2023 BowTiedBum Recap
Wins, Losses, and What To Expect in 2024
Intro
2024 has been a crazy year, and I’m proud of the growth of the BowTiedBum community and the success of our members. This has truly been a build-from-within effort, and we’ve all benefited from each other’s collective knowledge and efforts.
As much as I live and breathe this game, it was you guys that made it all possible. It was the parents who were on a tight budget were able to take their kids to Disney for the first time. It was the young couple that planned part or all of their honeymoon with points they earned in this community. It was the families that were able to reunite for the first time in a while. The grandparents that were able to visit their grandkids for the first time without stretching their budget.
My personal favorite: those that are going (or already went) to their first Caribbean all-inclusive resort with their family, entirely on points…A staple in my heart of which I’ll always have fond memories.
2023 Recap
We’ll break this post into 3 sections: 2023 wins, losses, and what to expect in 2024.
Long story short, 2023 proved that the plan works and those who decided to take action were rewarded.
“Equal Opportunity, Unequal Results.”
Wins
Amazon Arbitrage Guide
BowTiedMahi’s revamped Amazon Arbitrage Guide could not have come at a better time. Several months after the Q1 plan was introduced, Mahi dropped a revamped state-of-the-art idiot proof guide to making money via Amazon FBA. This is a relatively easy business to start and pairs perfectly with BowTiedBum methods.
For many bums, this was their first real online business, and it’s what I believe will be a stepping stone to future online business success.
Slack Group
The OG Bums remember a two month period (Nov ‘22 - Dec ‘22) when there was no Slack Group. While we had the Substack comment section, it still kind of felt like everyone was on their own. The Slack Group really turned this place into a community where we could crowdsource information, data points, and share success stories.
Quarterly Plans
Again, before January 2023, there was no Slack Group and no quarterly plans. The Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4 plans made this game idiot proof, and gave each Bum a step-by-step plug and play method. Taking the guesswork out of everything and providing a space to ask questions and get answers quickly (Slack Group) were huge.
The CheeseMan was even able to start a few days before Q4, quickly digest all the content, and earn over $11K in one quarter!
Free Chase Money Event
Thanks to Slack member: boolish, there was a "Free Money Event" that covered more than an entire year of your BowTiedBum membership.
This was one of several oppurtunites throughout the year where an “event” popped up that allowed you to quickly generate enough to cover the entire year of your membership.
Stop Paying Out of Pocket Post
The Stop Paying Out of Pocket Post provided Bums with a way to quickly pay for an entire year of their membership. This brought on quite a few new members and gave them early confidence which turned into later success.
Speedway
This was a massive win. In true "Gas Stations are Zeros" fasion, a few Bums are no longer paying out of pocket at the pump. For those that live close to a Speedway, this play is a must.
Fluz
For the majority of the year, Fluz was a huge win and a big driver. I’ll designate a separate section below to address Fluz’s wins and losses.
Losses
Gumroad Affiliate Program
While I’ll be exploring other ways for Bums to get oppurtunities to be an affiliate for the community, the Gumroad experience turned out to be a disaster. I went with one network that drastically changed their price right before launch. Then, I switched to Gumroad where all payments failed on launch day. After finally getting that resolved, I continued to have payments fail for the next couple weeks.
If a future affiliate oppurtunity arises (I’m hopeful) I’ll have to really carefully consider which program to use.
Sportsbooks
This seemed extremely hopeful earlier in the year, but navigating taxes proved to be difficult for me. We do have a few Bums that have contacted me personally that are making good money off this play. I’m hoping to speak with an accountant that is an expert in this matter in 2024, and make sure I’m fully aware of the tax implications before getting started.
Quitters
Seeing this is always upsetting. Seeing people come in with potential and an eagerness to learn, only to giveup after a couple weeks is always demoralizing to see. Everyone in the paid community has access to the same resources, so it was an interesting social experiment to see some thrive and others look for excuses to give up.
Even weirder, there were quite a few subs that never joined the Slack, so never got to experience the full BowTiedBum community.
Fluz
Will be addressed in next section.