Big Changes and Time for a Heart to Heart

You may have noticed that I haven’t posted anything for about a week and it’s not because there hasn’t been anything to share … it’s because there has been a significant change in my life.

For the past few years, I have been employed as the Director of Business Development for a large multinational engineering firm.  In this position, I was lucky enough to learn quite a few things and visit some fun destinations, however, all that came to a screeching halt on Tuesday.

I was laid off from my position due to the fact that there hasn’t been much work coming in for the past few months.  Whether they made the right decision or not is something only time will tell but regardless of the outcome, I am now in a position where I need to make a significant life choice.

For the time being, I want to make a go of PointsNerd and see if I can turn it into a full-time gig.

A Tough Decision

I’ve been writing blog posts on PointNerd for about 10 months.  In that time, I have developed a fairly strong following and have been amazed at the amount of interaction I have had with my readers.

I have always believed that if I was willing to put out good quality content that the rest would take care of itself and for the most part it did.   Expenses such as hosting, webcams, microphones and other items were just something I paid for out of my own pocket because I wanted to make it as easy as possible for my readers to get the information they want.  In return, I have had some sites reach out to me for my opinion on news items and have had some world-class entities like Hainan and SPG recognize my work and most importantly, my readers have been using my referral links which have resulted in a nice boost to my miles balances.

With that being said, none of that has turned into actual money coming in and prior to Tuesday, that didn’t matter.  But it does now.

As you probably know, I am a family man with a beautiful 8-year-old daughter and a loving and supportive wife.  I am truly a blessed man … I mean look at em …

As the primary bread winner of the family, the loss of my job means that I need to find a way to support the family as quickly as possible.  And while I have always tried to keep PointsNerd as pure a site a possible, I need to make a few changes.

Painless changes … I hope.

What’s Changing?

In order to generate revenue, here are some things that I am considering doing:

• Introducing ads to blog post
• Having affiliate links in blog posts
• Offering credit card consulting for individuals and businesses
• Offering an award booking service
• Offering paid workshops to teach people about miles and points
• Starting a Patreon campaign

Now, I’m not fully committing to these things yet but wanted to give a fair warning that these things may be coming.  The first two bullets are what may affect the site on a day to day basis the most so I’m going to explain this a bit further.

Ads and Affiliates – the Truth

Many bloggers out there rely on ad and affiliate revenues to make ends meet.  PointsNerd will be no different.  The difference is that I want to be as up front and transparent as possible so that I don’t betray your trust.

Ads are going to be very similar to what you see in other sites’ blog posts so it shouldn’t be too hard of a pill to swallow.

Affiliate links are something of a different animal.

For those that don’t know, affiliate links are links to products or services that you may find useful.  If you click on those links and buy a product or a service, I would receive a commission or a finder’s fee if you will.  These links are embedded everywhere around the web and you may not even realize it.

Affiliate links are meant to be hidden from the general public but I don’t want to do that to you.

That’s why I’m telling you right here and now that there are very likely to be affiliate links in my posts.  I will also provide a disclosure in each post telling you if there is an affiliate link in the post so you aren’t blindsided.

I’m doing this because I want to give you the option of supporting the site or not.  If you found the information on the site useful and want to purchase something, it would make a world of difference if you used my affiliate link.

If you don’t find the information useful, email me or make a comment and I’ll do my best to address the discrepancy.

My Promise to You

While I will have affiliate links on my posts, I will NOT put up an affiliate link if I would not sign up for the deal personally.

If I find a way to save you $50 off a hotel room.  I’ll post it.

If I find a way to save you $50 off a hotel room but the rate is $100 higher than if you went through another channel, I will post the alternate method so you get the best deal possible.

I will not betray your trust for a quick buck.

What You Get In Return

Hopefully, you can see that I’m putting myself out there and trying to be as transparent as possible.  I have always believed in freely sharing my knowledge and helping as much as possible and that won’t change.

I will continue to bring you ways to save money in your travel and guide you through this jungle of information.

I will continue to answer your comments and questions to the best of my ability with information that you can action.

I will continue to be open and honest with you.

I’ve also got a few exciting things in the works that I will reveal in due time but I’m always trying to find new and interactive ways to involve you and get you up to speed on how to best leverage your miles and points.

A Final Word

I just want to say thank you to my readers and for all you have given to me so far in this journey.  I apologize in advance if this is not what you want but unfortunately, I am in an untenable position … I must find a way to support my family.  Full stop.

Hopefully, you can understand that and will continue being a supporter of PointsNerd.

Thank you.