Western Railroad Discussion > Nice feature story about handcars on local TV news

KION news Monterey/Santa Cruz had a great segment on the handcars and an excellent interview with Mason,

Several happy customers were also featured.  It was very impressive and should bring in significant business.  Well done!

LINK?

pdt Wrote:
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> LINK?

3 seconds on a Google search found this: https://kion546.com/news/top-stories/2021/07/10/residents-take-cruise-on-train-tracks-with-unique-handcars/

Great coverage.  Good interview Mason.  
JB - Omaha

Congratulations Mason and Todd, I know how much effort went into making this happen.

Posted from Android

The reporter was blown away by the operation and spent a lot of time on it. He said he is going to bring back his family.  We have stunning reviews from our customers and we are getting referrals. We have people driving from hundreds of miles to ride based on family recommendations.  Our biggest hurdle is our marketing plan is thrown out the window.  We had planned to use Facebook exclusively for drawing in customers from outside the area.   We have amazing response from Facebook advertising and $1000 a day in advertising would fill all of our tours.  The problem is because we are a new business Facebook is limiting us to $50 a day in advertising.  That gets us about two handcar sales and not enough to keep our fleet out. At one point they suspended our account because our click rate was too high at 8% and they flagged it for fraud.   Most of our sales now are from locals, passerbys, and word of mouth. 

 

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

What is the Facebook link?

And the government (and many of us) think that Facebook has too much power and influence, imagine that.

Out 

callum_out Wrote:
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> And the government (and many of us) think that
> Facebook has too much power and influence, imagine
> that.

First congrats Todd and Mason, and for their sticking with proven way to advertise.

Webmaster's experience with Facebook is quite telling, even without taking into account your statement, or the fact that it's a company started by a psych major with script-kiddie skills (derogatory term for people who aren't real computer programmers).

Whether if it was Aritificial Intelligence or incompetent employees that caused the panic over 8% click rate, it doesn't matter, it is a pathetic platform.
 

I have neither a face or a book.Pffffttttt... Go to thunder Facebook....

Posted from iPhone

Handcar Tours on Facebook. They lowered us today to $25 a day now. Talk about punishment. 

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

How long does FaceBook consider you a new business?  Perhaps the TV exposure will drive customers directly to your website, and bypass FB.  Is the handcar segment on the local TV station's website?

Here in Florida, we see a lot of interesting clips on Scripps, Sinclair, Hearst etc TV stations from their other regional TV stations. Maybe there are TV stations in your catchment area which could license and use the original clip on their programs.

 

Social media is the most efficient and cost effective way to reach people these days. We were the top story on the local news and there was hardly a blip on our web stats. We say new as in new Facebook page. People don't watch scheduled tv anymore. 

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com