Mile Nerd

1. A small minority of people are freaks when money comes up.
   A few of you sent me a link to the comment section of a blog. I should have known better but I clicked that link (and regretted it immediately). As always, I quickly observed how blog comment sections are the armpit of the internet. It’s just a different breed of stupidity there. These people are so cartoonishly uninformed that they manage to make bloggers look smart. Not easy to do. But lack of knowledge doesn’t stop them from having strong (and almost always negative) opinions. Without knowing my offer amount or any details, these people who don’t know a thing about this blog were getting typically aggressive. As if someone they don’t know being offered money was a personal attack on them. As if their own value would be threatened if someone was doing better than they realized. They couldn’t understand that certain things are more meaningful than revenue. Those small-minded sheep reminded me that…
2. Millennials live on a different planet.
   Millennial land is a strange place. It’s as if nothing exists if it doesn’t happen on social media. Their perception of what is successful is the result of a total lack of street smarts. Their technology-dulled instincts are almost always wrong. What the rest of us experienced humans recognize as shallow fluff…these children get impressed by. They are incredibly vulnerable to salesmanship and to snake oil salesmen. So kids, here’s a lesson you’ll learn when you become big boys and girls. It will likely be after you’ve been burned a few times. Almost everyone who advertises what a “big deal” they are is full of shit. What you see as a success story is often going to be a mirage. But many of the people who don’t need to sell you…who aren’t spending their energy advertising…well, there might be more to them than you know. Your understanding is very limited. Just because this blog was built to exist outside of the bubble of advertising you’re familiar with…doesn’t mean you have a clue of its reach. You have no idea of its impact. What’s actually relevant in this world are people who create something. People who make a real impact on individuals. You can’t measure that with money, fame, or Twitter followers. Oh, and making snarky comments on an internet message board doesn’t make you anything but an example of what not to be.
3. The readers of this blog are incredible.
   The 2 or 3 people above don’t mean a thing to me. What really affected me yesterday were the hundreds of thoughtful emails. I literally couldn’t go 5 minutes without getting another one. Every single message was kind, supportive, and put a smile on my face. Seriously, I was smiling all day long. I’ve never been more motivated to do right by you guys. I mean, the generosity actually moved me. And I’ve gotten nice messages every day for years. Some of you were really pushing me to do what was best for myself. Others were warmly sharing how much you enjoy this blog. Many expressed they wouldn’t keep reading if I left. It was just email after email full of love. Well, as I said, I’ve got no plans to go anywhere right now. The show goes on and we’ll get back to the deals next week. Have a great weekend, nerds!

I think the title of this post probably sums it up. Yeah, I recently got a decent-sized offer to sell the blog. So this is some of what went through my head…

• When I started MileNerd, there wasn’t anything like it. That isn’t intended as a brag…it’s just a fact. There were only a few blogs and all wrote in the same straight, cookie-cutter style. Hard to read…almost like a textbook. For some, that was because affiliates limited their content. But it was also because they weren’t particularly interesting people. And they weren’t really writers.
  Beyond that, the main difference was that I chose to put readers first. Not money, not credit card sales. Readers. And I think it’s a pretty big difference. Probably the reason so many people found me. Maybe why so many of you have been loyal for years. You trust me as a person. For whatever reason, you could always tell the difference. I still don’t know how exactly…are people just that perceptive? But real trust was something other bloggers didn’t have. It was something they didn’t deserve.
• Well, times have changed. There are now other bloggers who can be trusted. Not many. But a few. A couple have been very respectful and gave me credit for being the pioneer of a lot of this stuff. Even for little things like the pictures. The truth is, I feel great about it. I know I helped pave the way for a different kind of blogger. I know what my impact was, even if some don’t. But this new environment made me wonder if it was a good time to consider the offer.
• I literally couldn’t have treated this blog less like a business. As you know, I don’t use ads and didn’t make any money here. No social media. Haven’t even tracked the number of hits for years. So I started brainstorming what value MileNerd would even have to a buyer. And then it hit me – it’s you guys. This thing has a reputation now…it’s a name people can trust. That’s a very rare thing in this game. It takes a long time to earn it. Most bloggers never will.
• I don’t know if mine is the best way. This is just how I chose to do things. So…at this point, the real question is if it’s time to retire my keyboard?
• Writing a blog isn’t necessarily “hard,” but it does take some energy. It might be nice to have a few more free hours in my week. So should I sell?

The answer is, not yet.

I turned down the offer for now.

If you have any thoughts either way, feel free to let me know.