@loopline as the old saying goes loop, it gets harder to
find good reliable people.
Indeed!
@loopline that is affiliate link there - you could simply post the name of that proxy provider if you really care about community here - like you recommend them and say "look, I'm using this company"
You are sending people to your website from where you have an affiliate link to other company - and you make a profit by that.
You missed the point.
First the company Im using this exact moment is Rotating Proxies ( for anyone else reading this, look at the date of the post, if its been more then a month, chances are the company may have changed)
The Point of the post was to be
timeless. I can't tell you how many times, all year long, I have people message me on my contact forms on my site or PM me here on BHW and say "In this post you said you use So and So to do X, but So and So is out of business, so who do you use now? or I paid for So and So and they no longer work and no Im out all that money."
I don't like getting messages where someone is frustrated because they spent money and wasted it based on something I said in the past that is no longer valid.
After more then 10 years ive learned to future proof my posts so that I don't spend 20 hours a year answering the same question over and over again. (which by the way is a loss, not a profit, but I care about the community so I do it) So now I just give a generic answer and link to a post where I always keep that updated.
Sometimes my posts on my sites have affiliate links, sometimes they do not, it changes from time to time as things change, because some companies offer affiliate options and some do not. I recommend the best option, regardless of if it has an affiliate option. So today the link on that post has an affiliate link, tomorrow it may not etc..
Again thats why I don't post the names, because I try to centralize it and future proof it so the community does not lose money over time when something stops working, because I care about the community. Further I don't like to lose money and I don't want to facilitate others losing money.
If you dont' like affiliate links, thats fine, open it in one browser and copy the url and then paste that in a different browser. Or just do a header check.
Have you seen my youtube channel? I have nearly 150 videos on it
https://www.youtube.com/user/looplinescrapebox/videos
It has 1.2 million views and almost 10,000 subscribers. How much money do you think I make from monetizing it on youtube each month? $0. I don't run ads, because I don't like watching them myself (although I pay youtube to not have to anyway). Because I care about the community and don't want them to have to do something I don't want to do.
The point is Im not out to make a bunch of money. With an affiliate link, it costs the end user zero extra time and zero extra money, so I use them. Do I make a few bucks off that a year, yes I do. You want a disclaimer?
Here it is Disclaimer: if you visit one of my sites, it may or may not have an affiliate link. If it has an affiliate link then I make a few dollars on it. How much? With the time I invest in giving away advice and making videos and posts and everything else, I make less then $1 per hour, which is currently 1/12th of minimum wage. In other words I could make more then 12 times as much by working at McDonalds flipping hamburgers here in Arizona, USA.
You said "you make a profit by that."
The problem with your statement is that the dictionary defines "profit" as = a financial gain, especially the difference between the amount earned and the amount spent in buying, operating, or producing something.
Did you notice the part about "the
difference between the amount earned and the amount spent in buying, operating, or producing something" the difference between me buying, operating and producing the content, videos, posts and other info I do for the community is a loss. I spend far more dollars and time to produce and operate all the stuff I give away then I take in from affiliate links, that means I take a loss. A loss is not a profit.
So if your complaining that me having affiliate links on my website is a way of reducing my loss to a little less then it would be otherwise, well then you have a valid complaint from a technical standpoint because its accurate. But you complained that I make a profit, and thats invalid, I take a loss, I just try and reduce that loss so that I can still take care of my family and help the community at the same time, because I actually do care about the community.
Now that I stated the sheer clear facts, it begs the most important question which is - Why the crap are you against people making a profit in the first place? Do you set around all day and go out and give out food to the homeless people in your community and give away all your money and never make enough money to take care of yourself and perhaps others?
I don't know if you have ever done the math, but if you make no money, you can give away no money. In order to be able to give away money and help to others, you must make at least some money.
Anyway, my website has all sorts of resources, but if you don't want to use it, then its easy, just don't go there.
