So here we go, another year has come and gone. This is my update for 2020 (shoot me for being a bit early on this one if you want to...) and I wanted to bring everyone up to speed with some of the amazing partnerships I have going for next season. First off, thank you all for continuing to follow me here and also subscribing to my YouTube Channel. It's a long, hard road to get things like this going, but it's slowly but surly getting there. Now, let's get on to the purpose of this page.
"Paying For This Blog With Links"
In May of 2016, I started this blog as a golfer who just didn't have the money to play golf regularly. It was really hard to justify spending $50-100 a day playing a game that really didn't give me anything back when the money just wasn't there. That's when I realized that there were plenty of ways to play better golf that didn't involve anything more than practicing for free or in low cost ways.
As the following began to grow, I found more people asking me to let them know what though of this ball or that club. For the most part, something as simple as a sleeve of balls was easy enough to grab and I could test all sorts of clubs in stores so that was fine. Then people wanted me to get into on course testing - which is a bit more expensive - so I created a revenue stream using affiliate programs online. Now, I make almost nothing on these links (usually between 1%-4% of the sale) and I have to bank over $100 before I get paid. When you think of yourself buying a dozen balls at $20 and me getting $.40 for it, well, it's not a pretty thing as it 2500 dozen balls for me to get a check. But each and ever dozen gets me closer to that 2500 that I need. If you get something larger (a bag, a cart, a club, etc...) I get there much faster. Still, it's an uphill climb to make enough to even start justifying testing products.
"And Then A Few Helpful Vendors Appear"
As the blog began to switch to a vlog format, more and more help began coming in from vendors. As I began digging around the internet, I started finding more and more sites that offered even better deals as well. 2018 was turning out to be a good year to start finding the right things to help you improve your game for less money. Then, as things just started to get interesting on the testing front, my journey took another turn as I accepted the Assistant Professional job at a local course. As the year went on, testing went away, as did most of the content. With the beginning of 2020, I'm hopeful that this will change.
"Testing Budget Items Gets Expensive"
So, what you see off to the right of this page is a list of vendors that you can shop at that will help fund this blog and help me spread the message playing more golf for less money and play better while doing it. That said, for every "good" item that I post, I probably get 2 or 3 bad ones that I just don't post about. Maybe I need to, but I don't want to be pigeon-holed as that negative guy that never likes anything, so I've been honest about products, but I haven't shared them all. Great examples of this is the fact that I had an amazing experience with the Cut Blue ball early in the year, but then they failed to deliver them when I ordered them. They were kind enough to cancel my order so I could order something else, but it was part of the experience that I had, so it was shared. Another ball, this one from Hawkeye Golf, tested out amazingly well (still some cover issues) but despite what the site said, they weren't on the current conforming list of balls, so I didn't run it out there as a good option. Even my beloved Aris Hero ball wasn't included on the current conforming list, which makes it impossible for me to share as a good option for everyone. That said, between these three tests, I spent a good amount of money and time do the testing and homework. That gets expensive quickly.
The companies that are placed to the right of my pages are top notch and the best of the best that I have worked with. GolfEtail always has some incredible deals - IF - they have what you need in your size. GolfPad GPS has been one of the most valuable tools I have ever had in my golf bag. I'll do a full video on the entire system and how it changed my game from the green backwards. Continuing down the list, Worldwide Golf Shops and their affiliates have always offered some amazing clearance deals on previous season's gear and their customer service is second to none. Next in line, is one of my all time favorite companies, Ben Hogan Golf. Their new line of irons are phenomenal and their direct to consumer model makes them far more affordable than most other sets of that quality.
Below those are honestly just products that I really like or places that I shop for services from. For example, when I play Blue Boy West in Monroe, I can pick up a tee time at Golf18 Network for about $10 instead of the usual $25 that they charge at the course. GenMobile is a new "cost cutting" cell service with plans that start under $10 a month. In fact, either their 300 minute, unlimited text, 1GB data plan or unlimited talk and text plan is just $10 a month. Imagine how much cash you could save with that every year! Golf Outlets is still listed as once in a blue moon they have something useful at a great price. Discount Medical Supplies, VSP Vision Plans, Bluehost and Yahoo Business Hosting are all services that I have used and will use again in the future.
Overall, these links won't make a ton of money for me, but if by some chance they do, I'll be investing that money right back into the blog in the form of more gear for testing, reviewing and maybe someday - a real give away. For now, they are just there to help me offset the time and money that it takes to get good content done for you as often as I can. So, here's to a bigger and better 2020 for Back In The Fairway!
Updated 01/2019
Since it has been almost 3 years since I started this, I wanted to update this page and bring it more into the present for you. I left the original post at the bottom of this page, but many things have changed since Back In The Fairway was started those few short years ago. As a matter of fact, this has become much more about "capturing my game? than it has about helping others. That's something that I will be changing back to over the next few months, but I felt it necessary to bring that up here since this is the page where I explain to you how I am able to fund things and grow BITF to be bigger and better than it has been in the past. Here is the basic layout, some of which relates to the "What Am I Reading?" page, and some is completely new to this page.
How are things changing with "funding the site"?
Videos over writing... I know this may not be popular to blog fans, but frankly, even finding the time to do simple page updates like this can be challenging. While mobile devices make it easier, writing out full posts on a phone or tablet just isn't "easy" any more. Since I'm devoting (or trying to devote) more time to playing and practicing, I just don't have the extra to do full write-ups any more. That means videos that I can process completely and easily will take center stage, just like they have been for the past few months.
Paying for the blog with links, or not really?
Trying to keep up with affiliate linking is crazy and doesn't really create a ton of cash. Honestly, over my lifetime, I've probably made more money referring private links via email than I have on a blog. That means that I will be doing very few of them going forward since it really isn't worth my time to sign up for said programs only to have 25 people click the link and make no sales. Now, with that being said, I will try and add Amazon links to any product that I am talking about, but honestly, Amazon is usually priced 10-30% higher than the discount golf shops on the items that I talk about, so those links will only be posted on a "good deal" basis.
What about those links you are posting below videos?
For the most part, the rules about posting links that the user gets compensation from are very strict. If I endorse a product, say a golf ball, and put a referral link in the description, I am required to tell you that I am making money from that link. If I am not getting paid or seeing any sort of compensation from a link that I post, then I am free and clear to just post a link to help you find it easier. These non-affiliate links are like those that I post regularly on Twitter with the "daily deals" or just killer sale prices on quality gear. Again, my goal with posting deals is to help you save money, not to help me make money.
How to support the blog when affiliate links go away?
First off, make sure to become a subscriber to the YouTube channel. Growing the channel will help me far more than any fiscal reward could. By growing the subscriber count on the channel, I may have more opportunities to share more products with you. While I will never really want to get into full club testing like some of the professionals out there, it would be huge to be able to test different balls gloves or other consumables for you that I normally would not be able to purchase. Also, you can hit the links below (as well as the advertisements on the home page that I do receive affiliate link credit for) to help support the cost of hosting and producing content. If you enjoy the content and want to see even more of it, you can make a PayPal Me "donation" using the link below as well. Again, I would much rather have you share the channel and let me know what content you would like to see more of at this point in time than have you send money in.
- Back In The Fairway TeeSpring Store - http://bit.ly/TeespringStoreBITF
- Direct Amazon Link - http://bit.ly/AmazonBITF
- World Wide Golf Shops Link - http://bit.ly/WWGSBITF
- GolfPad GPS - http://bit.ly/GolfPadBITF
- PayPal Me Direct Payments - http://paypal.me/lunsfordron
Thank you for reading this far...
If you are still reading this page, thank you for the interest in Back In The Fairway. I hope that I can continue to help you navigate the expenses of the game of golf and help you get more out of the game for less money. As 2019 begins, I plan on trying to create more content that is focused on the budget friendly side of the game as well as continuing the Journey videos for both my weight loss and to qualifying for the Mid-Am.
Thanks!
Ron
Originally Published - 05/2016
First off, thank you for reading this blog. I know your online time is valuable so, I hope you are finding the tips, tricks and equipment reviews helpful to your game.
Something you may or may not know about blogging is that it can tend to get expensive. While the goal of this blog is to find ways for you to save money and get out on the course more, it does cost quite a bit to get the items to try out, even if it's just a sleeve of balls. With ball prices approaching $50 a dozen, clubs costing hundreds a piece and rounds of golf under $50 being a deal, every little bit helps out. This is where you can help me by doing something very simple.
When you click on a link in an article, there is a good chance that it will take you to an affiliate website that offers me a small percentage of your sale for placing the item on this site. I am not compensated in any other way, but that small piece of that dozen balls you purchase or that new hat will certainly help cover the bills for keeping this site up and running.
You can currently support this blog by shopping the following sites as well:
No comments:
Post a Comment