What a surreal month this has been!
I started blogging in November 2004 and I’ve been at it pretty much every day since then. My 20 year old self had no idea what I was getting myself into. 12 years later and I still need to take a step back every now and then and just think about the craziness of earning a living from blogging.
On November 2nd, the night of the 8th anniversary of my wedding, I threw out the first pitch before Game 7 of the World Series. Who knew that it would turn out to be one of the greatest baseball games of all time…though the ending obviously wasn’t what I was hoping for.
I wrote 4 posts on the experience of a lifetime:
1. 8 Years Ago Was The Biggest Night Of My Life, Tonight Will Try To Come Close As I Toss A Ceremonial First Pitch At Game 7 Of The World Series
2. On The “Value Proposition” Of Spending A Million Starpoints For The Experience Of A Lifetime
3. Video And The Experience Of Throwing Out The First Pitch In Game 7 Of The World Series
4. 10 Final Thoughts On Throwing Out The First Pitch
The post went viral on Jewish sites like VIN, but my Tweet to Charlie Sheen, who played Indian’s savior “Wild Thing” in the film Major League, wound up with me helping him get a hotel suite and me being featured as TMZ’s top story. Never thought I’d be on the field with my wife, grandfather, and brother before Game 7. Never thought that I’d have World Series seats just 1 row from the field that would have cost some $30,000 on the resale market. And never thought that I’d see my face on TMZ.
Definitely the most fun I’ve ever had redeeming miles!
On November 11th USAToday named DansDeals as the winner of their best miles and points blog. That was quite the pleasant surprise considering that mileage posts are just one focus of this deals blog.
Without a doubt I have an awesome readership. Some say they even find it addicting 😀
Over the years I’ve turned down many ad requests that I wasn’t comfortable with. Phone resellers have approached me several times and I hired a local attorney, Aaron Evenchik of Frantz Ward, to look into the legal implications of running their ads. The answer was to stay away from it.
On November 16th I wrote about the hundreds of bans that Google handed down to people who had participated in a phone resale scheme. Yes, they violated Google’s terms, but I was incensed and terrified that Google felt that a relatively minor terms violation was worthy of people losing their online identities as well as years of saved files and photos.
It felt like a David vs. Goliath fight, but I got the information I needed from the dealer, wrote the story, and sent it to my social media followers as well as news organizations. I hoped that it would strike a chord with people and go viral and that’s exactly what happened.
Within 25 hours Google was under enormous pressure to respond and they let everyone who had a legitimate account back in again. It also started a much needed conversation on hundreds of websites about backing up data and about how much control over our lives we cede to faceless organizations.
And I sure never thought I’d see a DansDeals post on the front page of Google News:
Most of the news outlets got the story right, though some got it ridiculously wrong before I corrected them:
Gizmodo was guilty of terrible reading comprehension as well:
Some readers have emailed me about accounts that slipped through the cracks and weren’t reactivated, but I now have a contact at Google and she has been able to get those accounts reactivated as well.
It felt great to be able to help so many people out. Seeing the joy in this DDF thread from people who had gotten their accounts back and emails like this one make it all worthwhile:
Like I said, quite the surreal month.
I turn 32 this Saturday, the 12th anniversary of when I started this blog on the day I turned 20, while volunteering for the year as a teacher and mentor on shlichus at a school in Sao Paulo. I sometimes wonder what I would be doing if not for blogging, but it’s months like this one that show me that I can still be surprised week after week, even after 12 years on the job.
And so in this week of thanks, I thank G-d for the opportunity I’ve been given, I thank my wife for putting up with the craziness that comes with 24×6 blogging, and I thank each of my readers for coming along for the ride.
Now, if only I could figure out how to make this week’s headlines 😀
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30 Comments On "What A Month!"
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Nice. How do you making money blogging!
@Anonymous:
What, you didn’t pay the annual fee yet?
Advertisers pay the bills 🙂
Announce a candidacy run for for president in 2020.
Mazal tov!!
Best post ever!!😉
Really really amazing, we owe you a thank you for blogging and not doing whatever it is you wonder you would do.
Till 120!!!!
Thank you for running this amazing site.
Keep up the good work!!
@Dan:
Dan can it be waived for the first year? If not I’ll HUCA
@Dan we all owe you major thanks for all the $$$ we earned from the points game and from all the great deals!! Kudos to you!! keep em coming!!
Dan,
Keep Calm and Blog On.
You’re doing a wonderful job!
מחיל ×ל חיל! I love the fact that you can earn a living helping others save money and get good deals
Dan; Although I suggested a live Dans Deals forum to you in the 5 towns area a few years back and was unfortunately unable to attend in person, I’m glad you saw it to fruition and enabled and empowered so many people with your experience.
In person or online, Yid and non yid have benefited from your insights and you’ve warned us of potential horror stories.
As I’m sure I speak for the many, we owe you a great deal for literally transforming the way people see perks, miles and FF clubs.
Although you mention the ad revenue, us early followers know you started of with hardly any ads and really did this out if the kindness of your heart, only trying to help as many people as you could. Thank you.
Mazal tov on your bday. MAy God bless you and famy with much health, happiness and amazing deals….
@Dan thanks for everything you do for us.
You are a very talented writer and have a special way with the pen, you should consider writing a book on your experiences. I’ve got some cool ideas for you, email me…
Dan you are helping thousands of people make money!!!
Dan you inspire me with these kind of posts. Although I love the posts with good deals, I do look forward to posts like these. The way you write you would think your an author. Thanks a lot. By the way, is there a dansdeals seminar coming to Brooklyn soon, I never made it to any and would love to be at one. If you don’t have one planned, can I offer to help plan one?
@Dan have u seen an uptick in site traffic since wearing ur jersey at World Series?
Dan your fight with google is inspiring. Maybe you can help all those Amazon sellers who have been messed over by Amazon for doing nothing wrong (or something extrememly minor) and gotten their accounts suspended? Theres even a frum support group for it, maybe you can champion their cause as well!
What do the Cavs, Indians & Browns have in common besides Cleveland?
All of them cannot play football.
Next November Indians WS champs and the Browns relevant.
You’re living the life Dan. You’re living the life.
Don’t pat yourself on the back till you resolve the el al labor disputes. JK Happy b-day
@Dan Thank you. Your work has basically allowed me to have long distance relationships and countless funny conversations with my frum friends. Seriously, I really appreciate you. I’ve even find mentioning your blog somehow creates a kinship with strangers. Happy birthday Dan!
Happy birthday!
Awesome! Kol Hakavod. Your site is a great resource.
Congratulations. May you continue to find fulfillment, satisfaction, and profitability from this blog, while continuing to help so many people; no matter what direction the points/miles game takes. I think this past month showed what a wide appeal this blog has past just the credit card people, which is why it’ll survive when the little guys that couldn’t build up readership like you did fail. You thankfully don’t have to sell out to bankrate or fold.
@Anonymous:
Advertisers, affiliate shopping links, affiliate credit card links.
I got exited at first from the title. I thought your going to revel some secrets between the lines.😌
Dan, I read your posts every day and I’ve followed your advice and suggestions, and your links to many great deals especially with miles and credit cards. Thank you so much for all these and for answering my once-in-a-while questions at dansdeals. Happy Birthday and best wishes for continued success! 🙂
Thank you Dan for all your helpful posts! Happy birthday and continued Hatzlacha!
What about Trump winning the Presidency???
@Dan Any plans on modernizing the look of the site? I Love the content, but the design seems like you haven’t updated it at all in 12 years…