Recently on TravelBloggerBuzz, famed commenter harvson3 left this comment about how to be a points-n-miles blogger:
Register the domain prior2blogging.com.
Each visitor should walk through steps:
Step 1: Go read the vast variety of miles/points travel blogs out there.
Step 2: Do you know more about hotels than LoyaltyLobby, more about airplanes than the Wandering Aramean, more about manufactured spending than the sausage fest at Saverocity or MileageUpdate, more about soulless luxury travel than LuckyCoins, or more about family travel than the existing twelve family travel blogs?
Step 3: If your answer to the above is “no,” then congratulations, you don’t need anything more than a personal blog for friends and family, or to practice and display your writing or photography skills. We have enough miles/points blogs, thank you. Most of them are terrible.
Step 4: If your answer to the above is “yes,” then answer this question: “Really?”
Step 5: If your answer to the question in Step 4 is “Yes, really,” then, fine, blog, see if we care.
It’s a great comment, both hilarious and true, and it also provides a segue to one of-those navel-gazing “whither blogging” pieces. I started this blog in November 2012. Why did I start it? Among the reasons:
- I like credit cards and credit card bonuses.
- I like good deals.
- I like to write.
- I couldn’t find a blog that had everything I wanted, or even most of it.
I was also looking for a creative outlet, so I figured what the heck, let’s try producing the blog I’d like to see. 20 months isn’t that long ago, but it seems like an eternity, and the blogscape (assuming such a word exists) has changed considerably. The Doctor of Credit is covering credit cards fairly well, much better than those crappy nerdwallet “reviews” I used to stumble upon all the time when I was looking for information. Bloggers like The Deal Mommy and Big Habitat are covering both great deals and points/miles simultaneous.
Miles For Family has recently been doing a good job of keeping folks informed of the latest news, and while I’m still the only blogger I’m aware of in this niche with four children, there are a lot more “Traveling… With Childen” bloggers than there used to be.There are also a whole bunch of new Saverocity blogs, and I’m proud to say the new Saverocity crew is of the “Editorial freedom good, credit card censorship bad” mindset.
It’s not just the blogs either. I think the manufactured spending (who came up with that term anyway?) forum on Flyertalk launched shortly after I started the blog, and of course we now have the Saverocity forum as well (which is really good, by the way–you should definitely go check it out).
All of which is to say, there is more and better information out there now than there was not even two years ago, and there are also a lot more voices. I’ve quit posting regularly lately on account of being unusually busy with travel and other activities, but also because the last thing in the world I want to be is one of those “ME TOO!” bloggers that says what ten other bloggers are saying.
Additionally, and I think George at TBB agrees with me on this one, I think things are a little boring right now in the points-n-miles world, which makes it an even worse time to be a “ME TOO!” blogger. There are still really good deals right now, but you just can’t talk about a lot of the really good ones publicly because the level of coverage now is such that they die a lot more quickly.
So in conclusion: I’ll still be posting in the future, but probably not five times a week, unless things suddenly start looking more interesting. Thanks as always to all you for reading!
Thanks for the shoutout, Nick! I started my blog because I was unhappy with the information regard credit scoring out there, I then started to focus more on credit cards because I was really unhappy with how nerdwallet and others did it (e.g why can’t you filter by pure cash back sign up bonuses, rather than ridiculous evaluations on points/miles?).
I’m blogging less now as well to try and avoid being a “me too” blogger. “The Doctor of Credit is covering credit cards fairly well”, I’m always up for hearing constructive criticism so if there is something you or your readers think I could do a better job of doing then please let me know.
I honestly don’t know how you have time with four kids for this hobby, it’s pretty damn impressive.
Haha nice comment. I’m not sure Saverocity is a hot bed of MS though and yes I definitely feel – without wishing to sound too arrogant – that I know (much) more about this topic than what is posted here. But I get the point. That said I barely ever post these days as there isn’t much exciting stuff to post about… maybe I will get back in the swing. But bloggers should also not feel the need to post incessantly and only post when they actually have something useful to contribute
“But bloggers should also not feel the need to post incessantly and only post when they actually have something useful to contribute.” –> Exactly!
“I honestly don’t know how you have time with four kids for this hobby, it’s pretty damn impressive.” –> I will say this: I get a lot more out of my time than I did when I was single.
We(wife and I) started a blog about 2 years ago, never felt to need to advertise or publicize it outside of people we personally know. It has quite a bit of points and miles stuff, but mostly generic family living boring things. I really don’t have the time to monetize it, nor is that why we started it.
How do I use points from the CSP, Ink, etc. to join Mr. Burns on the Spruce Moose?
“I said get in!”
Nick, thanks a ton for the shout out! It’s nice to see my blog end up on the “nice” and not the “naughty” list for once. You pretty much summed up the reasons on why I decided to get into this crazy blogging world (and I do mean crazy). The biggest one: I couldn’t find a blog that said exactly what I wanted to say.
Honestly, you almost have to be a masochist to start now, and expect to find an audience beyond just your family circle. It is so darn competitive! I still hardly have any traffic after one year. I hope Kenny from Miles4More sticks around, that’s a good one, as well as a few others.
The most challenging part is to know what the readers need, and deliver that precise product at the time they need it. It’s funny that you put me in news-oriented category. I consider it somewhat of a by-product of my blog, and only summarize the latest trends. I feel that part is well covered already. Honestly, it’s hard to know what the right formula is, or even if there is a formula.
One thing that I hope new bloggers realize, is that there is very little money to be made at this point in time. It’s not that you can’t turn a small profit, but it will most likely be minimum wage, if that. I would hate for people to waste their precious time and resources, thinking they will end up like The Points Guy, with a highly profitable business and a staff. You have to love it, otherwise it’s just not worth it. Especially if you have a family to take of.
That comment by Havson3 was hilarious, BTW. I would also add to the questionnaire: “Do you like to be bullied by random strangers on the internet ?” I guess, that falls in the “masochist” part I’ve already mentioned. Sorry for the long rant.
Now that you mention it, I do like to fight with random strangers on the internet…
I’ll add “famed blog commenter” to my trophy room alongside “last DNF runner,” “biggest runt,” and “sweepstakes runner-up.” Thanks.
I should add that I don’t think all blogs are terrible. I like a few. I do wonder about the gender bias in the “points” blogosphere as a whole, such as it is. It may be due to the (known) higher level of vitriol that female bloggers receive.
We have a new kid, so I too have been spending less time on this hobby. I haven’t been to Staples or Wal-Mart (thank goodness) for weeks. I think there’s a critical mass here at Saverocity to cover for you, and I continue to find interesting material here daily.
congrats to all the new bloggers and parents! I try to write my blog from a unique angle (mostly points and travel from a fitness, running or NY perspective) and endeavor to report on interesting topics and not to write the same gibberish as others, though sometimes that happens. I have a lot of friends who may have questions about points and miles or manufactured spend. Rather than rewriting something that’s already been written well (and probably better than I can write it), I point them to those blogs or posts. Though I don’t have four kids, I do have a full time job, and juggling it all seems overwhelming at times. Life is too short for me to just rehash the same shit. Anyway, hats off to all of you!
“Only” 4 kids? Rookie 🙂 Just kidding – I’m glad there are more family oriented blogs out there. Yes, there is a bit of overlap between them, but I still think that there are way more blogs focused on the “vendoming” style of over the top aspirational rewards, rather than traveling how most “normal” families travel.
SIX kids? Wow. Hats off to you, good sir.