MyStarCollectorCar fired up on April 2, 2009, and thus began our 15 years (and still counting) odyssey as an online magazine for car guys.
The learning curve was steep back in 2009, given the fact we were rookies in the cyberworld and had to find our way through trial and error-with a heavy emphasis on error at times.
Jim Sutherland
For example, our initial website platform was better suited to numbers and not pictures so, given the fact we are not accountants or engineers, the format was not perfect in the traditional sense of the term.
Our readers wanted more (and better) photos to flesh out the MyStarCollectorCar articles, so eventually we updated our platform into a more picture-friendly format after we got smart enough to find a better website builder.
The ensuing years evolved MyStarCollectorCar into the big leagues in terms of platforms and now we use the same online format as the major publications after they switched to online services. Online publications are no longer the wave of the future because every one of the big boys now rely upon their online editions to compete in 2024.
MyStarCollectorCar’s upgrade process has taken place in segments over the years, mainly because we want to remain highly competitive in the field of vintage vehicle e-zines-and we have accomplished this goal since 2009.
Our 15-year journey started in Red Deer, Alberta Canada but now it reaches a large daily audience all over the world. “Daily” is the operative word because we provide a brand-new feature every day of the year in our big square at the top left spot on our front page.
One of the lessons we learned early in the game was e-zines require daily input to grow their readership, so our initial format of a monthly approach only lasted a few months before we added a new article every day on our front page.
Now there are over 10,000 articles behind that brand-new daily feature on our front page in our archives, many of which have reached Google’s front page, depending upon the topic. Many of our car photos have also gone along for the ride to the front pages of Google.
We are very proud of our accomplishments over the past 15 years and look forward to many more successes in the future here at MyStarCollectorCar. We have travelled tens of thousands of miles and connected with thousands of car guys and girls to get the personal story behind a vintage ride because the emotional connection between vehicle and owner is the reason we seek out their stories.
Our quest for new stories never gets old and we never get tired of them–even after 15 years of doing the same thing because we love our job. It’s been a lot of work over the past 15 years, but we have enjoyed every minute of it.
We wrote a piece on January 1, 2024 outlining our game plan for a paywall format this year and intend to add it this month (April 2024). The cost will be nominal and will give our MyStarCollectorCar readers complete access to our past, present and future articles which, as mentioned earlier, are in the 10,000-and counting range.
Our game plan will always be the same: meet and gather our articles on the frontlines of the vintage car (and truck) hobby because their owners all have a story to tell about their rides.
We are confident that MyStarCollector will continue to find the best stories for our readers.
Jim Sutherland
BY: Jim Sutherland
Jim Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer whose work has been published by many major print and online publications. The list includes Calgary Herald, The Truth About Cars, Red Deer Advocate, RPM Magazine, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Windsor Star, Vancouver Province, and Post Media Wheels Section.
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