Is My Blogging Worth My Time... or Yours?

I received an email Friday, which along with other recent events and observations, makes me wonder if blogging about our full-time RV lifestyle is really worth my time... or yours. And I doubt it will do any good to ask readers, because I don't see enough participation to give me accurate figures for input.

Why do I write?

I am basically an introvert at heart. Even though I had little parental participation in guiding my growth, I used to be surrounded by friends and classmates who were always accepting of my presence, and I was more outgoing. As I grew older, and began to realize that people are not always who they seem, whether they be family or business contacts, my distrust of people grew to where I don't even care to be around them anymore.

If I am trying to be involved in conversations, it seems other people rudely cut me off in mid-sentence, and I have gotten to where I don't even care to be "social" anymore. Even small groups tend to bore me, because I have yet to find friends like I had growing up... friends who shared conversations rather than try to monopolize them with "more important than thou" useless chatter. Nowadays I find my thoughts going far deeper than what most people's minds could even imagine, and so they bore me.

As a result, my environment has driven me inward... to prefer the company of my dog rather than be around people who think that what they have to say is so important that they have to cut me off in mid-sentence. At least my dog makes an attempt to listen and understand... with far better intelligence and caring than most people!

I have seen how ruthless the world of business can be, whether managing a business worth in excess of eight million dollars, or simply dealing with personal business clients one-on-one. I have become burned out in dealing with the eccentricities of random customers answering ads. I hate "negotiating" or doing sales work. When I must, I work better with new customer referrals from people I already know and trust.

The internet provides me a way to avoid dealing with new people that is mostly hassle free (with rare exception). I own my sites, and write what I want. I don't have to ask people's opinions. When I put something out there to sell, they either want it or they don't. I have never gone with the crowd on producing follow up emails to mail to random subscribers just to keep convincing them to buy. I know that (statistically) it works, but it also comes with a lot more work for me to do that, and for me, it's not worth pestering people with follow up emails.

Email lists increase a web site's sales by about 40%. That's a statistical fact. But creating a follow up email program means work and addition expense for a proper autoresponder. I can create an additional sales site that doesn't use emails for pestering people, and that site will produce 60% of the potential it would have with a list! So the way I look at it, I'm still 20% farther ahead and without all the extra work! I would rather just create another site, and increase my income that way!

For people that have only one business, they may have to make the most of that one business or product, in which case building an email list might work better. But I have never fallen in love with one product or business! I go where the money is, with many different products of many different types, although they are all digital products these days. My sites run on autopilot after they are built, and I hardly ever have any maintenance to do on them or customer service to deal with! If sales slow down on a site, I simply replace it with a different one with a different product!

I regularly monitor performance of my sites and eliminate poor performers. I replace them with what I hope to be a better performer. Over time, the number of sites have decreased, while performance of those that remain have increased. It's simple business logic that anyone can do... if they tried.

Few people can write long posts, letters, books, or even sales web sites like I can. But I need to do it. My mind stays active, and the web sites bring out the creative side of my thoughts. Without a way to get my thoughts out, I feel like I would explode! In fact, it doesn't really matter whether anyone reads my words. Just getting them out relieves the mental pressure. I depend on SEO (search engine optimization) to get traffic. I have never paid for traffic, and only very rarely sent out emails to a list.

The conundrum...

There is no satisfaction in constantly spilling my lengthy thoughts to the general public. Their attention span is rarely that great. If I ever get to that point, I have decided that trying to teach the mentally blind to see is a dead end. I would sooner write fiction, and let them visualize it however they want.

I have few real friends (but a lot of acquaintances) that I talk to regularly, and that (I hope) reads my blogs, but I see no verification of anyone else even bothering with it, despite the number of subscribers I have. There are few comments, and little conversation. Out of roughly 3500 views per month (and growing), and (normally) four posts per month, even a paltry 1% should produce about nine comments per post. One glance through the blog's comments will prove otherwise.

I know that asking more questions helps "some", but still not enough. I don't have many questions to ask, because (1) I already know what I am going to do, and (2) I don't want this blog to end up like Facebook, with a bunch of nonsense comments like the blind leading the blind. But if there was an interest in what I was doing, it makes sense that there would be more participation in it... either in the form of questions or comments. Any teacher knows that without participation, the sharing of knowledge decreases.

Hardly anyone bothers to click on the advertising links I put in these pages, so I make very little from this particular source (although I do make money from other sites geared to "auto-pilot sales"). But people don't come to blogs to buy... every marketer knows that. If I want to sell, I create specialized high-pressure sales sites or use the auction sites, which attract "buyers" not "tire kickers". The latter doesn't know what they want, and don't want to be bothered by sales people.

In the "old days" (10 years ago), a blog owner could tell who was reading his blog by the number of subscribers to new posts. But now, with RSS feed readers, social "following" and other somewhat private means of keeping up with blogs, a site owner has no way to know what is going on.

Oh sure, every site or blog has statistics that show how many visitors it gets, what site they were on before they came to mine and what pages are hit the most. It even tells you how long they stayed on a page. It DOESN'T tell you whether they stopped there and then went to get a cup of coffee before moving on! In other words, just because they spent time on the page doesn't guarantee that they read it!

And even if they did sit there and actually read the page, I find that the reading comprehension of too many people is dismal at best. If they can't put words on paper intelligently, with proper spelling and punctuation, then why would I think they have understood anything that they have ever read? If they understood it, and paid any attention at all to the spelling and placement of punctuation and capitalization on anything that is expected to be read by the public, then they would also be more able to put their own words on paper!

And yet, there isn't a day (or even an hour) goes by that I don't see posts on Facebook that have spelling, punctuation and grammar butchered so bad that I won't even take the time to read them! And I sure as hell won't share such trash, even to my own timeline!

I also see way too many blogs written as though the writer is constantly talking non-stop like a bad used car salesman, with not nearly enough paragraph breaks where he could even take a breath! Common sense says 3 to 5 sentences per paragraph, and when the subject changes, even slightly, then start a new paragraph! It's not rocket science! White space is a writer's best friend! I refuse to read huge blocks of text with no breaks!

The education in this country is going down the tubes and no one seems to care! Most people don't even care enough that when they see a mistake, they don't even bother to learn how to go back and edit their mistakes out!

Some visitors that I don't know, I don't really care a whole lot what they do, but there are others that I do care whether they read about what I'm doing, and yet no one ever makes a comment about it on the blog where they can show that they are taking part in the conversation.

In fact, I know that when some people (even relatives) have to ask by text whether we are still in Florida, when that has clearly been spelled out on several of the recent blog posts, they obviously haven't been reading what I put out there for that exact purpose! So why do I bother?

And others seem to only find satisfaction in criticizing everything I do. The email on Friday didn't have anything to do with my blog, but was rather an attack on me personally! I haven't had conversation with this person for over two years, and there was no good reason to say what they did. It was just their drunken bi-polar personality out of control again! And yet, it's these very actions that drive me deeper into isolation and AWAY from THEM!

When people call me on the phone (or even contact me in email) and can't even start with normal conversation (like "Hi, how are you? Have you got a few minutes to discuss something that I have a concern with?), but rather start in immediately with more accusations and blame, I have no choice but to shut them down, either by hanging up on them, or blocking them online. They haven't even learned proper social etiquette or common sense, and seem to think everyone else is going to put up with their psychotic tirades! It's not acceptable behavior... for ANYONE! They are only perpetuating what I refuse to put up with anymore!

I have dealt with enough "trolls" online, that I don't need to put up with it from family or anyone else. All trolls have one thing in common... they are more intent on spreading hate than they are understanding and love, they are blaming everyone else for their own problems, and they refuse to take responsibility for their own actions! Everyone is always wrong except them. I refuse to be around people like that, whether they are family or otherwise! The negativity they spread in everything they do continues to destroy the world around them, and yet they don't even see it or understand it.

Some people have asked why I don't do a YouTube channel, so I can show more about the trailer build, or other things in our travels. It's because of the haters out there, who have already spewed such obscene trash in the comments on the few videos I have released, that I won't lower myself to even repeat what they said. I have had to block those people from even seeing my videos and viewing my Facebook page. Unfortunately, I can't block them from reading my sites and blogs. All I can do is to gear my conversation toward other things than myself (or my wife), and not give them any more information than necessary.

At one time, I had considered doing videos. I have all of the equipment and knowledge I need, and have produced videos for past products I have carried. But those products were geared toward businesses with stationary locations with plenty of bandwidth. Travelers (including us) are constantly fighting bandwidth and connectivity problems, and I see no need to add yet another useless channel on which to display my face, my knowledge, nor my expertise, none of which anyone wants to see, anyway!

A change of direction...

I have hinted in the not so distant past that a change in this blog was coming, and I have even been asked if I am starting a new one. The answer is yes... maybe.

I have a new blog URL reserved, and am playing around with setting it up. No, I won't say what it is, now or maybe ever. It may remain "anonymous", just like my sales sites. People don't need to know who I am to read my words or buy my products.

If people show no interest in what we are doing now, and only use the information I provide to find fault with what we do, then why should I even allow them to follow the new blog or set up a profile to let them know who is writing it? 98% of them won't subscribe anyway. I could just as well keep it private and use it for my own archive, and it wouldn't make any difference! The new site won't be tied to other social sites, nor will I mention it on Facebook.

Maybe if trusted friends really want to follow what we are doing, I will send them a direct link to it... ONCE! If they don't subscribe to new post notifications and lose track of it, or never bother to make a comment on it or ask a question, then why should I care?

Why a "new" blog?

Although this blog was started with our main travel mode intended to be a "stealth" cargo trailer (therefore the play on names), it has obviously gone a whole new direction. We only lived in the cargo trailer for about seven months before trading our conversion van for a motorhome. The cargo trailer is currently setting "in limbo" for the time being, with a huge chance that we will never use it as a part of our travel plan in the future. Nor am I ready to sell it...yet.

The cargo trailer was designed with one thing in mind... to get us away from Arkansas and that money-pit real estate as quickly as possible, and last until we could figure out something else that worked better. It has served its purpose, and maybe some day, when we're ready to sell, it will serve the same purpose for someone else.

With the trailer not being used, and seeing what expenses are involved in traveling with a motorhome (at least one this old), we have decided that setting for awhile in a RV park works better for us... "at this time". There is no point in blogging about traveling in an RV, either, because if we choose to do this beyond next year, we will likely trade this motorhome and existing van for a larger van. The trailer will then continue to set in one place more than it will be towed.

We will be far better off to go to a towable unit, at least for storage, so that we can still lead a "mobile" lifestyle if we choose to live somewhere else, and have a larger van with which to tow it when we do decide to move on with it. The van can then be our daily driver, while the trailer becomes our "mobile home base", in which to store all the stuff that we don't want to haul all over the country every day. But that is in next year's plans, as has already been explained in previous posts.

At this point, we don't even know whether we will remain in this park beyond next year. Remaining anywhere too long defeats the purpose of getting out and seeing the country, and we aren't getting any younger. If we were going to stay here beyond that, we might as well buy some investment real estate. But we aren't ready for that, yet.

Once we obtain the larger van, I envision us staying at various places a month at a time, if we use an RV park at all. I would just as soon use the state and national parks and stay no longer than two weeks at a time. We can see everything nearby that we want to see in that length of time.

For now, we will continue with our plans to make a minivan camper that can get us out on far more (and more economical) trips while using this motorhome as our "mobile home base". So even though we will start out with a minivan for this next year, we will likely trade for a full-size van late next year, and then dispose of the motorhome soon after. Either way, it seems any future travels will involve a different vehicle, and therefore any new blog that is created should reflect that preference.

We will still be "RVing" full-time... just not "on the road full-time"... at least for the foreseeable future. Maybe someday, when we get enough things purged that we can fit into an extended high-top van without feeling overly crowded, even with a trailer for storage, we can again say that we are "traveling full-time". But we're not to that point yet.

The new blog... what it will be and won't be...

I am still thinking on how I want this new blog set up. Basically it will be about traveling in a van... first a minivan, and later in whatever full-size van we trade for. And it will have no advertising on the blog, since people refuse to use my links anyway. Those will be the only constants. I have considered many other possibilities, but may wait a few days to finish it. I am not in the mood today to deal with making rational decisions.

Since I wrote my free 94-page ebook about creating (not "building") a minivan camper three years ago, there have been countless others who have done the same thing, and created their own books and videos to show what they have done. But no two people will ever do the same things the same way, so I even question whether to proceed with my own version. I think my time would be better spent actually enjoying my efforts, and not worrying about sharing my knowledge with other people. It has been my experience that they will end up doing things their own way, anyway.

The way some people make me feel, I want to get even farther away from them than I already am, and that would mean going completely "dark" on social media. It would mean making this blog private (and Sharon's, too) and not starting any new ones, or if I do, keeping them completely free of any connection to me, to Azgrand Internet Marketing, or to any other social sites. In other words, they wouldn't know who owns them or where we are! And right now, that would suit me just fine! That's how all my other sales sites operate, and it's better that way.

I don't even know at this point whether I will continue to post on this blog, since we aren't using the cargo trailer for its intended purpose anymore. I may take a complete break from blogging and start with the new one next spring, when I will have more to write about. For now, the frustration with "trolls" and haters is more than I want to deal with. The less they know about what we are doing or even where we are, the better.

I have already broken my own rule about revealing where we are until we have left. As long as it's not a problem, we will remain here as we intend to. But we're still "mobile" and we can leave any time we want to, even if we have good neighbors.

Afterthought 11/7/17: I have since gone back through previous posts and edited out the name of the RV park we are in, and eliminated any links to its web site. In keeping with our basic rule about our own privacy, security and safety, we will no longer reveal "exactly" where we are, other than a general area, until after we have left. If anyone wants more info on the RV park, please use the comments below to ask, or simply email me at Incargonito at Gmail. I have also blocked email addresses of the people who have done nothing but act like trolls and haters in the past.

Thanks for putting up with my rant. Comments are always welcome, but since very few have been made so far in this blog's life, I won't expect much. People will do what they want to do anyway. For those who have actually clicked on my links, I thank you. At least you tried to make a difference.