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Originally Posted by Astrophsx
(Post 23489096)
Originally Posted by pricesquire
(Post 23489853)
I don't care how good BA is, the fact of the matter is the interface looks like it belongs on an aol.com offshoot, circa 1997-2002. People looking to get into the miles game don't want to fan through 16 front page articles on the same topic. It's easier just to go to TPG. His website is clean, easy to navigate, and is very straight forward. (FWIW, I'll take BA over TPG 100/100 times.) I for one don't "get" BA's latest overhaul. The whole thing seemed like an overplayed mess to me. I applied/sent an email to BA recently with, what I thought at least, was a unique idea. I wanted to write a blog from the perspective of a luxury/leisure travel agent (Virtuoso). The gist of the blog would be highlighting the interplay between FHR, Amex, Virtuoso, Signature, and the overall miles/points game (by way of stacking benefits, strategically using system-wides verses relying on a guaranteed Virtuoso upgrade, etc). Typical - didn't hear back from them, not even a "sorry, but thanks for applying." BA may be turning into a good-ol-boys network. Thread Tripping, anyone? (the only possible explanation for that guy getting a BA blog was due to his friendship w/ Randy.) Can that possibly be an actual good idea? Ha! Hey, let me scan FT all day, find a half interesting thread, write a paragraph about it, and get affiliate link money....sigh :td: I can see the advantage of TPG for attracting newbies is like you said, it's straightforward and clean. I guess similarly for FTG. I haven't looked at "Thread Tripping" yet
Originally Posted by Canarsie
(Post 23490656)
Why not try it — even if only sparingly at first? Make the time. It sounds to me like you would truly enjoy it... |
Sadly, and like many others, I've had my wings somewhat clipped by family and work responsibilities -- the latter being a decidedly mixed blessing as you might guess. But maybe I'll try an art travel blog someday! Even though the days of the blockbuster show are mostly over -- our new world of fewer ideas and higher costs -- there's still a lot of interesting stuff going on that's worth traveling for, to say nothing of the essentially endless supply of great "permanent" things out there.
As for the Boarding Area blogs, one irony lurking in here is that a newcomer to the miles & points world would really be better off just going to FlyerTalk, especially if there's a Wiki in the area. |
Originally Posted by gpapadop
(Post 23493081)
I have been told if BA bloggers leave they will lose lots of traffic due to SEO Google stuff. Are you saying this is not true and they will keep the vast majority of their readers if they go out on their own servers and own URLs (without containing "boarding area")?
Originally Posted by gpapadop
(Post 23493081)
The main reason is, in my opinion, control of own destiny. Those two are certainly big enough to afford to pay for techie help. Then, again in my own opinion, they would no longer have to give Randy any cut at all.
As for the finances, I have no idea what their revenue sharing split is and I don't want to know. I do know that their sites are big enough that running it on a $10/month hosting account at a random provider isn't going to be sufficient. Paying a bit of money to have a staff working with you on technical, marketing and ad sales tasks is not a bad thing, assuming the costs are reasonably well controlled. |
I go by what people tell me. I am no techie to really grasp the technical aspects of this. So maybe I should just shut up :D
>>>>>>>>>>As for the finances, I have no idea what their revenue sharing split is and I don't want to know. I heard numbers but then you will tell me I have no idea what I am talking about so...I am going to sleep after playing back to back soccer games on Monday night... |
Originally Posted by sbm12
(Post 23495575)
As for the finances, I have no idea what their revenue sharing split is and I don't want to know. I do know that their sites are big enough that running it on a $10/month hosting account at a random provider isn't going to be sufficient. Paying a bit of money to have a staff working with you on technical, marketing and ad sales tasks is not a bad thing, assuming the costs are reasonably well controlled. I spent all of yesterday, literally the full working day, investigating MailChimp. AWeber and countless others to see which would be the best option for moving my email list to a better set-up, for example. |
Originally Posted by gpapadop
(Post 23493081)
The main reason is, in my opinion, control of own destiny. Those two are certainly big enough to afford to pay for techie help. Then, again in my own opinion, they would no longer have to give Randy any cut at all.
In the specific case of Gary Leff, don't forget that he also works with/for Randy Peterson on other projects. We know nothing about the terms -- so it would be more than foolish to offer an opinion as to whether some other arrangement would suit either party better. |
Someone like sbm12 may have the time and interest to explore option and jig URLs to be SEO compliant, but others prefer to let others do the footwork and sort out the infrastructural issues and just post content and cash the check for the adviews. It seems some time ago the infrastructure was not doing so well, so investments were made. If the ad income is down, one would assume that the additional investments into infrastructure won't repay so fast, but that is part of doing business. They are all adults, I'm sure they know how to handle that :)
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Originally Posted by gpapadop
(Post 23496762)
I go by what people tell me. I am no techie to really grasp the technical aspects of this. So maybe I should just shut up :D
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Originally Posted by sbm12
(Post 23498627)
Or get more informed sources.
To Raffles: Which company did you decide to go with for the newsletter? To Oliver2002: That was my point, thanks. To IMH: As far as giving the cut or not participating in it...it's just a different way of the same thing. Great point on the other issue. Thanks. |
Originally Posted by gpapadop
(Post 23498844)
I trust my sources know what they are talking about.
And, not sure if you noticed or not, but all the Boarding Area blogs changed their URLs in the past few months. They also appear to have maintained their SEO scoring ranks, at least the bigger ones did based on the spot checks I've seen.
Originally Posted by gpapadop
(Post 23498844)
Can you tell us why YOU are staying in BA and not leaving as your techie skills are way more advanced than others? Did it ever cross your mind?
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As a former blog owner, I am constantly surprised at the money left on the table by the bigger BA bloggers that have not gone out on their own.
Staggering And when I approached one on the subject is was like talking to someone with deaf ears?? I mean Randy is a nice guy and all but :confused: :confused: :confused: |
Originally Posted by ingy
(Post 23499762)
I am constantly surprised at the money left on the table by the bigger BA bloggers that have not gone out on their own.
Staggering when I approached one on the subject is was like talking to someone with deaf ears?? or just certain kinds of revenue that are not possible while at BA? |
I think what he means is...
BA attracts a very, very specific clientele: 1) Those looking at travel hacking in general (mileage runs, churning, mattress running) 2) Those looking for credit card advice (with regard to traveling) 3) Those looking for insight into loyalty 4) Those looking for tips/tricks/inside info with regard to 1, 2, and 3 That may seem like a lot of people, because we're all on FT, we all know BA, etc... And it probably is a lot of people! But, by leaving BA, you're basically branching out from that very small market and opening up your site to a realm of possibilities (i.e., readership/viewers) that wouldn't normally find your site EDIT: this is just my .02 cents...NO idea if that's actually the case. |
so maybe some limitations, as well as more flexible SEO etc
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Originally Posted by pricesquire
(Post 23500862)
But, by leaving BA, you're basically branching out from that very small market and opening up your site to a realm of possibilities (i.e., readership/viewers) that wouldn't normally find your site
Let's say I go independent. How does that change my writing to appeal to different readers? How does that increase my marketing efforts/budget/know-how to bring in more page-clicks? How does it change the number or type of people who would find my site?? |
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