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 An interview with Bob Rankin, co-creator of Internet Tourbus.  Since it launched in 1995, Internet Tourbus has emerged as one of the most respected and trusted E-mail newsletters on the Net. Each issue takes a look at the crucial and notable issues of cyberspace and refreshingly explains it all in plain and geek-free English. Tourbus creators Bob Rankin and Patrick Crispen offer lively, witty commentary on every important aspect of the Net; (no easy task, considering the vastness of cyberspace.) The Tourbus has generated a loyal following, with over 80,000 subscribers, from all over the world. Question: For the benefit of our newbie visitors, describe to us what The Internet Tourbus is. Who produces the Tourbus? Why is it called "The Internet Tourbus." Answer: The Internet Tourbus is a virtual tour of the best of the Internet, delivered twice weekly by e-mail to over 80,000 people in 130 countries. Bob Rankin and Patrick Crispen (aka the "Click & Clack" of the online world) explain Internet technology in plain English, with a dash of humor. Since 1995, Tourbus riders have been getting the scoop on Search Engines, Spam, Viruses, Cookies, Urban Legends, and the most useful sites on the Net. Q: Tell us a little about yourself. Where are you from? Tell us about your background. A: I'm a geek, a computer programmer, a writer, and an entrepreneur. I live in Tillson, New York, which is a little town somewhere between NYC and Albany. My degree in Computer Science got me a job at IBM, but after spending 15 years there, the Internet literally sucked me out. Now I work at home in my underwear, designing websites, writing books, and producing the Internet Tourbus newsletter. Q: What type of audience are you aiming at? How many subscribers do you have? What type of person would benefit by subscribing to the Tourbus? A: We have a very diverse audience, with people from all over the world, and every level of computer knowledge. Tourbus is read by doctors, lawyers, teachers, students and journalists. We try to present Internet tools and technology in a way that appeals to both gurus and grandmas. I think everybody with an email address should be getting Tourbus. :-) Q: How and when did you get involved with computers in the first place? When did you first get online? When did you buy your first computer and what type of machine was it? A: My first computer was a TI-58 programmable calculator, which I taught to bark, sit, and play yahtzee. My high school had a 300-baud dial-up line to a nearby university computer which helped me get into all sorts of mischief! So I guess it was only natural from that point that I would pursue computers as a career. I avoided getting a home computer for many years, because I spent all day working with them. I finally broke down and bought a used IBM "PC Junior" in 1990. It had 4.77 megahertz of raw processing power, no hard disk, and no modem. But I loved it, and now have a PC Jr collection in my attic. My first contact with the Internet was in 1993 through a conferencing system internal to IBM, where I worked at the time. I was used to networking with people around the world, but it seemed that the Internet held much greater treasures in store. I became more and more fascinated with the Internet, both as an information resource and as a place to sell information products. In 1994 I wrote the "Accessing The Internet By E-Mail" guide which told how to access almost anything on the Net using simple e-mail commands, and gave it away for free. It was hugely popular, eventually being translated into 30 languages. I used this freebie to advertise my "$5 Guides to the Internet" and sold enough to convince myself there wuz gold in them thar hills. Q: When and how did you come up with the idea of doing The Internet Tourbus? What inspired you to create this newsletter? A: Patrick Crispen and I started the Internet Tourbus newsletter in 1995. Patrick had just completed the ROADMAP project - an email newsletter that attracted over 80,000 readers. I approached him with the idea of a free ad-sponsored newsletter that would be an ongoing tour of the Internet. It was kind of a radical idea back then, but to our surprise, people loved the content and didn't mind the ads. We've been producing two issues a week for over four years now. Q: What's your biggest challenge in running The Internet Tourbus? What do you enjoy the most about doing it? What do you dislike the most about this venture? A: Surprisingly, it's coming up with good ideas to write about. We have to be sensitive to the fact that we have many readers outside the USA, some who use Macs, make sure it doesn't sound too techy, and still keep it interesting to more advanced readers. The best part is definitely the letters we get from readers who tell us it made a difference for them in some way. The worst part - people who want to unsub but refuse to read and/or follow the instructions. Q: What type of computer do you use? What software programs do you mainly use in creating the Tourbus? A: I use a no-name PC with an Intel Celeron 300A processor, and a 56K modem. The tool I use most in creating Tourbus is Notepad. It's low-tech, but it works just fine. My browser of choice is Netscape, and I spend a lot of time in the Pine email program on my Unix account. Q: When you're not working on the Tourbus, what sorts of things do you enjoy doing? What are your hobbies? A: I have a little plastic tourbus on top of my computer that makes a cool noise when it rolls across my desk. It's made in China, and has a little upside-down American flag on one side. Q: Tell us how you go about creating an issue of the Tourbus. How long does it take you to write an issue? How many hours a week do you typically put in, working on the Tourbus? Where do you get the ideas for your features? A: It usually takes three or four hours to research and write an issue. But I also have to maintain the Tourbus.com website, take care of undeliverable addresses, respond to reader mail, and interface with advertisers. It works out to about 20-30 hours a week. Q: How do you go about actually sending out the Tourbus? Do you send it out yourself, or do you have a company deliver it for you? What software do you use? Is the process of sending out such a popular newsletter difficult? A: We use the LISTSERV software provided by AOL. If you have more than 100 readers, you really have to go with a commercial list hosting service that uses LISTSERV, Lyris, or something similar. It's very easy to send the newsletter - we just send a copy to the LISTSERV address and it forwards it to all the subscribers in a couple of hours. The difficult part is handling all the bounces - undeliverable mail as a result of people changing their email address, ISP's getting bought and sold, etc. Even 1% of 80,000 is a lot to slog through. Fortunately LISTSERV handles most of it automatically, but there's still a few hundred messages to deal with every time we send an issue. I've written some Unix scripts to help deal with the bounces, but it's far from totally automated. Q: Is this your main job, or is it a hobby? Does it pay well? You likely won't want to tell us this, but we thought it couldn't hurt to ask: How much do you make per year from the Tourbus? For that matter, how does the Tourbus earn revenue? A: Before I left my full-time job at IBM in 1997, I considered it a hobby. But now Tourbus is definitely an important part of my job picture. Our revenue comes from the sponsors who place their advertising in each Tourbus issue. I also write computer books and operate FlowersFast.com - the online florist. All those things taken together haven't made me rich, but it beats what I made working at IBM. I work harder now, and I don't have the security of a weekly paycheck, but I enjoy being self-employed. Q: What are your long-term goals for The Internet Tourbus? Where do you see this venture in five years' time? A: We want to have 500,000 subscribers, national radio syndication, and then get bought out by some huge corporation for an obscene abount of money. It doesn't hurt to dream, does it? Q: We get a number of visitors to TheFreeSite.com who've expressed an interest in starting up their own newsletter. Can you offer any tips for beginning newsletter publishers? A: Write about what you know and enjoy. Don't be afraid to get personal. Be original - don't run recycled articles that a dozen other newsletters have already published. Never send your newsletter to people who haven't asked for it. If you can't sell ads at the start, give away ad space. If you provide a valuable resource, people will tell their friends. But recognize that email publishing is becoming a very crowded field. Don't quit your day job until you're sure you can fly solo. Sign up your free subscription to Internet Tourbus at their Web site. The newsletter is released twice a week. Check out our other Freebies Features:
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