Righto Turbo! ...what is it?
Hey, welcome to Righto Turbo! Every new site is "different", right? Forget the rest, we're your new fave, all that sorta thing.
I can't promise that, but I do have a mission: Remember when blogs were just fun?
I was a regular reader and commenter on the American website Autoblog back in the early and mid 2000s (check out this archive.org link from 2004!), before they sold to AOL – and I've never seen a bunch of bloggers have a better time just posting what they enjoyed.
Obviously they needed to be paid, but their way to get there was just providing entertaining and useful content to a dedicated audience. That's the sweet spot.
Of course, when you add more people, or worse, when you take on shareholders to fund big ideas, you commit to earning more and more money. In automotive, especially in Australia, that means getting as many car brands as possible to spend as much with you as your sales folks (that's yet more people on the team) can coax out of them.
I don't want to do that, and I don't think any of you have enjoyed all of the content that has resulted from it. I spent nearly 20 years writing the occasional fun story, but mostly turning out content designed to get clicks on social media and to satisfy Google's shitty search and News algorithms.
We had to do that to be successful, let alone pay the bills. That's just a fact.
But if the audience isn't enjoying it, and if the audience doesn't trust it... can we not try something else?
What's the plan, then?
Let's get back to blogging.
If you want a break from complaining about the authenticity of content on sites that have too little choice in what they publish and how quickly they churn it out, come hang out here for a while.
I'll mostly be posting news, and just the stuff that I like. I want your feedback, of course, but if it ain't fun for me, there won't be much point. Right?
Expect cars, obviously – petrol and electric, get over it – but I'm also going to post cool motorbikes, design concepts, weird and whacky stuff I find, and even news about broader mobility news.
I'm not likely to get access to any (or many) press fleets, or any executives to interrogate, so I can't promise you reviews or any earth-shattering scoops – but I'll do my best to figure out a solution if you think all of that is vital to a good time.
I hope you'll enjoy it, and I hope you'll be reasonable when you decide to tell me how much you don't like it!
Is it free?
Yes? No? I don't know.
Do you want ads and sponsored content and "urgh I bet they paid him to be nice about that car", or do you want fun and authentic content that you can trust because you paid for it?
I'd love to talk about it. Who wants to dive into a chat with me, or maybe even a video call, to argue about the merits of ad- and sponsor-supported content versus yet another subscription nobody can afford? Let's go. (I'm serious.)
I want to know your thoughts on how many dollars each month would feel right to help support a blog that you can hang out on, commenting and debating with good folks, just like the old days.
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