Online Advertising at the Edges of the Web

Gadget from has written 916 comments

Here is a link where Needless Acupunture can submit:
http://www.hobotraveler.com/health/needleless-acupuncture.php

Inexpensive Online Advertising
http://www.hobotraveler.com/marketing/inexpensive-online-advertising.php

Andy,
Yeah your idea of free online advertising is a good idea. But for me your writings were always the reason I came to your site. At least that was what caught my attention.

I take it that your brain does not sleep. I'm always amazed how you keep posting content and it never ends. Your a machine that does not tire.

So you post some random link and might not be much about the topic, but the ads are there for people to click on. Or I will click on a subject and might not be anything about the subject, but there are always advertisments from google. I think I see a pattern to be emulated.

But all this stuff is easier said than done. I guess it is persistence in the end and being clever.

Now I don't buy that you only started with 10,000.00 dollars when you first went traveling. You do mention you had other investments. I think you had very deep pockets to start your traveling with. I say you had 250,000.00 plus when you first hit the road! You say it took 10 years for you to make enough money from your site to generate good income.

Cheers,
Scott

tropicalguide from has written 112 comments

'The Wanted and the Unwanted'

I fell into the 'unwanted' category when I left USA and decided to give 'Ex Patting' a trial run.

By the way, there are never any 'guarantees'.

There was no Internet, neither ipods, cellphones or blackberries when I arrived in Mexico City December of 1985. Bank transfers from US often took up to 3 weeks, and phone calls home were expensive, remember sending postcards and writing letters frequently! old snail mail. One plus was that in the pre-Internet era Ex Pats, Travelers and Volunteers along with locals were pretty much relationship oriented. Backpackers came to the gringo watering holes in downtown Guate City, Antigua and Lake Atitlan and told their travel stories, good, bad or ugly. No laptop, no wi fi, no cybercafe. The good ol' Coconut Telegraph.
So I confess, did not send my first E mail until 1996 and really did not learn the Internet until 1999-2000, so sorry, can't talk techie with anyone.

Your Post right on the button. I fall into your 'category 5' and do not regret for one second that I left the States in late 1985, easy for me since I had a ready made 'social network' of long term ex pats and bi and multi lingual locals waiting for me upon arrival. Like many others before and after me I re-invented myself and finally after years of trial and error, grew up!

Lot's of newbies on the standard 'ex pat' and 'long term traveller-volunteer' forums don't realize often one must adapt and reinvent themselves, and the same as at "home", there are those who hope, cope and manage in their new life abroad and those who 'Cannot or will not', for example now about 60+ per cent of those who relocate to 'paradise' in Costa Rica return to their home country within a year. Some travelers get 'tropical fever', decide to relocate and make or break, all depends on the individual.

¡Fijese..! ** **Ask any Guatemalan or Ex Pat what 'fijese' means.
'You ain't in Kansas anymore...'

I have a Mexican and Central American 'way off the beaten path' (off the edge I guess) 'bloq' with some text, some url's and some humor. If you wish able to submit.

Anyway saludos to all.

Gadget from has written 916 comments

I was not planning to Travel when I started, I went to Mexico hoping to start a Hostel or Hotel. I never had enough money to start this, and slowly started following people south to Guatemala.

I think the confusion for people, after I lived in Mexico in Hotel for about 10-20 a night for roughly 1-2 years, I learned how to trade websites for room. I lived for about one to three years by trading a web site on Virtural Avenue or Geocities etc. This cut out my biggest expense, the room.

I then had to travel or eat food cheap.

I can always eat for less than 3-5 dollars per day.

Many, many things happened, I taught English, I made a webpage, I got donations, I lived cheaply.

I can for sure say, I never had more than 25,000 dollars in my account when i started, and I do not have residual or monthly paying money.

Generally, I was willing to sacrifice comfort to continue traveling, I am very smart, I can get a great deal for a room when everyone else gives up.

Online Advertising here is about the abilty of another web site to advertise for free, I have slowly found how to allow the strange sites to advertise their travel sites.

Andy,
OK, you are successful now (overnight.) So when did the "light bulb" go on over your head that said "hey eventually I can make lots of money through google adsense?" Do you think that being in the beginning days of online advertising had anything to do with your eventual success? You might say you were a pioneer in a niche type website.

Now the web is flooded with people that want a piece of your pie. Is it harder to hold on to your slice, because of the competition or do you feel you are ahead of the pack.

Now looking at hobohideout.com do you believe that the site is heading in the direction you intended. Such as finding a cheap place to stay or it's become a free for all (mostly big hotels) posting free sites just for exposure. And do you care, if stay the big hotel chains list their site, even though you would not stay at that hotel. I assume that maybe it is becoming a beast and "hey money is money."

Currently the hotel I'm in the owner of the hotel is paying a popular Nicaragua site to list his hotel for 40.00 USD per year. Seems like a good idea that the web site owner created a pay site to list the hotels for a fee. Does hobohideout intend to always be free or can you see envision charging a fee to list?

One(2) last questions, if I may. Are hobo backpacks in the works? And when do they go on sale?

Scott

Gadget from has written 916 comments

3-5 years of work with no money is needed for a business. I had two businesses before I started my website. Any busy or website can succeed if the person works until it is a success. I knew this when I started the website, the site was not an instant success.

"Hey money is money" is NOT my idea on HoboHideOut.com.

HoboHideOut.com is heading in the right direction. Small Hotels are always the last to understand how to market their hotels.

All Hotels have the same opportunity to post their Hotels. There is no special right for large or small hotels. What is different here I allow the online advertising opportunity to exist, while other sites do not.

We have 1400 Hotels on the site, it will not become valuable to readers until it has about 15,000. I know this, we are in the populating process. Eventually we will hire data entry people to enter hotels whether they agree or disagree.

HoboHideOut.com is FREE and will remain FREE. The site is 100 percent solvent, makes plenty of money to exist, there is no problem paying the bills. Unlike other sites I planned it as a business, not on a hope of making money, I knew the game and stayed within budgets.

Hobo Backpacks are in the works. I am in Guatemala to make backpacks. I am in the process of weaving together all the aspects of making and selling backpacks.