Mommy Points - Chase Affiliate Links Ending
Dec 10, 2015, 5:18 pm
#17
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Programs: IAMAW Local 368/HAL 2 Star Mariner
Posts: 740
It seems to me that to most families nationwide would not find any use out of posts about week long trips to the Maldives. They simply cannot afford trips like that, and if they can, the kids are in school for most of the year.
Branching out too much has been the failure of many a business.
-LPDAL
Branching out too much has been the failure of many a business.
-LPDAL
Dec 10, 2015, 7:20 pm
#18
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Pacific Northwest
Programs: UA Gold 1MM, AS 75k, AA Plat, Bonvoyed Gold, Honors Dia, Hyatt Explorer, IHG Plat, ...
Posts: 16,848
Should have called it MainstreamFlyer.com then. Perhaps it wouldn't be so dead then.
In the age of FB and other social media sites, is there really an opportunity for this? Is IF going to build up a long-term relationship (lifetime value) with mainstream once-a-year travelers?
Dec 11, 2015, 2:02 am
#19
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: London
Programs: BA, VS, HH, IHG, MB, MR
Posts: 26,871
Should have called it MainstreamFlyer.com then. Perhaps it wouldn't be so dead then.
In the age of FB and other social media sites, is there really an opportunity for this? Is IF going to build up a long-term relationship (lifetime value) with mainstream once-a-year travelers?
In the age of FB and other social media sites, is there really an opportunity for this? Is IF going to build up a long-term relationship (lifetime value) with mainstream once-a-year travelers?
The IF model assumes that these people can be taken halfway down the road even though they would never in a million years sign up for FT.
Dec 11, 2015, 5:50 am
#21
Moderator: Lufthansa Miles & More, India based airlines, India, External Miles & Points Resources
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: MUC
Programs: LH SEN
Posts: 48,178
The blogger would be well advised to stick to topics like flying to see grandma or the mouse. But then there is an intense market out there providing tips and tricks on how to visit the disney parks and the US airlines are now far too smart to hand out awards at low levels during peak grandma visiting travel times
Dec 11, 2015, 8:50 am
#23
Join Date: May 2006
Location: SAN
Programs: Lots of faux metal
Posts: 6,424
When she met up with Gary at the PH Maldives it was over. It's hard to transition from a blog about free travel to see the grandparents to a blog that featured a RTW trip in F/J and keep the same readers.
Dec 11, 2015, 9:49 am
#24
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Upper Sternistan
Posts: 10,041
So, in a way, she was very successful. And her own success was her demise?
But it's a crowded field these days.
Dec 11, 2015, 9:57 am
#25
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 3,737
Wasn't she featured on Nightline several times? I would have thought that alone would pull in more readers than a feature in RS. I don't know if she has had a "demise". I assume her targeted demographic aren't the type to sign up for multiple cards or churn. They also might not be the type to check her site daily for deals or information.
Dec 11, 2015, 11:00 am
#27
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: London
Programs: BA, VS, HH, IHG, MB, MR
Posts: 26,871
Selling cards to a mainstream audience (and hers will have been more mainstream than, say, Gary) will have been a challenge. This is, I would guess, especially true when applying for cards which have a transferable currency - getting people who fly AA to get an AA card is a big sell, getting mainstream readers to get an odd card which converts into airline miles (so two currencies you don't understand) is even harder.
The pitching of the site also means that hard-core people who do apply for 6 cards in a day and may spread around the love would not be reading.
The pitching of the site also means that hard-core people who do apply for 6 cards in a day and may spread around the love would not be reading.
Dec 11, 2015, 2:49 pm
#28
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Exile
Posts: 15,656
I'm not the target demographic for this blog and I rarely find any information of value there. However, I do read it periodically and I find that Summer is more in touch with normal reality than any of the other high profile bloggers out there. Ben's blog comes across as a reality TV show, Gary's as a badly edited news feature and Seth as an adventure travelogue. The old Mommy Points couldn't be pigeonholed like that - maybe this will be the wakeup call for Summer to take the blog back to the roots that made it so successful.
Dec 11, 2015, 3:57 pm
#29
Formerly known as iahsumr
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 520
Thought I would briefly weigh in...
The miles and points blogging world is so different than it was when I started five years ago and even so different than roughly two years ago. The various ways to monetize your site beyond a hobby blog are also so different than they were. It is still a very evolving and maturing medium.
The volume of traffic required to do business with various entities today is different than it was at any point in the past, and likely it will be even more different going forward. I'm sure the type of traffic you have will be even more relevant in the future as data and metrics are even easier to capture and measure.
In terms of content on my site, it was always first and foremost about things everyday families can do to travel more for less. It always was, and it presumably always will be. Mainly, that's just where my interests happen to be. A handful of fancy miles and points redemptions taken while we had a pretty self-sufficient four year old at home (and grandparents nearby) knowing we were planning to very soon head back into the infant years didn't change that. In fact, I strongly encourage families to take those sort of trips when you have the chance between little kids since the infant years are really not the time to do it!
I can see how to those who didn't know our long term plan it looked at the time like a shift, but it was never a shift, it was a planned blip. Either way, I can assure you that writing about fancy redemptions increases, not decreases, traffic, but that was never going to make-up the majority of my content since it does not make up the majority of my travels.
I'm lucky to have been able to pay the bills writing about stuff that I love for over four years, and I hope to be so lucky as to find a way to keep doing it for many more. Only time will tell. For those of you who do read the site, even if only on occasion, thank you.
The miles and points blogging world is so different than it was when I started five years ago and even so different than roughly two years ago. The various ways to monetize your site beyond a hobby blog are also so different than they were. It is still a very evolving and maturing medium.
The volume of traffic required to do business with various entities today is different than it was at any point in the past, and likely it will be even more different going forward. I'm sure the type of traffic you have will be even more relevant in the future as data and metrics are even easier to capture and measure.
In terms of content on my site, it was always first and foremost about things everyday families can do to travel more for less. It always was, and it presumably always will be. Mainly, that's just where my interests happen to be. A handful of fancy miles and points redemptions taken while we had a pretty self-sufficient four year old at home (and grandparents nearby) knowing we were planning to very soon head back into the infant years didn't change that. In fact, I strongly encourage families to take those sort of trips when you have the chance between little kids since the infant years are really not the time to do it!
I can see how to those who didn't know our long term plan it looked at the time like a shift, but it was never a shift, it was a planned blip. Either way, I can assure you that writing about fancy redemptions increases, not decreases, traffic, but that was never going to make-up the majority of my content since it does not make up the majority of my travels.
I'm lucky to have been able to pay the bills writing about stuff that I love for over four years, and I hope to be so lucky as to find a way to keep doing it for many more. Only time will tell. For those of you who do read the site, even if only on occasion, thank you.
Dec 11, 2015, 4:02 pm
#30
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Upper Sternistan
Posts: 10,041
Thought I would briefly weigh in...
The miles and points blogging world is so different than it was when I started five years ago and even so different than roughly two years ago. The various ways to monetize your site beyond a hobby blog are also so different than they were. It is still a very evolving and maturing medium.
The volume of traffic required to do business with various entities today is different than it was at any point in the past, and likely it will be even more different going forward. I'm sure the type of traffic you have will be even more relevant in the future as data and metrics are even easier to capture and measure.
In terms of content on my site, it was always first and foremost about things everyday families can do to travel more for less. It always was, and it presumably always will be. Mainly, that's just where my interests happen to be. A handful of fancy miles and points redemptions taken while we had a pretty self-sufficient four year old at home (and grandparents nearby) knowing we were planning to very soon head back into the infant years didn't change that. In fact, I strongly encourage families to take those sort of trips when you have the chance between little kids since the infant years are really not the time to do it!
I can see how to those who didn't know our long term plan it looked at the time like a shift, but it was never a shift, it was a planned blip. Either way, I can assure you that writing about fancy redemptions increases, not decreases, traffic, but that was never going to make-up the majority of my content since it does not make up the majority of my travels.
I'm lucky to have been able to pay the bills writing about stuff that I love for over four years, and I hope to be so lucky as to find a way to keep doing it for many more. Only time will tell. For those of you who do read the site, even if only on occasion, thank you.
The miles and points blogging world is so different than it was when I started five years ago and even so different than roughly two years ago. The various ways to monetize your site beyond a hobby blog are also so different than they were. It is still a very evolving and maturing medium.
The volume of traffic required to do business with various entities today is different than it was at any point in the past, and likely it will be even more different going forward. I'm sure the type of traffic you have will be even more relevant in the future as data and metrics are even easier to capture and measure.
In terms of content on my site, it was always first and foremost about things everyday families can do to travel more for less. It always was, and it presumably always will be. Mainly, that's just where my interests happen to be. A handful of fancy miles and points redemptions taken while we had a pretty self-sufficient four year old at home (and grandparents nearby) knowing we were planning to very soon head back into the infant years didn't change that. In fact, I strongly encourage families to take those sort of trips when you have the chance between little kids since the infant years are really not the time to do it!
I can see how to those who didn't know our long term plan it looked at the time like a shift, but it was never a shift, it was a planned blip. Either way, I can assure you that writing about fancy redemptions increases, not decreases, traffic, but that was never going to make-up the majority of my content since it does not make up the majority of my travels.
I'm lucky to have been able to pay the bills writing about stuff that I love for over four years, and I hope to be so lucky as to find a way to keep doing it for many more. Only time will tell. For those of you who do read the site, even if only on occasion, thank you.