Earlier in the week I talked about how to turn your blog into a business. That post can be found here, over in the Finance side of Saverocity in case you missed it, and focuses heavily on the incorporation considerations of turning a hobby into an income producing business – it applies to any business model, so check it out if you are a budding entrepreneur.
This post will focus a little more distinctly on the ‘blogging’ part of that topic, as today Travel Summary released this post on how he is losing his Credit Karma Affiliate links: The Rich Get Richer: Small Blogs Can’t Compete on Credit Card Affiliate Links I wanted to help shed some light from my experiences in order to set your expectations correctly.
Most Businesses Fail over time
There have been countless studies as to the ‘why’ and I’ll save you the hassle of reading all of them and tell you why – businesses fail over time due to sheer incompetence and lack of comprehension of the skills required to run a business. Certain businesses are more likely to fail than others, the type of business that is most likely to succeed is one that requires high barriers to entry, as it indicates that the owners have already satisfied certain requirements that pertain to their job.
Look at the chart below, courtesy of Statisticbrain and you will see on the far left Information, and the far right Services. Business that provide information fail almost twice as much as those that provide Services. Check out their post here for a detailed breakdown of this subject: Startup Business Failure Rate By Industry
The Companies that last the longest, Financial Services, Real Estate and Insurance all have one thing in common – regulation. You need education and certification in order to create a business in these industries. Furthermore, most people who branch out into their own business in Services do so after a period of work experience.
The Companies that belly up the soonest, ‘Information Based’ require no regulation to enter. In order for me to start a website the disseminates information within a specific field all I require is a Website and a source of information (providing I’m not just making it all up myself) there is no regulatory barrier to entry, so the standard and competence levels are substantially lower.
Bloggers are more likely to fail, because anyone can be a blogger, and most of them are asinine and their expectations are too high.
Bloggers are tricking bloggers, and lying to themselves
People are trying to ‘game the system’ when it comes to blogging, in order to appear successful. They insult the reader by doing this, and it is really laughable when you see it in action, here’s an example:
Twitter really is a great way of driving traffic to your blog, the more followers you have the more chance that they will see a post, twitter is frequently my number 2 source of Traffic at Saverocity after Google for inbound leads (I get direct traffic too) I have 396 followers at this time (bless each and every one of you!) and when I tweet a link to my blog it frequently gets shared or clicked through by real people.
I make the distinction in regard to real people, because it is possible to grow a twitter account rapidly by paying a service to generate followers. However, this is really silly, because these people don’t give a rats backside about the content on your blog, they are not customers, they are just digits.
Ironically on this subject people believe in a Golden Ratio in Twitter – the relative number between followers and following. If you are following a very few number of people but many people are following you, then it appears that you have more Twitter Credibility.
There is an entire section of Tweeters that follow you, wait for you to follow back (which is a common reaction) and then ‘unfollow’ you so that their numbers appear inflated, and you suddenly have no followers and are following everyone. A good way to check who did that is the tool Who.Unfollowed.Me
I always am suspicious when a what I call a ‘Pro’ Account like this follows me. Actually, it is likely that such accounts are being managed by a third party and doing just this in order to grow a large Twitter follower number and Golden Ratio and appear credible. You can spot the difference between a manufactured Twitter account and a genuine organic one simply by reader interaction. If all of the ‘Favorites’ and ‘Retweets’ are from 1 or 2 of the same people every time, when they have 10,000 or more followers then you have your answer.
First2Board here may have genuinely acquired all of those followers through regular, organic growth, but I believe its likely the didn’t. Now, there is nothing inherently wrong with this, just including it here to show how it is pointless. Yes, having 10K followers is great, but if they are a manufactured group they don’t provide the social media exposure that 10K real followers do.
What could be a defining factor is what they decide to do with that data – if they are selling new clients, or approaching new bloggers to join them based upon stats like the Twitter Follow number, then that certainly crosses ethical lines, but there is no evidence that they are doing this, and if I could speculate I would think that they acquired a list of followers purely to help get their content out there, which is fine, but pointless.
Therefore, remember this phrase budding bloggers:
The important thing with your Twitter number is the Content, it needs to be Quality, and is worthless if measured on Quantity.
Networks of Bloggers Helping Bloggers
There are two main types of Network, one is where bloggers are hosted under the same roof, and one is where they share a brand logo. The former is helpful in that is a collective approach to SEO and Traffic. If you have a popular site and add a new blog to it then that new blog will benefit from shared traffic, and also can offset technical requirements and costs within the group.
The latter type of network is a group like Yakezie, which I joined when I started out blogging, and have quietly left as I saw the standards of other bloggers there weren’t monitored and I didn’t want to be associated with a lot of the complete tripe that is passed off as Personal Finance advice.
People who join Yakezie agree to be more ‘helpful’ to other bloggers in the network. They will share their content, read their content and comment on their content. They will also vote for one another in Blog award ceremonies in order to further add credibility. I joined what they call a ‘summer team’ where we get a condensed version of the Yakezie concept, a shortlist of 8-10 bloggers and we agree to read other peoples blogs within that group , sharing their posts, and commenting etc. I just couldn’t bring myself to read them though as the content was so bad in some.
In fairness there are others within the network that I think are very good, but the mind often casts everything in the same bucket, so they are overlooked. One site I do recommend checking out is DQYDJ.net
As a site becomes more popular bloggers leach onto them and try to gain back links through commenting, and curry favor by sharing content. An example of this is Mom and Dad Money, written by Matt Becker, I was conversing with Matt on Twitter one evening and he asked me to share my comments on his post on Negotiation (because that 140 letter limit is a doozy) there are 49 comments on that post, and not one of them from a real reader (customer) although I think that a couple actually wrote a genuine comment (whilst including back links).
The format is always the same: blogger writes: “Great Post” and occasionally something actually pertaining to the post. In doing so they include a link to their own blog, and hope that the get on the radar. Meanwhile the person who owns that blog is sitting on 49 comments and multiple sharing of his content, so Google thinks he is doing well and ranks him higher (as does Alexa).
Its a snowball effect, which results in propelling people forward in popularity, but the problem is that in the end you just have an ever increasing number of other, less successful bloggers following you trying to get some traffic to their site, and no real readers. Just the same as the fake Twitter accounts.
I’ll take this opportunity to say that Matt from Mom and Dad Money is a LOT sharper than the vast majority of other bloggers in the finance space, and I feel is, unlike the masses, qualified to share good advice on Money matters, so including him here is not a slight on him, but just showing how people leach on success within networks. He is one of the few good ones when it comes to money.
Also, I don’t think that anyone using Yakezie or any other network is a bad person, just reminding you that if you do that your blog is as popular as it was before, despite your metrics appearing otherwise. You cannot expect to be successful when using metrics an Affiliate provides and then gaming to get there. The purpose of the metric was purely to provide a number that could encapsulate real metrics of readership engagement and conversion rates. These are no longer valid when you play the numbers.
Bad Ethics and Bad Faith will burn you
I have recently witnessed a blogger on the Yakezie network make a call to arms in order to secure a new client. They came to a forum there and informing the bloggers that they were trying to land a big client, and if they could promote the site check it out here.
In doing so they are tricking the client into believing their advertising money would be a better investment than it was. I personally find this very distasteful, and dishonest, and will not forge long term relationships, because the conversion rate and ROI will be lower than anticipated once the blogger has the money. That didn’t stop 16 bloggers helping her out. Nothing illegal here, but it just doesn’t seem right to me, and more importantly, it is not how you succeed in business.
It takes a lot longer than you think to be successful
As you can see, Networks like Yakezie attempt to game the system in one way, and operators like First2Board try in another, both with the same goal of fast tracking to success. I myself was tempted by this because I felt I was putting out good content, but it wasn’t getting attention, but the problem is that the attention, page views, comments, and shares are incestuous and therefore have no value. Sure, you may drop your Alexa Score, but nobody gives a crap about Alexa scores other than other bloggers who compare on this scale.
Real readers find and stick with a blog for one reason, and one reason only. CONTENT. If you write good stuff they will come, if you write rubbish that gets a lot of hits from other bloggers then you are kidding yourself. And where is your money coming from? Professional blogging goals are to monetize, but other bloggers aren’t going to sign up for products through your links.
So, back to the matter at hand, Travel Summary is upset that he lost his Credit Karma affiliate links. But the reality is that they would not have been taken away if he had sufficient, genuine customers (readers) to his site. In his case he did not try to falsely inflate his readership by joining Yakezie, or try to game Twitter, but he did try to rise too fast too soon, and couldn’t back it up with conversions. In his defense, he is a nice guy and he wasn’t informed properly by his affiliate manager that this was required. Perhaps if you, as a budding blogger read this post you will know what he did not.
I actually enjoy Travel Summary, content is good, but too fast, too soon was his error.
This is the mistake that everyone will make, they think of the large amounts of cash that can be made from blogging and want a piece of the pie, however unless you have developed a genuine, sufficiently large base of real readers who will interact with your site you are destined to fail. The reason you will fail with Credit Cards affiliates is solely due to the Affiliate, not the Credit Card company.
The Credit Card company demands compliance from the End Customer (the Blogger) and pressures the Affiliate to enforce this. In order for this to work the Affiliate company needs to hire people to monitor the bloggers in their network. The credit card company holds all the cards, in that there is competition among the Affiliate Companies, so if LinkOffers doesn’t provide the level of compliance to Chase’s satisfaction they will stop working with them. Therefore in order for the compliance to be cost effective the blog is given a quota, in cash, for conversions every month. This is perfectly reasonable.
Yes, the Affiliate Manager should tell you this, but they often don’t. Take my word for it, this is what will happen.
With the barriers to blog entry so low, no education, regulatory requirements and very little capital required the number of people who could host a Credit Card affiliate is high, however, only the Blogs with a genuinely high readership (of real people, not other bloggers) will be able to access the best offers. The key to success as a professional blogger therefore is not to seek to falsely inflate you numbers, which is and of itself is dishonest in your professional relationship with the affiliate, nor is it to gain access to the most exclusive offers too soon, since you cannot offer the service you claim to offer.
The secret to success for a real blogger, great content, consistency over time, and caring for your readers. Do not try to fast track by using third party services, they are a waste of money and time. Write good stuff, engage with honest reason and don’t even think that you will make good money from this hobby for a long time.
The good news is that in my opinion, there are so many shockingly bad blogs out there that even if they all band up together to try to game the system your voice will be heard, and you will be successful if you keep producing quality, and don’t run out of gas.
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Matt I think this is one of your best posts ever. Very, very insightful. Great stuff. And right no the money
Thank you sir. Glad you liked it!
Yup, really fine post! I learned TONS.
I’m very glad to hear that, thanks Elaine!
Curious to see how some of the folks you mention react. Very smart to publish it during the Chicago Seminars and that Fin Conf George will be at as it should get more notice.
I guess we will see, I’m always keen for some intelligent debating.
I agree with MilesAbound, I also think it might be your best post. In defense of Travel Summary writer, he did say he made out like a bandit on that Amex Platinum offer! So I’m sure he doesn’t regret monetizing, when he did. 🙂 To be honest, I’m shocked, he couldn’t meet the quota with the amount of readers, he has. And the guy does produce good content.
I agree, that the affiliate companies reserve the right to dump non-performers. It is their prerogative after all. So you won’t hear any complaints from me, when (not if) that happens. It is a choice I made and will have to live with it. Perhaps was a mistake, we will find out soon enough. All I can do is try to give it a 100 percent, when it comes to content. But the odds are not in my favor, I do know that.
Thanks – he will be fine, he writes good content and will bounce back better than ever. But even though he made a LOT of cash from that Amex Plat deal it is in many ways the perfect example of getting short term cash over long term income.
For what it is worth, I think Saverocity is at a similar phase, and as such shouldn’t push forward with more links. The pressure that comes with them is the knowledge that you need to convert readers to buyers, and if you don’t have enough readers you have to convert a higher percentage, and pimp the links like crazy to get there.
You make some very good points. I have great respect for you for having the restraint, when it comes to links. I chose a different route, which I may regret someday. Time will tell.
Hey, who knows, maybe they will pull my links for not promoting them enough, and you get all the cash?
Really isn’t relevant in the big picture, if we can all be pumping out good content years from now I am sure we will all be doing well.
Less successful, no readers, fake followers… Thank you for calling F2B out. You should have done it by name and included a screenshot of the 10k fake followers that they got in a matter of days.
Not really important to me. The purpose was not to have a go at F2B, just show how buying traffic doesn’t get the results you would expect.
They started around the same time as me, according to your stats (I am assuming you are the same person as the made up Twitter account) they have 11% real followers, which is still about 3x what I have, and they do produce good content.
I wish them well, and am sure that if they aren’t the success you expect them to be today, providing they focus on content they will be soon.
In reference to me, you say “but he did try to rise too fast too soon, and couldn’t back it up with conversions”. This is accurate, but I also have to say that it’s simply impossible to know where I stand without sticking my toe into the affiliate waters. I had a big couple of days with the Amex 100K deal, but then that account was shut down. With my new-found popularity I decided to try Credit Karma. I didn’t know how many approvals I’d get. I had no idea. It would be impossible to know if I hadn’t signed up for Credit Karma. While unique visitors is a good indicator of success and popularity, you can’t really know how many people will click and sign up until you actually have the links.
It was absolutely a learning experience. I’m more upset at the way it happened (without much notification or clear quotas) than at the fact that I lost them. But how does a small blogger know when he/she can pump out 20+ signups per month? I don’t think you can until you have those links.
I agree with you, I don’t think you really did anything wrong in this situation and it is a mistake that I would likely make myself. It is worth noting though, that at the time that you engaged CK you had other affiliate progams in play, which should be a good indicator of conversions (though even that has limits).
The post wasn’t supposed to be an attack on you, or F2B either for that matter.
Though there might be a little dig at Yakezie in there.
The whole Twitter / FB followers thing is clearly corrupted. My UK blog had 50,000+ unique visitors last month but has just 600-700 followers each on FB and Twitter. That’s it, totally uncorrupted numbers – and that is with the FB and Twitter links being promoted ‘above the fold’ on every page!
I am more interested in who the 1,592 people are that First2Board is following and how the heck they even begin to get through it! You’d need a full time employee just to get through lot!
Yep, there are several sites like this, and I’m with you in terms of numbers. I am actually a bit lower on unique visitors and also twitter followers – there’s clearly a difference.
That business failure study results seem backwards, for the most part. The conclusions you draw aren’t supported by the data, since many of the business that require enormous starting capital and/or knowledge (transportation, info, mining, etc) are the ones that fail the most. It is precisely the businesses where barriers to entry are low that “succeed” more because their standard of success is so low that any tom, dick and harry can get by and call themselves in business.
For example, in the Real Estate industry, it’s no secret that anyone with half a brain can pass the easy tests and get the license, and so the whole industry is full of part-timers who only get in it to make money off of their friends, and then linger for years in the background, doing little business but in aggregate, taking income away from legitimate full time professional agents. So the low failure rate is misleading, since few people really fail by traditional definitions.
On the opposite ends, if you don’t make money in an industry with low margins like transportation, retail or manufacturing, you’re out. You can’t keep a store open indefinitely just for fun.
Hey Rick,
I agree that the blogger business success number can be artificially high because keeping the blog operational requires little overhead.
You raise a fair point about the Transportation/Communication data – I have to wonder if there is something else at work in terms of the data, perhaps acquisition?
Mining on other hand isn’t really in the same category as ‘most fail’ as over time more of the survive than do not, if only by 1%
Real Estate is a good anomaly also, and what you say is correct, I would say when coming to services I was thinking more of the Financial ones of Finance (CFP,CPA etc) and Insurance sales.
Good points you raised here. Thanks!
Matt, is there a way to sign up to be notified via email when comments post? Or do I just need to pop back now and then as I do with TBB?
Hi Elaine,
There is a little email button at the bottom that says Subscribe – I think that does it, but haven’t checked – let me know!
Ahh, got it, but that button is not easy to spot because it does not come when you post a comment and it follows the “Also on Saverocity” links. You really need to scroll down to see it. Can you move it? I will click it and will let you know if it doesn’t work.
Thanks -yeah it kinda sucks, not sure how customizable Disqus is, but will try. Hope it works out.
A huge elephant in the room no one seems to be willing to talk about, is that in order to get a nice payday, a new kid on the block is pushed to promote really, really sh*tty CC links (with very few exceptions). What that means, it’s not just the number of engaged followers that is in play, it’s the blogger’s willingness to twist, or at least hide information from the readers in order to secure their conversion quota. The more I’m looking at the whole mess, the more I’m feeling that this monetizing method is not my cup of tea. I’m not talking about anyone in particular, but ethics in this game have been screwed up from the get-go.
OK, End of rant. It’s an excellent article, Matt, and I appreciate your and TS’s insights on the business part of this hobby. It’s an eye-opener to some extent. Thanks.
Hey Andy,
There are no elephants in this room. We are more than willing to talk about all the nonsense that occurs in the business.
Firstly – biggest mistake that the newbie blogger makes: CC Links are monetization. Sure, they are one route, but there are many others.
Secondly. it is not necessary to push every link we are offered. I do list my links (something I am debating ceasing) that sometimes include inferior products, but I don’t push them. The only offer you see me include in any post is the Barclay Arrival Card because it is not just a good card/offer in general, but the best that you could find anywhere. If they come out with a 50K offer and don’t let me have it I will pull down those links too.
I remain adamant that the problem is not with the blogger, they are strong armed into encouraging people to sign up for inferior offers, with the risk of pulling their links (earning potential) if they do not. If the system was functioning correctly then bloggers would only ever have the best links and would have no conflict of interest.
Cheers for stopping by, its nice to see a new face on here commenting!
Matt, we’re not arguing here. I was clearly referring to NEW bloggers who, as you put correctly, are being strong-armed into pushing credit card links that are inferior to offers available elsewhere. You probably have some leeway, that new bloggers don’t. I agree that the roots of all evil is are in the system, and I’ve always defended bloggers and their right to get paid for the job well-done.
Hey Andy,
I’m not arguing either, we’re on the same page, just saying I would be happy to talk about any subject here. Though I would say I am a new blogger still myself. I have to filter through the demands to push the links that I get constantly from my Rep. Perhaps the conversion rates that naturally occur provide me with that leeway you talk of.
Oh, and Matt, Arrival is indeed one of the best travel cards out there, but I would add in large print that the $89 fee is waived for the first year. I did find it at the bottom, but then I have trained myself to look for the fine print first. Just a suggestion 🙂
Great article, nice work.
Great post, I think the underlying issue and you address it is gaming the system. You can buy clicks, get your friends to retweet, etc but down the road content is kind.
Garbage rehashed posts get old and stale very quick. You can only pimp the same credit cards to the same user base for so long before they look elsewhere.
Thanks Aaron,
I agree, its all about content, and about time. Last night I had a great chat with a guy in this space and lets not forget target audience too, if the route is a fast buck then simple, might be the way forward.
Just wanted to try out the new commenting arrangement 😉 !!
I just finished verifying that all my loyalty clubs are in AwardWallet and are properly updating. Now I can decide a) what cards to focus on in an upcoming churn and b) what hotels I can book for some travel on the horizon. I already know I want a cash back card or two. Will use your link for the Arrival card. Gotta figure out what else to apply for and then the best links.
Nice to see your opening on the newsletter today about your pledge to give a percentage of the affiliate income to helping those less fortunate. I had forgotten about it but now remember Pack for a Purpose.
On a totally different topic, have you ever done angel investing? We are part of the Oregon Angel Fund which has a very unique (and successful) model. Google it or drop me an email. I am happy to pass along your name if you think you might be interested although I am not sure where they are in assembling the membership for the 2014 fund. Some years there is a waiting list! But since I just got a reminder email about a meeting for new potential investors, there are probably still open spots.
Cheers!
Hey Elaine,
Thanks again for commenting and for thinking to use my links, the Arrival is one I am pleased to talk about since it offers as good a deal as any of the grey offers.
The fund sounds interesting, I am not sure that I have budget for 2014 but it certainly is the type of investment I would be looking to add to my portfolio in the future so would be keen to hear more about it.
Matt,
I meant to reply earlier but my day got away from me. I will email you more about the fund soon as I’d rather do it offline.
Elaine
Great read Matt! (and no, I’m not saying that as a fake comment to gain a backlink, I even pulled my backlink out to prove it). I genuinely enjoyed this post, and can definitely see your point about lame link building and blog networks. As part of that network, I do see the gaping holes in quality, and it is frustrating at times. Heck, I’ve been known to throw up lame posts now and then for ads. My audience may not be at your level, as I write to the more …. ahem …. GREEN financial person, but I do my best to keep it entertaining and solid in regards to the advice given.
I love the call to quality here, though, and am a bit inspired to build something more unique and helpful than what I have already put together. My challenge has been the pressure to put up blog posts for quantity rather than quality, and in turn, has degraded what could be something much better. I’m not sure if it’s the fact that one great blog post a week seems to get trampled by the 5 or 6 others put up, or maybe I just wanted to keep my numbers up for more traffic/ads/affiliates. But one thing is for sure, quantity of content is far < quality.
As for the affiliate programs, I was recently dropped from Credit Karma as well for "compliance" issues. Sucked, but not much I can do now. And I'm 100% with no promoting CRAPPY cards, I just can't do it, no matter what an affiliate manager recommends. My CC page doesn't have links right now, but I will put in link directly to each offer, because I don't have any CC affiliates right now. I would rather a reader get the awesome rewards for their App-O-Rama rather than offer the stupid freaking Discover card.
It sucks that we can't get links to the great cards because the card manufacturers have ridiculous standards. In a fair world, we would help them get their subscribers and get paid, and true readers who understand how to play the game would get thousands in rewards each year without paying fees/interest. But since the CC companies rule the world, you get people like Mr. Money Mustache being asked to change what he writes for compliance…and then he tells them to eat it! http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/06/21/i-just-gave-up-4000-per-month-to-keep-my-freedom-of-speech/
All that to say, thanks for sharing an honest opinion and not watering it down. Don't see that much.
MMM is great. And he makes over $50,000 a MONTH from his blog and readers don’t even know it. They think he’s just living frugally off $38,000 a year with his family.
As a follow up, I recently got accepted to another affiliate program, so the links are back, LoL. But seriously, I only recommend the good cards. 🙂
Hey Jake,
Thanks for the comment, a real genuine comment and it is much appreciated, and I am glad to see you got your links back.
I have no problem at all with people making money, I hope everyone does, but its advisable to keep thinking long term, trusting relationships over a quick buck.
It definitely seems tough for little blogs like this one to get ahead. I’m not sure how you are doing but I would recommend cutting down on the number of affiliate credit card posts you write to try and make money. Introduce more about who you are and your journey.
Hey Joe,
This little blog has hundreds of posts in it, and of that only 2 could be considered ‘about a card’ that is an affiliate of mine. Probably 4-6 more include affiliate links within the post.
If anything, I need to do more!
Cheers,
Matt
Isn’t the latest post on Citi card another affiliate credit card post? Do you or the writer even use these cards? I really think the only way your blog can grow to make meaningful money is if you stop always writing about affiliate posts. Just write more about yourself because there are too many review posts already.
Hey Joe,
No it is not an affiliate we make no money from that card. It is a public information post and posted to share awareness.
A lot of the things we do revolve around credit cards so announcing a new card is important information and useful to the reader.
If you want to learn more about is check out the trip reports that shows what we do and why.
Reminds me of when I used to work for a company that did all sorts of things to inflate the books (legally, within the auditing rules, of course) to make quota. A few days ago, Award Wallet stared aggressively pushing CC referrals with pop up adverts. Apparently their CC affiliate had put them on probation, so this was the solution. What will they do next month when the quota increases?
With the current trend I wouldn’t be surprised if they start notching it up even more, and come after this site too, since we don’t actively push enough, I may start including more links from now, but try to strike the right balance.
What your saying really resonates with me, Matt. The more experience I build blogging and writing online, the more I distrust blogger networks, Alexa rankings, Facebook likes, Twitter followers, etc. None of those metrics really matter much. It’s well written content and an engaged readership that make or break a website and decide whether it will be successful or not.
And success can only be determined by the sites author. Is it a million page views and fame you want? A steady $xxxx monthly income? A large social networking presence? Everyone defines success differently. You have to find what success means to you.
Speaking of the worthlessness of Facebook likes… A few months ago I ran a few Facebook ad campaigns to try to reach more military personnel, my core audience. I ended up with 300+ Facebook fans. However, my engagement dropped rapidly. No one was liking or sharing my posts. Why? Because Filipino click farm fake accounts were now my #1 fan. Check your Facebook fans…if you find some that don’t really fit your demographic, check how many likes they have. If it’s over 2000, they’re probably a fake account that just likes everything.
Now I have to go through and remove all the fake accounts connected to my FB page to try to reach my audience again. And I wasted money. Lesson learned: don’t worry about social media stats: focus on publishing great content relevant to your readership.
Hey Spencer, thanks for swinging by, I agree with what you say here, and it’s not uncommon to do what you did.
I ran Facebook ads myself since you needed 25 likes to claim the URL slug, and I too wasted cash (other than getting the URL).
I just checked out your blog too, nice work, keep it up!