Towns and Trails is on Twitter, and Other Misc. Ramblings

Social Networking – Facebook and Twitter

In an attempt to prove how hip and ‘with the times’ we are, Towns and Trails is now on Twitter! Yep, we’ve joined the cult. So if you have an account or would like to follow our tweets (I know, I know…) head on over to our Twitter page here:  twitter.com/townsandtrails

We also have a Facebook page if that is your social networking platform of choice. To become a fan of our page you can visit us here: www.facebook.com/pages/Towns-and-Trails/73380862895?ref=nf

At the moment, I am mainly using each platform to announce select articles from the site. If you would like to see something different on Facebook or Twitter, or have ideas on cool or interesting ways to use them, please leave us a comment letting us know.

Reader Submissions and Trip Reports

We’ve gotten a few emails over the past month asking if Towns and Trails accepts reader submissions or trip reports – and the answer is Yes! We sure do. This is one of the eventual goals of the site: to allow readers to contribute to the content and have a place where they can share their experiences and adventures with others.

Eventually I’d like to build in a way for people to submit news items or trip reports automatically. But for now, the only way to do so is to email me (dave AT townsandtrails.com). If you have something you’d like to share with friends, family, or other readers… feel free to send it my way. If it seems like a good fit I can work with you to get it up on our site!

Towns and Trails Store

If you visit the site often, you have probably noticed I am still playing around with different advertisement placements and methods. The immediate goal for me when it comes this is to get the site to pay for itself (hosting, etc) without turning it into a giant gaudy billboard. However, another goal of mine is to make the advertising on this site as useful to the reader as possible. Ideally I would like it if the ads are not just some flashy banner that you ignore (at best) or that annoys you (at worst). So out of that desire came the Towns and Trails Store. It is an Amazon affiliate store that allows me to list specific items that readers can buy directly from Amazon. In theory this seems like a nice way for me to filter the products that are ‘advertised’ on the site and make sure they are only items that I have actual experience with and can recommend – but I am not sure how it will work out or how I feel about it yet.

At the moment I am listing some gear I have used, some books I have read, and a few movies I have enjoyed. If you have any feedback about this, please contact me or leave a comment.

Oh, and one thing that I can promise will remain true for as long as the site is operational is that advertisements will never influence a Towns and Trails article, review, or recommendation.

I hope everyone is enjoying the summer!!
dave