This week, Tim Linden and I started to hang out in uStream rooms and started something that took us by surprise. We thought it would be cool, to hang out in a uStream room, stream our cameras and invite surfers to come hang out with us.

The results were amazing!

We’re still learning the ropes and we are still trying to master all the features of uStream but every day we will be hanging out, chit chatting and answer live questions all about traffic exchanges.

We’re calling it ‘Traffic Exchange Live’….Check it out here, we may be online right now =)

Streaming Video by Ustream.TV

Thank you very much for being a reader of Hit Exchange News and have a wonderful week!

Jon Olson
The Traffic Exchange Guy

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The News

- I’ve added some brand new ‘social networking’ tools to Net Marketing Forum. You can now add your Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, and I Love Hits Profile Page to all your posts and network with amazing like minded people in the new environment. Get active, hang out and see who you will meet!

- When Tony Tezak launched Tezak Traffic Power you knew there was going to be days like this. He introduced the ‘Winner’s Quest’ this week and here’s how it works. Surf, log in, refer, assign credits, do anything and you get a chance to win insane prizes. Pretty cool huh? A traffic exchange rewarding you for being active. I like it!

- Long time traffic exchange surfer and safelist master Jerry Iannucci launched his branded new JV Giveaway Tactics ebook and report. This page turner is loaded with amazing information and cool techniques on how to build your list using the resources of other marketers. Very cool stuff and oh yeah, it’s free!

- On behalf of all the Super Surf owners, I’d like to welcome Mr. Matthew Graves from Top Tier Traffic as the guest traffic exchange for the next two weeks. This should be one of the most active Super Surf sessions in history so be sure to start surfing today. It should be a lot of fun with a lot of bonuses won!

- Notice: Cast your vote today for your favorite traffic exchanges at Affiliate Funnel’s Surfer’s Choice ranker. This is YOUR voice and YOUR opinion on what traffic exchanges you feel are the best in the business. Be sure to vote every day and get your opinion heard!

- Splash Page Hall of Fame – Now this page by Jimmy Adames is perfect! T.E. specific, personal branding and follows the ACA’s. Amazing stuff sir! 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. Tezak Traffic Power
2. StartXChange
3. Max Traffic Pro
4. Traffic Splash
5. Hit Safari
6. Farm Traffic
7. Traffic Era
8. Dragon Surf
9. Traffic Witch
10. Traffic Taxis

Note: Analysis and Tracking by T.E. Toolbox – The Official Link Tracking Service of Hit Exchange News!

Question: Hey Jon, how come I Love Hits 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. (But we all know how great they are anyways lol)

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Flip Your Downline, Fill Your Funnel!

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Deep Thoughts – Jon’s Weekly Ramblings

I was surfing in StartXchange yesterday and chit chatting with other surfers and someone posted something that I haven’t be able to stop thinking about since.

A member asked why should any traffic exchange expect any surfer to surf like 500 sites a day if they are not being rewarded.

So it stopped me in my tracks. Literally I have been thinking about it because the easy answer would be ‘give us money and we’ll surf’ but as you know, a lot of traffic exchanges are trying to get away from that angle. Simply because we want to be an advertising avenue and not a ‘cash generator’. There are plenty of places to make money online, we want to be the place where you can advertise them.

So I put the question out there, what makes you surf?

Is it the games? How about the in surf chat? Team surfing? Contests? Personal goals?

What makes you, the life and blood of a traffic exchange, surf and continue to click ‘next site’?

Please add your comments below, I would love to hear from each of you. This is a pretty important topic and sometimes, a lot of owners ‘assume’ and don’t ask the question…

Not today, I would love to hear how you feel!

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Things That Make You Go Hmmm…

- I found HENry The Hitman, I Love Hits’ mascot in Wal Mart this past weekend! Don’t believe me, check out the video here!

- Just fair warning, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 comes out next week for XBOX 360. Jon Olson will essentially be out of commission for about….A month LOL

- “Every day I get up and look through the Forbes list of the richest people in America. If I’m not there, I go to work.” – Robert Orben

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Yes, this weekend should be interesting to say the least. It’s not every day that Logiscape releases a new program but that is what will happen this Sunday. Am I pumping this up and putting too much hype behind it? Maybe, but I know what this company is capable of and that it very exciting to anyone who is passionate about the traffic exchanges.

I will be sending a few e-mails this weekend to pre-launch and finally launch Logiscape’s new program. And it may seem weird to state that, seeing that I do not even know what the program will be like. Will it be another ‘wake up call’ like TS 25 was? Or will it be just a fancy new script with new features? Who knows, but it will be something I plan to monitor with great interest.

So maybe the industry gets a shake up this weekend. Maybe it doesn’t. I’m just glad that 3 plus years after TS 25 was released, the guys at Logiscape are still innovative and ready to release something fresh and new!

Have a great week and happy surfing!

Jon Olson
The Traffic Exchange Guy

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The News

- Hit Safari had a few issues this past week because of a major server move. This traffic exchange has been one of my best performers for the past few years, but always seemed to be slow to surf. Problems have been fixed as it’s on a brand new box and very quick to surf now! Check out the bonuses they are giving away this week to go along with the server move as well.

- Check out the brand new look for Page Swirl. It’s funny because this rotator has been one of the biggest success stories this industry has ever seen, but has never had a face lift…Until now! I love the new look and feel of PS and hopefully my good buddy Dan Moses can keep the momentum going with the new layout. Very nice look!

- Easy Hits 4 U is celebrating 5 years online this week. It’s quite a milestone as some exchanges cannot survive one year in business but what is even more impressive is the membership count at this program. Over 52,000 members have joined this program, that’s higher than 10,000 new members every year!

- Splash Page Hall of Fame – I’m a HUGE fan of Blue Surf and I think this could be the sleeper hit of early 2008. This splash page showcases the great look and feel that can be experienced in this traffic exchange. A must join!

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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 results and my own opinion, nothing more, nothing less.)

1. Traffic Swarm
2. Traffic Splash
3. Dragon Surf
4. Traffic Roundup
5. TS 25
6. Hit Safari
7. StartXchange
8. Traffic At The Races
9. Royal Surf
10. Link Crews

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

Your 10 Seconds of Fame In A Traffic Exchange

I remember when these programs first started, there was generally one set time for all the traffic exchanges and that was 30 seconds. It seems like an eternity these days but yes, we used to wait 30 seconds for the timer to count down before clicking onto the next site. Was this effective back then? Absolutely, because the traffic exchanges were so new, lots of people wouldn’t even surf more than one or two at a time and would seem to stick around the pages longer.

Then came the boom! Instead of a dozen traffic exchanges, between 2002-2004 there were hundreds of these programs online and now people started surfing 5-10 at a time rather than one or two. To add even more to the mix came the splash page and presto, you have attention deficit in the exchanges. Now this seems like doom and gloom but in fact it helped people get better results and ‘quicker’ too. Here’s why…

People generally make up their mind within the first few seconds after they see and ad, whether or not they will ‘absorb’ it. Some folks brush it off, but after repeated exposure, more people tend to notice it and finally take action on it. You do not need 30 seconds to do this. That’s why splash pages have become so effective, because they load immediately and get the message across in less than 5 seconds. Thus, the 10-15 second timer became the industry standard.

If you embrace traffic exchange brand awareness like I do, this is even more effective because I try to keep my pages visible quickly but for the long run. So I know, that people may not ‘absorb’ my advertising today but if I keep those splash pages in front of people for months, they will start to act on the message.

Should the timers go lower? 5 seconds maybe? I don’t think so, I think 10 seconds is perfect for my traffic exchanges and I enjoy surfing the programs with the 10-15 second timers as well. It’s my ’10 seconds of fame’ and I will make sure I give the best impression I can…

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Program Review – Residual Traffic System

I love free reports! Anything that helps promote traffic exchanges and free to low cost methods of traffic generation will always rate high in my book. Why? Simple, I am not a fan of search engines and have never used them to generate traffic at all. Sure there are trickles of people that may find this news letter / my businesses via the search engines but I have relied on residual traffic since 1999.

So along comes the busiest guy in the traffic exchanges, Steve Ayling, and releases a brand new report called Residual Traffic System. At first glance, this looks like your standard ‘traffic exchange report’ but then it goes much deeper. It focuses not only on traffic exchanges but also ‘ad stackers’, auto responders, traffic co-op’s and splash pages.

Steve is very talented and a great communicator, so the report is very easy to read and gives some great tips on how to leverage the free traffic sources to create ‘residual’ traffic. It’s a fun report and another great addition to the industry!

Jon’s Rating of Residual Traffic System – 4.0 out of 5.0

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Things That Make You Go Hmmm…

- StartXChange released a new ‘ranking’ system for all traffic exchanges. However the ranks may change dramatically because of a few changes Tim Linden made to the script. It’s now ranking how many members log into each member’s area, rather than page views of the home page.

- Web Biz Insider keeps telling me that my pro upgrade expired every week (and gives me 100 free credits). That’s great, but I haven’t been an upgraded member for at least two years?

- How’s Agloco working out these days? Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it is online!

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