Lots of travelling, meeting lot's of people and I always ask! And you know what? It's amazing how many people have never heard of MotorhomeFun!

I would much rather pay a small reasonable annual subscription then having to put up with endless adverts and clickbait.

There has already been a couple of comments regarding the MHF stickers, although I have one, I think the round ones could be smaller (say 6cm diameter) and refreshed with a modern logo (maybe with a silhouette of a motorhome, same as the square ones, suitable for internal and external application.

You might say making them smaller would be counterintuitive when you're trying to increase brand awareness, but I think the current size can be off putting for a lot when stuck in the windscreen and that's why you don't see that many when on your travels.

Maybe consider a single sided A5 glossy flyer installing the virtues of the forum, these could be issued to existing members as requested (say bundles of 100) for them to distribute where they see fit i.e. parked MH's, CCC & CMHC info sheds or anywhere there's a congregation of MH's , Rally's etc the opportunities are endless. The flyer could contain an introductory offer i.e. 20% discount on first years subscription.
 
Jim said:
This is a new sticker, I just got 10,000 of them on rolls. Its just an indestructable weatherproof permanant small, just 50mm square sticker. But its a grafitti sticker of the kind that you see stuck all over from other clubs on Aire wastepoints, and campsite office windows. :D. I'll be dolling these out soon.

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We could do with a map where we can upload where we have graffitied, when we get them.

With an annual lucky draw from graffitied area with prize of extending our life membership :unsure:
 
Like the sticker Jim i still have few MHF cards that I give to anyone who I meet that does not know about us but the stickers would be really good count me in when you want the distributed.😊👍
 
People are searching for subjects that have been covered by the forum, reading the information and then disappearing. You could limit the amount of information they can read without becoming a member.....maybe offer a months subscription for a fraction of the normal cost.
 
tinkertaylor said:
People are searching for subjects that have been covered by the forum, reading the information and then disappearing. You could limit the amount of information they can read without becoming a member.....maybe offer a months subscription for a fraction of the normal cost.
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People are also posting our threads on Facebook sites. I'm not sure I like that, although I'm happy to post on Facebook as and when I want.

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506 users in the past minute suggests plenty active members, or maybe a few land looking for information then go ?

There's not much going wrong there Jim, youve pretty much got google sussed with the organics, if you are lower than 4th or 5th you may aswell be dead. But now you are there the constant adding of info will improve it more.
like you say it other avenues now, Socials.. videos and word of mouth, product placement.

Would mailchimp etc be any good..I'm not familiar with what's needed to promote a forum/network, I'm more a product and business to "sell "

Those write ups you have done here, Iike explaining gross vehicle weights, glossary of motorhome terms, and the technical Articles are all good prime candidates for the "TOK" or " INSTA" etc which really do give a good ranking signals once click throughs start. Along with folk passing the links on when people need help and every one of them would link back here.

Do any of the rallies or events you do get posted anywhere ? Again...easy enough...gets people talking and gives another arm to the promo.

Get people talking on socials and the rest will follow naturally.

One quick way to boost social reach, link up with some popular youtubers like " kingingit" and the like who have global reach, get a "piece" with them
 
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I think that doing some personal PR with maybe a article or 2 in publications/online of yourself and Sian using your own van and linking this to MH Fun might be an idea.

I think Scott from Vantage ( now Consort) did something like this showing his personal history of motorhoming.
 
When the Fun forum was born, it was a different era.. internet was in its infancy, social media hadn't been born.. a brave new world was on the horizon

Forums were on the rise, as was motorhoming .. members were mostly baby boomers, in their early 50s..many with money to spend on new motorhomes.

That has changed dramatically .. the boomers are now in their late 60s to mid 70s . mostly retired, and the problem, as I see it, Fun is not attractive to the next generation. .. the "children of the boomers" . now in their late 40s and 50s..

I have two lads with campervans ..neither are interested in motorhome forums , they see them as places for the elderly.. and if they went to a Warners Show it would confirm their belief that the shows and entertainment put on is geared for the OAPs.

They are more interested in attending music festivals with live bands and shows for the van-life generation and the Vdub clubs ..they use TikTok, Youtube, FB etc for sharing ... and showing off

If Fun does not attract that generation it will eventually die ..

It certainly cannot survive being just a 'Motorhome Wiki ' where people pop in and out and leave when they have the info they wanted.. you see that all the time.. the 'five post wonders' who after getting answers, never return, nor can it be a just a place for the boomers to end their motorhoming days and debate the 3rd world war...
 
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I like the yellow smiley face stickers

The one on my windscreen has seen better days but it won't be replaced the the blue one

Sorry

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Coexistance with a slightly different perspective. Until recently the Fiat forum didnt "accept motorhome home questions and it required fools like me to promote fun i still do. I do a lot of work related to ducato's here and there. Most of the guides related to ducato side i write are always published on a free site first not behind a pay wall. (previous experiance). There is a lot of experiance there that migrates here. There may be other sites with a simular synergy to explore where co promotion may be an option.
 
scotjimland said:
When the Fun forum was born, it was a different era.. internet was in its infancy, social media hadn't been born.. a brave new world was on the horizon

Forums were on the rise, as was motorhoming .. members were mostly baby boomers, in their early 50s..many with money to spend on new motorhomes.

That has changed dramatically .. the boomers are now in their late 60s to mid 70s . mostly retired, and the problem, as I see it, Fun is not attractive to the next generation. .. the "children of the boomers" . now in their late 40s and 50s..

I have two lads with campervans ..neither are interested in motorhome forums , they see them as places for the elderly.. and if they went to a Warners Show it would confirm their belief that the shows and entertainment put on is geared for the OAPs.

They are more interested in attending music festivals with live bands and shows for the van-life generation and the Vdub clubs ..they use TikTok, Youtube, FB etc for sharing ... and showing off

If Fun does not attract that generation it will eventually die ..

It certainly cannot survive being just a 'Motorhome Wiki ' where people pop in and out and leave when they have the info they wanted.. you see that all the time.. the 'five post wonders' who after getting answers, never return, nor can it be a just a place for the boomers to end their motorhoming days and debate the 3rd world war...
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You are assuming that todays tik tok generation will stay there, they won't. Much like we moved from Radio Luxembourg through radio 1,2 to radio 4 so will those youngsters.

In the last 4 years we have registered more 30, 40 & 50 years olds than ever before. In the last 17 years we have grown every single month. Every month last year around 650 people joined Fun, this year over 750 people each month have taken time to register, thats over 9,000 a year, so I'm certainly not worried about the clubs future for the next 20 or 30 years. As for the shows, out of our vast membership less than 400 choose to go to Warners shows, and far more attend music festivals as individuals as those events don't tend to have rallies.
 
Nanniemate said:
I like the yellow smiley face stickers

The one on my windscreen has seen better days but it won't be replaced the the blue one

Sorry
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The yellow smiley is the most popular still (y)

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Jim said:
I'm on a mission to rectify this.

First up and I've been delving into our analytics. It appears we are doing OK. I tested ourselves against Warners Out and about Live. and Practical Motorhome. Warners traffic is high because they cover both motorhomes and the caravan space and have a number of successful mags pulling people in they have forums and shows. Also Practical motorhome have a mag and forums. We trounce these competitors in nearly every metric, so we're getting a lot right. But I need to work on a strategy to make us better known in the Motorhome community.

For those interested..Here are those stats.

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I'm sure that you must have a huge Motorhomefun banner. Take it to the Dartford Crossing, put on high viz jacket, stretch the banner across the road during rush hour stopping the traffic. You may not be very popular but lots more people will be talking about you.
There's no such thing as bad publicity as Donald Trump told me ;) (y)
 
Jim said:
We've discussed the FUN thing countless times with countless people over the years. quite a few people have told us at the trade stand that they would never want to be known as a 'Funster' and think the name MotorhomeFun is a bit silly. I smile as I consider our name and the adopted term Funster to be a big ingredient of our secret sauce. Because very often those people who think its a bit naff, just wouldn't fit in well here anyway.



It was open to non subscribers at the beginning, but two people were scammed and there were a lot of time wasters. If you've paid a sub, I know your real name and know your address. Otherwise you could be anyone.
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So if we step out of line.

He know where we are,
he knows who we are

so he will find us

And no doubt has a special set of skills which we will hope he doesn’t use against us
😂😂😂😂😂😂
 
Still not met any funsters, still got my stickers on and just about to head off to Europe, as an Irish passport holder, so maybe I’ll get lucky this time 😎

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It’s the only forum and group I contribute to on a regular basis. It’s then only one I check into every day

Whenever I meet other motorhomes out and about. During conversation I often mention about the Funsters and recommend they drop in. If they don’t know about us.

One of the things that I enjoy is that whilst there are a very wide range of views which prompt some good and often lively discussions. At the end of the day each and every one will come to the rescue of another funster whether it be physically or with advice and guidance. The support is great.

🥳🥳🥳🥳👍👍👍
 
I lurked for a while before joining, found lots of interesting info so joined. There are a number of threads that I simply ignore - the more political ones, as the views frequently just annoy me. I think I am a bit too left wing for some. But that's OK because I am here for the van stuff not the politics. I also look in on the CAMC forum and do contribute occasionally but that tends to be a bit sad. I also occasionally look at the Autosleeper Forum (because of previous van) & Out & About. Neither of these is THAT active. The auto sleeper forum has long term contributors now who are no longer posting because they are fed up with having everything they say challenged by those who know nowt.
I am not a fan of Facebook, and the only groups I go onto are occasionally the CAMPRA group, & CAMOGG. For some reason I cant remember I joined Motorhome Happiness. That is fairly active but like most facebook sites difficult to find anything if you are searching for some issue or other. And too many posts about super duper sites which turn out to be horrendously expensive. A majority dont seem to stop anywhere but that sort of site.
We do have stickers on our van. Not met any other Fun members out and about but have recommended the forum a few occasions on other forums etc. On one forum, cant remember which, a couple of people were very critical about this site being too controversial. Didnt entirely make sense because to me it is easier to ignore the threads you dont like on here than it is on eg Facebook sites. But such is life. I do like the new stickers.
I think the issue only a minority posting is part and parcel of most forums, face book groups etc. Not just motorhome ones. And clearly lots of people do look but not post.
How do you get more to know abut Fun? It's about Profile isnt it? No simple answers. I suspect stickers on vans help, as will any article on any media mentioning Fun. Probably up to all of us. I do watch Motorhome Matt you tube. Dont know how many watch it. The subscriber numbers are not that high but I cant be the only person who never subscribes to such channels but does dip in and out of quite a few. He often has guest "speakers" who must think it is worth while for promoting their product or service. Maybe he could be persuaded to interview our great leader?

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DerryW said:
You might say making them smaller would be counterintuitive when you're trying to increase brand awareness, but I think the current size can be off putting for a lot when stuck in the windscreen and that's why you don't see that many when on your travels.
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Print your own, that's what I do, you can make it any size you like them.
 
hja said:
Maybe he could be persuaded to interview our great leader?
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I am hooking up with Matt sometime but while there might be some podcast listeners that are not already members I doubt there are many. We get 100 x the traffic than many of those channels.
 
Although I said earlier about regular posters but it does go to show that the people on here are sincere and do their best to help when it comes down to it, you only have to look at the recent thread Jim started about Frankie’s motorhome, an incredible amount of help given to people many of us have never met…🙂
 
Not sure that partnering with influencers is wise for any organisation/business as although influencers may have started off with good intentions once they are paid for their content then many of those values go out the window! One of the main USPs of this forum is that info & help comes from fellow Funsters, given freely with no agenda, just sharing knowledge.
Think that Fun does very well through Google searches on all things motorhoming - that's how we found the forum & when we search now even more threads come up than ever before. We also seem to bump into many Funsters on our travels in all sorts of settings even if many don't know about or have stickers on display.
The Fun Facebook page seems to be an underused resource (although more traffic would mean a lot more admin) which could be more of a hook to bring motorhomers to the forum & change any perceptions that a forum is a lesser place than Facebook.

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