It’s 2016 and the people have spoken!
Because that’s what we do in 2016, right?
We speak.
More accurately, some people speak and others create noise.
Yup, this special era of advancement allows us to look at countless pictures of what people ate for dinner.
We get to hear every single reaction to every single news story.
Instead of professional movie critics, we now have a world full of everything-critics.
Congratulations.
And my deepest sympathies.
Yup, the world is noisy.
But, I wonder how many people actually have something to say…
Do we really need to inhale every piece of unnecessary information?
Hell no.
Unfortunately…other than disconnecting, I have no expertise on how to cut through noise.
Well, I guess I do have one obvious tip – Think for yourself and be selective.
So, in my first post of the year, I’m sharing what I think are 5 good questions to ask yourself as you pick mile/point blogs to read in 2016…
Question 1 – Do they still have a voice?
At this point, there are hundreds of these blogs. Probably thousands. Don’t waste time on any that aren’t unique. Would you sit down on a Sunday night, turn on the TV, watch all the commercials, and then skip the show? Of course not. But that’s what some blogs are – one long commercial.
Question 2 – Is it a voice you’re interested in hearing every day?
You have a lot of choices. And many of these “writers” are young kids struggling to put together a coherent sentence. Maybe others like me are old farts in your book. The point is, read blogs you enjoy. If you like technical writing, you can find it. If you like humor, obviously that’s available to you too. Again, be selective. Different strokes for different folks.
Question 3 – Can you trust them?
There’s a blogger I know who has a fancy office, a writing team, and a multi-million dollar income. He doesn’t write his posts anymore. His blog exists to sell products. It doesn’t matter what the best deals are…the goal is keeping advertisers happy.
On the other hand, there are multiple bloggers who turn down big money because they don’t want to mislead their readers.
Which do you trust? The one who cares about his “business model” or the one who cares about you?
Which one would keep writing even if he stopped making money from you?
Question 4 – Do you want to support them?
Don’t complain about bloggers you give clicks to. Clicks are support. If you have a problem with someone, don’t go to their blog. There are plenty of choices…stick with people you like.
Question 5 – What do you get out of it?
Not sure how else to say it – If you don’t like the content, find another blog.
My Picks:
At this point, most of you read more than one blog every day. I think that’s a great way to get your game up. Personally, because of the constant input I get from you guys, I don’t read blogs much anymore. That being said, I feel MileNerd, Doctor of Credit, and Travel Blogger Buzz are the best in the game. I haven’t spent much time on Saverocity or PointsCentric but hear great things from people I trust. I’m comfortable sending people to either. And I’m sure I missed some. The choices are way more varied than when I started here. Back then, it was just Boreding Area (or is it Snoreding Area?) and the other salesmen. Now you have real choices. Oh, I also like blogs like MilesAbound and Travel Summary, but those aren’t regularly updated.
What I Do Here:
Pretty simple…
- I post 5 days a week.
- The best deals in the fewest words.
- Occasionally, I’ll type a longer post when I have something more to say.
- Earning miles and points is the specialty, not much with redeeming them.
- No social media. You’ll never see a MileNerd Twitter or Facebook page.
- No comments on the blog. I prefer it that way. It weeds out a lot of comment page weirdos and allows me to have real relationships/friendships with readers.
- At this point, I depend on your emails for my daily content. It truly is a team effort.
- I don’t think it helps anyone to kill deals and I try to be sensitive about that.
- I’ve been doing this longer than many of the guys I mentioned above. It makes me VERY happy to see more good choices than there used to be.
Final Thoughts To Bloggers As We Enter 2016:
- Don’t call this “the hobby.” It isn’t in the top thousand most popular hobbies in the world, let alone the top one. So when you call it THE hobby, you make it obvious that you need to get out more.
- If you truly think of this stuff as “news,” you’ve got issues. A tweet about Hyatt points isn’t breaking news.
- Clicking “like” isn’t taking a stand.
- It’s a fine line between expressing an opinion and being negative. Don’t become a hater.
- Here’s the thing about haters – they really don’t have anything to say. That’s a bad trait for a blogger.
- To anyone looking to start a new blog – I think reselling is the best growing niche. In my opinion, we’ll all be resellers within the next couple years.
- You can’t be everything to everyone. We all do this in different ways. Find your voice and the people will follow.
- Yes, some readers are nuts. But be grateful for all of them.
I’m ready for a big year, guys! How about you?
Back with the usual deals tomorrow…