Originally Posted by
MM56
You are correct that I cast his actions as “elitist FTG vs. poor masses.” He frequently attempts to get “the masses” to his site for cc referrals by speaking to the media as recently as the huffpo article, not to mention a national news segment viewed by “4-5 million.” Sure, he can say that those people only stuck around for a couple days and then the traffic returned to normal, but then where is the motive to get the information to the masses if they are never really going to participate? To drive traffic and increase cc referrals, even if for only a couple days, and then it’s on to the next media opportunity.
FTG provides very helpful and skill-appropriate assistance to newbies. Credit card signup bonuses are the foundation at which a newbie should start. It is far from the one-sided picture you paint of FTG taking from the newbies. FTG is probably the most generous and helpful of any of the bloggers.
I have a bunch of totally newbie offline friends--in fact my two best friends are in this boat--who absolutely love reading FTG's posts and benefit GREATLY from his honest appraisal of CCs. Through this they have tons of miles with which to travel for free. They don't have the time or inclination to dig deeper and get involved with the jumbo deals, but they very much appreciate FTG's help--they don't view it as if he's taking advantage of them by not sharing jumbo deals.
Originally Posted by
MM56
I believe you missed my point about profit motive. The fact is, is that he needs to make a decision as to where his profit is coming from. The deal he has that is a secret is one form of profit (exploiting that deal repeatedly over time, profiting slowly) and exposing the secret to drive traffic to his site is another form of profit. A decision needs to be made by him to determine whether or not the traffic will profit more, or the deal over time will profit more, taking into account future secret deals he would be left out of for exploiting confidences. This is a decision only a blogger with cc referrals needs to make. If someone with the secret deal has no blog, then there is nothing to decide (other than whether to quietly share the secret deal with others, which has no profit motive behind it). FTG has decided to not post the secret and break confidences, so the media driven traffic begins to look appealing.
You're wrong to think of FTG as sitting back and personally profiting from his secrets (not to mention your math is way off if you think a blogger could ever profit more from exploiting a deal rather than sharing and getting more CC commissions). A number of the hot deals that I've shared he doesn't even take advantage of himself because it's too much coach travel or it's too much effort for too little gain, in his book. He definitely doesn't fit the uber-aggressive mold. There is no personal gain for him in not sharing these secrets, it's just that he cares about the community.
Furthermore, why begrudge him the media driven traffic? I'm happy that he can profit from his long history of helpfulness to the community. He's hardly killing CC deals!
Originally Posted by
MM56
Finally, the manor in which you have dissected my words is the exact reason why some people with low post counts choose to post infrequently. Instead of asking for clarification, you assumed I meant that he was choosing to withhold information, and that lead to him profiting. You saw a weakness, and you attempted to exploit it. Not very welcoming.
You're fighting against yourself, not me:
Originally Posted by
MM56
The deal he has that is a secret is one form of profit (exploiting that deal repeatedly over time, profiting slowly)
Originally Posted by
MM56
Instead of asking for clarification, you assumed I meant that he was choosing to withhold information, and that lead to him profiting.
So which is it?
Furthermore, I believe my reputation is that of being gracious to newbies, but when you come in (with your second post) questioning motives (of one of the most helpful and generous members of this community) without any substantiation and a total lack of logic, I will politely, but firmly reveal your logic for what it is. I make no apology for that.
The most egregious recurring component of your posts is your refusal to acknowledge that there might be some shred of kindness, generosity, or good will coming from FTG. All your posts make the assumption that it's either elitism or profit driving FTG's decisions. This is especially disturbing when directed at someone whom many on FT would say is one of the most generous and helpful and giving of any of the bloggers or indeed among FT members.
(After FTG found out that I'm involved in non-profit/humanitarian work, he called me to ask for input about yet another charitable project he is considering launching. Already all his book profits go to a charitable organization.)