Originally Posted by
Raffles
And not in any way promoting your services as a Virtuoso Travel Adviser?
Absolutely nothing wrong with doing that, but are really as altrustic as your post made out?
I see what you're saying, and that's a fair criticism, but I think the whole blog-for-money thing is a tad more nuanced. I think there are lines between affiliate links and banner ads verses having a site without said things. I'm not holier than thou - I'd take the money if offered - but I also didn't start my site with the
intention of getting ads/credit card links thrown across my pages. I'm trying, genuinely trying, to make "booking service" secondary to my bigger goal - having cathartic space to write about my trips. Whether you take that as sincere or not, that's beyond my control.
What I see mostly, lately, is people starting blogs with little to no unique content and the whole point of the blog seems to be hocking cc's and leaving white space for ads.
Re: the Virtuoso TA thing, I realize that's not the best thing to do in the long run, and my "PM me for details" ever five posts was quite stupid, Outside my signature and underneath my name, I've quit using FT blank space for accruing business. That said, if someone is to email or PM me for a V rate, I'm not about to decline (and neither would ABG or DavidO).
Thanks for keeping me honest, Raffles.