Mile Nerd

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…

(I’m on my annual 2-week blog vacation and will see you again January 4th)

Years ago, my family had gotten interested in this mile/point stuff and I didn’t have anywhere to send them. My mom wasn’t going to spend hours a day digging through Flyertalk. And I sure as hell wasn’t comfortable sending her to any of the sharks disguised as dorks. Even back then, I watched as those clowns put on their costumes and danced around in their bow ties. I knew they were bad news.

So, being the stubborn hillbilly I am…I said, screw it, I’ll just try to do this myself.

In those early days, I hadn’t considered the possibility of people finding MileNerd. But that happened in a hurry. A dozen here, a couple hundred there…it didn’t take long to reach the first thousand readers. Things kept growing even though I hadn’t planned for an audience. So I asked some of those people why they were coming back every day. The answers varied, but it usually came back to the same 3 things…

1. A lack of fluff. My focus on the best deals in the fewest words was simple. The blog was useful and easy to read. Readers responded to that.
2. Enjoyment. People (for whatever reason) liked my personality and felt like they knew me. They liked how I made them laugh.
3. Trust. People felt I was being honest with them. They were somehow able to realize I looked out for their best interests. In those early days, they were used to blogs being written like corporate memos and had been searching for something different.

I realize it more with each year that passes. I see it everywhere. People are tired. They’re tired of the bullshit at work…in their relationships…in their own heads.  Maybe you’ve noticed how a walking Saturday Night Live sketch named Donald Trump is actually a contender for President. Think about that. The host of The Apprentice could actually become the most powerful man alive because people are that starved for someone to be real with them. The world is so sick of bullshit that now it’s even taking this strange, twisted, toupee-wearing joke seriously. Because “at least he’s real.”

But he’s not.

And neither are you.

It’s hard to be real. Most of you are comfortable admitting that. You know it all too well. It’s why you’re starved for little doses of realness – because, deep down, you know you’ve lied to yourself in the biggest ways. Who you are, where you are, and why you’re there.

We are a world of certified, licensed bullshit artists.

We all realize it at different times and in different ways.

Most of us will never be brave enough to be truthful in the ways we need most. We’ll never be as powerful as we could have been. We’ll never be as successful as we should have been. We won’t find our bliss. We will squander our potential because, when it really comes down to it…we won’t be real enough to break out of our boxes.

So we find comfortable little pockets of realness. Maybe you tell yourself you’re real because you don’t hold back your opinions. Or maybe you think you’re real because you’re not scared to be tough on yourself.

Or maybe you write the MileNerd blog and you’re “real” because you can call a spade a spade.

Really?

A few years ago, I was seconds away from dying. Getting thrown around like a rag doll…alone…deep in the Atlantic Ocean. It was over for me. My girlfriend and everyone else at that Puerto Rican beach thought I was dead. But something interesting happened out there. The never-ending thoughts that circle around in my head and seem so critical…well, for the first time, they went away.

Poof.

I literally needed to be fighting for my life in the middle of the ocean to be real for a minute. The small, limited ideas of who you are. That’s what you protect more than anything. Sure, you love your spouse. And if you have kids, of course you’d die for them. No question. But, more than anything else, you are absolutely obsessed with yourself. With your identity. That’s what drives you. You are driven by bullshit.

My point is this…

I hope you travel.

I hope you go on adventures.

You never know what miles and points can lead to.

Be an explorer in the world and within yourself.

That’s what I wish for you next year.