We bring you the ongoing pandemic US tragedy, all the travel rewards credit card spend promos, digital payments adoption progress, blog changes, the best Covid-19 coverage bar none which I started doing when everyone was asleep and maybe I was the reason to make you take it seriously and possibly saved your life so you are welcome, we travel to Hawaii, a scary romp through the old Athens airport, we check out the Milky Way, sign up for a hotel promo, warn you about day trading, hope your mom does not become conspiracy nut Karen, I justify my whining and try to explain the ridiculous ways I feel about blogging which has become an addiction that I probably need professional help to kick the habit so perhaps me whining here is the way I cope with it lol and lots more always free who knows for how long…
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COVID-19
With the resurgence of Covid-19 in the US you may find yourself very angry. You should be. This was completely preventable! The 3 Weeks That Changed Everything. This is a must read. Read it and weep…
Just in case I did not make myself clear, I really don’t know how else shall I put this: This is Trump’s Plague Now. Yes, I have subscribed to The Atlantic. Support the sources you want to keep around that add value to your life!
So many mistakes. I remember saying to a client back in late January…”there is something different about this virus”. How The World Missed Covid-19’s Silent Spread. Thanks to a German doctor who did not give up when she was at first ridiculed for suggesting something like that was actually happening…
Since we are all crying, let’s at least look at some visuals at the same time! 30 Pics That Illustrate Why America is #1 When It Comes to Coronavirus Cases. I mean, seriously, look at these pictures…my God, what have we become?
I have some positive stuff to share but not yet…Anthony Fauci: USA on Track for 100,000 Covid-19 Cases Per Day.
I guess we are not going to burn any miles to fly to Europe for free anytime soon, so sad! European Union bars travelers from U.S. citing coronavirus concerns.
We are learning more…Most People With Coronavirus Won’t Spread It. Why Do a Few Infect Many? Very interesting findings…I think the scientists will save us…but good science takes time, hang in there everyone and wear your masks!
This is a fantastic site all about testing! You can see how your state is doing and…realize how almost every single state is behind the ball: Is Your State Doing Enough Coronavirus Testing to Suppress its Outbreak?
A decent list, not much new if you have been following my blog. But a good recap: Here’s what we’ve learned in six months of COVID-19 — and what we still don’t know.
Amazingly tragic pictures here, you have been warned: Latin American Photographers Document The Pandemic.
This is one of the saddest stories I read recently. I must turn around this ship today to get more positive or you will start calling me Debbie Downer or something…Anthony Blue spent more than 40 years in Maryland prisons for a crime he said he did not commit. Then came coronavirus.
MILES & POINTS
HOT CREDIT CARD OFFERS: For a standard workhorse card I recommend the 60k Chase Sapphire Preferred card. For a standard premium card I recommend the 50k Chase Sapphire Reserve card. For a standard 2% cash back card I recommend the Citi Double Cash card. Available with my links. Lets move on!
At this rate I am starting to wonder if any of these points will ever be used for actual travel, sad! Chase Adds Temporary Categories & Benefits To Sapphire Reserve, Preferred Cards (Gas, Streaming, Instacart). And here is a more comprehensive List Of Credit Card Benefits That Began/Renewed Today July 1st.
Register for the best hotel promotion so far in this post pandemic era: 5k For Every Stay. Now through the end of 2020, earn 5,000 bonus points each and every time you stay at any of our 1,100+ hotels around the world. Award Nights and Points + Cash stays are also eligible. It is 5k Radisson Rewards points by the way.
I mean, seriously! Travel Bans Take Shine Off Banks’ Premium Rewards Cards. Banks are offering extra points on groceries, lowering annual fees to keep customers happy; ‘These aren’t minor changes’. WSJ $ paywall.
Pretty sad that American Airlines is not joining Delta and United to not let all miles expire anymore. Instead, they are doing it for the younger members under 21 who have the smallest balances. Can CEO Doug Parker get more lame? No…scratch that, yes…just wait.
TRAVEL
Fantastic trip report: Twelve Days In Paradise: Oahu, Maui, and The Big Island by PBaruch (2016). Amazing picture quality!
Just don’t go there 🙂 Forbidden! These Hotel Rooms Are So Haunted That Guests Aren’t Allowed To Stay In Them.
By the time the pandemic is over we may have enough miles to fly to a different planet! Until then, we can enjoy The Best Milky Way Photographers of the Year Show the Beauty of Our Galaxy.
This airport was one that made the old La Guardia look like a top notch airport. The Greek airport that was left to fall apart. I miss Olympic Airways #notreally. Actually, just yesterday demolition FINALLY started after numerous delays!
PERSONAL FINANCE
Very interesting: Visualizing the Rise of Digital Payment Adoption. Unless you had your money at Wirecard and you could not access it…
Must read Twitter thread about day trading. Which is NOT investing!
CURRENT EVENTS/POLITICS
Mile Nerd is back with his monthly post and a must read rap song. Or a poem if you prefer. The Anti-Masker’s Rap.
Alert, the Karen virus is spreading! In lockdown with a conspiracy theorist. This Q stuff is beyond crazy…I think some dude hired by Putin in a Moscow basement is behind it, best operation ever to get us to kill ourselves and destroy what remains of our democracy, sad lol. There should be an emoji for sad lol by the way.
ODDZ & ENDZ
Yearly Certified Record Sales. Just push Play. Amazing to see Elvis selling so many for so many years!
I am going to save your home from flooding. Well, not really but you can Find Your Home’s Flood Factor in the link.
There is some really good advice here, I sent it to my kids: Don’t Kill Time.
BLOG BUZZ
We are now entering BLOG BUZZ, a section for advanced hobbyists and veterans of this fast imploding hobby and also a section where I go on and on about some stuff that happens in my life because it helps me feel better about myself.
Miles Per Day increases his Slack group monthly subscription fee to $50 per month while I keep producing blog posts like this for almost eight years for almost free…Not fair. Well, you knew I had to whine a little about it. But the whole point of mentioning is this that he is featuring posts in his blog like “Slack user hits $2,500 in profits in first month“. Apparently, we will never see posts of how many lost their asses or got stuck with boxes of Lysol and face masks! 🙂
The travel industry is in a major funk. This includes blogs in the miles and points space. Not like my blog has cornered this market (please laugh)…as my blog has expanded and diversified to cover other topics (hello Covid-19!). As I have blogged before, this includes a very deep financial hit coming from all directions. Mainly less travel rewards credit card conversions as banks have taken away many affiliate links and advertising revenue is WAY down (this does not affect my blog, I never had any ads…because I do care for your eyes!). Last three month cc conversions have been 2, 5 and 5. I had a quota to do at least ten so I would not be shocked if my now meager credit card affiliate links are taken away.
To reiterate, I would not be blogging almost eight years into this journey if it was for the money. But I devote many hours into my baby and I wished I could get to at least have a shot to make minimum wage…is that so wrong? If I was a normal person (laugh with me) I would not be REGULARLY blogging for so long when so many have quit or went to work for The Points Guy! I am just doing my best to cut down the hours I pour into this for your entertainment/education/inspiration. For the three readers who subscribe with a Paypal donation every month…it is perfectly okay to stop if you feel once a week would not, you know, cut it. I have no plans to quit entirely, at least not yet. But if I had more support I would definitely get back to the Monday/Friday posting schedule and who knows…if the conversions/donations start pouring in maybe add Wednesday too! Remember when I used to post daily…that was CRAZY! I could be doing posts about Southwest sales, how to register all your cards for the quarterly 5x promos or 69 reasons why I love X card that pays me a fat sales commission which amazingly is NEVER one of the reasons stated lol. And no plans to get to Boarding Area, I cherish my independence! I should look into Substack newsletters though…one day when my “to read” queue runs out (which…has never happened!).
You can read more about my whining in my responses to Dan of DansDeals HERE. I think I definitely need a 12 step program to deal with my TBBing addiction, thanks for understanding. And THANK YOU to all who have reached out and supported the blog with good thoughts…you have no idea how these are a primary reason I am still blogging. And of course to ALL who have actually supported the blog and kept me from placing hideous ads, ungodly number of repeated moronic fake “advice” on how you can travel for “free” while pumping you up the wazoo with plastic affiliate links. Or sponsored posts. So, please excuse my whining here, I am trying to control myself. Oh, there was NO whining if I saw some clicks here and there to justify that I am not a loser! 🙂
Oh, thanks for the reader who got the Amex Blue Plus card with the referral link I emailed him! Thanks for taking the time to look to see if my credit cards links had an affiliate link for the card (nope) and then emailing me for a referral, it worked! So to everyone, if you look around my credit card links and you do not see the credit card you want, maybe I can send you a referral link instead? This assumes of course that referral offers are the highest because I don’t want you to earn less miles/points only to benefit me…unless you REALLY want to benefit me, so wow, means a lot, thanks! 🙂
Living dangerously in corona times. Haircut after five months, family outing at a restaurant with outdoor seating, boom!
I registered for the 2020 Athens Marathon in November in Greece. If it was next week there is no way in hell I was going to make it. We’ll see what happens until then…
And I leave you with this…
TBB
travelbloggerbuzz@gmail.com
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Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
Great haircut! And a family meal out!
Exciting news out of Detroit.
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/07/02/michigan-henry-ford-health-study-finds-hydroxychloroquine-lowers-covid-19-death-rate/5365090002/
The demographic mix of patients is really hopeful.
Yes, I saw that. Interesting. Also, none of the other major hospitals around Henry Ford here in Michigan is using this drug anymore. We are seeing science every day do its thing.
I had to get a haircut, I was looking like a caveman, thanks!
Happy 4th!
Hola?
Costa Rica has done EVERYTHING right. Immediately shut the border, testing, testing, testing, contact tracing, stay at home, everything closed, no driving at night, masks… In other words, everything that was recommended by the experts, scientists, etc etc.
Start of June there were 200 and some cases.
Yesterday we passed 4000.
The economy is in shambles, people are LITERALLY starving, suicides are up 1400% (NOT a typo one thousand four hundred percent).
Thirteen (13) people have died from the #WuhanDeathVirus.
That’s 0.00026% of the population.
Red ipsa loquitor
“Happy” 4th of July
Here is the info on Costa Rica:
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/costa-rica/
Looks to me they reopened way too fast.
So, you are saying let’s get back to normal? What is next? This is like the flu? Come on man!
WE NEED TO DEFEAT THE VIRUS TO GET BACK TO NORMAL. PERIOD.
Enjoy 4th. We are no doubt #1, SAD!
“The virus will just disappear” – hopefully in 6 months he shall…
What’s next, you call me a science denier? Racist? FFS
My simple point was that a country can do EVERYTHING right. Follow every protocol of the doctors, scientists, and bureaucrats and STILL be fooked.
I’ll pass on your analysis from 2200 miles away that we “opened too early”. We never got more than 10% of the economy open before they shut it all down again.
Guess I’ll go take a long walk on the beach. Oh wait, they’ve been closed since March 16th
I took a guess on the reopening, will take your word for it.
But I am STILL very skeptical that a country can do “EVERYTHING right”…Looking at hindight…we can see which countries did everything right. Everything meaning mostly right, there will be bumps along the way as science happens, we learn from mistakes and of course as the virus develops/mutates.
California appeared for a while to do everything right…and, well, that did not last long.
I hope you have good wifi…it will be impossible to go on without it. Food/water of course.
Hey look, it is the biggest global pandemic we have seen our lifetime. Government’s role is to protect its citizens. Like ABC said, why spend 800 billion to protect from enemies abroad and get totally demolished by a phucking tiny virus?
Final point is…so many are reopening and slowly and surely getting back to normal. We here just reached the highest daily cases and our Prez is having fireworks where the crowds are not required to wear a mask and do any social distancing. It is bonkers!
You are still probably safer in Costa Rica than here lol.
Thought you were in Nicaraguay by the way…moved to your Costa Rica mansion I see 🙂
Happy 4th!
How California Went From Coronavirus Success to Hotspot in Just 5 Weeks
https://time.com/5862653/california-coronavirus-hotspot/
“In about five weeks, the nation’s most populous state went from success story to cautionary tale. Health experts say no single thing went wrong, but contributing factors included a populace made complacent by a long stretch of positive trends, the rapid reopening of businesses, a confusing patchwork of local rules and enforcement, and Newsom’s late adoption of a mandatory mask rule, on June 18.”
This is the mother of all viruses…at least the mortality rate is not that high, that is a positive (pun intended)…
Time to eat some pork chops!
It’s called COVID fatigue. People are tired to be worried all the time. Understandable. 2 weeks ago everyone in my neighborhood in Brooklyn would wear a mask inside a grocery store. Maybe there were exceptions, but so few they stuck out like a sore thumb. Now I see more and more, perhaps as many as 20% with either no masks, or their noses sticking out. Today new cases were announced — over 300 for the first time since June 12.
Every country, state, town, or village is just a few barbeque parties away from a new outbreak. Costa Rica is no exception. Do everything right, then one thing wrong, and here we go.
Yep, same thing is happening in Michigan as well…
I see some pics of life in Greece and…it is just a matter of time there as well…
I think what is happening with the virus it that…it is mutating and has become every more contagious. And Dr. Fauci agrees with me 🙂
Michigan was doing great…in getting cases under 200. And then slowly last week they crept up to 300+. Yesterday 525…California, same. Greece also having an uptick. My hometown Larisa had 6 cases yesterday, all traced & isolated already by the way…Add Costa Rica to the list it appears…So, I think this phucking virus is not done with us…
This does not excuse the complete fail how we handled it here…
New Zealand govt minister resigned yesterday for, please sit down, accepting responsibility for having let two positive Covid-19 cases appear! They were both imported by the way. Imagine that…and here, we just had the VP give a speech praising his boss for the “exemplary” job his administration has done handling the pandemic…la la land.
Meanwhile in Australia,
“A second wave of coronavirus infections in Australia has been blamed on security guards who admitted having sex with quarantined travellers at the hotel where they were being held.”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8482659/Melbournes-goes-lockdown-checkpoints-city-fight-second-wave.html
“….6 cases yesterday, all traced & isolated already by the way…”
I’ve heard experts talk about tracing etc. I guess we just said fcuk it. What’s the point having experts if we won’t take action. This is like documenting the Titanic hitting an iceberg in slow motion. Taking notes, taking notes and report. Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword never experienced COVID-19 in the US. Why do we spend $800B on military defense when we can’t even protect ourselves against a tiny, tiny virus on our domestic soil?
– End of message –
It is beyond sad at this point…complete fail..
>>>>>>>Why do we spend $800B on military defense when we can’t even protect ourselves against a tiny, tiny virus on our domestic soil?
yeah, really!
Smashing day yesterday at Amazon!
$11.76
Very rare to hit double digits, thanks. At this rate…I will be back posting daily #notreally
Thanks.
I think once a week is fair if YOU think it is the right thing to do for you, George. You have a real job, and family to spend time with and running and…. well, this is a hobby as you have said, and as Dan mentions. Do what feels good and right and whatever rewards, well, they will come or not.
This is always a bright spot in the email when I get the newest post and I will be sad to go to once a week, yet there are times when by the time I get a chance to read all that I want, it has hung on to late morning or for a day or two. I’d definitely rather have it drop late in the day or at evening so am glad to see that.
Do as you must and know that I, and I think about all of us readers are grateful for all that you do and for the work you put in.
Definitely WILL stick to Thursday at 8.30 pm posting the rest of July. And see how it goes…Already, the fact I don’t have to have a Monday morning post is doing wonders for my stress levels and taking it easy this weekend. If only the “to read pile” went down…
I could post what RenesPoints posted today “The best credit cards for grocery stores”, score a few $ hits and stop whining…but I don’t 🙂
Happy 4th everyone!
Aiming for 10 miles run tomorrow…must get up EARLY as it is hot as hell here!
Thanks to Sam for the cc conversion, you are #1!
In July 🙂
I think TPG Board just called a meeting how to deal with the conversion crisis on their hands and proper ways to deal with tough competitor TBB!
woohoo!
I would like to dedicate the $0 this blog earned yesterday to the one and only phucking moron out there who never fails to…go even lower…every day!
Day trip today…to Sagatauck, Michigan. I had never visited before. Interesting place. Beach sucked. Wife strolled around the cute shops. We got taken by a tourist trap and had a forgettable meal. We left 🙂
I have been reading the blog since day 1. I agree with other commentators about the constant complaining about the lack of credit card conversions, amazon affiliate earnings, etc.
If I remember correctly, you originally started the blog because you were unhappy with the way that the miles and points blogs were handling credit card conversions. You pointed out the hypocrisy and devious tactics in many of their posts. But, along they way, you actually stumbled onto something more interesting: Content curation.
So, instead of going to one day a week – might I suggest breaking the one day mega post into 3 days? Have a theme on each day: Modern Mondays (Current Events), Wander Wednesdays (Travel Related), Financial Friday. Limit the number of links to 5 -10 per day. That should get you consistent page views and limit the amount of work in creating a blog post.
Then, add in a book recommendation or song recommendation from amazon on each post. That might get you more amazon affiliate money.
Have you looked at Morning Brew (https://www.morningbrew.com/) They are doing content curation in a newsletter – the ads have similar writeups to their articles, but are marked as ads. Supposedly, they are grossing $13M with 33 employees.
https://digiday.com/?p=358894
Take a step back and focus on what is working. I look forward to reading your blog and would hate to lose it.
+1
Katherine:
Thanks a lot for the feedback, I appreciate it.
The amount of whining/complaining disappears completely when I see a few clicks that perversely acts as a…way to keep going! NO other blogger would keep going as long as I have and posting regularly for the miniscule/immaterial $ return. PERIOD! So…if there was no whining…I would have joined the too long stretch of dead blogs. I know…it is weird. I am a complicated kind of dude…
Another $0 day yesterday, just fyi and everyone else. So…not having to do a post tomorrow is, you know, kind of liberating. Phuck it, I am going for a bike ride shortly after I finish this comment 🙂
>>>>>>>>If I remember correctly, you originally started the blog because you were unhappy with the way that the miles and points blogs were handling credit card conversions.
Not really…I was kind of bored and was looking for a way to add more excitement to my life. Lol
You are right about stumbling to…content curation.
A big labor point is putting each post together. It is the formatting, testing, squeezing in the right pics, the once in a while head scratching formatting problem, etc. So, doing that once instead of twice or three times as you suggest is a major labor savings! And all I wanted was to reduce my time spent here to justify repeated $0 days 🙂
We’ll see how it goes…The Thursday post will be larger than usual. And most likely A LOT larger. Some links will be stale by the way they make it so…that is not good, I don’t like it. Do I leave stale stuff or zap them and make it a more eclectic post. I don’t know!
Consistent page views would be perfect here and ALL whining would have stopped a long time ago if I had joined Boarding Area. Because page views=$ at BA. But I like my independence I guess. If I go there, readers will bitch I sold out. So…can not please everyone I guess.
Book/song recommendations don’t do much. At all. It is readers (like you) who go out of their way to support blogs they enjoy reading. And do it consistently so…they don’t give up.
At the end of the day, I donate to charities what this “venture” brings in…and I hate absolutely even mentioning that, even in a comment on a Sunday evening!
Last issue: Morningbrew.
I was a subscriber. I saw an ad about ThePointsGuy. And then I saw another one and I unsubscribed. And no way I am going back. I don’t like ads PERIOD. I am ok with Paypal donations, it seems a lot more honest to me.
So, at this time I am trying once a week Thursday at 6.30 pm posting. We’ll see how it goes. Did a day trip yesterday to West Michigan. If I had a Monday post ready to go…I would probably not have done it so we are good and repeated $0 days make my brain cells reaffirm it is the right decision.
We all keep evolving…
Thanks.
I would like to dedicate the $2.10 the blog LOST yesterday. Someone returned something on Amazon. Having $0 days is bad enough but losing money is infuriating…
Feeling great about my decision to go down to once a week now!
Let’s all take a break, see you Thursday.
#thereadershavespoken
Harvard offering online classes ONLY for $50k/year.
AND……..ICE just told students here on student visas that if their school is going online-only this fall, the students must depart the United States and cannot remain through the fall semester.
I have a feeling that Bubba will finally be accepted at Harvard.
That ICE policy
the cruelty…the cruelty…I was going to type unbelievable but I mean…anyone surprised at this point?
The wealthy and privileged can revolt too:
https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/opinion/articles/2020-07-06/the-rich-and-privileged-can-revolt-too
Am afraid to click that…
because…
I do not want to be rickrolled again 🙂
I don’t really get your strategy, so do you care to explain? Look I understand that it is disheartening not to make any or even lose money, but how does producing less content help you make more money?
1) What have you done to grow or attract new readers? If nothing, then you have a limited audience who will apply for credit cards, use Amazon, etc.There are only so many credit cards people apply for and Amazon purchases that are made. It seems like there is a fairly regular crowd here. So if you don’t grow your base, why do you think that a regular crowd will continue to apply for credit cards and hit a self imposed limit of 10?
2) If you haven’t noticed, and I think you have, we are in the middle of a pandemic that has severely restricted travel and limited credit card spending as households are trying to save capital. Why would people be applying for credit cards now? I am sure you have seen FM numbers that revenue is down substantially (idk off the top of my head but 75ish%). Do you not expect your revenue to drop? If you had a limit of 10 cards, why has that not been reduced to 2 or 3 per month? I, for one, am in no way looking to apply for more cards until this pandemic mess gets sorted out, and I am sure others are in my position.
I just really don’t get what you are doing and what your strategy is. You constantly complain about a lack a revenue and then seem to think that putting less effort into growing your blog organically will somehow increase your revenue? Or you think that the same crowd of 10-35 people (my guess) will keep applying for credit cards or using your links? If you don’t want to put the effort into growing your readership base then stop complaining about your revenue drop during a pandemic. If this is just for fun, then like others have commented, stop complaining about the money. This shtick of constant complaining about revenue is getting really old.
Think about this: I own a company that makes a widget (your blog). I supply the widget to company A (your loyal fan base) and only company A without ever trying to engage with company B, C, or D. My business would never grow. If there is an economic downturn and company A slows down in their purchasing, then it is my fault as a business owner for not diversifying my business. If I keep threatening company A to buy more widgets or I will go under, why would they care? They can go buy a widget from another company.
>>>>>I don’t really get your strategy
I don’t either…maybe there is none 🙂
>>>>>>but how does producing less content help you make more money
Maybe it was never about the money? Maybe it is to align my hours spent here more to the revenue to feel less like a loser and not even prison labor type employee? I am working on the numerator hours/money as working on the denominator just does not appeal to me and I just do it with…whining to make me feel better about myself. Maybe if I spent more time on the denominator by doing things I despise and make me feel slimy but I realized working on the numerator makes more sense to me at this time 🙂
>>>>>>>1) What have you done to grow or attract new readers?
Not much. Whining, oh yeah I do that. I just mainly focused on the content because they said if you build it they will come. Whoever said that I am beginning to realize (after almost 8 years) that he had no clue what he/she was talking about or was high on crack/meth/heroine!
>>>>>>>So if you don’t grow your base…
True. At the top of each post I paste this:
You like my blog? Send a link to someone please!
Have you done it? If everyone did it maybe the base would be large enough to accomodate a higher stream of credit card conversions and Amazon purchases so I will stop whining and trying to focus less time on the blog and find me an excuse to keep doing what I am doing pretending I am making minimum wage (much higher than prison pay!) or, most realistically, pretending I have a shot to make half of minimum wage, sad lol!
>>>>>>>If you haven’t noticed, and I think you have, we are in the middle of a pandemic that has severely restricted travel and limited credit card spending as households are trying to save capital. Why would people be applying for credit cards now? I am sure you have seen FM numbers that revenue is down substantially (idk off the top of my head but 75ish%).
Dude, I think I have noticed way earlier than most bloggers who pretended life has not changed, go back to some of my posts. I was on the covid stuff way before any travel thought leaders realized life has changed! Yes, I linked to the FM numbers. Yes I expect less cc conversions…
>>>>>>>If you had a limit of 10 cards, why has that not been reduced to 2 or 3 per month?
The number 10 is not MY limit. It is the cc link vendor. Meaning…my links are likely toast any day now. So we are way closer to me joining Mile Nerd in retirement posting once a month, sometimes with a rap song 🙂
>>>>>>>Think about this: I own a company that makes a widget (your blog). I supply the widget to company A (your loyal fan base) and only company A without ever trying to engage with company B, C, or D. My business would never grow.
I was hoping that company A will be my marketing who will bring in B, C, D, E, F….W…I was hoping that other bloggers I constantly link to will reciprocate. My time is limited, I have no time to devote to marketing which is obviously not my strong point lol. So…I keep doing what I am doing while I try to extricate myself from this “hobby” 🙂
Also, you are making way too many assumptions about numbers. We are way higher than 30-35 readers dude, come on!
>>>>>>>>If there is an economic downturn and company A slows down in their purchasing, then it is my fault as a business owner for not diversifying my business.
Diversifying your business or revenue sources? I thought the widget(my blog) is the business, remember? I just stick to the quality of my widget…now down to once a week…which may change in the future #developing
>>>>>>>>If I keep threatening company A to buy more widgets or I will go under, why would they care? They can go buy a widget from another company.
I am not threatening, I am whining and letting readers know how I reeeeeally feel ok? 🙂
Readers are free to go buy a widget from these blogs https://travelbloggerbuzz.com/blog-reviews/blogs-i-ignore/ ANYTIME…
but my phucking widget is way better imho.
I get it…I don’t make much sense…maybe I should respond to the numerous emails I get to hawk shit on my readers so I can “diversify my business”. No, thanks…it’s just not me 🙂
Just curious, what other blogs do you read? Are you new here? How did you find my widget?
I apologize for the whining. I am going to dedicate the $3.75 the blog earned yesterday to you…sending my blog url to your mother, thank you!
>>>>We are way higher than 30-35 readers dude, come on!
My comment wasn’t based on the number of readers, but the number of people who would potentially use your links. Looking at comments and handles of people commenting, it seems to be the same people. I would think that people who would feel compelled to use your links are those that are loyal enough to comment or interact. You think there are more than 35 people who are regular readers, comment, and would either use your credit card or Amazon links?
I have been a reader since the early days (about 2013/2014), so I enjoy reading your blog. I like the content, and I have used your links before. But it’s really starting to be a drain to constantly hear the whining.
>>>>If everyone did it maybe the base would be large enough to accomodate a higher stream of credit card conversions and Amazon purchases so I will stop whining and trying to focus less time on the blog
And I don’t get why you expect either your readers to send your blog to others or blogs (some of which you say negative things about) to send your links to others. You want me to support your blog financially through clicking your links and also do marketing for you? If I do marketing for you by sending your blog to my network and promoting it as a good source, then I should be compensated for that and in essence I would be an employee. Come on man, you can’t expect your readers to do your marketing work for you so that your readership and clicks can grow.
>>>>>>>>You think there are more than 35 people who are regular readers, comment, and would either use your credit card or Amazon links?
And do PP donations too…Yes. I am ok with positive emails too, those are pure gold to me 🙂
>>>>>>>>I have been a reader since the early days (about 2013/2014), so I enjoy reading your blog. I like the content, and I have used your links before. But it’s really starting to be a drain to constantly hear the whining.
Thank you very much. Much appreciated. Sorry about the whining. There is a way to stop it! I will try to bury the whining in tomorrow’s epic post, I think I am up to 50 links already…so much for working on the numerator (hours worked on the blog!).
>>>>>>>>And I don’t get why you expect either your readers to send your blog to others or blogs (some of which you say negative things about) to send your links to others.
I do not expect a link back from the Blogs in my Ignore list. But is it really so much to expect at least one darn link back to my blog IF these bloggers read and enjoy my blog (which I KNOW they do!). Dude, it is called organic growth. Or word of mouth.
>>>>>>>>>>>You want me to support your blog financially through clicking your links and also do marketing for you?
If readers do not regularly support things they enjoy…those things DIE. I have been around long enough to see the deaths of THOUSANDS of blogs. If I was a normal person I would have joined them years ago, FACT. So, it is much appreciated if you actually throw some clicks of support towards me, thank you. I am not saying you spam your network for me…All I am saying is IF you enjoy a certain post and you think it could BENEFIT a loved one it will be much appreciated if you send them a link to it. I said loved one and not hated one ok? This is not a paid marketer position for crying out loud. There are many of these jobs at TPG!
>>>>>>>If I do marketing for you by sending your blog to my network and promoting it as a good source, then I should be compensated for that and in essence I would be an employee.
Read previous paragraph. This blog can not afford an employee. But if anyone wants to be an unpaid intern please contact me 🙂 Or with a good proposal regarding marketing because I obviously do not know what I am doing here…But it is okay to live with myself that way…just need to tone down my whining a little bit I know…Actually, MAKE ME SHUT THE PHUCK UP people, easy lol!
>>>>>>>Come on man, you can’t expect your readers to do your marketing work for you so that your readership and clicks can grow.
Read two previous paragraphs. For example, tomorrow I am sharing an amazing link about female orgasms. If you care about a loved one who is having issues in this department, you can share them a link to the article and said you found it in my blog post (and link). She will thank you for years, trust me 🙂
Epic post coming tomorrow…50 links, best commentary, little whining, especially after reader D brought down the house with almost $30 in Amazon clicks and another dear reader D with a yuge $100 donation. Actually, I need to make sure there is no whining in the post tomorrow!
See?
And now time to bike ride!
Thanks for taking the time to comment, I learn from criticism.
One more thing to highlight:
Every second I spend on marketing/promoting my site is a second away from devoting it to finding the content that fulfills the mission of my blog. Every second spend on pumping content here devoted to maximize my $ with “69 reasons I love the card that pays me the highest commission” and putting up repeated attempts to get you to click on shit like buying points/opening accounts at stupid banks and brokerage companies or doing moronic clickbait shit or bribed sponsored posts…is a second away finding the content that fulfills the mission of my blog!
So, excuse me if I ask my readers to be my marketing department by sending my url to a loved one who will also benefit reading my content as much as they have. This is the way I operated in my regular business from day one. Obviously, doing so online is a whole different ball game and I am certainly finding that out. But please do not read my blog if the whining just gets to you, it is a free country, nobody holds a gun to your head. If you enjoy reading my blog I am afraid whining is just part of its DNA I guess. It can stop…it is up to the readers.
Thanks to another D for a generous donation via Paypal. This way I don’t have to go out of my way to please my advertisers. Oh wait…I do not have ads because I care about your eyes 🙂
Epic post coming tomorrow, wow!
You are very good at turning readers away. I’ve been a loyal reader for many many years and your answer is “But please do not read my blog if the whining just gets to you”. Very stubborn response not to do any reflection and tell me to leave.
At the end of the day, you decide what is best for you.
Have a great weekend.
Thursday post already had 33 amazing links…
Help me quit by staying away or click the crap out my links so I can split it up to two or three posts, thanks you guys 🙂
We are now up to 42 links…ridiculous!
Yuge day yesterday with the amazing TBB Amazon link! $28.53…I think it is a record day. Thanks to D who bought a phone…hopefully you do not return it lol.
I think you will love my post tomorrow…should get you through to…next Thursday!