Today is a big milestone here at The Cranky Flier. This is my 1,000th post. It has been nearly 3 years since my first post went live on August 15, 2006. It’s incredible to think that I’ve gone from that lame intro post to a site with more than 100,000 page views each month. (There have been 108,936 in the last 30 days.) It has been a great ride, and now it’s time for me to start thinking about what’s next. Hopefully you can help.
But first, let’s take a look at some fun-filled facts from the first 1,000 posts.
- Delta has shown up in the most posts, 112 to be exact. Southwest is second with 95, United third at 92, and US Airways fourth at 91.
- I have written about Alitalia 32 wonderful times. It’s been all too quiet lately, so I hope they screw something up soon.
- I’ve written about LAX 44 times, London/Heathrow 10 times, New York/JFK 9 times, and my personal favorite (now flightless) airport-to-hate, Palmdale, 8 times.
- My most commented-on post was the popular sweepstakes from last year that resulted in 299 comments
- Of the 13 Cranky Jackass awards, United has earned the most with three. (But only US Airways has earned the fire-red-with-anger Cranky Jackass)
Now let’s talk about the future. As you know, I put a lot of time into this blog, and I love every minute of it. That being said, it’s not exactly helping to pay many of the bills. Does that mean I’m stopping? Absolutely not. But it does mean that I need to look at ways of generating some more revenue without compromising the editorial integrity of the blog and without charging for what you already see.
So where does that leave me? With a couple options. First, I do offer freelance and consulting services (I have active clients now). If you have any projects that you would like to discuss, please send me a note at cf@crankyflier.com.
Second, I would like to see if I could develop something above and beyond what you see today that you might find to be worth paying for. Yes, it’s the much-heralded “freemium” model at work. But this is where you come in. Is there actually anything you’d like to see from me that you’d also be willing to pay for?
Would you pay for deeper analysis?
Would you pay for email subscriptions that offer greater control over when and how you receive the content?
Would you donate money to support the blog (NPR-style)?
Would you buy a book (or e-book) that I wrote about the industry?
Would you frequent sites that I set up affiliate deals with to get revenue sharing?
Would it bother you if I added more advertising placements to the site?
Just about everything is on the table here, as long as it doesn’t impact the integrity of the content. That means I won’t accept payment for posts, though I’ve certainly been offered. I would like to devote as much time as possible to the site, but with a wife and a mortgage, I need to make more money to be able to justify spending more of my time here.
If you’ve enjoyed the first 1,000 posts, please take a little time to send me your thoughts. Talk to me about what you like, what you don’t, and anything else that comes to mind. The comments section is always open (unless you’re a spammer, then you suck), and my email address is easy to find (cf@crankyflier.com).
Thanks for reading and commenting over the last few years. I hope you enjoy the next 1,000 posts even more.