May – Modern Survival Online

This month, the Prepper Website is happy to announce Modern Survival Online as the Featured Website of the Month.  Modern Survival Online has a special place in my Prepper heart, as it was the first website where I contributed an article, pre-Prepper Webiste.  Take a moment to get to know Rourke and what he has to say to the community here at the Prepper Website.

1. Summarize the focus and purpose of your website. – My thoughts on survival and the world today. I cover a wide range of preparedness-related topics and dabble into politics and whatever else I feel like talking about once in awhile. If I had to pick a genre I would call it “general preparedness”.

2. What made you decide to start a website? – I started ModernSurvivalOnline in an effort to connect with other like-minded folks as well as a method to stay focused on my preparations.

3. How long have you run your website? – I started the site May 29th, 2010 – almost two years ago.

4. How much time do you spend dedicated to your website? – It varies from week to week but I probably average 15 to 20 hours per week. I enjoy it but it can take a toll when the rest of life is demanding much from me. This is one of the reasons I started holding Guest Post Contests, they free up some of my time and benefits readers with a wider variety of content.

5. What is one thing you really like about your website? – That’s tough because I am pretty critical of myself. I guess if I had pick one thing it would be the appearance. Yeah, I know I should probably say the great content and the growth the site has had and I certainly like those but the site “looks” different than most. I struggled for awhile with the appearance because it looks quite different than most preparedness sites but I suck with it.

6. What is one thing that you want to change about your website? – If I had a magic wand I would wave it and have people get along. It is amazing how there can be so much disagreement in the preparedness community. I have no issue with people disagreeing with other people but the pure hate and spite that is displayed at times is ridiculous. We can agree to disagree without name calling and putting people down. I do not like to moderate comments but once in a while someone takes their comments too far.

7. Tell us something about yourself that no one else knows. – If I did that then I would have to kill you. Just kidding of course. Something no one else knows? Hmmmm…..I guess the vast majority of people do not know that my real name is not “John Rourke”. John Rourke is a character from a fictional book series written by Jerry Ahern called The Survivalist. I loved the book, the character, so I adopted it as my persona for my site. I am so used to it now that I have readers that I meet with once in awhile and answer to Rourke.

8. Other than your site, what is your favorite preparedness websites to visit? – There are so many great websites out there that offer different perspectives on survival and preparedness it is hard to pick just one. Due to severe time restraints I tend to browse my favorite sites on the weekends.  The Retreat (http://prepplace.blogspot.com/) is certainly one of my favorites because BadVooDooDaddy offers a very down-to-earth view of preparedness, politics, and whatever else he discusses. I also enjoy Survival Week (http://survivalweek.com) and Prepper Website (https://www.prepperwebsite.com). Both of these provide a wide range of preparedness information from numerous sources. I can sit in my hammock with my laptop or Kindle Fire and find tons of information straight from these sites.

9. Do you have anything (projects, special posts, redesign) in store for the future of your website? – I have been working on an idea for awhile and still trying to decide whether or not I am going to follow through with it. I would like to start a membership “club” for readers that would like to provide support to the site. With the site taking up so much time – it is beginning to turn into another job. Members would receive special member-only benefits such as a 4GB DVD filled with preparedness information, unique ebooks/articles, and special discounts to online vendors. This “MSOnline Preparedness Guild” would be super cheap and the benefits would far outweigh the cost.

I am also getting ready to make my guest post contests a regular part of the site. I have hosted 4 contests in the past and will now start holding them on a continuous basis.

10. What were the three books you last read? (Be honest) – Lights Out, Storey’s Basic Country Skills (didn’t read this word for word but most of it), and Without Rule of Law.

11. What would you like to say to readers at the Prepper Website? – First – I would like to thank Todd from Prepper Website offering me this opportunity.

For the readers of Prepper Website – I would like to extend this invitation to come over sometime and check out ModernSurvivalOnline. We likely have many of the same interests and concern regarding events happening in the world today as well as that which awaits us in the future.

Take care all – Rourke