Itinerant Air-Cooled

Colin is a gift to y'alls Bus Pilots.

I wish, wish WISH there was an Itinerant SprinterColin. Currently, I have to drive 5K miles roundtrip to PA to find him.

glasseye wrote:Colin is a gift to y'alls Bus Pilots.

I wish, wish WISH there was an Itinerant SprinterColin. Currently, I have to drive 5K miles roundtrip to PA to find him.

My father-in-law drove his Sprinter Winnebago View RV from Fort Lauderdale to the same dude!

You know Colin, if you ever wanted to settle in one spot, the ACVW world needs an engine builder that can be trusted!

vwlover77 wrote: You know Colin, if you ever wanted to settle in one spot, the ACVW world needs an engine builder that can be trusted!

I will keep that in mind. One of my personal mandates is that I perform the entire engine break-in to the first 600 miles. Perhaps you drive to me, I rebuild it, I drive it back to you, you then have to drive me home so you can enjoy your new engine.
"Honey, I can't clean the garage mow the grass paint the porch replace the faucets, I have to traipse across the country enjoying the open road, sorry."
Colin

As a long time IAC client, I am mighty grateful for the service.

Perspective: I've owned and killed 4 bugs and 3 busses. In my younger days, I had neither the knowledge nor the bread to maintain my VW's properly, so I drove them like I stole them and they rusted away in the New Jersey winters.

Today, older (though not much wiser) I have a much more reverential approach to ownership. My goal is to keep the lovely bus I have as long as I can. As a consequence, the annual visits from Colin have become an indispensable part of my bus ownership.

To that end, I am more than happy to pay Colin for his time and expertise. But it would probably be difficult to convince my 18 year old self to spend the money. Obviously, bus ownership in 2013 is not like bus ownership in 1988 - there are fewer survivors and fewer young people who can take on a project. My bus is only a 6 month daily driver. I rarely, if ever, see others on the road.

So I wonder how large the finite pool of clients is for Colin to serve? What is the median age? Income level? Have those analytics ever been explored?

Anywhooo, I look forward to future visits.

James

appetite wrote: So I wonder how large the finite pool of clients is for Colin to serve?
What is the median age?
Income level?
Have those analytics ever been explored?

Last decade's trend is as follows . . .
younger to older (average age about 40)
poorer to richer (average income mid-30s to 80's but again widening range)

Vehicle condition is splitting, they are getting both more beat and worn AND more restored, way fewer nice middle-aged unrestored daily drivers.

Since I do not do high-end restoration in an anchored location, I must continue to do limited but highly improvisational repair/restoration techniques. Bay window bus owners seem to be the very best driver-owners, these cars are too compelling to keep home as a trailer queen. But over time, I think people are going to drive them less for good reasons. That may affect my volume of work, since I am all about "keep driving". I may have to work more presence in other forums since this place did not grow to the expected 100,000 loyal members. But I do appreciate the 800 souls who have stumbled across our threshold in the past half-decade.
Colin

What about one of those clickable banner ads on the Samba site? Perhaps that would drive some traffic to IAC.

Jivermo wrote:What about one of those clickable banner ads on the Samba site? Perhaps that would drive some traffic to IAC.

Kind of spring-boarding on this idea, Colin - have you ever considered creating a separate website that only dealt with your itinerant services (requests, scheduling, summaries, reviews, etc), that could have a link from this site (like a big button that says "to schedule Colin, CLICK HERE")? This way, the Samba would have no gripe about you purchasing a banner ad, since the link would not be to a site that competes with Samba. Having an independent site would be a much cleaner way of marketing/getting the word out rather than giving someone a link to this entire site and having them navigate/figure out how to hire you.

Again....just a thought.

Mr Blotto wrote:

Jivermo wrote:What about one of those clickable banner ads on the Samba site? Perhaps that would drive some traffic to IAC.

Kind of spring-boarding on this idea, Colin - have you ever considered creating a separate website that only dealt with your itinerant services?

Go to front page. Look for "make an appointment with Colin".
Get back to me. I cannot put a flashing neon light there at "make an appointment with Colin",
but I would if I could.
Colin

Amskeptic wrote:

Mr Blotto wrote:

Jivermo wrote:What about one of those clickable banner ads on the Samba site? Perhaps that would drive some traffic to IAC.

Kind of spring-boarding on this idea, Colin - have you ever considered creating a separate website that only dealt with your itinerant services?

Go to front page. Look for "make an appointment with Colin".
Get back to me. I cannot put a flashing neon light there at "make an appointment with Colin",
but I would if I could.
Colin

Oh yea I see it now. That's what you get when you only view this site from your iPhone . I like it - its all the way at the bottom of the page on the mobile web version.

I guess I was thinking of more of a separation between the sites....a tech forum on one, and all things Itinerant on another.

I think you might do well to sprinkle some choice photos from previous jobs, or even roadside repairs, into your introductory writeup(s). Those of us familiar with you and the site know where to look for them, but folks that are new to your world might benefit from the visual... "hey, that could be me!" Seeing you elbows-deep into multiple projects with happy faces on your customers paints a comforting picture. Just a thought.

sped372 wrote:I think you might do well to sprinkle some choice photos from previous jobs, or even roadside repairs, into your introductory writeup(s). Those of us familiar with you and the site know where to look for them, but folks that are new to your world might benefit from the visual... "hey, that could be me!" Seeing you elbows-deep into multiple projects with happy faces on your customers paints a comforting picture. Just a thought.

Look at my ad on theSamba. You like? You like pictures? Pictures on this "make an appointment" page?
Colin

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/ ... id=1248631

All thouse ugly apes and 1 purty girl.
I like it, well done. I didn't know Samba allowed Services ads, do they charge?
I think your hourly rate is too low. It also drives "short appointments", 2 hours or less. More trouble than 1/2 day etc.
For what you offer, $60-75 seems fair. I have been charging $50-60 here in Portland.

hambone wrote: I think your hourly rate is too low. It also drives "short appointments", 2 hours or less. More trouble than 1/2 day etc. For what you offer, $60-75 seems fair. I have been charging $50-60 here in Portland.

The classified ads form on theSamba requires an entry in the hourly rate slot, there is no other option.
I do not do short appointments. No, I do not think I have ever done just a 2-hour appointment, not without another digit in front of it. I think there was a "2" in front of it with Mitch Grady in 2011.

Amskeptic wrote:I think there was a "2" in front of it with Mitch Grady in 2011.

You were almost pushin' triple digits on that visit. That's what you get for "screwing around".






Oh, I crack myself up sometimes....

By far the best shots are a two-shot of you with a customer. You and Hammie is a perfect example. A single of either you or a customer don't deliver the "education" message.

You need me on location with you.

Day rate available on request.