I'm going to have to agree with Mister Turtlehead here. Yes a links fine, and if it sounds vaguely interesting I'll click on it, and I might spend a bit of time looking about.

BUT, I'd far, far, far and away have a taster on here, a few photos, and a tiny bit of text, maybe just one highlight from a longer story, one part of a pre-existing blog copied and pasted on here, something to get me to bite. It's basic marketing to be honest, give a hint of something and people are more likely to bite.

And yes, I like the interactivity (is that even a word) of it being on a forum, of being able to ask questions of the author, make encouraging remarks, or hints, or anything, and being diverted away to a blog which I'll read on my own doesn't allow me to do that the same way. Here's a prime example.

In THIS post of the previously mentioned Romanian trip thread, Dave Ede says, "Very nice pictures of the Romania trip, in picture'30' was she like that before, during and after you had 'passed' through?". And that's OK, I scrolled back up to the top, clicked the link, clicked the link on the site and found the photo.

But how much better, how much livelier, would it have been if it had looked like this.

Then all sorts of people would have seen the picture, and some of us might then have taken it further, and gone to look at Chris's site, to see what else was on it.

It's marketing, and if you're doing a blog for anything more than your friends and family, and specifically if you've had sponsors you want to give converage and thanks to, or like Chris, you've got something you'd like to sell, then a little tiny bit of marketing is worth it. It doesn't even have to take that long, if you've written a blog post, just copy and paste it in.

And personally, if I saw this photo from the same site



I'd have been over there like a shot to find out what the story was.

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Another little point is that when you see a trip with an interesting title and you click on it and get a link it instantly pisses you off.Kind of like all the other people went to the time and trouble to post here and now this guy who didn,t even bother to post a few photos wants me to click his link.Nah I won,t bother I,ll just get straight back to one with photos.
If you check into other places with Ride Reports see how long the ones with links last.Not very long I can assure you.
Al theturtleshead

As someone who started with that process and then changed to posting direct, I can't possibly stress how accurate this information is. Although my photo gallery averages a half million page views a month, not so for the section with text--but that is likely for those pictures, WOMEN OF THE WORLD. My thread on advrider, STRIKING VIKING BUMMIN THE WORLD is currently just under two million hits which because new hits only record when a browser is closed and re-opened, that count is likely double.

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EARTH RIDE!
Understanding the world through adventure travel.
www.strikingviking.net

Hi Alex
I have nothing to sell.
cheers
Chris

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TBS.com

You are in fact Sir selling yourself to the general readership!
If you aren,t the why the big link to your web page.
If you want to get attention,you,ll have to try harder!!
Photos for example.
The Viking can do it! You,re starting to look like you,re to good for us average types!!!
Al theturtleshead

Oh and I mean this in no way as a bad thing, but you kind of do



don't you?

I think we've seen something here, different strokes for different folks. But I do feel Albert's hit the nail on the head, even if you do do your trip report on your own site, or a blog, or whatever and don't want to do a full RR on here, it's still not that hard to do a taster on here to draw people in further, and once they're in, they could well stay and read more.

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A lot of people seem to be getting their knickers in a twist here. Wrong Chris Alex!

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Ollie

www.jollyfollies.com

Land's End to Sydney 2009

I think it's less, getting knickers in a twist and more an appeal to those people who might write a blog, might even do RRs on ADVRider to consider putting something here.

It's also about helping people get more traffic to their blogs/sites, especially anyone who's been given some support and wants to thank their supporters, or equally people who've decided to raise cash or awareness for a cause.

We have loads of stuff about writing books/magazine articles, better photos, getting sponsorship etc, this is the flipside of it, marketing yourself.

Not that important for some, interesting for others.

And I don't know which Chris it is but that Chris has a link to that book on his website, so it's nice to be able to draw traffic.

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It seems like some very valuable advice, backed by verifiable statistics that would help Grant as well as individual bloggers, is being disputed without foundation. That's a shame.

I've been reading, and have had a few E-Zine headline entries posted since 2001, so I have participated in the standard manner. Yet never once did I click on any of those other front page teaser-paragraphs with links to blogs, so I assume that few followed through on mine either.

After extensive trial and error, I determined the same on advrider. IMHO, given the overwhelming success of advrider RRs, the E-Zine format should be abandoned, substituting a Star Rated RR section. This encourages people to polish their work and pursue photography. Nothing like competition to raise the bar.

Bottom line, if you think that it will help this site, post some RRs, if not, don't. Let the chips fall.

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EARTH RIDE!
Understanding the world through adventure travel.
www.strikingviking.net

His name is Scott. My name is Bright. He writes books and guides people. I teach in a school. I'm on the cover of the book, not that you can tell, because of the shades and the wooly hat. I sold him the picture for a 1-off fee. I repeat, on my website I'm not selling anything, unless you include a 2002 Suzuki DRZ400S that's standing in the garage (This has nothing to do with the discussion though and isn't advertised on the site, but can be seen here: Iceland TBSdotCom One careful lady owner, never been off road, mint condition etc).

Having a link to a website (either from HU to mine, or from mine to Adventure Motorcycling ~ the website of the Adventure Motorcycling Handbook ) can hardly be construed as "selling". Just ran a google search on "define selling" and the top hit was "the exchange of goods for an agreed sum of money". I pay no money to Grant, Chris Scott pays no money to me for any links or book sales.

My own opinion on the whole RR vs blog vs website thing is "whatever floats your boat". My own boat is floated by good (IMO) websites in general and the labour of love that is my site. Some RRs are good (e.g Striking Viking, Moto Syberia). Most however are complete and utter boll*cks (Badly composed images, boring subjects, even worse words with horrendous vocabulary and grammar: The teacher in me coming out). Most blogs I read are mind numbing as sh*t (I got up at 9, had breakfast at 10, rode my bike at 11, took a dump at 12 etc etc). Hence I don't read them any more. But, each to their own.

I take on board the comments about putting up a few taster pictures/words before a link to a website. Next time I get round to it, I'll do that.

cheers
Chris
PS. You can tell me and Mr Scott apart. I'm more handsome than him. At least, that's what the wife says. She's blind and walks with a limp and has a hairy chin

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TBS.com

Are you talking about your web site? Because E X A C T L Y the same negatives can be found on web sites. Many can be dismal as well, having the identical failings you attribute to "Most" Ride Reports.

But at least a Ride Report on HUBB can have decent sized pics (unlike many web sites) and no dead links .... and readers can post interactively. Last I checked Web sites hide reader comments down below or in some obscure link.

Yes, there are good web sites too ... just as there are some good RR and Blogs. The point is with the HUBB Rider Tales forum we are supporting a rider community. This forum has the ability to bring together HU fans under one virtual roof .... instead of being scattered about ... some in the E-Zine, individual blogs or web sites all out across Cyber space.

Here, we are a community of travel riders and have some power, as a community, to act, to influence, to entertain and to aid the world around us and most of all to help each other.

Ride Reports strengthen that ability. Believe it or not ... lots more riders have heard of HU than your web site. So steer readers to your web site all your want .... they may go have a look once or twice, but most will return to the HUBB for years.

Patrick
(no web site, no blog and no ride reports )

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

Patrick
Get off my fricking case. I was giving MY opinion about RRs in general and adv RRs in particular. My site, your site, his site, her site etc have nothing to do with anything.

You said earlier in this thread,

quote "My only advice to posters is to EDIT your pics and don't give us the whole lot unless it's exceptional. On ADV about 90% of the pics are just awful .... and guys post thousand and thousands. Finding the rare gem is not easy." unquote.

So it could be suggested my last post agrees with you. Now you're trolling me. I'm confused.

If you think my site is sh*t, fine. Just don't go there. Each to their own.

A personal opinion of mine is: It's a bit rich telling others what they've got is rubbish, if you haven't even got one of your own. It's a bit like getting into a pissing competition and having no tool with which to urinate.

You say you have no website/blog/ridereports. This looks alot like a RR to me: http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...survival-34887
I like it alot. Read it last year. It helped to inspire and partly assisted the route planning for my own Baja trip last Christmas/New Year (RR/webpage to come; work in progress. When it appears, remember not to look at it, it'll be sh*t).

I'm off to try to sell the DRZ, then down to the overlander show at the Ace Cafe.
cheers
Chris

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TBS.com

Well' I'll admit to being somewhat of a Ride Report Pics, addict.You see as much as I'd like to be out seeing the big old world,well not rich,not able to get away from the farm for long periods of time,kid in school the list goes on.
So, if there's somewhere in this world I've thought about visiting and someone shows a pic and gives a their impression. Well, it's not a visit by me but at least I'll have an faint image. And that may be the spark that turns to fire.
I even wrote a RR on ADV last year about my 3 day 1000 mile trip to Peoria,Ill. to see the TT race.It had over 1000 veiws and somebody wrote that I had made it seem like a trip to Illinois was a must do.That was a neat feeling. Part of my 15 minutes.
So I vote yes to the idea. All the Earth is worth seeing. Even if y=I can only see it on the monitor.

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ride,smile,repeat as nessasary

You better re-read and try to understand the intent of the post you quouted of mine.

Chris, Buddy! It's not about YOU, and I'm NOT trolling you.
It's about C O M M U N I T Y. That was the whole point I was making .... I thought it was pretty obvious, sorry if you thought I was coming after you, I wasn't, but you left yourself Wide Open in the previous post stating all Ride Reports are crap. Get it?

I'm just a guy who would like to see the riding community more "together".

I happen to agree, as I stated earlier, there are dismal reports aplenty to go round, whether web site, Blog or HUBB RR. But reports on HUBB will get more immediate feedback and writers will have the opportunity to learn and get better based on this feedback.

Once again, NOT ABOUT YOU, CHRIS. The idea is that with a Community of Riders with LOTS of Ride Report to choose, you have a choice and can read or pass on many, and do it all in one place.

Good reason for this. I get paid to do "ride reports", have done for 20 years. The internet does not pay. Yet. I usually don't work for free.

Doubt I'll see it unless you cross post it on Ride Tales or link it.
Glad you liked my Baja thing. I did this little piece because some HUBB guys kept asking me via PM's about Baja. I am not a Baja expert .... but ride with a few. So I put this up. I thought it was half baked.

I'm not currently doing magazine work so may, at some point do a few more reports. I've been working on a book for a while. Someday it may be finished.

Congrats on the DRZ sale. I hated selling mine. Best desert bike I ever had.

Cheers,

Patrick

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!