WINNER OF THE $50 MARRIOTT GIFT CARD
The contest winner was Jeff @JeffTheWanderer My daughter was going to help me pick the winner but she had better things to do. Therefore, I conducted the operation of picking the winner by very high tech methods…consisting of a pen, paper and the random.org website!
Here was the pen and paper part. 33 valid entries and you see the random number on the top right was 29.
Congratulations to Jeff. The $50 Marriott Gift Card will be in Mondays’ email. That was kind of fun actually. Thank you all for playing along!
It is perfectly okay if you laugh at my tech methods; actually it is expected!
BLOGGING AND MONEY
Sometimes I sit around and ponder about where all this is going. I ‘ve been around the block since the mid 90s and I have seen this space develop in unimaginable ways. The interesting thing is that, after all these years, it is still the wild West out there and innovation is exploding. The write up below was actually written as a comment reply in one of my blog posts. It was when one of Milevalue’s posts entered my infamous “Not So Best Of” category and it was in response to another commenter…can’t remember which date now, you can track it to see the context it was written. Please do not take anything I write here as gospel. I don’t know much about blogging and I certainly do not know much about monetizing and…well, read on!
So…in this process….the blogger’s bank account starts to get fat and you start to justify to yourself you are doing God’s work by “helping” people. You actually BELIEVE this! The ones who have been around and know a few things start to really dislike you and pretty much stop visiting your blog. The really smart ones sell at the top and laugh all the way to the bank, not giving a crap about their legacy.
So…we have the old readers slowly leave you because you have become an unrelenting sales machine BUT endless numbers of newbies discover you, get you more income and they likely give up mile earning activities in the process (who cares about the ones whose lives get upended who can’t control their spending, you did your part to warn them, lol), but MORE newbies keep coming, especially if you are great in PR!
Lets face it, the BIG BIG money in this market is in the newbies, there are SO MANY of them out there!
Or, you can develop a brand by focusing on content, content, content and develop an audience slowly and steadily. Treat your readers with respect and not a bunch of idiots who get annihilated by an endless number of filler posts and affiliate links and stupidly alarming posts or cautions (that link is not official, you may not get the bonus, so if you want to be sure here is my crappy inferior link!). Develop a niche and brand and cherish it! Park your affiliate credit card links in a separate tab and focus on helping/educating/entertaining your readers, keep adding value to them. They are not as dumb as you think! They will reward you for your hard work. Probably never or near the level of the big pushers in the game but I guarantee you THAT is a lot more noble way (at least in my book and consciousness) to go about and stay proud that you ARE really making a difference! Or fall for your own BS that you helped a couple get to Phoenix on Delta Skypesos and go on…sell sell sell!
Finally, to do it right you need to totally focus on this venture. We are all not Gary Leff to multitask with so many projects. I am right about at that point that I need to make a decision where I go from here. Do I put my kids up for adoption now or later? Ha, just kidding about that! Neither I am talking about adding affiliate links!! I need to figure out if I can still find the time to do this at the high quality I expect of me. With looming tax season staring me in the face & wife being downsized the pressure is way up. Almost three months now, I only had one guy sign up on my ebates referral link, endless hours of working on the content and absolutely no time to tend to the technical side of this venture and the way my site looks really bothers me.
Ok, that was quite a rant, wow!
Hear hear!
Like!
I’d click the shit out of your affiliate links!
BEST.Comment.EVER!
Thank you!
Excellent post. On that note, I received an email over the weekend from Southwest about another 50K offer. Which means 1 of 2 things:
1) There is an affiliate link version of it, so expect to be bombarded with this “act now! limited time offer!” as soon as the weekend is over
2) There is no affiliate link version of it, which means you can expect it to be a ghost town, especially from the same bloggers who’ve hawked the 25K offer in recent weeks
I have a feeling by 5 pm Monday, we’ll know the answer
Maybe Tuesday? 😉
Nah, if by no later than Monday afternoon TPG doesn’t break out his “AMAZING DEAL” or “BREAKING NEWS” headline, we’ll know there’s no affiliate link for the 50K offer
Here’s a no-brainer for tomorrow!
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/unroadwarrior/2013/01/26/booking-flights-with-american-express-rewards/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+unroadwarrior+%28The+UnRoadWarrior%29
Easiest Not So Best Of entry ever;-)
so true!
I agree;-)
Hilarious comment on TPG’s Sunday Reader Question of “which CC should I get – CSP or SPG Amex”
“When Mark wrote you his question, did he have the affiliate links in them?”
Apparently TPG isn’t even waiting until the answer to hawk his CC’s- the first link shows up 10 words… into the question”
It’s amazing how no one ever asks questions about the Club Carlson or AA cards. What an odd coincidence?
Thanks for the heads up, I have it marked for review of course, its turn coming up shortly. Yeah, isn’t it amazing we hardly ever get any questions on the non affiliate cards?
Same with the Fairmont card. 2 free nights at,say, The Savoy in London or Royal Pavilion, the best hotel on Barbados after Sandy Lane. But not a whisper!
Love the Fairmont cards! I would push the crap out of them if they ever offered my affiliate links…That was a joke!
Sounds great until you actually try to use the free night at the Savoy or The Plaza.
Of course then Bloggers would be flogged for promoting something that can’t be had 😉
The real problem with the Fairmont card is that the point system for spending is just awful. The 2 free nights though are great as long as you realize the limitations, there are just not that many Fairmont hotels around and top-tier ones like Savoy and Plaza are blacked out for many many months in advance. Still plenty of value to be had, just not as much as it may seem off the bat.
I actually looked at the point system & rewards today! I agree, it is very sucky! I had no problem using the free night certs at my targeted hotels. Savoy and Plaza can wait:-)
Nice explanation Dan
Still shouldn’t be an issue for guys like Delta Points or FTG….. they clearly don’t have any issues pushing cards with hard to use sign-up bonuses that come in a Mexican currency 😉
Bent Offers, ha, love it!
They are not that Flexible if you don’t push product you know;-)
@Anonymous, in my view, the Royal Pavilion isn’t the 2nd best hotel in Barbados. I would never stay there since I go swimming in Alleynes bay every day when I visit my family just up the road. Some may say the Sandpiper is better, perhaps even the Crane.I personally go down to the Hilton since it has a several nice pools for kids. The Royal Pavilion sometimes doesn’t let kids stay at the hotel! Unfortunately it is too close to home, so I have never been able to justify stating there.
Loving these comments about the Barbados hotels. I am always interested in the Hiltons and Fairmonts!
I think there was another comment in here when I checked from my cell phone…now I don’t see it. Maybe I am imagining things? I did NOT censor that comment, I do NOT do that horrible horrible practice!
I love the blog, I hope you can keep it up forever! 😉 I’m a newbie, and I absolutely love the eviscerating that some get, and the kudos that others get. Overall it makes it more fun, and I’d rather read snark than breathless commendations of bad cards. Thanks.
Thanks a lot for the kind words, they are really appreciated! I give it my best shot to keep it entertaining and educational and, sometimes even, inspirational.
Hope you all do not take me that seriously as I sure don’t take myself seriously.
Are you sure the fantastic AMEX Platinum Benz card with the annual fee of only $475 that you can not avoid is NOT good for you? Or the hot AMEX Business card with only $10k in spending requirement…what, you are a student, oh come on, you are an Amazon reseller in your spare time right? wink wink. Didn’t you try to sell on ebay the ugly tie grandma got you last year? Yes, we all did…you do QUALIFY as a business owner…JUST CLICK THE FREAKING CARD WILL YA? MY RENT PAYMENT IS DUE IN 3 DAYS AND I MAY GET EVICTED…
The last part is what some bloggers really want to say but they can’t so they say lame things such “I get a commission if you click on my links and I sure appreciate it”.
Ok, I need to work on tomorrow’s blog now, so much material over the weekend!!
Hey look it’s money for affiliate links! http://www.pointhacks.com.au/referrals/