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!

[ChrisSue]

Going right back to the beginning I'd be more than happy to put stickers up water points, elsan points, portaloos at Festivals etc

 

[Jim]

It's successful because of the way you run it - the name doesn't help

MotorhomeClub, MotorhomeFun, Given I've owned both domains for some years I think it's obvious which one I prefer. One shouts stuffy commitee members and a chairman, the other the opposite. Which is I'm sure one of the reasons we are so successful

I just want more people to discover us as we are, I don't want to change anything.

 

[Tombola]

Use the domain to set up another site that targets a different demographic, the van life brigade. Use social media and some influencers to promote.

That is surprisingly difficult and time consuming belive it or not, more than one thinks.
Especially alongside keeping another one going.

 

[Jim]

That is surprisingly difficult and time consuming belive it or not than one thinks.
Especially alongside keeping another one going.

You're right. These days it's all about user experience. A new domain would have to be brimming in good unique content and have a few years under it's belt before Google would even return it in a result.

 

[Outdoors Dad]

Well this thread is definitely worth reading, it has some great opinions and ideas. It covers many subjects like marketing, business models and old tech forums. This forum has many many other live and popular threads that include wars, annoying neighbours fence, tyre options etc etc. I'm 48 and it didn't take me long to realise I'm probably younger than most on here.
Does the content of the forum appeal to everyone with a camper or motorhome.....No.
Does the forum appeal to younger people I don't know, maybe the forum could reach out for feedback from younger people somehow.
I'm a family man and I love it, we attend many campsites around the country each year especially the ones with music like the 'Vanfest' events.

Whilst at these events my son (10)collected these free stickers people promote themselves with. We have never actually watched them on YouTube, he just likes collecting stickers.
Opinions can be useful only if you can accept them even when the opinion is different to your own.
Change......sometimes things need to change sometimes it doesn't.
I have a 'Funster' sticker in our windscreen. We have never came across other 'Funsters'. When I've recommended MHF to other motorhomers they just rolled their eyes

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[Jim]

Does the content of the forum appeal to everyone with a camper or motorhome.....No.

We're a broad church but I can only think of a few things in life that appeal to everyone, and now, after I've typed that I'm doubting if even that is true

 

[Barclaybasher]

Well this thread is definitely worth reading, it has some great opinions and ideas. It covers many subjects like marketing, business models and old tech forums. This forum has many many other live and popular threads that include wars, annoying neighbours fence, tyre options etc etc. I'm 48 and it didn't take me long to realise I'm probably younger than most on here.
Does the content of the forum appeal to everyone with a camper or motorhome.....No.
Does the forum appeal to younger people I don't know, maybe the forum could reach out for feedback from younger people somehow.
I'm a family man and I love it, we attend many campsites around the country each year especially the ones with music like the 'Vanfest' events.
View attachment 888752
Whilst at these events my son (10)collected these free stickers people promote themselves with. We have never actually watched them on YouTube, he just likes collecting stickers.
Opinions can be useful only if you can accept them even when the opinion is different to your own.
Change sometimes things need to change sometimes it doesn't.
I have a 'Funster' sticker in our windscreen. We have never came across other 'Funsters'. When I've recommended MHF to other motorhomers they just rolled their eyes

'Funster' has never been in my vocabulary.......a made up word that means nothing to anyone else.....

The club is made up of many different folk who need help and contribute....we share experiences, losses of friends and support each other.....not always fun....

 

[Jim]

The club is made up of many different folk who need help and contribute....we share experiences, losses of friends and support each other.....not always fun....

That's true and when people find us they soon discover that. The thread is about more people finding us than changing anything.

 

[Mullet Man]

The Motorhome Fun forum lives in cyberspace.

Motorhome Fun stickers on vans live in the "real" world.

I suspect many folk are not in both places.

My daughter didn't want to become too active on Fun because she hated the label "Funster"!...

But she loved the old Motorhome Fun badge that had "Official Dealer" under the smiley face logo!!!!

Apparently she was approached by many, many folk at the night clubs she used to hang out in!

The logo meant a different thing to non motorhomers


JJ

Must admit I am disappointed with the number of ravers on here . ACEEEID!

 

[Spriddler]

I already find I have to spend too much time trawling through the topics to find the ones in which I am interested, including the new ones.

I also only ever use the 'What's new' button when I log on and if the title or the first sentence of a topic is of no interest to me I put it on 'Ignore' to avoid cluttering up the screen with gratuitous cartoons and re-posts from other social and national broadcast media, health issues of total strangers, contentious non motorhome topics, rants and anything negative. I gave up on Faecesbook eleven years ago after a month for the same reason as there's masses of useful, interesting and positive motorhome stuff on here.

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[Just smiffy]

Use the domain to set up another site that targets a different demographic, the van life brigade. Use social media and some influencers to promote.

I can influence a lot a people….

To be honest I like the forum just as it is, it’s not all about motorhomes and every subject of life is on here at one time or the other.
I’ve met some great people on here that I consider good friends that have been to my house and me to theirs…

I’m on here every day (yes I’m many of the sad ones..) and I read practically everything, I’ve learnt so much that I’ve forgotten most of it…

There is people that pour there hearts and lives out on threads and people that listen to them and give support…

 

[Brianmor]

It's peculiar because in my circle of friends and pub drinking partners there are 10 motorhome owners.
I have extolled the benefits and uses of the forum to them all but for some reason they are not interested in joining. They are all very appreciative of the information and help I have offered them in the past which I have gleaned from this forum and of which they would not have gained otherwise.
The mystery is why won't they join the forum, is it because they know I'll have the answer to most questions they ask (because of this forum) or because they know I know where to get the answers?
Most of the above motorhome owners are members of either camc or ccc or both and perhaps don't want to keep joing different clubs.

 

[nicholsong]

'Funster' has never been in my vocabulary.......a made up word that means nothing to anyone else.....

The club is made up of many different folk who need help and contribute....we share experiences, losses of friends and support each other.....not always fun....

I agree and have never used the word about myself or any other Member of this forum.

It could even be a deterrent to somebody joining, especially those looking for technical support.

 

[Carol]

Jim one thing puzzles me and I think could help with awareness is you have a number of Motorhome Fun CL type sites in various locations but its always difficult to find them advertised, if the sites were better advertised and the sites themselves had good signage with the cost of camping nowadays it would be another way to get awareness to more motorhomers of Motorhome Fun .

It's also a good point when telling other Motorhomers about Fun.

I can't even find them listed under forums maybe I've missed them.

 

[Lenny HB]

I’m on here every day (yes I’m many of the sad ones..)

My wife thinks she is a Motorhome Fun widow.

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[Roger S]

Mine too, but without Fun we may not have had the insperation to travel abroad in the van, all of the technical help etc etc which helps hugely to having & using the van in a more enjoyable way. I need to explain that to her

 

[chaser]

I can influence a lot a people….

To be honest I like the forum just as it is, it’s not all about motorhomes and every subject of life is on here at one time or the other.
I’ve met some great people on here that I consider good friends that have been to my house and me to theirs…

I’m on here every day (yes I’m many of the sad ones..) and I read practically everything, I’ve learnt so much that I’ve forgotten most of it…

There is people that pour there hearts and lives out on threads and people that listen to them and give support…

That's me as well, I couldn't be doing with ignoring anyone , whether I agree with them or not is immaterial, I am still interested in their views.

 

[Jim]

@Jim one thing puzzles me and I think could help with awareness is you have a number of Motorhome Fun CL type sites

It's a little complicated. Many sites we have exempted have been for Campra but you're right we do have a number we have exempted.

I'm happy to exempt sites, the more the merrier, but I do not want to advertise them as "MotorhomeFun" sites. This is because; on extremely good authority, I learned that no contract I can write, will exempt me from some responsibility should something happen on those CL's whether in my control or not.

We inspect them, and we give guidelines to landowners about how to run them, we have rules and should they be broken we can revoke the exemption, but if a child drowned in a lake, there was an accident entering or leaving the site, someone was electrocuted, someone bitten by a dog, etc. We would be mixed up in any claim.

When we exempted, why did we not insist a fence was erected around the lake, why did we not check the fence every year. Did we consult highways about the entrance, do we ensure the electrics are checked, why did we not ensure the that the site owner insisted dogs were on a lead, or dangerous dogs muzzled. etc

It all sound far-fetched and unlikely, but shit has a habit of happening, and the advice I had said I would need very good insurance, or risk all my assets!

Insurance I found impossible to get at a price that was not ridiculous. So while we do exempt some sites from planning, we don't have any MotorhomeFun sites.

Most every site we have exempted is on Search for Sites

 

[chaser]

It's a little complicated. Many sites we have exempted have been for Campra but you're right we do have a number we have exempted.

I'm happy to exempt sites, the more the merrier, but I do not want to advertise them as "MotorhomeFun" sites. This is because; on extremely good authority, I learned that no contract I can write, will exempt me from some responsibility should something happen on those CL's whether in my control or not.

We inspect them, and we give guidelines to landowners about how to run them, we have rules and should they be broken we can revoke the exemption, but if a child drowned in a lake, there was an accident entering or leaving the site, someone was electrocuted, someone bitten by a dog, etc. We would be mixed up in any claim.

When we exempted, why did we not insist a fence was erected around the lake, why did we not check the fence every year. Did we consult highways about the entrance, do we ensure the electrics are checked, why did we not ensure the that the site owner insisted dogs were on a lead, or dangerous dogs muzzled. etc

It all sound far-fetched and unlikely, but shit has a habit of happening, and the advice I had said I would need very good insurance, or risk all my assets!

Insurance I found impossible to get at a price that was not ridiculous. So while we do exempt some sites from planning, we don't have any MotorhomeFun sites.

Most every site we have exempted is on Search for Sites

And that is why when others ask why don't I have a campsite on my land that I decline , even if someone just wants to park for one night or something,I sometimes let them but I would be leaving myself open to all sorts of claims if something goes wrong.
Even down to them doing something stupid and getting stuck, and then ask us to pull them out, if we pull the front off the van who is going to pay for it.
No completely agree, it's a minefield.

 

[Tombola]

I see the message...GET PEOPLE TO COME HERE.

It's a little complicated. Many sites we have exempted have been for Campra but you're right we do have a number we have exempted.

I'm happy to exempt sites, the more the merrier, but I do not want to advertise them as "MotorhomeFun" sites. This is because; on extremely good authority, I learned that no contract I can write, will exempt me from some responsibility should something happen on those CL's whether in my control or not.

We inspect them, and we give guidelines to landowners about how to run them, we have rules and should they be broken we can revoke the exemption, but if a child drowned in a lake, there was an accident entering or leaving the site, someone was electrocuted, someone bitten by a dog, etc. We would be mixed up in any claim.

When we exempted, why did we not insist a fence was erected around the lake, why did we not check the fence every year. Did we consult highways about the entrance, do we ensure the electrics are checked, why did we not ensure the that the site owner insisted dogs were on a lead, or dangerous dogs muzzled. etc

It all sound far-fetched and unlikely, but shit has a habit of happening, and the advice I had said I would need very good insurance, or risk all my assets!

Insurance I found impossible to get at a price that was not ridiculous. So while we do exempt some sites from planning, we don't have any MotorhomeFun sites.

Most every site we have exempted is on Search for Sites

Thats right..nightmare.My friend has a nice static park in northern Wales...he took out the children's play climbing frame due to red tape..paper work spurious claims and insurance..

Minefield ...just for a blooming kiddies play area on bark.

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[chaser]

It's peculiar because in my circle of friends and pub drinking partners there are 10 motorhome owners.
I have extolled the benefits and uses of the forum to them all but for some reason they are not interested in joining. They are all very appreciative of the information and help I have offered them in the past which I have gleaned from this forum and of which they would not have gained otherwise.
The mystery is why won't they join the forum, is it because they know I'll have the answer to most questions they ask (because of this forum) or because they know I know where to get the answers?
Most of the above motorhome owners are members of either camc or ccc or both and perhaps don't want to keep joing different clubs.

That's about the ratio of motorhomers on here, 1 in ten.

 

[chaser]

Right, apart from Jim making more money,which I am sure this is not about, why has anything got to change, why have we got to have more hits, surely we are ok as we are, I would say more are joining than leaving so what's the problem.
And the attitude of most of the ones I have spoken to about joining fun , means we can well do without them, after all it's their loss.

 

[JJ]

One danger of encouraging more folk to sign up to MHF is that it might attract undesirable types like Man Ure and Livarlake fans...

JJ

 

[Jim]

why has anything got to change,

Nothing has got to change, nothing is going to change. I just said that i see a lot of motorhomes without a Fun sticker and it annoys me. . I need to do some effective marketing to rectify that. So many people have never heard of us, if i can let them know we are here they can decide if this place is a good fit for them.

It's others that have suggested its a stupid name, and i should change this or that. Why change something that has been so successful. That would be stupid.

 

[JJ]

It might just be me but I do not consider MHF to be a "club".

I consider it to be a Forum...

I don't join "clubs".

(Remember the Marx Brother quote...)



JJ

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[Nigel Crompton]

Nothing has got to change, nothing is going to change. I just said that i see a lot of motorhomes without a Fun sticker and it annoys me. . I need to do some effective marketing to rectify that. So many people have never heard of us, if i can let them know we are here they can decide if this place is a good fit for them.

It's others that have suggested its a stupid name, and i should change this or that. Why change something that has been so successful. That would be stupid.

Well I tried to get some stickers sent here for me and some neighbours but buying the postage & SAE proved too problematical. Send some stickers to me here and I'll distribute within Spain at my own expense .....

 

[Wombles]

Think that Fun is much more than just a forum as many meet in person & the content & spirit goes way beyond a virtual resource - to us it's a community of like minded people with most having had life changing or threatening events that make us just want to seize life & make the most of each day. Often having motorhoming in common is just the start of the conversation...

 

[DerryW]

And that is why when others ask why don't I have a campsite on my land that I decline , even if someone just wants to park for one night or something,I sometimes let them but I would be leaving myself open to all sorts of claims if something goes wrong.
Even down to them doing something stupid and getting stuck, and then ask us to pull them out, if we pull the front off the van who is going to pay for it.
No completely agree, it's a minefield.

I too was thinking of creating a small 5 pitch aire style stopover on a peice of land I own, nice location 4 nice pubs, 3 shops and a garage all within 3 miles, nice views over open country side with more excellent walks then you could shake a stick at directly off site. When I was pricing up things like installing fresh water and black waste I would need to be charging £20+ per night, that’s before insurance etc. As much as I’d like to do it, unfortunately with all the hassle and cost, it just doesn’t stack up. So it’ll probably be left for the kids to develop it long after I’ve gone.

 

[starquake]

Just a thought..

Motorhome and Caravanning Fun......

Thats funny, Jim would have to set up a Tuggers forum/topic ... But doesn't the industry see more people buying Motorhomes and Campervans now

Motorhome and Campervan fun...

 

[Bailey58]

One danger of encouraging more folk to sign up to MHF is that it might attract undesirable types like Man Ure and Livarlake fans...

JJ

Too late for that, it even has City fans posting from their ivory towers.

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