?
Well, I've always had a knack for going into a new situation and evaluating the pro's and the con's and getting a pretty good idea of how something works.... relatively quickly....
And I have an eye for quality and things / services / products / businesses that are well-constructed, well-run, well-managed.... you get the picture.
I mean that's kinda the Mission Statement for Discovering America on 2 Wheels..... I'm touring around looking for the Best of America.... whatever that is wherever I'm at.
Well, here's the Hook.....
When I find these little Gems of America.... I approach the Gem Manager / Owner / Head Honcho.... and ask them if I can do a little advertising video for their little piece of America and upload the video to YouTube with a link through the DA2W blog.
It's a Win-Win situation.... the Business Owner gets instant, inexpensive and perpetual advertising access to the most popular Internet viewing site in the world.... and I get something for my time spent researching the Business and preparing the "script" for the video, shooting the video, doing the editing and the necessary links and uploads to get it on my blog and YouTube.
Is this "Business Plan" monetizable and sustainable?
I don't know....I've only done it a few times.... but I can tell you.... it seems to work.... so we'll see.
So what's the breakthrough here?
Well.... it seems you have to give people something tangible for their money.... Wow.... what a concept!
What was I thinking all this time anyway?
A short (1 - 3 minute) video ad is tangible and it has some benefit to the customer.... so there you go....
You gotta know your audience!
So what other service connected with what I'm doing is tangible and gives people something for their money?
Potentially...... BICYCLE TOURS!
That's one of the things that I've been working so hard on for the last couple of weeks.
I've put together the Plan, Logistics and the Details for a Bicycle Tour of ......
BRAZOSPORT! Right where I live!
I'm working on finalizing all the due diligence this week:
- Tour Information Packet
- Virtual Tour Videos that will be uploaded to YouTube with links from the DA2W blog to show potential Tour Participants the Sites of Interests and Tour Route.
- Meeting with all the "Site" managers for the Tour Sites.
- Researching / Surveying Site and Area Contacts for potential interest / demand for Bicycle Tours
- Setting up a Business E-mail.... my new e-mail for contact for Discovering America on 2 Wheels is william@discoveringamericaon2wheels.com
- Securing a domain name for a website so that IF and WHEN I move all my activities from my blog to a website, I'll have a place to go.... so maybe someday you'll be logging on to http://www.discoveringamericaon2wheels.com/
- Securing Liability Insurance
- Setting up an LLC (Limited Liability Corporation)
- Creating a Registration Form and Waiver and process for potential Tour Participants to access and return the completed document.
- Details of Tour Schedule and Support.
So there you go..... that's what I've been doing....
And... oh yeah.... in the middle of that little doing....
I've got to have a BIG Garage Sale so I can sell everything I haven't used in the last 5 years to finance this new "Leg" of DA2W.....
AND.....
I gotta go back up to Santa Fe NM somehow..... by air or driving my truck .... and retrieve my Mountain Bike.... the Red Mule.... and my backpack and gear.... cause the storage room at A-1 Storage Rental is costing me $50 a month..... and I want my bike and gear back....
So that's what's been going on with.....
Discovering America on 2 Wheels
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