Warning: This is going to be long! 165 and 79, keep these two numbers in mind, they are important!
This is the final blog post of TBB as you have come to know it. Professional responsibilities have increased to such a level that I just can not keep up with my Feedly addiction to stay on top of all the blogs and bring you here what I think you should know…always staying true to the TBB mission to Entertain (primarily myself), Educate and Inspire.
A very short brief history of TBB: I have been in this crazy hobby for almost twenty years. I have read all the bloggers in this space since they started. It is a very unique space full of interesting characters. It has also been fascinating to watch how people changed. This includes me! Anyways, I already lost my train of thought for a moment…Oh yes, let’s get back in it. I did not start a blog for many years because I was afraid of the suck time factor, what can I say I am pretty good in forecasting things! After my father’s death in July of 2009 (the only time I missed the Ann Arbor Art Fair DO) I was floating there mixed up for a few years and started slacking in general, got a little fatter than usual, did not set any goals and I was just cruising along enjoying my very comfortable life. Then God spoke to me late at night after several glasses of wine were consumed. Relax, this is not going to be one of those born again stories I swear! Since you read all these blogs, God said, there is a niche of someone with your experience to review blogs businesses and speak your mind telling readers which ones are worthy or not because, you know, you TBB can see the bullshit from several miles by now! Also, God continued, since you read them all why don’t you pick the posts your readers should be aware of so they don’t have to keep wasting their time surfing around to find them. All right, there was no God involved but this is how it all started. Friend Dave suggested a TBB tagline: “We waste our time so you don’t have to”. I liked it but decided not to use it, come on lol. So, I needed an outlet and a new challenge as my business was making enough with current client roster and, you know me, I don’t do the marketing thing well, I wait for the phone to ring (or email to come in) so I said why not, give it three months! As I like to work alone this could be something I may enjoy and I can help so many people at once preaching from my little corner on the web and contribute to world peace and understanding. So TBB was born…
For almost two straight years I focused on the content and did not even bother with any “monetization” scheme even after I started receiving many emails pleading with me to add a credit card tab. I felt looking into it takes focus away on what TBB is about: the blog reviewer busy reading the blogs, separating the BS (so much) from the good stuff (Drew and some others), all in a very entertaining manner (very dependent on my mood which was driven by what was on my phone screen and Feedly staring back at me!). It felt I was cheating my readers if I spent any time on making any $$$. Contrary to popular belief, I am not a communist lol! I took on this TBB persona and started believing I am the protector of the newbies who were being slapped upside the head from the Titans who kept up an unrelenting credit card affiliate carpet bombing operation.
Timeout: New blog record holder for most plastic affiliate links in ONE blog post is One Mile at a Time: 55. Smh up and down, left and right, diagonally…Ok, back on my epilogue.
I finally added an Amazon link which started bringing some money to cover some expenses and hopefully aim to turn a profit in 2014! You may say “why have losses since blogging does not cost that much?”. It is true, it does not cost much in dollars. But I had to pay some big time cash (it’s all relative when you refer to TBB commercial operations ok?) to a web designer to come up with the most amazing logo (it even has an imaginary flight to Perth!) and get me set up on WordPress ( TBB started on Google’s Blogger, booooo!) and pleaded with her to take some of my hotel points for her upcoming trip (she did, thank you Hillary!) as partial payment. Anyways, IRS does not like stringing losses together, you know, something about the “hobby” rules in the tax code! Anyways, the small profits were all spent on two trips to the events in Charlotte and Phoenix (loved them, you guys are fun to be around, you know).
Shortly before the Amazon “huge” money maker came in I tried to cure myself by blowing away about 200 blogs off my Feedly to reduce the amount of time dealing with TBB for really no money. Remember, the Feedly reading was constant. Starting with breakfast, at Panera, every two to three hours to catch up, let alone keeping up with emails and so many comments and then actually putting the actual darn blog post together in WordPress late at night. It is INSANE. There I was in Hong Kong carving out time in my day in a new city to…catch up with Feedly. As I said, total insanity. But I…liked it damn it, it just became a crazy habit. Who am I kidding, it became a preposterous addiction! I have this personality to…get addicted to things. This was more powerful than crack. Full disclosure: I have never done crack lol.
Word of Advice to any aspiring bloggers: Do it as a hobby and do not try to post consistently unless you are: a) insane — ditto b) got lots of time on your hands or can create time because you are supper efficient — I am very efficient! c) have a huge passion for this space –I still do damnit! d) have the stamina to go on and work your ass off –hey, I did it much longer than most, give me credit (pun intended lol) e) all of the above. In other words, don’t bother, use your time more effectively to learn more marketable skills! For every The Points Guy or One Mile at a Time or Frequent Miler there are hundreds of dead blogger bodies floating in cyberspace! Did you notice that the bloggers I mentioned are full timers? Good! There is a lesson there for you aspiring part time blogger who wants to be a Titan. I love saying Titan by the way, one of the most appropriate terms to come across in this space!
After beating up myself for so long and as the emails continued to add a credit card tab and my continued lame attempts to put the freaking Feedly down (last count of blogs I followed was 358, which was down from almost 600!!!) I started finding myself mentally turning down real business making up excuses that before TBB I would not do before looking into it more to see if there is a potential client fit. Ok, that was too long of a sentence and if I was not drinking some wine right now I would go back and fix it. But it is my blog and I won’t! Yeah, blogging can really mess you up! And I was already messed up remember? Then I finally decided to listen to the readers to add the credit card tab which I had been contemplating as I was never in general against affiliate links in the first place! I WAS and STILL am against crappy content driven by the affiliate links and splashed all over the body of blog posts, like 55 links at a time! So, I added a tab on November 12 2014, a full two years after I started my blog because at the rate the Amazon thing was going it was not a sure thing I will eek out a profit! I put the ccdot bomb link on top of each post (and then the bottom), started tweeting the link once at noon very recently (using Buffer, LOVE that program!) and then did a monthly blog post offering the links. There were three of these monthly TBB support blog posts and one was taken down immediately after I received an email on a Friday at 5.05 pm informing me the post was a violation of my affiliate agreement and giving me 24 hours to take it down. My first reaction was to reply with colorful language but like a good bitch I took it down lol. Oh the absurdity of this space remember? I was offered the chance to explore direct credit card links with Discover and Barclays and I refused. I did not want to turn into a real bitch who runs inside a hamster wheel that blasts plastic links to oblivion to make the sales quotas every month. Time for another wine bottle, how about Michigan State in the NCAA Basketball tournament wow, path is there for yet another Final Four!
Considering the continued time spent on the darn blog I thought this was okay and SHOULD be okay. I also realize that online you will not please everyone and you will get push back. Which I did. Which I find it wildly entertaining/amusing/fascinating/bizarre/whatever. It usually comes from people who never blogged and some bloggers with true hobby blogs and/or in blog networks who are assured some steady income coming in which I assure you it would likely blast away my Amazon revenue! At the same time, I like to blog what I feel inside and just let it go, it is cathartic! I refused attempts to get me into blog networks because I felt my impartiality will be affected and I just like to do everything myself in a true stubborn matter lol. The point I am trying to make is this: TBB stopped being a hobby blog when Feedly went over the 200 count damnit. If I was posting occasionally about my hobby I would understand the backlash. But I did not. I kept going like the stubborn quality minded guy I am because, well, I must have liked it I guess. Or call me insane if you may prefer, that’s cool. So making a few dollars per day on Amazon (on a good day) and the occasional credit card signup had a soothing effect in my Feedledscrewed up brain that someone out there cared enough to STOP what they were doing AND TAKE ACTION to help a blog they liked reading. It is so absurd…but seeing that made me feel GOOD! Heck, making over $5 I was dancing with my local Panera staff ( I usually check my dough there once in the morning, I like routines in my life). Seeing ZERO had the opposite effect, demoralizing! Here I am busting my butt for my readers, making enemies speaking my mind, being threatened with ridiculous lawsuits and not even one reader clicked on anything, wow…how cruel is that? If someone commented “Hey George, I clicked on one of the good TBB list blogs” that also made me VERY happy because I felt I was making a difference you know and actually contributing to improving this space!
Blogging consumes you. All you readers who never bothered writing a blog (don’t, look at me, you can turn even more insane than you may already be) PLEASE go out of your way to support blogs that make a difference in your life. If you don’t, two things happen (limited exceptions exist): they fold or they go sell out all the way (and get on the treadmill of having to keep pumping to keep the deep direct bank affiliate plastic links). And that is very sad!
Holy crap, that was long above. Hey, don’t get me all wrong. I LOVED my time here being TBB providing an avenue to express myself and producing a quality entertaining/educational/inspiring read. But all good things come to an end. Why now? Folks, I need to step away to keep whatever sanity I have left. Three things stood out: 1) Mrs. TBB said “Hey knucklehead, you have proved you can keep up a blog much longer than the three months you intended so what’s left to prove?” I should listen to her more, I can’t believe she puts up with my crap! 2) I stopped writing on my other blog by giving false excuses that I am too busy with taxes (I am but…the Feedlying never stopped!). It is an opportunity other colleagues only dream about and here I am reading all these miles and points blogs…come on, WTF!! The ridiculousness must stop. 3) I have done NO MS related activities at all in March, NONE. ZERO. I need to get back into my hobby and maybe devote some time on actually burning some of my stash before it all gets devalued away to pieces! It’s time. Especially when you know you can make a LOT more money than blogging lol. Joined the dark side my ass lol! So…
Going forward TBB will be a TRUE hobby blog. Being updated whenever I feel like it, at least weekly I hope. Daily or every other day posting, forgetaboutit! You can only make so few dollars Feedlying so much for so long. Time for personal responsibility to…more important things in my life. I need the space and time and this is the time to do it. I am not going away. Amazon link will stay, sister in law has too much time and money on her hands, she is the number one user! I do not expect the ccdotbomb link will stay alive for too much longer. Hey, we love credit cards in my family too 😉 Can’t wait for son to become 18 later this year, woohoo!
I am very proud of my work here. I am proud of my blog lists. I am honored so many people read what I had to say! This TBB phase of my life has been an awesome experience as I really learned to LET GO writing what is in my head and letting it flow. You would not believe what a torturing process writing had been for me as I am stubbornly perfectionist. But it is TBB so who cares! My therapist told me to let go and she was right…it IS so cathartic!
I am ready to give the baton to the next miles/points blog critic. But there will never be another TBB lol. What a ride!
Thank you to all the readers, to all commenters and to all the bloggers. If I ever hurt your feelings please accept my apologies, my only intent was to improve this hobby. It is a very unique group with lots of smart, friendly, gracious people I am so glad to call them all my friends. This includes the haters who I think are just equally passionate. It is like a family. And special thanks to everyone who ever commented at TBB. Interacting with you was a very rewarding part of my life and hope to continue to do so and maybe one day meet you. Drinks on me if you ever used my links lol. One other aspect that I think was missed by some readers was that a substantial portion of me mentioning my links was to entertain myself AND show the absurdity of the vast importance they have now in the online world to compensate the bloggers for their time because, damn it, bloggers can use their time in other endeavors instead of your reading enjoyment. If you really think TBB was about da money, I think you can use the services of my therapist, no referral fee involved 🙂
I managed to get Feedly down to 165 blogs. Of those only 79 blogs are miles/points/travel related. Yes I kept four on the TBB Ignore list. Care to guess which ones? I just checked there are 29 unread blog posts in Feedly. Pfffft!!! Used to be at least 200 minimum unread since I last checked on a Sunday 6 hours ago!
I feel good. I will be posting personal stuff once in a while, continue posting some good stuff I find in Feedly in the comments here and take it easy while I rededicate myself to on board several new clients I could not say no to, enough turning away business for TBBing! My addiction is cured. I would like to thank Suzy my therapist, I love you! Yes darling, it is time for you to get the Chase British Airways Visa, see my instructions in last night’s email hehe.
Delta Points: You are no longer in my Feedly. So just continue what you are doing. I had to delete it to save my head from disconnecting from my body and to save me some screens!
Rick of Frugal Travel Guy: Yeah, come back and entertain us with your tirades and inform us all about the declining TBB Alexa ranking numbers. To this day, I have not checked Google Analytics and Alexa numbers together more than 10 times max since day one! Never a priority with me, only you cared! You know I loved your blog before you cashed your first commission check. Enjoy retirement. See you in Chicago, just kidding. Thanks for the feedback in the beginning, you were right on some things which became clearer the longer I blogged. Our space needs a blog business critic. I have too much going on in my life, phone keeps ringing because of that other blog that has a bit more credibility lol. Advice: Take criticism better, it is very healthy.
To all the other bloggers, I have nothing personal against you, never did and never will. I would not invite some of you over for Thanksgiving dinner ever as I am afraid you may attempt to sell my son the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card but I am cool with you and thank you for all the material you provided to me in my blog critic mode. If I ever offended you, this is what critics do. Hopefully, you are cool enough to laugh at yourself; heck I do this all the time and love it! If you want to be taken off the TBB Ignore list contact the TBB Headquarters and we can negotiate a price, bwahahahahahahaaha. Yeah I am laughing hard when I make jokes about all my links showing off my irresistible marketing prowess woohoo!
I am open to feedback, suggestions, insults (make them entertaining please) and opportunities for collaborations to change the world.
If you want to buy my blog, bidding starts at high six figures! Okay, make it five. Four? Please come on! Hey, anyone at Internet Brands listening? #hint #kidding #maybenot #tryme #woohoo
I am going to remember this type of feedback the most from a reader:
” Take solace in the contribution you have made to this space.”
And in that note I am going to get on my goat and go eat some fat free greek yogurt and enjoy ESPN Sportscenter!
Censorship is wrong and anti-American!
Spring is near…er!
Rejoice!
Party on Wayne, party on TBB. Party Time. Excellent!
TBB
Wow, that was long.
first?
First to say epic post
Might as well go out in an epic bang!
Dude, you’re depressing the living hell out of me.
Andy, your blog is one of the 79, hope you feel better.
Love TBB but I think we all noticed you run out of steam a few months ago. Nothing to be ashamed of, we have all lost our way. Hope you will be happier in your real life without this place. You are one of a kind. You will be missed.
Thanks for the feedback.
Stick around, I may have a $25 gift card to give away tomorrow 🙂
I’ve enjoyed your blog, primarily the positive information about useful blogs and posts but also a few of the rants. They have helped me winnow down my reading to a reasonably small number of superb writers. I give my affiliate income to Drew at Travel is Free whenever possible and have a favorite charity getting the cut from my Amazon purchases, so I can only pay you in thanks. I hope you can find a frequency level (plus breaks when you need them) that makes it fun for you to continue, because you are fun to read.
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment and for the very kind words! And for doing the right thing to improve this space! Comments like this make my day.
George, don’t feel bad about yourself! I stopped reading all the blogs, there is nothing
there which would be even remotely useful/interesting anymore. Instead I just came back from
an EXCEPTIONAL trip, tons of pictures. And yes, I learned Park Hyatt Maldives is a dump LOL.
Talking about bloggers’ credibility.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports/1662338-open-door-helicopter-photo-shoot-twice-fs-seychelles-maalifushi-maldives-more.html
In picture quality you are the BEST! These are just incredible, WOW!
We’ll miss you George. So long, thanks for everything, and hopefully you’ll still be around on Twitter.
I started unfollowing many on Twitter too! Of course not you. Twitter is part of me, helped me land that other gig 😉
I am sorry to report TBB has not sold a single credit card of yours, please do not report me to the “mothership” LOL
I’m gonna miss you the most George 🙁
Thanks. Me too. We all evolve, time is right!
George, thank you for all of your blogging over last 2 1/2 yrs. I am happy I found your blog early on and enjoyed it over the years. You actually pointed me to several blogs that I never read before, and yes they are in my Feedly (mine is under 30, lol, that is manageable for daily reading). Thank you for that.
I plan to read your posts, when you post, at your own pace, no one here is judging you or setting expectations for you.
Finally, you mention turning 18 for one of your children and CC potential. Isn’t it 21 now? Just double check, so your expectations aren’t set too high. At the same time, you have ~3-4mil miles and points, burn them! Enjoy fruits of your hobby, that’s why you been doing it for twenty years!!
Cheers,
PedroNY
Thank you PedroNY so much for hanging around here for so long. I am happy to read the positive feedback here and via email by loyal readers. My Alexa ranking numbers will really suffer going forward #sosad.
I have not looked toward the 18 vs 21 thing. I assumed it was 18. Would love to hear more feedback on this as I was planning to go wild on my own credit card tab lol.
Time to get back on the hobby and burn mode, keeping this baby up at this pace was getting to me.
Your son should be able to qualify for student cards if he has a part time job after turning 18. If you have added him as an authorized user, his credit score should be pretty good.
He has cards as authorized user for Chase Freedom and United. But no SSN was provided so not sure exactly if it is helping him build his credit score. I always wondered about that…how different banks are treating kids who become adults, etc. Now with that date closer I will have to look into it. Thanks
How can you have 79 mile and point blogs in your feedly? I only have 19 and most of those aren’t worth reading.
Having 79 does NOT mean they are worth reading! This was great progress, going cold turkey does not work for me. Next aim is to get it under 50. Many of the ones I deleted were dead anyway, they just folded away. Happens every day in blogland.
I’ve only been reading here for a few months, but I’ve really enjoyed your blog. Highly entertaining, funny, and thanks to you have discovered some quality blogs that I may have never found. I now read those daily. Because of this my family will get to enjoy some great vacations at pennies on the dollar. I have no doubt that you will cross my mind the next time we’re enjoying ourselves on a beach!
Thanks again!
Thank you very much for the kind words. I feel better about myself now 🙂
Hey guys, I am not dead yet. I am just evolving…without so much crap in my Feedly!
I don’t even know what Feedly is. And I’m proud of that.
George, you need to go back to your roots and start ranting again. That’s what we all liked and enjoyed so much as it was a much needed breath of fresh air rather than the sycophantic attaboy comments that are so prevalent these days.
Well, based on the feedback I have received you would be surprised how many told me that what they will miss the most is being assured of finding a place here to come and catch up on what were the most important blog posts in the miles/points land and then enjoying all the unique stuff I found in my Feedly induced binge.
Feedly is great by the way, give it a try.
Don’t underestimate your impact. Two genuine examples:
Just after you started, you moaned that no blog had a consolidated page showing all of the current hotel promotions (which was true). It was a good idea so I added one to HFP. Now everyone has one.
You also introduced me to Travel Summary via a link you posted. Back in early 2012 I was looking for the right theme to use for Head for Points when it was relaunched as a commercial (ie ad carrying) site. When I followed your link to Travel Summary I knew that was the look I wanted, albeit better. And I did it.
Thanks for the kind words, they mean a lot!
And thank you for Akismet spam blocker which was a huge time saver as I was drowning in spam! Another issue most non bloggers have no clue about…that had turned out to be a job by itself until you convinced me to use that plugin…so thank YOU!
I am pretty sure Loyalty Traveler monthly summary of hotel promotions predates the start of TBB by a couple of years.
Slow down the blog writing and keep it going at a sustainable pace is my advice George.
Thanks Ric for the advice. That is what I am doing. I still have lots of entertainment/education/inspiration left in me and I just need to find a better pace because it totally got out of hand.
Hmm, still pinching myself though something – rather many things (tweets and here) was (were) saying this is coming. Good luck in whatever you choose to do George. Thanks for all your friendly/brotherly advice that you have been throwing all along. All that matters is your happiness and hope you continue to be happy. May God give you and your family the best that only He could shower.
Thanks again for the kind words and the support you have shown to this blog and the others I thought they are worthy of it!
I am not leaving yet. No idea where I go from here…all I know is I am going to spend lot less time on Feedly!
Just an after thought – had I not come across this blog in the beginning stage of this hobby, in all probability my overall thinking process in this space would have taken a different path. Thank God for routing me in the right direction and thank you for showing the right path and I am happy that you will be around in an evolved format and guide other newbies who find this blog at the earliest, through some means.
Thanks Kumar, appreciate the positive feedback.
I am now not so sure about my comeback in a devolved state…I have too many things going on that require more attention. So lets see if I can create some free time pocket here and there…I must say I like having all this available time not glued on my phone looking at Feedly blogs…
#developing
Could someone provide me the net/net of what the post was about/what’s happening? I couldn’t make it through that version of War and Peace 🙂
Lol, good one! Hey, I could have broken it down in 35 parts u know 😉
Wow! Knew you had been considering this, but also knew the level of your addiction, so this is a surprise. Glad you were only called a knucklehead.
Really enjoyed your pointing out original content bloggers and blog posts.
Also, loved your Vimeo and picture links.
My lunch ritual won’t be the same, as I read you every day.
Quitting smoking was easier compared to this! And I mean going through blogs in Feedly! Hey, I still got about 160 or so left in there, I can’t quit totally just yet! But that created much needed more time which feels fantastic already!
Thanks a lot always and thanks for all you do to put together the Ann Arbor Art Fair Do every year! You personify that good old gracious hacker hobbyist spirit and this thing was getting away from me as I started to lose connection to the hobby aspect of it, which you know I always enjoyed.
If you have a day off an want to do lunch you know I am in.
I understood and agree with everything you said up until “Warning: This is going to be long!”……after that I got confused. Could you please repeat it again? Slowly.
Your comments and avatars and links always cracked me up!
I’ve just unfollowed 100 people on Twitter in your honor. Rock on, George.
I am on a major wipeout process on Twitter (both accounts) too! I only had 176 unread blog posts in Feedly around 2pm after checking since early morning. In other days, it would have been around 800 at least. I like it!
I am asking all the loyal TBB fans out there like myself, please write #TBBTOGETHER on your Starbucks coffee cups every morning………………..as we pay HOMAGE to the man who brought us all together as he exposed the Greed and Guile of these credit card salespeople (gluttons) from their residence on Credit Card Whore Island…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9JJVn-_W2M………………..God Bless You George. I am contacting the Pope and nominating you for Sainthood, Mother Theresa ain’t got nuttin on you pal.
Lol, I had a gif of that some time ago on TBB!
#TBBTOGETHER
and more…thanks for the laughs again Ramsey!
I think you’ve done great work here. Personally I doubt I would have changed my policy on credit cards without the influence of this site, and its quite possible that I wouldn’t be sitting the CFP exam tomorrow without talking with you about it.
Thanks for all the hard work.
Thanks Matt. You are a quality minded kind of guy. Any time on CFP related advice you know where to find me. Sometimes I feel my influence on you regarding credit cards was probably not best for your site as I know TBB would not have turned a profit without them, lol. The road to Titanium doing it right is a much longer one, I ran out of gas here lol.
Jumped on the TBB train late, but appreciated all the hard work you always did. Sounds like it was a tough decision and I think you really have changed the space, as Matt said. See you on the Twittersphere, where I hope you’ll still keep everyone honest.
Actually he did this morning on Twitter:
“Coming soon to a blog near you: Use THIS credit card to earn mega miles in supermarkets in Venezuela”
https://www.google.gr/search?q=supermarket+queues+in+venezuela&espv=2&biw=1280&bih=909&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=KRgQVfzIL5DSaOeKgpgJ&ved=0CB4QsAQ&utm_content=buffer79ae6&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
I ‘ll miss you man. I think best part of TBB was the cutting edge humor!
Thanks to both for the kinds words.
>>>>>> I think you really have changed the space
This is like music to my ears, thanks a lot!
Umm, say what?
Come on George, pull a Brett Favre move! Please!
Lol, Brett Favre…I am not surprised he has not come back yet again!
I’m hoping that you’ll do as you foresee, and post every week or so. That will be something we all can look forward to! Best of luck with your increased workload but have fun traveling too. Noticed we are going on similar trips to Greece in May –ow on AA and the other way on star alliance.
I’ve enjoyed the ride so far. It will be interesting to see where life takes you now, and where the blog goes. You may be too addicted to slow down, though!
Thanks a lot for the kind words. It’s been a little weird today as I am not on my phone as much and I am just cranking on so many other levels, tax time and all. I will continue to post here. No idea what the format will be yet…just need to get the stuff out to entertain myself and maybe educate a little and rarely inspire.
There was never any plan here, I just made it up as I went along!
Thanks for introducing me to a host of worthwhile blogs, including this one. I’ve enjoyed reading over the last couple of years. I agree with others on the positive influence this blog has had on transparency – it doesn’t reach everyone unfortunately, but I think the space is a bit better because of it.
My only regret was you couldn’t hold on until my next AoR (April/May) ;). Thanks for all of the effort.
>>>>>>>>>>>> I agree with others on the positive influence this blog has had on transparency…
Great! I wanted to change the world one reader at a time! Comment like that make me feel very good about what I accomplished here!
Hey, I see Personal Finance Digest, made me dead, hold your horses!
https://saverocity.com/pfdigest/rip-travelbloggerbuzz/
I would like to report I am not dead yet!!
You’re still a douchebag and I hope you live a miserable life.
Thank you for taking the time to comment.
Yes! The return of SteveSucks. I missed this guy. Speaking of which where’s Steve?
I miss Steve!
Best of luck to you TBB. Been a reader since pretty much the beginning.
I think you did make a difference. Prior to your blog, all the a-holes titans pushed their crappiest offers ever.
Now, only Milevalue (or other low lives like him) still do that. Occasionally some of the titans slip a crappier offer here and there but for the most part, they know they will be called out for it.
Now to make up for it, they bombard you with credit cards on any occasion (looking at you MP.)
Thanks a lot Chris, much appreciated.
But who will dare to call them out now??? I noticed Lucky out with another gem:
Which American Express Card Is Best For Everyday Spend?
Yeah, I kept him because he does post some good stuff sometimes. And no MV did not!
I ll be around, blogging is a part of me now. I like to Evolve perpetually…like life you know.
Now only MV does that? You must not see the same outrageously scummy posts that I see all the time on OMAAT, VFTW, MP, MP&M etc etc etc etc. BoardingArea is a cesspool of pimps, with dozens of wannabes desperate to join.
Hey George, we all feel that way sometimes! You’ve made a huge difference to my blog, remember way back in Nov 2012 when I first started and you told me to go with WordPress and not Blogger? I’m really glad I did that as the WP interface has so many more options and customizations. You started out with a noble idea, to protect newbies from bad credit card deals but the main problem is that newbies just aren’t going to find your blog when the pumping blogs have better SEO. Your readers are mostly already experienced miles & points hobbyists so you’ve been preaching to the choir most of the time.
I know the frustration of not being able to monetize the blog that takes so much time. My intro to country posts – Madagascar, upcoming Ghana, Tanzania take 2 hours to write and my small niche blog will never earn enough income to even pay the hosting, let alone turn a profit. But if my SEO brings in people who really want to see birds in the wild and support eco-tourism and they have been put off by the high price of joining an organized birding tour, then it is all worth it. I’ve been able to go birding in some exotic locations for maybe 1/4th what an organized tour would have cost because of miles & points, but I still put most of our expenditure into the local economies. So I am not going anywhere because I have a goal that goes beyond my personal needs.
If you’re not having fun anymore and your family life is suffering then you should absolutely take a second look at what your blog is accomplishing and make it more sustainable. I wish you luck in what ever you do, just remember your priorities and have some fantastic trips with your family!
Tara, thank you for the kind words! Yeah I remember that! You are so right about the SEO and who reads me.I am not going anywhere either, this baby will stay here. Just not sure what form is going to take, all I know is much much less time on Feedly, thank Lord!
And reset of priorities yes oh yes yes yes!
WTF??? Is it April 1 on some obscure Greek Calendar??
I will miss the comments section, by far the most interesting and best. That’s perhaps the greatest tribute to you. You were able to grab and keep the attention (AND piss off) some of the best (and worst) minds in the business. Kydos, and thanks.
Here Lies TBB – Dude wrote some funny sh.
I hope the TBB comments keep going…you are right about them 🙂
And loved the last line. This is my escape from my inner inadequacies so I hope there is still some funnyshit left woohoo!
Congrats on the new clients, George.
I agree with the above comments that TBB has been a force for transparency and against inferior affiliate link offers in the travel blogosphere. Those who couldn’t be persuaded – the MileValues and some of the FTG staff – won’t be, while many have changed practices as a result. Many readers are sharper in calling out poor practices, which is a net positive. I think TBB played a big role in this shift.
I stopped commenting here because I felt I had said my piece, and frankly I didn’t care what any of the Titans or their imitators did anymore. I’ve moved on to reading up on and thinking about whether airplane travel and carbon offsets are ethical, which is a work in progress.
Best of luck to you, and best of luck to your son wherever he goes to college. I’ll still come back and lurk about as often as you’ll post.
Thanks for coming back and commenting. We all sure missed you here! And so appreciative of your conclusions which really makes my day, especially coming from you!
Come back please, we all can learn from your wisdom.
Thanks for your hard work. I always enjoyed your posts. Loved seeing your personal finance links as well. I’ll be sure to follow your wsj posts. Go make that money Mr. George!
Thank you. Yeah, time to get back to my first passion that happens to produce funds to pay college tuition bills lol.
George, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all you have done for me, and for others you have supported. I know *exactly* what running a blog is like, and believe me when I say you’re one of the good guys. Life moves on, I can tell you seem comfortable with where it’s taking you, and that’s the main thing. Oh, and one day, we shall be sharing a drink together.
Thanks Nate for the kind words. You remain my favorite travel blogger you know. I would love to share a drink with you one day dude. Blogging looks easy…most people have NO freaking clue what goes on behind the scenes! Looking forward to your next post. I gotta make it to Budapest and Bucharest one of these days
Well if it ain’t my 2 favorite bloggers luvin on each other! Props to the both of you…
You’ve provided a lot of entertainment, and called many people on. Its been a great run, George – something to be proud of. I still say – you’re top banner is the best of the best (Perth flight and all!).
Above all, I entertained myself, never forget that 😉 You are the first one who noticed that amazing flight to Perth so thanks!
Good riddance, and glad to see this post. Hopefully you have found something better to do with your remaining life than be a judgmental prick.
Thank you Tom for sharing with us your inner feelings. If you ever tried this on Delta Points you would get banned faster than you can say “Amex”. Best of luck to you too, thank you!
Surely the nom de guerre of one of the infamous scumbag bloggers on the Blogs I Avoid list?
Newbie, but had been following the blog for a few months now. Even I’m sad…
I bet you the blogs in the Ignore list are not 🙂
I feel like I’ve read this kind of post on TBB before. Although the tone does feel different. Was this playing in the background while you were typing? http://youtu.be/CxnaPa8ohmM
That is a great soundtrack for this type of blog post!
I am a bit overwhelmed about the comments and the emails, WOW I had no idea I touched so many. Some of them made me cry, I do have a sensitive side. Some bloggers may not think so but I really do!
Just returned from 10 pm EST start soccer game and Feedly says: 12 unread blog posts. Pffffffttt! That’s like nothing, I can knock those out on my way to bathroom. I am so hungry right now, I do not eat much before the game so I can dance around the opponents…I wish I had me some tacos…
TBB, I am glad you made the decision to stop being Feedly slave!
Going forward, please truly enjoy your life in and out of this hobby!
BTW, I tried to use your ccdot bomb yesterday. Sadly there is no good offer for me.
I also have to admit I never bothered to use your AMZ link, LOL.
Yeah, my ccdot bomb is what it is, I should have said yes on them deep affiliate links. I could have been a Titan you guys.
I am enjoying my life way too much. Feedly got a little bit out of control, it happens with me. I get on these stubborn addictions from time to time until I come to my senses.
I think when you use the TBB Amazon link you will feel as good as when you donate to public radio…
TBB fading away wishing Wany donates to public radio LOL
I am not dead yet you guys, I ll keep this baby forever. But no pumping bwahahahaha
Buzz-
You have been like Toto, pulling back the curtain to reveal that the Wizard is just an old guy with a microphone (and an affiliate link).
Thanks for all your good work. It smells much better here now.
I read this a few times and I am too tired to figure out if it is a compliment or an insult. I think it is the former. I am so drenched in sweat from my soccer game that you do not want to be around to smell me right about now!
Toto…I like it! Growing up in Greece we had the legend of “Totos” (emphasis on the second “o”). He was this rascal trouble maker kid who always got what he wanted. Thank you 🙂
Sorry to see you winding things down but mostly for selfish reasons… I appreciate your sense of humor and your genuinely interesting finds around the Interwebs. It is an understandable decision…at some point you have to prioritize and concentrate on things that are truly important.
Anyhow, I thought you might get a kick out of this: http://renesdeltapoints.com
Thanks for understanding. Based on the feedback here and via email I had a lot more positive impact than I ever imagined or dreamed. Which makes me very proud. But I just needed the extra time to reprioritize. I still can’t believe I kept up this baby for so long.
Loved that link…I have no idea how you did it!
What else can I do but clap, cheer, and hug???
Forward travels, George!
I feel as if I’ve finished a great first novel in a series. Waiting for book 2 to be released!
-icicle
If book 2 is to be released, there will be a TBB text amazon link to it #guaranteed #titanmove
So nice interacting with you here and thanks so much for your positive and encouraging feedback. Please don’t leave. I ‘ll think of something. I am in a major heavy busy stretch with a couple of potential opportunities that may knock me out of TBBism or not. At the very least I plan to post weekly!
George, thanks for being one of the very few with enough balls to stand up and call out predatory practices by some newbie-stalking bloggers. I think you’ve affected far more people than you realize. It’s been a wild ride, pal! Keep up being awesome and calling it how you see it.
And for the last time, who the hell is Drew???? 🙂
Thanks a lot Rich, very appreciated! I took a lot of beatings and enjoyed every single one of them…hey, it was entertainment!
Blog will not be the same. But I am not dead yet. It will just be a pure personal blog from now on, aiming to post at least weekly or more!
Waiting for some company to buy me out perhaps lol.
This post has been a traffic record breaker, wow! I bet you my Alexa ranking numbers went up for just this one day lol.
We didn’t start out on the best of footing, but your advice/critism when I was a new bloggers was very helpful. I don’t remember exactly what you said, but it made me think about blogging and the type of blogger I wanted to be.
Over the years, we have had a good friendship and it was a pleasure/honor to meet you at West Coast Do. You are much nicer in person 🙂
Stay in touch and enjoy your gradual TBB retirement.
PS if you are ever in the Bay Area, let me know.
Grant, I consider you a friend. Any time if you need anything, you know where to find me. Listen to what I said about blogging, it is an addiction and like most addictions probably not the best way to live on 🙂 Like you said one time, “but it’s more fun”….oh yeah it is 🙂
This will now be turned into a true hobby blog…PSAs are done 🙂
Did a fellow Ann Arbor resident make it on your feedly? Can’t hate on MSU winning, too bad Michigan had such bad luck this year. #goblue
Contrary to popular belief, even if I live here, I am not really into the whole UofM sports mystique thing. I always liked MSU, I like Green as I went to EMU 🙂
Well, it’s bittersweet to know I won’t be seeing as much from you but I know what it’s like to know you have to make a change. Congrats on your success in your business and for making a decision that will hopefully be more enriching. Thanks for your positive contribution to this corner of the blogosphere and for keeping the marketers a little more honest 🙂 Hope to read something from you at least every so often.
I can assure, when it come to $$ enriching, I can think of many things that would be more enriching lol. But that was never the point here. A lot of the crappy pumping I did was more of a function to educate 🙂 Anyone who wants to know more details I can spill them out over coffee or drinks anytime.
I will be writing stuff here, just a lot less. Thanks for the support!
George,
Thanks for all the time you have put into the blog and creating an enjoyable forum for readers to speak their mind and vent. While most people focus on how you have called out other bloggers for pumping, I think your biggest contribution has been finding and linking to articles from quality bloggers that don’t push credit cards or advertise as heavily as the Titans. I came upon TravelisFree and DoctorofCredit through your blog and now they are two out of a handful that I check each day. I also appreciated your active participation in the comments section and taking the time to respond to every comment. I hope the best for you in your endeavors and hope you continue to post the occasional tirade.
One thing I forgot to add. Thank your Spartans for booting my team from the tournament two years in a row.
Another sad wahoo, and yes it sucks, but TBB is in Wolverine country, not Spartan country despite the Greek sound of the mean Greens.
What you mentioned has come loud and clear based on the feedback I have received here and via email. I enjoyed doing it, sharing and supporting the quality blogs. I think this was a heck of a lot more positive contribution to improving my hobby than writing a “Top 10 reasons I love my Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card” pumping post….there are SOOOO many of those out there. They are out there because…they pay 🙂
Aiming to lower the blogs in my Feedly even further and post here once in a while to clear my head. Thank you so much for the kinds words,they do mean a lot.
Bummer. I feel like I applied for Chase Sapphire Preferred but only got approved for a Chase Sapphire with a paltry bonus. Or that time I signed up for the Chase Marriott card TPG, VFW, OMAAT, MMS, and all my other buds recommended, but then I realized that I could only stay one night at the JW Marriott Santa Monica – city view!
Lol, this made me laugh a lot…so appropriate…1 night in JW Marriott Santa Monica-city view LOL
Is it right to write about plane crashes? I see the BA home page covered in Germanwings news. Lufthansa Flyer should cover it for obvious reasons but what does everyone else add?
I have nothing to bring to this story and have no interest in rewriting a bunch of reports from trusted news sources which I have no way of verifying or not – you won’t be seeing it on Head for Points.
If it bleeds it leads.
The story is free and can fill a few blog posts.
Yeah, really. I never understood what those posts actually contribute to the readers. What a giant waste of time. I am waiting to see Lucky’s whiny reflective post “it could have been me” 🙂
Loved the “If it bleeds it leads.” LOL
Keep on fighting the good fight, even if it’s just sporadically now. Thanks for being the first bullshit meter I ever found in this hobby.
TBB=Bullshit meter
I like it 🙂
Thanks for taking the time to comment…
Nice to be liberated by all the bullshit…I felt like drowning every day:-)
Now I only have 5 of the blogs in the Ignore list in Feedly…I can deal with the little BS…for entertainment lol.
Hey Buzz-
I’ve been reading TBB literally since day one and I’ve always enjoyed your commentary. Looking forward to seeing what the future of TBB land brings. Indeed your time is probably better spent elsewhere than going through all of the non-sense in the blog space. Coincidentally that’s one of the reasons I read your site almost daily, so I don’t have to LOL. I only have 15 other blogs in my bookmarks, half aren’t even travel related. Anyway, recently I think I’ve gotten much more benefit out of the other links that you post on varying topics, especially finance.
Keep up the good work on TBB! Time permitting, of course.
“We waste your time so you don’t have to”….almost became the TBB tagline lol.
I am going to keep up the good work (not that it ever stopped) elsewhere. We need to evolve, it was time.
I have lots to say but I have other matters moved up on the to do list. You can only do this for so long in your spare time 🙂
#developing
Really thought you’d slip and post again today. Addictions are have to overcome. Glad to see your will power held.
You would not believe….I almost posted!
I have this desire to post again tonight….but I need to prepare to dazzle a new client tomorrow night.
My comments were all to the good. You let sunshine into this snake pit and cleaned out a lot of that funny smell.
About the only shortcoming of TBB was not finding a way to monetize it. Seems that monkey didn’t get enough tips in his cup. Maybe one of us will think of a way to do that. Until then, Via con Dios.
Yeah sorry I was so tired last night. I read it again today and it made sense of course.
Based on the feedback I got, what can I say, I was touched. I wish I could keep it going, I am missing it already in a sense. Doing it for so long with so low monetizing is indeed brutal, only insane people could keep this up. I hit my limit. Time to go to what it was supposed to be… a hobby.
Monetizing is very tricky in this space. You either do it the quality way and take the long road to get there or you just sell out and become the bank bitch and pump away and lose credibility as your content is being shaped by them more and more. Also key is the target audience of course. My audience was never ripe for cultivation of cc clicks as you guys had them (and many were crappy offers in my ccdotbom banner!) all already. The big $$ is targeting newbies, just look at the blogs in the Ignore list,this is what they do with great online marketing SEO stuff and all that jazz. I had no time to learn that stuff because I was so deep in keeping up with so many blogs in Feedly, lol. When I was blogging about what I was going through I was attacked mercilessly for pumping when most of my lame attempts was to show how absurd this space has become and to laugh at the whole thing by me being “pumpy”…oh the ridiculousness of it all.
What a great ride and what a great education this whole experience has been. Rick FTG’s advice was to rebrand early, focus on educating the newbies with my travel and personal finance advice and, you know, be positive. Well, I did not get into this for the dinero and I was not going to be yet another cc pumper blogging about CSP First Friday!<-----notice the exclamation mark lol and inject my personal finance advice into this, hell no. Too many weird people in this and my clients are not that weird anyway lol. I came in to improve the space and shake it up and I think I did, based on the feedback I have received. And provided a good show to entertain us all....So it goes... It is hard saying goodbye, this is my baby...I need to drink 🙂
George,
There is a niche for a player like you in the Delta Airlines blog space.
You know for someone who actually doesn’t flip flop from hour to hour on how much Delta sucks ass and then how absolutely freaking AWESOME Delta is… and you could give away stuff to get people to actually show up and click on a link on that blog.
You could pump Amex cards until they kill your links because you embarrassed them by Dumping on Delta before Delta made huge devaluations just before Amex signs a multi-billion dollar, multi-year deal with Delta,
You could…. oh wait, never mind 🙂
Lol, I think you nailed it! I am so glad I don’t read that blog anymore. Giggles.
Thanks for the many wild rides and entertainment. You have brought a unique and needed perspective to the space. And while I may be wrong, I do suspect this is not your last word and that you will find a way to continue to impact this hobby you love.
At first I was “ok, need to get through this super busy stretch I am going through and come back in some way”. But all day today I have devoted so little time to the “few” blogs in Feedly and it just feels right…not blogging at all. Mrs. TBb agreed. Buddy Dave above keeps hinting about it.
So, for now, I am going to stay away until…I can’t take it anymore lol.
Thank you so much for the kind words and LOVE your pics from your latest trip!
Returning from a week of travel and voluntary internet withdrawal and finding an obit for one of the few remaining unique and worthwhile blogs in the space is….sad and disorienting! Thanks for being the Titan Hyperion shining light on the Tartarian pit that the space has morphed into. (Although at times it must have felt more like that other Greek–Sisyphus). May your new direction more likely resolve the Apollonian and Dionysian.
Thanks a lot and all your Greek references were so appropriately right on 🙂 And welcome back!
Thanks so much for your hard work and knowledge! Your blog really made me understand that very much of this hobby is about getting our getting our kids to see the world (we just got back from Madrid 🙂 Hope you can make the skyrubles work for Australia! Thanks for the twistedsifter links, your attitude, humor and trueness about the CC blogging industry. Hoping this is along the lines of the BA welcome message posted a while back, that was good~
Thank you for the kind words! I am not dead yet. I am not going away. Just evolving 🙂
It’s late at night and I am slow…what do you mean by the “BA welcome message posted a while back”?
Darn…I took a break from reading blogs for a few days and look what happens. I have enjoyed reading your candid perspective. Honestly, I think the last 6 months or so have been a little boring in the miles/points blogosphere. I don’t remember any exceedingly great cc signup bonus opportunities nor earth-shattering new hacks. Possibly the most newsworthy items were the $450 China fare or the UA “Great Dane”. Maybe your monetization strategy just had bad timing. In any case, thanks for making me aware of some good blogs like Twisted Sifter, Yomadic, Saverocity, etc. Hopefully your once-a-week posts will be gems.
Thank you very much for the feedback, greatly appreciated. I think you are right about being a very slow period in the miles/points blogosphere. It is evolving too right now with the legacy airlines down to just three, Amex retreating and Chase not shooting the lights out anymore. And don’t get me started with all the MS method shutdowns. You could be right about the monetization strategy too…who knows? I think it had more to do with the target market and complete illiteracy on all things online marketing/SEO optimization/googleananlytics/alexa#crap…never had time for that stuff. And, this may sound strange and horrific to others….I did not pump enough 🙂
There IS a reason all the Titans keep pumping away every day….because it works!
Not big deal, I leave the pumping reference on top, no longer at the bottom. No more daily tweets either. I may kill the monthly support post too, not sure about that.
Anyways, thanks again!
Oh man!
I’m going to miss the frequent posts. I could trust you to as a touchstone. And there were many times when I needed a laugh that you provided. So Thank You for that.
You are the glue that holds the whole travel points blog world together. The good, the bad, the ugly. Everyone stops by: to complain, or disagree, or agree, or just to post ‘first!?!,’ or to tell you why you are wrong, or, well you know. I hope you keep the blogs I love/like thing going, I’ve sent many people to your list, it is way easier than keeping my own!
I’m glad you will will still post when you feel like it. That is how a hobby should be.
Thank you so much for the feedback, greatly appreciated. I let one post out to report I am not dead yet! Yeah, you are right, time to get it back to being a hobby….it’s a slow process….I am getting there…slowly
I need sleep.
I left out a word, wrote a really poorly organized sentence, used a passive voice, and screwed up my lists symmetry, and am now in serious run-on territory. If I didn’t misspell something it is purely because of autocorrect. Now I’ve probably missed a mistake, making this incomplete. And I’m talking to myself. And I started a sentence with “and”, twice!
(And now I feel the need to mention that there is nothing wrong with starting a sentence with “and”. And I am feeling like MLA might have changed the rules on punctuation within quotation marks, although I might just be thinking of punctuation within parentheses).
I need sleep too!
And now I am going to respond to comments to convince people I am not dead yet! I can’t believe some blogger dared stick RIP and TBB together in the same sentence, Jesus!
I was sure you were asleep by now.
Wrong again.
Goodnight, sleep well.
Seems like you’re doing the right thing. But I wonder: Can’t you just delete the entire Feedly account? Then you break the time suck by force. You can keep a few key bloggers in a Twitter list. Say no more than 10 or 12. It takes seconds to scan a Twitter list and see what’s in the news. (Usually nothing much but a fat finger fare that’s going to be cancelled two days later!) There just isn’t that much useful going on in the travel space right now. I got rid of my news feeds except for Google Alerts on a very few select topics and I deleted Facebook & several other time-wasters that seem to exist only to spread negativity. If it’s a hobby, you’re not obligated to review every travel blog out there. Most of them are just “me too’s” and junk credit card pitches. As you have said yourself!
Thanks for the feedback, makes a lot of sense. A lot of the present blogs in my Feedly are personal finance related which I use in my other Twitter account (again using Buffer which is the second best software ever after Robo Form!). Today I deleted the final three blogs in the TBB Ignore list…that is GREAT progress. You are right, we have hit a very boring phase in this hobby. I am just not that excited anymore, the critic phase is over pretty much as I am aiming to get Feedly down to under 100 and reclaim all the time spend on it. It is a process 🙂 I ‘ll just share the truly eclectic stuff I find, mix it up, speak my mind and, in general, keep entertaining myself for the most part. Thanks again for taking the time to comment, I really appreciate it!