Here’s my gift to you in my observations from writing this blog. I’ve met/exchanged emails with lots of people who have started manufactured spending for the miles/points/cash back. There are readers two that really stick out in my mind that I have had the pleasure of interacting with.
I’ve noticed they possess:
- They have a tremendous drive for success
- They are curious
- They are willing to learn
When we all participated in #milemadness, I did not think about it until now. Every contestant have the 3 characteristics above and I can’t single out any one of them, I would be doing them a disservice. As a reminder you should check out who participated. Don’t forget about the one player that gamed it so well he actually became disqualified!
To bring it all home, we’re all in the same field and it’s completely level. You need to spend the time to know your own area and market. These guys on FlyerTalk are not doing it whatsoever. I was going to provide a few contributions, but seeing that they all want to be spoon fed I decided against it.
All that being said, the two readers schooled me and if there is a promise land of manufactured spending they got there. They want to be successful in manufactured spending so they put the time in and were curious enough to learn new ways of generating those points. Some folks, like Marathon Man, in the Level 2 Manufactured Spending have turned manufactured spending into a business and have signed up for reseller certificates and ability to collect sales tax in various states.
I think there’s one more very important one. They are willing to try something without being sure whether it will work. Of course you want to start cautiously, but no discoveries are made without experimentation.
That is an important one! Need to be willing to take some risk to try it out
I honestly would appreciate more substance and fewer inspirational points. In addition, I would strongly caution all fellow hobbyists who are not bloggers or Maraphon Man against trying to replicate his success. I love MM, but he is unique; he’s been doing it forever; and he is passionate about this stuff almost to the point of madness.
The last tidbit is meant as a compliment, by the way. There is nothing wrong about following your heart. Yet, there is everything wrong about pouring countless hours of work into MS simply because someone else is doing it, and it’s not you. Think about how much your time is worth in real life. If you insist on turning your hobby into a job, you don’t want to be working for the minimum wage.
Bluntly speaking, and I’m sorry for being harsh because I usually love your posts, I don’t see the gift.
Thanks Andy for the comment. Agreed, MM is quite unique.
The gift was more of what these two guys showed me. It opened my eyes to opportunities that I never considered because they were curious about a certain process and to break the mold and try it out. They were able to find success in areas that many people didn’t think it was possible.
It’s more of a behavior that we need to change to reach a new plateau. There are so many things I wish I realized/saw/experienced sooner that I wanted to put forth so others can feel inspired and take action.
@ Andy Shuman I completely agree with you, and thanks for being the voice of reason in this hobby. The extent to which people do m/s is alarming to me. It has almost become a religion of sorts.
No disrespect to the author, as I find your posts helpful.