We take a stroll through the TBB comments of the past week and pick some favorites, enjoy!
First, a few pics that never made it in the past week:
August 31 – September 1, 2013: Fussen, Monterey, Hyatt Stay Certs, Ebay, Barrow
AngryBear: I really think that oliver2002 is the angriest of the angries 
Oliver2002: If you would depend on ‘travel’ blog content as reading material to fill your daily commute, you would be angry too… :p
Andrew at Lenticular Travel: George, something special for you 
I took it two days ago, a crazy bird in Monterey:
F/A Ramsey: The other story was one morning on layover in 1980, watching from my hotel room at the Marina Hotel Las Vegas (current location of the MGM hotel) and looking at the then MGM Hotel (current location of Ballys) while that historic fire was taking place. They were removing people from the roof with helicopters. I think around a 100 people died in that fire. Later that day we went to work the LAS-JFK nonstop and a couple of dozen survivors came on all chard up and traumatized. They had nothing with them, just the shirts on their back, no luggage, a couple were in pajamas and one without any shoes. We put as many as we could into F/C. Never forget that day. So your advice to ck your exits in hotels is good advise, also count the rows to the airplanes over wing exits in case you have to evacuate a smoke filled airplane cabin.
Travel Blogger Buzz (moi): How many times will I say bloggers should not take thing personally. I LOVE it when others make fun of TBB (like you) [in responding to AgendaGuy] . But, excuse me, if you are a business selling stuff and the industry grows so big, blogs like mine will pop up. I am shocked nobody thought of this before! If they find it humiliating maybe they should think about what they are selling and try to improve it. TBB will be the first to recocgnize and give an attaboy!…I love my mom too!
September 2, 2013: North Korea, Hyatt IT issues, No Mas Swiss First Class, British Airways, Croatia, CC Madness, Feedback
harvson3: …the blogs/community are organized into tiers or subcategories.
At the top tier are the established brands, all the front-page BA bloggers, TPG, MMS, FTG (the blog), and perhaps Dan. At the second tier are the comers and strivers: the top F2B bloggers, Milevalue, Travel Summary, and others that are well-known but aren’t sponsors of seminars. At the next tier are the niche or more familiar to insiders than to outsiders. And at the bottom tier are newbies starting blogs, because they just MUST share these “secrets” with more than their friends and family (because the last two groups are saturated and probably have stopped listening).
I think perhaps there might be different standards for each of the groups.
The top group are businesses, full stop, and worthy of Consumer Reports-type criticism when they put forward subpar product. They’re not altruists or hobbyists, and their product is often stale because we’re jaded, experienced insiders. (Newbies still find it useful, because they just stumbled across these opportunities and face a learning curve.) In fact, some of them are outright awful, and barring significant change, I think it’s fair to recommend against patronizing or reading them. Friends don’t let friends read TPG.
The bottom groups should be pressed for original takes, perspectives, and insights. I still think unique or niche blogs have a future. The world doesn’t need another MMS. However, at the lowest levels authors are still hobbyists, and it’s unfair to automatically assume that they’re only looking for affiliate links and cashing in. That’s not a fair shot.
I think this blog should (and does) do a good job in highlighting unique takes and perspectives. Positive feedback along those lines helps the hobby in general, and counterbalances the endless laments over credit-card pushing. One can be exasperated over how stale blog posts are without being angry. I obviously believe there’s space for criticism, both positive and negative, and I would stop reading this blog if the criticism was only negative. I also think the community at large would stop listening to this blog and its commentators if TBB did nothing but naming and shaming, as some comments have requested.
…In sum, the blogs/hobby comprises both sharks (memorably, from MileNerd, “shrewd businessmen disguised as dorks”) and hobbyists. The community is heterogeneous and not homogeneous. I think Rick is right when pointing out that not all should be torn down or scolded. However, to the extent that the community comprises functioning businesses, criticism of the product is valid. Saying that these businesses/bloggers should escape criticism because they “are just trying to help” is bullsh-t.
Steve: …It’s not by accident – the true newbie is the easiest group to target and takes the least amount of original content to do so with. That’s why the travel blogosphere is so over saturated with blogs “catering” to newbies – they’re not really catering so much as it is targeting. Because you’re not going to convince more advanced FF’ers to get your CC just because you copied something from SPG.com
September 3, 2013: Helmcken Falls, Yosemite, Dubai, Azores, Vanilla, Taxes
HikerT: Quote of the day at TPG in the comments by Steve:
“How Am I Going To Survive 21 Hours In Coach?”
If the past few blog posts are any indication, I’m pretty sure the answer lies somewhere in an SPG Amex or Amex Platinum affiliate link
Considering how hard they’ve been pushed, I’d be shocked if their capabilities where anything short of curing cancer.
September 4, 2013: Hua Shan, Zacatecas, Deception Island, Death Valley, Afghanistan, & best Blog Buzz!
Rapid Travel Chai: I hesitate doing so many posts about North Korea and normally would not about any trip or destination, however the experiences I had being there for a major holiday, and had different access than the mainstream media (they got the full parade, I got the beach), have helped me feel justified in sharing more about a place known so little to the outside world.
I am a regular reader of Wandering Earl and like his North Korea pieces, particularly the ethics one. The ‘What it’s like to travel in North Korea” piece gave a good overview of what tourists can expect, if I have to quibble I think he pushes his moments of independence a little more than what they really are. I won’t get into the debate on comped trips, many travel bloggers rely on them or seek them and it has been debated elsewhere.
For my 2010 trip I contacted Koryo Tours and now-defunt Asia Live. Koryo offered essentially the same thing for a significantly higher price and I found the person I dealt with to be quite arrogant and uninterested in working me with on what I wanted. For this trip I tried Uri Tours with no request of sponsorship or mention of my blog, paid full price, and was quite satisfied with the willingness to work with me last minute and accommodate my requests. Koryo’s standard tours are quite large group so if going with them I would recommend some of their more unique and premium tours with smaller groups, if you have the money, because they are good at offering innovate programs and are deeply engaged with North Korea on various cultural exchange projects.
September 5, 2013:Mile Nerd’s Epic Rant, Delta & Korean Air fight, Danang Vietnam, TBB ponders future, and more Buzzzzzz
Paul: TBB – come on – your entire raison d’etre is to rail about bloggers who merrily pimp away – but YOUR goal is to join them? Either blog for the “love of it”, or chuck it out the window and pimp away – there is no in between. If you start pimping, expect to be called out for being a fraud…
TBB (moi): 10 months of blogging daily for the love of it all…and counting. Answer one question: “Do you consider Frequent Miler’s way of doing the aff link thingie pimping? Yes or No?”
[Still waiting for Paul to answer…]
September 6, 2013: Rio de Janeiro, Iguazu Falls, Lalibela Ethiopia, Istanbul, Honor among Bloggers
TBB (me!): Yeah, it’s getting out of control. I think my cat now feels like he is an expert on this stuff after watching me all these years lol. I am waiting for the new blog ‘Hi, I am Bob, I just learned you can earn miles by putting your spend on a Suntrust debit card & cash 60,000 Skymiles on a trip to Orlando. Since my friends & family are going to start asking me about it, I decided to start this blog to help me share all my secrets!”
AngryBear: Found this disclosure at Heels First Travel—->“Disclaimer: I do not get any affiliate credit from this card, but if I did, I would have them change the money into pennies so I could swim through it like Scrooge McDuck. Well, maybe in a kiddie pool. Okay, I’d put the pennies in a jar and shake it so I could hear it jingle.”
Hoping for first.
Congrats!
No, Frequent Miler does not pimp cards. But he also provides invaluable miles and point earning strategies. You are NOT FM. It doesn’t matter how you handle affiliate links – you would simply be making money by complaining about other people making money.
Don’t forget the one or two he sucks up to on a daily basis and brags about credibility while he completes the hand
shakejob ( ha ha, he is serious too). When it is all said and done, this is the first place we should look to show the transition of bloggers from maybe writing a little advertisement based posts to full scale daily pimping show. Just check the August rants and compare with the actual blogs who were excessive in pimping yet the audience here got DP’d on FTG(the blog).Just another pigeon hole outfit to distract readers…. I am all for a real review site or a forum even. Let the moral cripple here get his affiliates really. It will not make any difference.
@AgendaGuy: Dude, I am disappointed, this is your comeback? I think I would let Morgan respond on my behalf! Thanks, as always, for trolling my site. Every successful blog has its share of Haters 🙂
You are most welcome. Did you know there are folks who troll their *own* website too? They come out very fast out of their sacks once they detect outside trolls 😉 At least mine seems to be a step up ha ha
@Ingy, TabloidBloggerBuzz still available?
@FM, Respect.
@Not Paul: That’s your comeback? U serious? You are darn right I am NOT FM, no one is!
I don’t get it – you get on other people for sidestepping the real questions/comments, but you just do it yourself. Of course I know that you know you are not FM.:) The point was that when you do make this dive into aff links, you will be making money while dissing other people who are making money the same way. It doesn’t matter how you handle it – that will be the traffic that drives the money, you jumping on other people who are doing the same thing.
It is all kind of a moot point, though, because ain’t never getting credit card links. Credit card affiliates look for content to be consistent with your offering their product. There is nothing here that reflects the need to sell credit card products (unless you call knocking the credit card industry as being relevant). So, it really doesn’t matter where you will put aff links since you are not going to get them.
You never answered the question, I will stop sidestepping when you do so first 🙂
“Do you consider FM’s way of selling credit card links pimping or not?” Yes or No.
It DOES matter how bloggers handle it.
It is a moot point I agree for now. I haven’t done a damn thing about it for 10 months. Do you give me credit (pun intended) for that?
Just curious, are you willing to make a public bet whether I get them? I do need extra motivation lol.
No, you don’t read the comments. I did answer the question in my first response (look further up if you don’t believe me). No, I do not believe FM pimps credit cards. Sorry, no credit for you since you built your whole following on the premise that you hate affiliate links (just go back and read all of your comments and how you wish credit card issuers would stop using them). For you to even attempt to get aff links would be very hypocritical.
BTW, do you consider me angry since I disagree with you? 🙂
I get your point and I do not agree with it. And no I am rarely angry. I am very amused by the TBB comments section, an essential part of of the TBB mission.
You just do not get the point of TBB. “TBB is like a cup”
“You don’t know TBB. Thank you and goodnight”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UQsqFiyw9k
@agendaguy – do you put a turd in the blender every morning to make yourself a breakfast smoothie? I only ask because you are so full of shit it reeks even here down in the Keys. Instead of whining (and occasionally “not bragging” about your worthless MBA) how about you actually create a “real review site or a forum even” and then let us decide whether or not your pimple-assed attempts are worth our time? P.S. Yo mama called, she said it is time for you to turn out the lights and go to bed.
Good morning to you too 😉 I liked AgendaGal better 😛
Thanks Morgan! It reeks up here in the Midwest too 🙂
>>>>>>>P.S. Yo mama called, she said it is time for you to turn out the lights and go to bed.
Mega lol
@AgendaGuy, I am not Morgan le Fay.
@ Agendaguy he is just using my material.
I got it George. I figured out how to improve your blog:
Let Harvson3 guest post everyday. Great analysis, thoughtful commentary without tearing down others.
Do your readers a favor George. Join me in retirement and let him take over.
Wow, Rick needs to step up his game
He makes about 500 of them on this blog a week and not a single one was able to crack the top comments list?
I took off half the week and still made it twice (I counted HikerT’s quoting of me :))
You need to step up your game Rick. Being angry all the time is no excuse to mail in your comments
Angry? Are you kidding me? Guys like you make me laugh at how people can get hung up on such trivial topics. I come here for fun to laugh at the angries and shake me head. This is one minority group worth watching make fools of themselves.
Angry about affiliate links.
Angry that somebody may talk about a deal on a publically available website and they might miss out on.
Angry that the poor newbie is being taken advantage of (although they have already shown they can take care of themselves by establishing a credit score of 700+)
Angry that the disclosure of the affiliate language is not large enough or in the right spot on the website
Just a reminder: Cheese is always good with your Whine.
There we go again with these anonymous haters, hiding behind their keyboards and just being angry at the world. Yawn!
@Ingy: Thank you for reading and taking the time to comment on my blog as always! I agree about Harvson3’s great commentary, he can guest post on TBB anyday, uncensored as always!
Perhaps you should reread what he posted…
Harvosn3: Saying that these businesses/bloggers should escape criticism because they “are just trying to help” is bullsh-t.
Nough said!
I will join you in retirement if you convince your IB pals to make me an offer I can not refuse lol. New Alexa ranking high for TBB yesterday. I am seriously thinking to do a “Top 3 Blogs to Avoid” or 5 or 10….You know why? Because readers are asking for it! They call me Siskel 🙂
You are always thinking of doing or listing something. You just never do it. Part of your shtick. The only list that counts for me George is your public acknowledgement, that I was your favorite blog. Anything you do or say now is just well: Anger
Frugal Travel Guy (the blog) was my favorite blog. There, I said it. Full Disclosure: There was not much competition back then 😉
And then it all turned to giant crap.
I am always thinking of doing something for the blog and I never get to it as I am always doing something outside my blog lol.
The Lions won, I am on Cloud 9. #neverangry
George, I have the solution to your question of how to monetize your blog. You simply need to franchise “BloggerBuzz”. You can license the rights to FoodBloggerBuzz, PetBloggerBuzz, PoliticalBloggerBuzz etc. Once a blogger signs on, you can give them your secret BloggerBuzz template:
Step 1: Copy and paste photos.
Find photos on other blogger’s sites that will grab readers’ attention. Examples: FoodBloggerBuzz would post photos of amazing meals; PetBloggerBuzz would post photos of kittens and puppies; and PoliticalBloggerBuzz would post photos of cute interns.
Step 2: Pick a funny physical ailment
Whether your ailment is losing eyebrow hair, a proliferation of nose pimples, or uncontrollable flatulence, it is important to pick one and write about it often.
Step 3: Complain about bloggers in your space
Pick something about other bloggers in your space that infuriates you and your readers. Complain about that thing every day and describe how it is causing your funny physical ailment to get worse. Example: “Emeril Lagasse mentioned his awful teriyaki sauce 12 times today! I haven’t stopped farting since!”
Its particularly important to complain about the top bloggers in your space so as to stir up controversy. Controversy leads to more readers!
Step 4: Complain about how hard blogging is
Write up at least three paragraphs saying that blogging is hard, you don’t have time for it, it’s causing your funny ailment to get worse, etc. For each new post, copy and paste selections from those original paragraphs.
Step 5: Monetize!
Credit card affiliate links are a great way to make lots of money. Of course, don’t forget that when you signed up for this franchise you agreed to send 50% to TravelBloggerBuzz!
If you want to do the legwork on your interesting idea I give you 50% of what we make, deal? 🙂
1. FirstClassBuzz, LoungeBuzz, MaldivesBuzz, we can go on forever & take over da Internet!
2. My eyebrow’s have now fully come back. As plentiful as thick skin around here lol.
3. I prefer “constructively criticize” than “complain”, it just sounds more…professional;-) Never heard of Emeri Lagasse! Regarding controversy, are you tempting me to start revealing Secrets? lol
4. I need to make this part more creative.
5. You can have 50% of the 50% all these bloggers send to TBB! We can be Rich!
Regarding your question to readers on what to cover next: I think your readers would like to know what are YOUR top blogs you read!
My favorite blogs? I like them all equally (of course, some are more equal than others) 😉
You always avoid controversy so…smoothly 😉
Best. Comment. Ever. !!!!!
+1!
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