The RV-Dreams website has developed and expanded more than we ever anticipated. We have received a lot of emotional support and encouragement in our efforts to provide comprehensive information, and that support continues to make us strive to make our family of websites better and better.
We have dedicated ourselves to this venture and it is how we make a living out on the road. Of course, that is not possible without the support of our audience and the RV-Dreams Family.
For those that find the information on RV-Dreams.com, the RV-Dreams Community Forum, and the RV-Dreams Journal informative, helpful, or entertaining, there are several ways to support our efforts.
"Chipping In" basically takes a "pay what you think it is worth" approach. Rather than requiring subscriptions and restricting information, we have established the ability for readers to voluntarily "Chip In" whatever value they attach to the information provided.
"Chip Ins" may be done online using the box below or a "Chip In" can be done via check by using the form below that.
Note: For those that send "Chip Ins" and would like either an RV-Dreams static cling window decal or an RV-Dreams bumper sticker (or both), we will be happy to send them out. If you have sent a "Chip In" and would like a decal or sticker, just let us know via our Contact Page.
Online "Chip Ins" Via Credit Card, Debit Card, or Your PayPal Account
To "Chip In", simply click on the ChipIn button in the box below to make an online contribution.
All online "Chip Ins" are processed through PayPal, but you don't have to have a PayPal account to use a credit or debit card.
Note: A new window should open when you click the "ChipIn!" button. All "Chip In" contributions are processed and accumulated through PayPal's secure payment gateway.
Check Contributions
For those that are uncomfortable with "chipping in" online, you may mail a check if you wish. To send a check, please complete the Form below. When finished, click on the "Request Address To Send Check" button at the bottom of the form. You will then get a "Thank You" page with final instructions.
The folks at Google long ago established Google AdSense for web publishers. AdSense is a way for website owners to place ads on their website without having to solicit advertisers to pay for ad space.
Basically, anyone with a website can establish a Google AdSense account for free. Once an account is established you can customize colors and sizes of ads as well as a few other items. Then all you have to do is copy the HTML code Google provides and place it in whatever location you choose on your website. Many blog services and website building services have "Help" sections that provide instructions for placing Google Ads.
Once the code is in place, Google scans your website for content and places "content relevant" ads in the ad blocks. It may take a little time for relevant ads to show up. Often, immediately after posting a Journal entry, we end up with ads that we have no control over and don't like, but they eventually change as the information on the page is scanned and re-scanned. If we get objectionable ads over and over, we have the ability to block those URLs within our Google Adsense account.
So how do you make money with Google Ads? Well, Google has another program they call AdWords. It's somewhat complicated, but basically advertisers pay Google to place their ads on websites that are relevant to the product or service they are selling. Those advertisers also pay Google based on the number of clicks on their ads. When you own a website with Google Ads, you get paid a small percentage of what Google gets paid, pennies at a time, for each click on an ad on your website. If you have enough traffic and enough people click on the ads they are interested in, you can earn some decent income from Google. Even if you don't have a lot of traffic, once the ads are there, there is no maintenance and even a few dollars a month helps, right?
Now, Google has some very strict policies to protect their AdWords customers. If those advertisers end up paying a bunch of money on a bunch of bogus clicks, then the system will fail. So, Google will terminate your Google AdSense account if 1) you blatantly tell your audience to randomly click on Google Ads, and 2) if you click on your own Google Ads.
So, that's why you will never see us tell our readers to just click on ads. We occasionally remind folks to look at all of our "sponsors", but we absolutely cannot encourage clicks.
The restriction to click on your own ads is also why we, and other RVers that have wireless hotspots and websites with Google Ads, keep our internet access secure. If someone sharing your internet access clicks on your Google Ads, it can look like you are clicking them yourself and you can be terminated. And it's not easy to get reinstated.
So, while we don't want our readers to randomly click, it does help us if you see Google Ads that legitimately interest you and you check them out. And hopefully, this explanation also helps some of our readers earn a little spending money as well. :)
Many, many online businesses that sell products or services have affiliate programs. Look at the bottom of the home pages for links that say "Affiliates" or "Partner With Us" or something to that effect.
Usually, not always, but usually, the online businesses run their affiliate program through an affiliate manager like Commission Junction, Clickbank, LinkShare, and many others.
If you want to be an affiliate for a certain business, you click on their "Affiliate" link. Most often you have to sign up with their affiliate manager and complete an application through that affiliate manager. Sometimes your application is "rubber stamped" and you can place affiliate ads immediately. Other times, your application really does go through an approval process and it may take a little time for an approval. And sometimes, your application will be rejected due to 1) not enough traffic on your website, or 2) your website doesn't fit the product or target audience of the business/product.
Like Google Ads, you will be instructed how to locate ads and you may have lots of choices. Once you decide on the ad you want to display, you copy the HTML code and place it where you want it on your website. Then you wait.
How do you get paid? Well, as I said before, you only get paid with affiliate ads IF your website visitor clicks on the ad on your site AND either buys something or becomes a "lead". Here's the good news. They don't have to buy something THAT day. A cookie gets placed on your website visitor's computer, and it remains there and valid for a certain period. That period may be a few days or several months (depending on each specific company's policy). If your website visitor thinks about it and goes back to the online business later and buys a product, you can still get a commission.
The affiliate manager compiles your commissions and sends them to you by check or direct deposit. Usually, you have to accumulate a certain threshold of commissions before a payment is sent. Commissions are usually paid once a month.
Now, the percentage of website visitors that click on ads of any kind is very small. And the percentage of website visitors that click on ads AND actually buy something is much, much smaller. So it takes a lot of traffic to make any serious money with affiliate ads. That's why Google Ads are more attractive to sites with limited traffic - even though the "per click" payments are small, there are more of them.
Anyway, if you see an ad on our websites that are NOT Google Ads, chances are they are affiliate ads. You can click away on those. :) And if you happen to buy something, we will at some point get some type of commission.
Amazon.com has its own "affiliate" program that they call Amazon.com Associates. It's pretty easy to set up and is also free. You can include links to Amazon in general, set up ads that will be populated based on key words you provide, or you can place ads for specific products. There are lots of options. Again, you only get paid if your website visitor buys something after clicking through the ad on your site.
Most small website owners have very little success with Amazon ads. The commissions are low, especially for books.
However, a wide range of people buy lots of products on Amazon.com, so there is potential. Although it is still one of our least successful strategies, we have had a little more success because many of our readers are simply using our Amazon links (like the search box below) to get to the site for items they were going to buy anyway. They don't pay any more, but because they accessed Amazon through our site, we get a small commission.
A couple of our ads don't fall into any of the above categories, but shopping them still helps us.
With one company, InflatableBoats4Less.com, we offer free advertising and promote them in exchange for a commission on Sea Eagle products they sell to our readers. It's a win-win-win situation. Tim & Crystal make sales, we get a good commission, and our website visitors get the lowest prices with trusted support (InflatableBoats4Less.com guarantees they won't be undersold and they are Sea Eagle's largest dealer).
With another company, Miller RV Insurance, we offer free links and recommend them without anything in return in the way of commissions. But they provide wonderful service to our readers and have saved many people lots of money. Some of our readers have actually sent us part of the money they saved as a "thank you", and Miller RV Insurance supports our Rallies.
We are certainly open to other advertisers. We can either do mutually beneficial relationships like the two above, or we can set up more traditional paid ads for advertisers that have something they want to promote to our readers.
In conclusion, by shopping our advertisers, our website visitors help support RV-Dreams.com in multiple ways, and without spending any money at all or by spending an amount they were going to spend anyway.
Your attendance at RV-Dreams Rallies helps us in several ways, but most importantly, the biggest promoters of our Rallies are our prior participants. It is always our goal to give every attendee more than they expected, and many have returned again and again. :)
Also, we are asked to speak at various RV shows, rallies, and functions. Your attendance at these events supports the RV industry and allows the promoters to provide better and better consumer education.
Please know that all support of any kind is greatly appreciated. Part of living our dream is to help others live their dreams. You help make that possible.
