So it’s been a month or so since I last posted. I need a change of pace from writing Javascript to writing some words and sentences that don’t end with a semi-colon or curly bracket.
This post from Shoemoney was brought to my attention earlier today.
Basically, some fool wants to know why good affiliate marketing blogs “die out” after time. Somehow, PPC.bz gets mentioned with actual good blogs like bluehat and slightlyshady. ( Notice, unlike the bear jew Shoemoney, I link to things I talk about.)
History of PPC.bz – Why Did This Blog Start?
I did not start this blog to show how smart or clever I am. I started this blog because I had a domain sitting around, and thought it would be fun to make a mockery of affiliate marketing.
It certainly wasn’t for money either, because it was about a year, maybe two, after this blog started before I even put some ads up or promoted any product via affiliate link. I doubt any of the other blogs mentioned were started for money. If they were, shit, at least they had good content.
The problem arises when affiliate blogs are started for money. Idiots start blogging because they saw John Chow or Shoe get rich by blogging so now they’re blogging about ‘getting rich by blogging.’ These clowns are people that just regurgitate low-level information, spam referral links to ‘networks’ they haven’t pushed $1 with, or simply publish bullshit about “success” while living still living in their moms basement. ( i kid with Nick though – he is a beacon of hope in the affiliate industry.)
Whatever the case, when the intentions are about money and not providing real value, you get a shitty blog that only the dumbest, most novice people will return to. The fucked up part is that there are a lot of these mindless followers, and that only strokes the ego of said blogger so they continue with their bullshit.
Ah, the glory days…
At the time when PPC.bz started (late 2008-ish), it was the heyday of flogs and acai berry rebills. “Oh what’s that? You need a colon cleanse too?” Facebook Ads were calling out ladies with ‘muffin tops’ and Obama himself was giving out government grants. One simple trick.
At the time, networks respected their affiliate managers because you couldn’t just hire any person off the street to do this job ( I mean you could, and that’s what networks do now- but still.) Networks like Copeac still paid affiliates because money just flowed in – people like Deepak Agarwal were still paying those networks because they weren’t on the run from the law getting their assets seized.
At the time, Vince Offer was pitching Shamwow all over the TV, instead of going to prison for slapping hookers.
At the time, the greatest Pitchman of all, Billy Mays was still alive and pitching. R.I.P. Homie. :: pours one out ::
So I threw WordPress on this domain, gave my friends accounts, and people posted a whole lot of funny bullshit.
But it was also a good time for “gurus” who churned out shitty info products at an alarming rate. This excess of informational product bullshit sparked some ideas so I cornered the niche on breaking guru balls. If there was a guru out there promoting shitty shit, you best believe I was gonna Photoshop jizz in their face.
The craziest part of all was the affiliate rap music. I mean, there was some honestly good shit produced. This is still my favorite. SPAMTECH COMING WITH THE FORCE CANT HOLD US.
How fucking high were we?
Why Do Good Blogs Really Die?
Yo what the fuck was I talking about anyway? Gettin’ sidetracked reminiscing on the good ol’ days.
I do hate to do this, but I agree with Shoemoney in his post.
The more you know, the less you want to share. Especially in an industry that severely lacks in the originality department. When you provide good value, you get linked to and talked about. At first PPC.bz provided little value, but the content was funny and caused controversy. The popularity increases your reach, so when you give away a specific technique or resource, it gets pounded into uselessness much faster (concerning useful blogs, of course). Strategy X or Z is no longer exploitable when every body knows.
But there is something that Shoe forgot to mention. Earl Grey addresses it in that post’s comments: …Some people just cant multi task. Or more specifically: Writing content that provides value takes a lot of fucking time.
I don’t know why the other blogs mentioned died off (I think nickycakes has a podcast or something now though) … I can’t speak for them, but thinking about it now, some of my best posts took a solid half a day to write. Sometimes it is just exhausting to write this shit. I can’t imagine how long it took Eli of Bluehatseo.com to write some his posts that took like 20 sheets of paper to print. YEAH BACK IN THE DAY I READ SEO ARTICLES ON THE TOILET. WHAT OF IT?
But there was definitely a time when I was pumping about 3-5 posts a week here, maybe more.
For me, writing is a labor of love. The ROI on writing is pretty dismal, so when I have goals to reach I actually work on them instead of spending 5 hours writing what is essentially a book report. Sure I can pitch some more shit, but then the value of the blog decreases when every other post is “here buy this!”
You can make more money simply by applying the shit you’re talking about. That simple. After the first year or two or three, the novelty wears off. Time is valuable and you don’t want to waste it. There are only so many guru products I can bash before it becomes more “work” than “fun.” (I still can’t believe I am #1 for his name. Buddy, I will delete that post… for a small price, of course…)
There is only so much time you can dedicate to blogging before you are choosing to go down that path….
Does one focus on the actual work of building a campaign or business, or does one try to brand himself as the business? “Do I want to write every day?” “Do I want to be at every single conference, snapping pics of my dinner plate that some network paid for?” “Do I want to shill myself for company XYZ6 even though most of the industry hates them?” “Do I want to cater to newbies?!” No, No, No, and FUCK NO! (OK I did the last one a few times but I try to keep it classy)
You’ll blog less because its more profitable to do other things – or you just don’t like being a conference going-whore picture whore. If you want to get rich blogging (ie; make it worth your time), you have sell the fuck out. I shudder at the thought.
Finch is starting to figure how to make blogging pay consistently, but he’s British and they study the Oxford Dictionary in grade school. I bet he writes those posts in his sleep. They fucking love to write.
Will PPC.bz Go to Heaven?
Let me just say that PPC.bz isn’t dead yet. Yeah, the time between posts seems to get longer and longer, but I still do enjoy writing [this very post you’re reading!] But at this point in my life, I’d rather spend my time working on my own business then spending all my time trying to become a full-time, full-fledged, free-dinner-grubbing, blogger.