An Awkward Conversation About Blog Monetization: Opinions Welcome!

I’ve been blogging for over 17 years now, and there’s no denying that the internet has changed a lot in that time period. The reason I’ve been able to “work” 365 days per year is really because this industry is my hobby and passion, so it never feels like work. But ultimately, this blog is also a business (even though it was never the goal when I started writing it), and the way the internet functions has changed massively over the years.

I’m terrible at business and self promotion, because I’d rather spend my time focused on what I love, rather than running some enterprise that maximizes profits at all costs. It’s one of the reasons that I never even entertained selling this site, because I don’t want to have to report to anyone as to what I can write about.

Once in a while, I think it’s also important to discuss things honestly, look at the big picture, and get feedback. After all, it’s thanks to all of you that I’ve been able to make my passion a career.

The truth is that with my mom’s unpredictable six plus year cancer battle, I put off making decisions and having tough conversations, instead spending any extra time that I had with her. But with her having now passed, I also have a bit more time, and am trying to look at things more big picture… which brings me to this post!

Making money on the internet keeps getting tougher

It goes without saying that the internet has evolved a lot in the past (nearly) two decades. This is true big picture, in terms of the increasing shift from written content to video content, but it’s also specifically true for people who write content like I do.

A while back, I wrote about the honest state of travel and points blogging, and as I explained:

• As anyone who publishes content online can attest to, search traffic has decreased greatly, due to Google’s AI Mode (and other similar features), which summarizes answers to questions, rather than linking to actual content
• Speaking of AI, nowadays over half of the content produced online is from AI, so the sheer volume of content one is competing with online has increased massively (and the AI content doesn’t involve the same time investment)
• The way that people consume media has evolved, especially with younger generations getting news via short form video on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, etc.
• We’ve seen multiple travel blogs sold, including to huge media companies, venture capital firms, etc.; there’s nothing wrong with that, but their goals are almost always focused around revenue rather than profit, meaning they might spend millions per year buying online ads
• We’ve seen mainstream media news sites get into the travel story and credit card rewards space, as this just has much broader appeal than it used to
• When it comes to affiliate marketing, the space has become much more fragmented, so it’s not nearly as lucrative as many people assume
• We’ve seen all kinds of sites pop up that are so clearly exclusively about SEO, making it hard to compete on that front

To be clear, none of this is specific to OMAAT, but it’s true (basically) across the board for the internet. It’s also why you’ve seen so many sites change their monetization models.

You have more websites than ever before switching to a subscription model, introducing Patreons, etc. Then you have other sites just switching to pure clickbait garbage, since at least that generates page views, which generates revenue. And then you have other sites that are pushing the bounds in terms of the type of sponsored content they’ll produce (no shade, but TPG has sponsored content about how skincare is like miles & points, sponsored by a skincare company, which… is creative).

That brings us to the OMAAT monetization discussion

I’d like to share some things I’ve been thinking about, though before I do, let me say that I appreciate everyone who reads, and I absolutely don’t want to put things behind a paywall, require people to join an email newsletter in order to read posts, etc. My goal is genuinely to make the experience better or more flexible for users, and not worse. Period.

And let me also say that OMAAT is still dong fine financially, and you’re going to be stuck with me for years to come, as long as I’m healthy and able to write. The truth is that while this isn’t as lucrative as it may have been a decade ago, I love what I do, and the volume of content I create helps me make a good living. However, there are some general things I’d like to invest in to grow the site, but I need to be able to justify that, and actually have a plan.

So I’d like to have an open discussion, and I don’t want to just totally fall behind the times due to my own stubbornness. For example, take a look at how airline monetization in the US has evolved over the years. You don’t want to end up like JetBlue or Southwest, stuck in their ways for too long and not following consumer trends, and then having to catch up in a huge hurry.

With that in mind, let me share some things I’ve been thinking about, and I of course welcome feedback. And if that feedback is “just keep things the same way” or “shut up, you’re irrelevant,” that’s perfectly fine too! In no particular order…

Considering some sort of a paid membership

Like I said, I absolutely don’t want to put content behind a paywall, but I’m wondering if there would be merit to some sort of a paid OMAAT membership. I know many people are annoyed by the ads on the site — I totally get it — so that would definitely offer an ad-free experience.

Of course I’d also like to throw in other things, and I’m curious what people would enjoy. We did virtual happy hours back during the start of the pandemic, so would that or anything else interest people?

Look, I don’t want to make the membership sound like one of those hotel “destination fees,” where I add 20 features to the list, with 19 being total BS. But I’m truly open here, and would like to figure out the best way to add value in a way that people would appreciate.

Just to be 100% clear, I don’t want anyone to part with a dime of their hard earned money out of guilt or anything else — I appreciate you reading regardless! I’m just trying to explore if there’s anything people might value.

Taking a new approach to advertising monetization

Currently, you’ll find virtually no sponsored content on OMAAT, and that’s by design. Meanwhile display ad space is sold through BoardingArea, typically as part of larger network campaigns, and they do a great job, within those limitations.

That being said, I do think it’s time to focus a little more on how this can be improved, and the quality of ads displayed (in other words, I feel like there are more efficient monetization opportunities than ads for foot fungus cream, or something).

I don’t know the best way to say this modestly, but OMAAT has a pretty great and highly engaged community. The primary focus of this blog is premium travel. Of course it’s a diverse community, and you have people who read for all kinds of different reasons.

But a high percentage of readers are those who spend a lot on travel, and want to make the most of it. The primary focus of OMAAT isn’t “gaming,” or “traveling for free” (I detest that term in general, since it makes such a great headline, but always leads to disappointment). For example, I’m always amazed how many people comment who book cash Air France La Premiere first class tickets. I hate the concept of thinking of readers as the “product,” which is part of the reason that I suck at monetizing this site in the first place, because I cringe thinking of things that way.

Perhaps it’s time to have more targeted efforts there. And maybe I’m just totally putting myself out there more than I should, but hey, maybe it’s time to throw out the idea of some travel brand that would like to exclusively sponsor the site or buy out the ad space for some amount of time. I mean, travel brands love to sponsor stadiums and advertise in airports, so is it stupid to think of a similar concept for a website?

To be clear, my hope is that this would all improve the reader experience, by having fewer and higher quality ads. So if anyone is a decision maker at a travel company (or whatever) and is generally interested, you can reach out to [email protected] to discuss.

Dabbling with a unique angle on video content

Admittedly we’ve seen a shift from written content to video content. While I’m not saying I think that’s temporary, I also don’t think that video is the “final frontier” of internet content consumption. And just as blogging was cutting edge 20 years ago, and video was cutting edge several years ago, there will also be the next thing.

Furthermore, I think on some level things go through cycles, and there’s also a generational angle to this. Yes, many younger generations don’t understand the concept of actually reading stuff online, and get all their content via video. But many older people are the opposite, and detest video content.

Personally, I’m not someone who tries to be a “jack of all trades,” and while I’m working on getting back onto social media, I sure as heck am not going to abandon blogging for video content. And the truth is that it’s really hard to get good still pictures and video when reviewing a flight, so I’m not looking to shift in that way.

That being said, I did have an idea that I’m genuinely passionate about. One of the things that makes the airline industry so interesting to me is the characters in it. The airline industry attracts some of the quirkiest and most passionate people you’ll find anywhere. Yet a vast majority of people who follow the industry never really appreciate who these characters are, as they’re hidden behind their brands.

I don’t know how realistic this is, but I’d love to do some sort of a happy hour-style interview series with executives and other characters from the industry. It would be about getting to know their fascinating personalities and perspectives on things, rather than just them reciting their typical talking points.

The point wouldn’t be to get them in any sort of “gotcha” situations, but generally just to have a chat to get to know them. I’m not sure how realistic that is, though:

• I know a lot of people in the industry, and while there are things they’ll absolutely say off the record, getting them to agree to talk on the record in a casual way may be challenging
• I’m sure on a corporate level, the concept of this would face a lot of scrutiny, as they’d probably see more downside to upside

Is it worth giving a try, and am I the only one who thinks this would be interesting? Hey, if industry people aren’t willing to talk to me, maybe some of the more prolific OMAAT commenters could join me for a discussion, so we can get to know them too. 😉

Bottom line

I must admit, writing this post took about as much mental energy as writing 10 other blog posts, because I hate discussing “business” things, and this is way out of my comfort zone. Nonetheless, once in a while I have to put a little bit of thought into this stuff.

I’d really appreciate any feedback that people have. It could be on any of the ideas I brought up, or it could even be other ideas I haven’t thought of.

Let me emphasize that my goal is to not actually change anything about the core of the site. My hope is that through more thoughtful and efficient monetization, I can focus more on producing the content that people enjoy, and less on the content that I feel I have to write to “pay the bills.”

The world changes, and just because something worked for the past decade, doesn’t mean it’ll work for the next decade. Maybe my conclusion from all of this will just be to keep things the way they are, but I’d at least like to feel like I tried to think about it, rather than just wondering.

More than anything, thank you so much to everyone for reading and for the support!