yerffej201

Not a fair contest. MV had only been writing a few months and then got some links but not the chase ones. So how does he get them? Push the barclay ones like mad and hopes he gets enough clicks so chase will approve him. Pushing too hard too early.

And there are lots of posts where lucky has aff links...

brooklynmatt

Yeah I agree that he went hard too early, but the content for content argument remains, people like lucky have affiliate revenue as icing on the cake, bread and butter is BA bulk ads.

People might well swing too far in the wrong direction when money is involved, and slow down and revert to the mean once some time has passed.

yerffej201

I am almost 100% certain (given my limited time at BA) that BA bulk ads give far less income than affiliate links, even if you are someone like lucky or gary leff.

BTW, thanks everyone for your insight about the expedia links. I'll consider next time I stumble on a mistake fare

brooklynmatt

The difference is that this is passive income in the sense that the post can appear unrelated and altruistic, vs a targeted post (the angst of people here) I guess numbers change based on the popularity of the blogger but the top ones are getting 6 figures 'passively' so can write the odd aff post or two for a little juice when they feel the need.

gpapadop

This has been a fascinating discussion among all these "angries"

I think I pretty much agree with everything FFFF has written in the last two pages, wow!

Matt: I think I get where you are coming from. As an entrepreneur myself I know how hard it can be, especially in the early days! I think content should always come first and if you are going to dispense advice (especially financial advice) bloggers should be fiduciaries and put their readers ALWAYS first. If you can not build something the right way maybe you should not be in this! Sacrificing your readers for you to keep going and then justifying it in whatever way (need to eat, need to get paid as I am working so damnhard, etc) is, imho, plain wrong! I am still waiting for that Affiliate Marketing 101 post.

This I learned from my daddy: Have a passion, do the right thing, have fun and don't worry about the money, it will find you. RIP!

Jeff: Any tips on booking a car rental in Canada or do the regular US stuff apply?

I kind of wish we had some anonymous angry trolls in here to spice things up...

If you knew me you would know I am kidding. Sometimes I get misunderstood for my quirky sense of humor, c'est la vie@:-)

gpapadop

Whaaaaaaaat? 6 figures passively WITHOUT their own cc affiliate links? Are you sure? That just does not sound right or close at all. If true, I profusely apologize to all the constructive criticism (haters call it "bashing", I say pfft) my blog has ever poured on anything and everything associated with Boarding Area. I am so sorry. Effective immediately, TBB supports FTU and MegaDos 24/7. Can you take me por favor?

I love to see the anonymous haters trolling my blog now calling me a sell out LOL

Darn bull stock market run, making me waaaay too comfortable

FlyerTalk & Blogging = Priceless entertainment indeed!

brooklynmatt

That's what I've been led to believe, and all the data is here in this sub forum... Cpc revenue share and pageviews...

BTW I'm not angry at all- just keeping a balanced view... I like all the bloggers mentioned and hope they all become millionaires.

kokonutz

This is a truly fascinating conversation.

While I tend to side with FFF that quality will prevail in the end, I do see brooklynmatt's point about wanting to make a quick(er) buck...especially if one has decided to try to make a career out of blogging/credit card flogging.

Thing is, very few careers are built on the quick buck model. And many careers have been ruined by giving advice that is bad for your clients but good for you.

What I think is the biggest game-changer here is market saturation. Every Tom, Dick and Harry seems to have a points and miles blog now, panning for gold (card affiliate revenue).

brooklynmatt

I completely agree that quality will prevail, I'm just explaining some of the motives behind the actions that we see I that we an have a more rounded view. I'm sure we've all at some point faced tricky decisions and a lot of bloggers are facing these challenges.

Most will fade away, some will clean up their act. Maybe this thread will help make these decisions.

yerffej201

Assuming BA gets the same CPI as TPG, who releases his quantcast stats, he would earn just under 5 figures per month from the bulk ads. But he would get at least 15k+ per month from aff links.

I'm not sure whether gary leff or lucky or other bloggers in the aggregators (BA, F2B, Upgrd, etc.) get those numbers but certainly is a fair bit of money in this field.

brooklynmatt

Just under 5 figures x 12 = 6 figures...

yerffej201

You're talking annually? Ok, makes sense.

brooklynmatt

You're talking monthly? Ok doesn't make sense!

gpapadop

Hmm, let's take this further now. Should we be making a distinction between blogs who are working on this full time and having to feed their families vs. the part timer who does not blog as consistently and tries to make a quic buck on the side? Wearing my entrepreneur hat, I must side with the full timer! Ok...that was a by product of the main point I wanted to make which is this:

We are talking about online marketing. Maybe THIS time (business) is different this time (Matt, stop laughing!). Didn't this Tumblr kid just sell his porn infested side for a gazillion bucks? Look at all the startups and the multi millionaires it has created. I deal with people in startups and know how they think. Well,the good ones avoid the quick buck mentality and actually do build something useful. But some crappy ones (substitute with your favorite blogger here) do get lucky and "cash out" big time...And we are not talking these guys are doing something they went to college for! Isn't Scott at Hack My Trip a Ph. D scientist? Maybe this is the reason many bloggers "turn" and say ah ..... it I am going all in. Maybe it IS working and there are many out there who WILL click on their cc app links...Maybe doing it the right way (fiduciary, do no harm, full disclosures, etc.) is NOT working online??? Sometimes, I have thoughts like this. There are just not that many highly respected bloggers who rightfully (based on higher standards) earn their money as they should!

Maybe we need another thread to talk about "Is the affiliate marketing revenue business model sustainable?". I believe the mega aff money started in 2009 so this is all new really. If that ever goes poof very very few bloggers will still be around blogging imho.

In the process of writing this post I was interrupted three times, one by my cat about to have a fight with neighbor's cat that once in a while likes to come over to mess with him One other was I got me a glass of red wine.

so I have no idea if this post made any sense. I need to sleep

yerffej201

Well, we can agree on 5 figures montly, 6 figures yearly? I can't read posts properly, apparently.

This industry is definitely nicer and a lot less cutthroat than a lot of other online industries. I mean the worst things we have here is improper disclousre and haters! That's it!

The latter part of your post is interesting but all I can say is that a lot of the bloggers who are part-time but have nothing else to do (like me) do it because they want to educate. Or they're tired of family or friends asking them questions all day. So for me that was the case. Then there's definitely the choice of going all-in and pushing cc's like mad, and then there's the bloggers who do it because they enjoy it and love watching people getting good redemptions.

As I've said, if the money comes, that's great. If it doesn't, that's too bad. That my mindset every single day I blog as I really hope I stay in the latter category.

Ok, so I need sleep too now...