Brian Kelly: How I Made $300k Per Month With Affiliate Marketing l Trailblazers Podcast Episode 52

In this episode, we sit down with Brian Kelly, founder of The Points Guy, to break down the business behind one of the most recognizable brands in travel and credit card rewards.

Brian shares how The Points Guy actually makes money, why affiliate marketing became such a powerful business model, and how he built trust with an audience that credit card companies wanted to reach. We also discuss his decision to sell the company for $28 million, the advantages of bootstrapping instead of raising venture capital, using media and SEO to grow a brand, and how his experience building TPG shaped the way he now approaches angel investing. Later, Brian shares practical strategies for maximizing credit card points, finding award availability, and booking business and first-class flights for significantly less.

If you're interested in entrepreneurship, affiliate marketing, online businesses, credit card rewards, travel hacking, angel investing, SEO, or building a valuable audience, this episode is for you.

This episode is supported by Sydecar, HEX, Wispr Flow, Granola, Beehiiv, Kalshi

Sydecar: https://sydecar.io/partners/trailblazers

beehiiv: https://www.beehiiv.com/splash?utm_campaign=trailblazers-2026-Partnership&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=trailblazers&utm_term=podcast-1&stripe_campaign_code=TRAILBLAZERS30 (or use code “trailblazers30” for 30% OFF)

beehiiv: www.beehiiv.com/splash?utm_campaign=trailblazers-2026-Partnership&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=trailblazers&utm_term=podcast-16&stripe_campaign_code=TRAILBLAZERS30 (or use code “trailblazers30” for 30% OFF)

Granola: http://granola.ai/trailblazers

*Granola is the official notetaker of Trailblazers. Checkout the episode shownotes here: https://notes.granola.ai/t/dad0c1f2-3590-415e-b2ee-13a7aee11e95-008umkv4

Kalshi: http://Kalshi.com/r/trailblazers

Wispr Flow: https://ref.wisprflow.ai/trailblazers

HEX: http://hex.ai/trailblazers