Issue 125

One To Click On by Jon

Welcome to the new issue of Hit Exchange News!

I *finally* got over my flu and was able to focus on a lot this week. A common theme kept popping up in my mind and it really got my excited about being in the traffic exchange business. Please check out my 'Deep Thoughts' section for more information, I hope you feel my excitement from the article.

Tony's back! Welcome back Mr. Tezak, as we once again have Tony's Thoughts in this issue. As always, Tony's article should ruffle some feathers, but again, his points are very valid.

The new 'T.E. Challenge' started this past week too, and if you have been surfing the exchanges, you may have noticed how much these new owners are promoting their programs. That will be fun to watch as well!

So grab a mug of coffee, sit back, stop surfing for 5 minutes and get ready for this week's Hit Exchange News! It's an honor to have you as a subscriber!

Thanks for reading this week's issue of Hit Exchange News!

Jon Olson
The Traffic Exchange Guy

Want to have your say? Do you agree, or disagree? Why not visit the Net Marketing Forums and join a community of REAL people, building ideas and businesses...Together!

In This Issue

The News

The HEN Top Ten

Deep Thoughts

Tony's Thoughts

Program Review -- Splash Page Brander

Things the make you go...Hmmmm

Advertising Options

The News

• The shocker of the week goes to Jeff and Thomas from BlogExplosion.com. A few months ago, they sold off their stake in Clicks Matrix, Webmaster Quest and Cash Clicking. As they put it, they did this to 'pay more attention and work on Blog Explosion'. Well this week they put the popular blog-only traffic exchange up for sale! Something tells me these guys have another TE model up their sleeves but we'll have to wait and see...
• Change is good! TS25 changed it's surf bar this past week (also at Traffic Pods) to get rid of a huge chunk of the cheating that was taking place. This change also improved their traffic delivery ten fold as now 85% of all hits are being tracked rather than the 40% or less from about a week ago. Great moves by Logiscape and even better results are sure to follow for your hard earned credits!
• Magic Highway has gone 'manual surf only'. The popular traffic exchange of the 7 Doors Marketing system lost it's dual manual / auto surf features this past week and went 100% manual. A small victory for us Manual Traffic Exchange enthusiasts!
• This Week's Splash Page Hall of Fame Entry is this splash page by True View Traffic. Now let me get one thing out of the way first, I think this is a very bold move because True View Traffic has decided to call out certain programs and basically say it's a better program that the others shown. LOL O.k., I don't disagree about the auto surfs But whether you agree or disagree, the point is that it sticks out. So while I do not think it's 'True' that this program is better than the other manual exchanges in this page, it does make you stop and look, and again, that is the point.

The HEN Top Ten results are based on traffic statistics (unique hits, traffic flow, hits delivered, traffic quality) and a touch of good old fashioned 'opinion'. The industry changes just like in the real world, so an exchange may not be on the list this week, but will be number 1 next week! Discuss this week's Top 10 list in the Net Marketing Forum!

Enjoy this week's list!

Analysis and Tracking by HitsConnect.com - The Official Link Tracking Service of Hit Exchange News! Sign up today and get your 30% Discount!

Hey Jon, how come I Love Hits, Click Crazey and SWAT Traffic are never on the top 10 list? Since I own them, I feel it would be a conflict of interest to place it on any of my rankings. If you want to see how well they are performing each week, please check TestHoopla top 20 weekly ranking!

Deep Thoughts - Feature Articles

Deep Thoughts by Jon Olson

Who is on first?

One of the more popular topics in a well known marketing forum seems to pop up at least once a week and it goes something like this;

'Do traffic exchanges work?'

More and more, people are talking about traffic exchanges and for good reason, let's look at some tidbits I pulled from a few 'industry' publications this past week. One of these publications mentioned that within the next few years, nearly 40% of all Americans will work in some form at a home based small business. Now I'm not sure if this is the truth or not, but all indication points to more people, looking at making money from home rather than from a typical 9 to 5.

What does this mean for the traffic exchanges? Well other than safelists and the FFA programs, what other free or low cost advertising avenue is recommended to new people coming online to market their business? You guessed it, these little gems called traffic exchanges.

It's funny, because I used to argue with some of my colleagues during the past few years about the state of affairs in this industry. The main concern, was whether or not, any growth was taking place. So is growth happening in the exchanges? Are we all starting to see real good results from the exchanges? Well....Yes!

More and more, TE Surfers are embracing the splash page concept as well as getting out of the habit of promoting a generic affiliate page. This is increasing awareness of the power of branding *something we mentioned in an issue of HEN about 2 years ago* and more importantly, people are starting to promote themselves. A recent poll in NMF showed that a huge percentage of the surfers either thought the TE's where at their peak or constantly improving. These are great signs!

I am extremely excited for this business and even more for people that coming on board and seeing the power of these programs first hand. Surfers are wising up too, they are not putting up with the lack of support from some exchanges, they are demanding excellent return on their time surfed. Bravo!

It's only going up from here folks. Within the next few years, traffic exchanges will be positioned to be that 'front line' that most new marketers reach when looking for free or low cost advertising. How important do you think it is for you now to know this, and act on it? Remember last week's article about brand awareness and getting your web sites seen for a sustained amount of time? You are in a great position to really make an impact. The future is now, and it looks like 'Click Here For Next Site'!

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Are you tired of getting little or no results from the traffic exchanges? Learn exactly how to build a successful business using the traffic exchanges directly from Jon Olson! Check out the Traffic Exchange Guy Consulting. Space is extremely limited, only 2 spots left for the month of March.

Tony's Thoughts

Things a Traffic Exchange User MUST Do! Some times we manual traffic exchange users get caught up in the surfing part, but pay little attention to the details of successfully using manual traffic exchanges.

When we join a traffic exchange, it is our responsibility to click on all the links of the exchanges and learn everything we can about the benefits of its membership. It's our responsibility!

We need to read the terms of service and/or the FAQ to learn all the rules for a traffic exchange. If you do not know the rules, how can you effectively use a traffic exchange. Can you use a rotator? Which rotators are permissible? What kind of sites can you advertise? Can you advertise PTP sites? Can you advertise 'get rich quick schemes'? Does 'Admin' manually approve sites? Are there mandatory surfing requirements? It's our responsibility to learn the rules!

Do you read the newsletters/updates from exchange owners? Are you using a good email address? It is our responsibility to use a good email address when joining a traffic exchange. How else are you going to be notified of changes/updates/news? Will some owners abuse the ability to communicate with their members? Sure....that's why we have a delete key on our computers.

After each surfing session, I suggest a surfer log into their account and do several things. The most important task is to assign your credits to your campaigns. Credits saved do not earn any interest.....assign them. Check over your account to see if you are advertising what you want. So many surfers place a url in a traffic exchange, walk away and never check it. You still see advertising for 12DP. A surfer not paying attention to what they are advertising.

Are you surfing an exchange more than it can deliver hits? If you are surfing an exchange that can deliver you 75 hits per day, do not surf it to earn more. I am not saying do not surf it, but to only surf what it can deliver. You are wasting your efforts to do otherwise.

We surfers do have responsibilities when dealing with traffic exchanges and we can blame no one when we do not accept those responsibilities and act on them.

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Tony Tezak is the owner of Traffic-Edge.com and one of the most well known surfers in the traffic exchanges. For years, Tony has been showing people how to get the most from these programs and is always willing to sit down and chat about traffic exchanges!

Program Review - Splash Page Brander

Like I said earlier, more and more people are embracing splash page advertising and for good merit, these little pages work and work very well. The main concern today is not if you have a splash page or not, but rather, how can you stick out from the crowd even more. A few years ago, when I developed the splash page, all it took was a few catchy lines of text and a cool graphic. Presto, instant results. Not so much anymore, it takes a lot of creativity to really stick out from the crowd.

Splash Page Brander is just that tool. Have you ever been surfing TS25 for example, and seen a splash page that says 'Hey TS 25 Surfer'. Chances are, that splash page is using this amazing new program. It's the perfect companion to all your splash page needs, because it does what few splash pages today can do, they stick out!

Remember, a splash page is only effective it is makes people stop and look, and when you talk directly to your viewer using this program and relate to them, you are getting noticed! This is a great tool, and for anyone using splash pages, a must for your designs. Remember, stick out from the crowd.

Uptime: 5.0
Features / Bonuses: 5.0
Site Design: 4.0 out of 5.0
Customer Service: 5.0 out of 5.0
Ease of Use: 4.0 out of 5.0

Overall Rating: 4.5 Mouse Clicks (Rating out of 5.0)

Have a look at Splash Page Brander!

Things That Make You Go...Hmmm? (A 'Different' Look at the Industry!)

• TV Co-Op still owes me 45 bucks. And they are not not answering my e-mails requesting those funds... Hmmm....
• Shhhh don't tell anyone, Canada beat the USA in their first meeting at the World Baseball Classic. And you thought all we did up here is shoot hockey pucks huh? Hmmm....
• Here's an interesting question. Now that Storm Pay has basically fallen off the good graces of many TE owners, who will replace them as the second option other than Pay Pal? Rumor has it, some processors won't even accept TE's... Hmmm....

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Comments and Suggestions

That's it for this week folks, thanks again for subscribing to Hit Exchange News. Next week we will continue to bring you useful information and late breaking hit exchange news.

If you want to see anything addressed, looked into or discussed, please let me know. This is your e-zine with content that YOU want to read. I value your input and look forward to talking to each of you! Drop me a line here or visit me in the forums. We're building a professional community in there and we'd love for you to join us!

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Have a good week everyone and may the CLICK be with you!

Jon G. Olson
Publisher / Editor - HitExchangeNews.com