Issue 220 - The Web 2.0 Side Of Traffic Exchanges
Author: The T.E. GuyI mentioned last week about how I thought a traffic exchange could even be considered a Web 2.0 type of site. You see, it fits the bill. It’s user generated content, the members decide what goes into it and there is the potential of a lot of communicating between members.
Traffic Era really got a lot of folks thinking when they launched about the massive potential these programs could have, if they embraced the 2.0 way of doing things. This week I Love Hits took it one step further and introduced the ‘ILH Profile Pages’. So what are they?
Here’s an example and while they are still a work in progress, the main idea is for I Love Hits’ members to communicate with each other, use the best social networking sites on the net, and help build their personal brand within the system and outside of it.
I’m pretty pumped about these new pages, and plan on really doing a lot of work with them to create a brand new ‘angle’ in the I Love Hits community. I’m a big fan of personal branding and I hope these pages go a long way in helping people realize the power of their personal network and how important it is in their business!
Have a great week and thanks very much for being a reader of Hit Exchange News!
Jon Olson
The Traffic Exchange Guy
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The News
- I Love Clicks, one of the first and largest traffic exchanges on the net, has closed it’s doors this week. What’s more, on the front page they are trying to sell the domain, script and all it’s assets. That’s fine, but they also say they will not discuss the ‘workings’ of the program. You know, the good stuff like how much does it make every month, how many subscribers, how responsive is the list. What a shame, especially for all us old timers that have been there since day one. This was a one time GIANT in the industry.
- Dragon Surf added dynamic surfing to the program this past week and here is something that has been added to a lot of traffic exchanges but actually helps the members get even more traffic to their sites. Simply put, the more you surf, the higher your surf ratio increases. Surf more, get more. A very simple yet effective concept!
- What is going on at the AMCS traffic exchange service? Rumors had it that all the databases were lost for the dozens of traffic exchanges on their server, and then another side of the coin said everything was fine. You can read more about it by visiting the Net Marketing Forum.
- A big ‘pat on the back’ has to go to 24/7 Traffic Pro for taking the bull by the horns and starting a customer survey. This has been a WONDERFUL trend I have seen this past month in the traffic exchanges and I look forward to seeing even more input from surfers around the industry!
- Congratulations to ‘Brian Rickert’ for winning last week’s copy of Hits, Clicks and Misses. Want to win your own copy of the best selling traffic exchange book on Amazon.com (actually, it’s the only published book about T.E.’s on the planet), simply post a comment about this week’s issue of HEN!
- Splash Page Hall of Fame - Want to see how to properly brand yourself in the traffic exchanges and build your list at the same time? Check out the latest capture page from Paul Conway! Note: Why do I focus on splash pages every week? Simple, you MUST be using them in the traffic exchanges to get results. Get a custom made splash page by clicking here!
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The Famous Hit Exchange News Top 10 (Disclaimer: These are my top performing exchanges for the past week. Alexa rankings and fancy numbers have nothing to do with how I rank my list. This is based on my results and my opinion, nothing more, nothing less.)
1. Dragon Surf
2. Traffic At The Races
3. TS 25
4. Traffic Swarm
5. Traffic Splash
6. Max Traffic Pro
7. StartXChange
8. Traffic Era
9. Easy Hits 4 U
10. Traffic Wonderland
Note: Analysis and Tracking by Hits Connect - The Official Link Tracking Service of Hit Exchange News! Sign up today and get your 30% Discount!
Question: Hey Jon, how come I Love Hits, SWAT Traffic and Click Crazey 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. (But we all know how great they are anyways lol)
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Deep Thoughts - Jon’s Weekly Rambling
Tell Em Why You’re Mad!!!
I love a good rant! So this week, I’ve got the perfect topic and a wonderful platform on which to spread my ‘fumes’. Ready? Here goes…
This wee saw the launch of a new traffic exchange that was…Well…A copy of any other traffic exchange that has been released in the past few months. Sure, it had nice graphics, a very tempting JV offer, great potential and a new owner that looks to be dedicated for the long haul, but other than that, it was a plain jane traffic exchange.
Now here Jon comes along and releases the ‘Profile Pages’ at I Love Hits which is something new in the traffic exchanges and should increase the awareness of these programs around the internet but do you know how much coverage I got? Nada. In fact, a popular ‘T.E.’ blog that talks about everything that happens in the traffic exchange industry didn’t mention my Profile Pages at all, and of course had their affiliate link pasted everywhere on their blog for that new T.E.
Am I bitter? Not really because I’m always in this stuff for the long haul but here’s the kicker. In a few months, the whining will start that there is ‘no innovation’ in the traffic exchange industry. And how close we are to total collapse. And how we need to change the way we do things or else. Or how we HAVE to find new members that will join ans surf the exchange…
I will then mention people go read this blog post again and laugh because here’s something innovative that could potential raise the stakes in this business, but we are concerned about earning 5 bucks a month from promoting a new traffic exchange.
Ahhh the irony of it all. I’ve come to the conclusion that this industry does not want innovation, they want ’sexy’ new launches. They want their 5 dollars a month commissions. They want their JV launches. They want all this, but heaven forbid we actually develop tools to HELP our members…That would be shocking wouldn’t it?
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Things That Make You Go Hmmm…
- Traffic Splash announced it has over 26,000 members this past week. All I can say is, wow!
- S.W.A.T. Traffic has a brand new merchandise store!
- Funny Contradiction of the Week - A new auto surf investment scam telling people on it’s front page that it’s ‘bringing back the good old days of auto surfing’. I wonder how many millions will be lost this go round?
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Jon,
I dont think most want innovation either. Your profile pages and tools like them imply networking, typing messages, setting up profiles…work!
All that garbage takes people away from clicking with the collective.
Jon: I was thrilled to see my name as last week’s winner of your “Hits, Clicks and Misses”. How do I claim my prize?
Since I learned about the HEN, I read it every week.
Brian Rickert
Is it me or is the whole web going ego? Why does everybody have to splash themselves all over the web? This is not a shot at you Jon, just a question. Where is the fine line between branding and selling yourself and ridiculous displays and creations of shrines to the ego?
I can see why you would want to have people meeting and getting to know you Jon because you have huge flows of traffic flowing around you all the time but there are some people out there who would get more people traffic in their closet. I don’t think we should be encouraging them (:
I thought that the Traffic Era feature of allowing team members to IM each other right there on the same page was a critical part of increasing the stickiness of the TE.
I would like to see other TEs come up with new ideas or implement existing ideas from other type of sites. For example, what about integrating social bookmarking ala StumbleUpon into TEs?
You could then let users share their favorite splash pages with others. This could potentially bring a lot more traffic to your site.
Just a thought…
Hock
I thought similarly about the new launch. Every current TE owner show me an email saying I could get $7 to join but I did not rush out for once. I surf too many sites as it is and I have no idea what the new one would offer that no oter exchange could. In fact, because of who sent me emails telling me to join I assume that new exchange has the same clientel as any other tw I already surf. Thanks for letting me rant too Jon
Here’s a tiny little rant for ya.
It has always bothered me that in your section of the H.E.N. titled: “Things That Make You Go Hmmm…,” you put things in there that don’t make me go hmmm at all.
For instance - TrafficSplash announcing that they have 26,000 members. Why would that make me go hmmm?
Hmmm?
I think that section should be used for things that actually DO make you go hmmm, such as things that you deem to be questionable or unbelievable.
What do you think…hmmm?
Just having a little fun,
Cynthia
I would say the whole AMCS thread over at NMF is something that really makes me go Hmmm…
A good discussion everybody should go check out for their entertainment/frustration/hmm fix.
LOL Yeah, I know what you are saying Cynthia. I wish I could find more ‘questionable’ stuff. Good point though, I will dig deeper =)
David - it’s not ego at all. I always have to go back to Jeffrey Gitomer when he says all things being equal, people buy from people they like.
You have a much better chance of making a sale when someone knows you. The only way to do this, is get your name known / business known.
Brian - simply send me your mailing address to hitexchangenews at yahoo dot com. =)
Hock - Interesting point. You know, when I heard of StumbleUpon I couldnt help but laugh.
Why? This is essentially a traffic exchange model LOL Random sites…
Thanks for picking a “Splash Page Hall of Fame” that wasn’t created by a fancy graphic designer. It’s good to show that you don’t need a lot of money or crazy design skills to create an effective splash page.
Hey Jon,
I VERY MUCH believe that web 2.0 is the way to go with TE’s. It really is a system (the sharing thing) that encourages people to view what other people are doing.. but it’s missing the interaction in the current system.
I think what you have done is a good first step - and what traffic era did, was great too. Hock mentioned stickiness, which is SO important with any onine venture - and something that we want to develop in our own te’s - I think your profile pages are just a bit of extra glue Mr O
I hope that people will use them and stop their whining!
Keep up the great work!
Cindy
How is StumbleUpon a TE model? I don’t have to view your sites for you to view mine. It’s more like a social voting model.
Sorry, not ‘TE model’ but the randomness of it, that’s what I mean.
Jon I strongly disagree about branding your self does Coke band them selves they have a reg name and logo that is what should be branded on line not people faces etc.
This is the internet why try and turn it into the offline world where meeting face to face does the deal where online I feel and know this is not needed.
I would not go as far to say people show there faces for there ego but I think branding a good name or logo is the way to go.
A great article by John Reese. You can read it here.
http://www.income.com/blog/2008/05/05/anonymous-marketing-is-dead/
Sorry Steve, hiding behind the computer screen does not work in IM.
Hey Jon,
I love it! Incorporating the Web 2.0 concept into the traffic exchanges is pure genius. Wish I had thought of it being a huge Web 2.0 fan as I am. Hat’s off to you. I believe as well in personal branding and give ILoveHits a community look and feel is really a great addition.
I love it when someone like you who has done more for traffic exchanges then anyone else thinks outside of the box and brings innovations to the industry. It should prove to bring in a wider audience not only to ILH but to the entire traffic exchange Community by making more people more aware of traffic exchanges.
Rich Morris
Traffic Heroes
Congratulations to Dragon Surf and Soren Jordansen [Owner from Denmark] at no1 !
[...] Dragon Surf Is one Of The Fastest Growing and most effective manual traffic exchanges on the net.This week Dragon surf with its 23,000 members hit no1 on Jon Olsons Hit Exchange news. [...]