About The Hotdogman

I was a hotdogman for 6 years. I had the time of my life and I made some decent change doing it. Unfortunately, I had some health issues in 2009 that forced me to sell my second hot dog truck and suspend my business.

I decided to go into teaching, so I returned to school in the fall of 2009 (on crutches) to begin work toward teacher licensure and a Master’s Degree. My ultimate plan is to be teaching in 2011 and working a hot dog business in the summer months and weekends.

I started the Hot Dog Truck blog in early 2007 as a way to advertise my Hot Dog Truck online. Through the months and years that followed, I became interested in blogging and started many other sites. Some were successful, some were not, but I learned a lot about blogging and making money online.

I keep the Hot Dog Truck “open” because it’s a fairly popular site- I get between 300-500 page views a day there. The site is supposed to be “the life and times of a Hotdogman,” so it’s kind of a mish mash of a personal blog, a “how to” site and an entertainment site. Basically, that site contains what’s on my mind on any given day.

Many people went to The Hot Dog Truck dot com looking for information because they want to start their own hot dog business. Since I am still somewhat of an “expert” in the hot dog vending world, I started a site called How to Start a Hot Dog Business to help people interested in starting their own business. I know of a half a dozen local “proteges” in my area and I get emails from all over the world from folks wishing to start a hot dog business. Helping folks get started has become one of the most rewarding things I’ve done with my various sites.

I also started THIS SITE called Hot Dog Stories where I go around to different hot dog carts, trailers, trucks, diners and even brick and mortar joints.

This concept originated when I tried to get readers of The Hot Dog Truck to submit stories about their favorite hot dog spots; they’d send a story along and I published them. The few reader submissions are still on the site. The current concept took shape when I visited Lucky Dog in Venice, FLA with my kids. We took pictures of our food and I wrote a post about it. After that visit, the site languished for a couple of years.

In the summer of 2010, I resurrected Hot Dog Stories because there just weren’t any other sites like it: stories about the little known places that are ubiquitous-yet largely ignored by media of any kind. I made it my mission to seek these places out and introduce them to the world. I travel to a new spot 2-3 times a week for lunch and  take pictures of my food, do a little write up about how the vendor got into the business and give the hot dog vendors some free publicity.

It’s not a “review” site, although a friend and I are working on that concept, it’s just a way for folks who want to get into the hot dog business can see how others are doing it successfully. Like I’m fond of saying: “I don’t rat, I celebrate.” The site is also for people who either like a good hot dog or a good story.

I try to limit visits to hot dog trucks, carts, or trailers but I also seek out iconic places as well. This site is rapidly gaining exposure and readership and I predict it will be more popular than any of my sites in the near future. One vendor I interviewed called me “the Phantom Gourmet of Hot Dogs!” I prefer to be called the “Ambassador to Hot Dog Nation.” Either way, I can only hope to be so popular some day.

Whatever your reason for visiting, I am open to dialogue, so leave some comments or join the new forum. Please, no spam, I will just delete it so you spammers are wasting your time.

Thanks for stoppin’ by Hot Dog Stories.