Hello again; Last night we had another of my weekly video chats concerning the amusement industry and topics related to my efforts to help people sell their equipment. We discussed new additions to the website along with my plans for the upcoming Indiegogo campaign to fund taking the youtube show out on the road. And thanks to my friend Adrienne Smith stopping by, it was one of our best events so far.

Where to find the hangout videos

If you want to see last night’s show, then you can click either of the links below.

I want to remember to thank Mitchell Walker for continuing to help out by moderating the hangouts. And I want to include a link to his crowd sourcing campaign. He is raising money to start an internet radio station. You can get the details by going to his site www.roguegeeks.com or to the campaign page at http://www.gofundme.com/94fpl8 Mitchell is one of the good guys. I’m not going to say I couldn’t do the hangouts without him, but I know I wouldn’t want to.

Indiegogo rewards for contributions

During a couple of my previous hangouts we had discussed some possible products and services to offer to people who contribute to the campaign. I took those suggestions and came up with a list. I circulated the list amongst my closest friends. And after getting their feedback I came up with a final list which I have submitted to my contact in the customer service department at Indiegogo.

They are graciously helping me submit the campaign details because it turns out that their site isn’t as accessible to a blind user as they would hope. I’m impressed with their commitment to usability by blind and visually impaired dreamers.

So below please find the list. While it is final. I would still appreciate your opinions. And please remember that some of these are there to give people options at all price ranges. And as the lady from the website reminded me people don’t do this for stuff they do it for the person and or their mission.

1.

$1 You can have a post mentioned on one of my five major social media network communities. You can choose from Face Book, Linked In, Twitter, Pinterest, or Google Plus. The post can include a photo along with the txt and url.

2.

$5One of your posts can get the same treatment on all five of these networks. Obviously, these posts would have to b approved and could not include things such as nudity, profanity, gambling, alcohol, drugs, or anything that appears unethical or sleazy. And the links above are included so people can tell how strong my networks are and help them decide which if any they want to use.

3.

$10 An autographed photo of me waring one of the new midway marketplace shirts designed by Kelly Corbin.

4.

$20 Large mouse pad featuring the company logo.

5.

$25 A Midway Marketplace coffee mug

6.

$35 plain shirt with logo

7.

$50 screen printed version of shirt

8.

$75 commercial during an upcoming hangout. These would be 30 seconds at the beginning and end of one. The person using this option would have to submit the video to me ready to use. I do not have the time, ability, or budget to edit for them. This applies to any commercials on the site. And as with the social media shares the subject matter will have to be approved by me.

9.

$100 autographed dvd of the first season. It will include the twelve planned episodes plus behind the scenes and out takes.

10.

$175 A package of an autographed dvd, a screen printed shirt, and two coffee mugs.

11.

$250 A 30 second commercial during the youtube episodes

12.

$500 a 60 second commercial during a youtube show episode

And I have two other offerings, but I’m not sure yet how they would work. I’m wanting to put it out there that I will share my knowledge of the industry and my experiences as a blind person starting a business. I was thinking of $1000 for a series of phone or skype sessions and $2500 for a personal visit. I am thinking of mentioning the potential motivational and inspirational benefits.

New equipment on the site

Since the whole point of the hangouts is to promote the site and the equipment for sale there. I’m happy that I’m getting to share information, photos, and eventually videos of new listings during the hangouts. This week I actually had two rides to mention. And I managed the screen share much better. Although on the second ride I did have to do it twice.

Windstorm Roller Coaster

Windstorm coaster 01

The first one was this gorgeous Windstorm coaster now available on the site for $1,000,000 making it the most expensive single piece of equipment I have ever listed. It is a portable model that is currently traveling on nine trailers. The price doesn’t include the cost of the two crane trucks they use to move it. I listed it that way because the ride could end up going to a park where they wouldn’t need the cranes.

Windstorm coastr 04

After I put the pictures up, I asked Mitchell what he thought about it. He said he would probably stay away from it. I admitted that I have always ben afraid of thrill rides like this. I also restated my offer to b the first person to ride it with its new owner or at its new home. I figure this is like daring the universe to help me sell it. The offer applies to any thrill ride on my site.

Watkins Tempest

Tempest 01

The second ride we discussed was this tempest. I am always happy when I get listings from outside the United States. This one is from a showman in the Netherlands, and he found me on google.

This ride is from a time when you didn’t have to have an engineer’s certificate to design and build a ride. This family was actually responsible for several long running carnival rides including the tempest, hustler, hart flip, and the satelite which most of you may know as the Wisdom tornado. Because of the angle the ride runs on it does seem to cause a lot of riders to throw up. Sorry about that folks.

A very special guest stopped by

Since I started the exploration of using google hangouts to promote myself, a lot of my friends have been very supportive. Many of my blogging friends either live outside the country or they have had commitments keeping them from participating. I know they would take part if they could, and I hope they know this. I also hope they know how much I appreciate their support.

So, it was awesome to hear that the blogging super star and one of the nicest people you would ever want to meet Adrienne Smith decided to drop by. She has taught me a lot and was one of the first people to give me a push. We had such a nice time that when Mitchell told me the hour was up, I decided to stay until Adrienne had to leave.

I got to put a voice with the name. I know we both live in the houston area, but its a bigger place than most people think and we are both busy and most importantly I don’t drive or have a driver. We talked about the weather, our crazy dogs, driverless cars, and a bit of just friends talking. I got to thank her in person or as close as you can online. And she promised to come back when her schedule permits. I’m also hoping to interview her for my site or something. I just know I’d like to work with her down the road. It was fun Adrienne. I’m looking forward to meting in person later this year.

How to participate

If you want to join us live during a future hangout, you have to be invited. That is one of Google’s quirks. You have to be a member of google plus and add me to one of your circles. I will then add you to the hangout on air circle so you will be invited to all future meet ups. You don’t have to attend every week or be there for the whole hour, but by being invited you have that option. You can invite up to 100 people and ten can participate at any one time.

If you would just like to ask a question, then email it to me. I can accept them in txt or video form. On the videos you should be able to send them to me as an attachment as long as you keep them short. But be sure to mention your name, your company or organizations name, and your site url along with your question. I promise to do a better job of recapping the hangouts and adding your url’s to the youtube show descriptions. I figure that your participation makes the hangout better, so you definitely should receive something for taking part. And when it comes to gifts, I love free.

Sharing is caring

What would a blog post be without one of these calls to action. But you know me I like to share the love. I hope you will check out the links mentioned and share or comment on them as appropriate. I also hope that you will join me on other networks. Right now, I am targeting my youtube subscriber numbers. I only have 35, and its my weakest community. If you subscribe to my feed, then I will subscribe to yours. If you don’t have a youtube account, then I can follow you on one of the others. Ask anyone, I’m very good about reciprocating.

And if you feel comfortable leaving a comment, I would love to hear your thoughts. However, if google still has you nervous about leaving a comment on a blog from another niche, then how about dropping me an email instead. I have the links set to no follow, but I understand the fear that is involved. Hopefully, google will take a different approach to back links, but until they do; we all have to be careful.

Well, this was another long post. I want to thank you for taking the time to read it all. I welcome questions from my readers. Whether you have a serious question or just want to get to know me better, I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks again and take care out there, Max