Bye-Bye Mode Media; Hello Magic Links
Most of you in bloggerland have heard about the shutdown of Mode Media, which was my blog partner. When I first joined Mode, It was Glam Media and I was a part of their Foodie network. I was also blogging under the YUMeaing brand before moving everything here to Nevermore Lane. So much easier to keep up with one brand. Glam and Mode merged. Things were supposed to be bigger and better. But that never happened.
Shortly after the Mode takeover things started to change. The sponsor posts for big brand names, which meant big bucks, were barely trickling in. At least, not like they used to. Ads were making less. They would go back and forth with a paid post for the Mode website which later led to sidebar posts. Eventually they did away with those, too.
Employees showed up to work one day and then later were basically told not to bother coming back as Mode had shut their doors. I still haven’t received a ‘we’re closing’ email from Mode, however, the other day I did receive some lawsuit papers in the mail which wanted me to send in proof of the money owed to me.
I could only think one thing:
Bitch, you know how much damn money you owe me; it’s right there in my dashboard.
Just pay me and all the other bloggers you owe money to.
What do I do now?
This has made me leery of using another third party service to obtain brand ambassador, or product sponsored posts and advertising. I’ve come across a few blogs on Pinterest that do very well doing their own ads through places like Adsense (can you believe that?) by tweaking the settings and using backfills. That is my next project; to take care of my ads. I also came across quite a few bloggers who do not use sponsors, brands or advertising. Instead, they use affiliate links and write their own posts the exact way they want to. And let us not forget those who create and sell their own product.
I started looking at all of my Affiliate accounts and got to looking at my spreadsheet. I had barely made a dent in my affiliate accounts, despite the length of lines. I knew that this was not going to be an easy task. I know a lot bloggers out there just stick to Amazon, but I have never had much luck with that.
And then I found this:
Then, one of my best friends introduced me to MagicLinks. This site is amazing. It has EVERYTHING. I don’t have to go from affiliate account to affiliate account. I don’t have track down products/brands and apply for them.
If they don’t have what you are looking for, you can create your own MagicLink and bam, insta money making link. It is SUPER EASY.
I have been using MagicLinks on the last few posts I have written and I already have made money!!
I am super excited about this. I have some old Postpresso posts that I want to redo (I never got word they closed either!) and add new links and probably have some old posts to update that are carrying around Amazon links.
They are hands down my new favorite linking option now. Saves me so much time and energy. For me, it pays so much more than Amazon.
I know there are many YouTube and Instagram ‘stars’ who use MagicLinks and are KILLIN’ IT. I love reading their reports.
If you are not familiar with this type of program to earn money from your own website, I highly suggest you check them out!
Disclosure: This is not a sponsor post. I am not being compensated for this post. Most links are affiliate links through MagicLink.
Holy crap girl, I had heard that Mode media had closed its doors and remember reading that some bloggers were slowly getting paid but, never in my wildest dreams though that you had to actually prove what they owe you! I hope they get their crap together and get you your money.
Blogging is hard work and you deserve to get reimbursed for your time!
Wow. I didn’t even know that anyone had been paid!
I’m glad you found a way to turn the Mode lemon into lemonade. I could not believe it when they went under.
Glad you found something that works for you. So sorry to hear about everything with Mode.
Sounds like you found a great replacement for Mode. I was really sorry to hear about so many bloggers getting the short end of the stick there.
I am lucky I wasn’t owed much by Mode, so I didn’t take much if a financial hit. I am just not ready to put the effort into another company right now. I think I need a breather first.
Oh I’m glad there’s hope out there. I was shocked and not shocked at the same time about Mode.
I never joined Mode and I’m glad now. I need to check out Magic Links though! It sounds almost too good to be true.
Well THANK YOU so much for this info. I was so upset about Mode and was looking for another outlet, I have to look into this one!
You are very welcome!
Just as you say, I was devastated when Mode abruptly shut down. It ruined plans that I had. I hadn’t heard about Magic Link before but I will definitely check it out! Thanks.
I hope you find them useful!
I felt so terrible for the bloggers who were affected by the Mode shut down. What a crummy thing to do! I haven’t heard of Magic Links yet, but I’ll have to check them out. Sounds like a great program!
Magic links sounds pretty cool. Man I hope you get your money that is horrible. I used to do pretty good on Amazon but I haven’t made a dime with them since June. I don’t know what is going on.
I haven’t done so well with them either lately. 🙁
I really hope that they’ll pay all the bloggers they owe money to. Magic Link sounds awesome!
I’ve decided to drop ad networks for the time being and focus on content. After this whole thing with mode I just can’t do it right now. They owe me a decent amount of money, and the ads just really slowed my website down. I’m glad you found something to work for you, I’ll keep them in mind for when I’m ready to go the ad route again!
I completely understand. I am thankful I have a few other ad companies I was working with so I will work on placement and creating backfills for 100% ad and all that fun stuff. I wish I did not have to use them at all, but they do give me a decent chuck of money to add to my blogging pot. I have some plugins to help with load time. We shall see how that works. The think I like about MagicLinks is that they are not advertising. I just add their links to posts where I am talking about certain brands or when I do DIY posts. I like this because basically I can write about anything I want and not worry about the sponsor posts and their guidelines. This is a lot less stress for me and I am already motivated to write so many more posts. That is good since I have not felt like writing in such a long time.
I’m still shocked by this. such a bad business practice. Did they really think they could just close the doors and that’s it?
Makes me angry. I understand businesses fall on bad times, but to not tell anyone? That’s just awful and shame on them.
I just can’t even with this place. No words.
I could not believe it when I hear about Mode. Magiclinks sounds fantastic. I will have to check them out.
I hope you do. I am actually having a lot of fun with them.
Take overs always make me leery there is a powerhouse that I used to like that was recently acquired or ‘merged’ and I wonder now how long they will be around. I personally prefer to procure my own advertising, direct not affiliate and sell my own sponsored posts.
I have done that for other websites I had. I am going to start getting back to that as far as advertising. I am not too worried about affiliate. Those could easily be changed should that retailer go under. Affiliate marketing has been around for so long, I don’t see it going anywhere.
I got the same letter the other day, too, and it irked me to no end. Especially, since like you said, they know how much they owe us. So shady!
Right?!?!?!?! They know what they owe us. It is right there in our dashboards so why do we have to take our time to manage it. Our time is valuable.
This is the first time that I heard about this magic links and sounds really good. So glad that it works for you
I fellbad for the bloggers who were with mode – i left them before they shut their doors and amglad i didnt have to deal with any of the stuff bloggers are dealing with nwo but i still feel bad
I think we were all shocked about Mode. I’ll have to check out MagicLinks- thanks
I’ve seen the outrage on a few facebook groups. It’s upsetting, what happened and they didn’t even handle their members well. I hope they pay you the money they owe you soon. I’m glad you found some back up!
I haven’t heard of this before and sounds amazing. I’m so glad that it works for you
This is the first time that I’ve heard of Magic Links. And they use this to earn on Instagram too? I would definitely check this out!
Magic Links sounds really great. I am so sorry for what happened to everyone that dealth with Mode.
Mode really put all of us in a bind. it sucks but I am happy you shared magic link. I am using Amazon a little but i will look into magic link too hey more money the better!
I think you will really like it Kiwi, it is so easy to use !
Sorry for the horrible experience you have went through. Will check out magic links and see how they work.
One thing we can say for sure … bloggers are adaptable! There are other opportunities out there.
I am so bad with this kind of affiliate stuff but I know I need to make more time for it. I never did mode. But you make it sound like it’s worth checking out.
Are you still loving magic links? I already have an account ;( but would love to see how other bloggers use it!
I am ! I love it. Makes everything so easy.