The pulse of the traffic exchange industry and the random ramblings of Jon Olson (that's me!)
I've been writing Hit Exchange News since 2003 and have been involved in the traffic exchanges for over a decade. Enjoy the 'news', and thank you so much for making this THE must-read traffic exchange blog on the internet!
So it’s official! I’m no longer a resident of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and I am finally moved into my new home in Edmonton, Alberta. It feels good to start a new life in a new province and hey it makes it all better when the city is home to your second favorite hockey team…
Let’s just put it this way though, moving SUCKS and I’m so glad to be done with it.
I didn’t get a chance to be as active as I usually am this past week but still there was plenty of news and trends happening in the traffic exchange industry. Here’s what I noticed during the past week or so…
- Sweeva hit 20,000 members! Boy oh boy was I pumped when I saw it click over. I’ve been a part of a lot of programs during my decade plus in this business but nothing has excited me more than seeing the growth of Sweeva and the massive potential it has. Special thanks to EVERYONE who has made this such an amazing experience…We are just getting started!
- We hit 20% of our goal at Traffic Exchanges Care. Over $1000 has been raised so far to fight water shortage around the world but we still need your help. Special thanks to Winter Perkins for creating that amazing new splash page. Please feel free to use it or download the image and use it wherever you can! We need your help, so please donate if you can spare a dollar or two =)
- T.E. Profits got a major overhaul and was relaunched this week. I’m upset that I didn’t get to give this the attention it deserved with my moving obligations. And Scott Douglas, in my opinion, is the perfect example of someone who ‘gets it’ when it comes to making money WITH traffic exchanges. He doesn’t own one but still manages to be one of the most popular and effective traffic exchange advertisers in history. T.E. Profits is a must join for any serious traffic exchange marketer.
- I was pretty upset this weekend too for getting a Pay Pal dispute filed against me from a FELLOW traffic exchange owner. This pretty much left me ranting away in NMF and caused me to potentially lose some business but to be honest, when someone files a false dispute against you, doesn’t attempt at all to call you and work the issue out and it’s from another traffic exchange owner…Well…Good riddance. Filing unwarranted Pay Pal disputes is BAD for our entire industry!
- And finally, I’m thrilled to see all the changes taking place at IM Faceplate. The guys at Logiscape are really trying to build something special here and slowly this is becoming a wonderful place to grow your network. Remember, all this internet marketing stuff is useless without a solid network of contacts. Get out there and meet your fellow surfers!
That’s it for this week. We’re also back every day at T.E. Live, so do stop by for some water cooler chit chat and maybe a Tim Linden ‘blend or two’…
Before we get into the year in review, I thought it would be good to chit chat about one of the better launches within the traffic exchange industry that happened only a few days ago. Instant Banner Creator was released this week to a roaring success and brought banners back into the forefront of traffic exchange advertising.
You see, sometimes people use these things for the wrong reasons. They are concerned about click through rates and if they make a sale from the banner. What you should be using this remarkable program for and any banner in the traffic exchanges is branding.
When I promote a banner, it’s usually got my name on it, or my logo or something that makes people think of me or my business. In the traffic exchanges, banners can be earned or purchased very easily and it’s a great way to build your name in the exchanges.
Instant Banner Creator is one of those rare product launches, something that screams of quality and will actually be used by it’s members 6 months down the road. Quite refreshing actually, especially when you consider how powerful banners can be when used properly in the traffic exchanges….
As we draw 2008 to a close, I wanted to thank each and every one of you for being a subscriber to Hit Exchange News. It’s been such a great year and I look forward to seeing what 2009 has in store.
Thank you very much for being a reader of Hit Exchange News and have a wonderful holiday season!
- Congratulations to Brett Philips for becoming the new owner of Traffic Heroes. I’ve known Brett for years and it’s great to see him back in the saddle. Good luck sir, best of luck in 2009. Let’s see what Heroes can do under your management!
- Rumor has it that there is about to be some big changes at Hits Connect. Look for a special announcement in a few days. This should cement H.C. as THE rotator and tracker in the traffic exchange industry.
- This will be the last H.E.N. for 2008. As the following next two Thursdays are Christmas and New Year’s Day. However, do look out for a special edition before I leave on the Marketer’s Cruise. 2009 is going to be MASSIVE for the traffic exchanges.
- Be sure vote today for your favorite traffic exchanges at Affiliate Funnel’s Surfer’s Choice ranker. This has quickly become the most popular ranking service on the net as the surfer’s are finally getting their say. Combined with the stats to back it up and our exclusive ‘new members joining’ statistic, you can see which exchanges are showing and proving, each and every week!
- Want to win your own copy of the best selling traffic exchange book on Amazon.com, Hits, Clicks and Misses, (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! Congratulations to ‘Ted’ for winning last week. Be sure to send your mailing address to me so that I can ship you a copy (hitexchangenews at yahoo dot com)!
- Splash Page Hall of Fame – Wanna win a mug? Check out the new splash page from my baby, I Love Hits. In an effort to let surfer’s know about ILH’s Prize Email Links, I have started to rotate this splash page. Quick, effective and a whole lots of ILH goodness! 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!
———
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.)
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)
———–
———–
Deep Thoughts – Jon’s Weekly Rambling
The 2008 Traffic Exchange Industry Year In Review
Here’s my disclaimer right here. I polled both the readers of Hit Exchange News and members of Net Marketing Forum to come up what they thought were the top news stories from 2008. If you do not agree with the findings and stories, you can always have your say here!
Let’s get started…
1. Who was your ‘traffic exchange owner of the year’? And why?
Answer: This went to Mr. Paul Kinder, owner of Traffic Splash. The reasons? Essentially everyone copies the guy LOL Paul took a dead traffic exchange, assembled a great bunch of people and made Splash one of, if not the best, traffic exchange on the net. His customer service is top notch, his surfing giveaways have been copied by dozens of exchanges, and his program delivers results. What made him owner of the year? Ask his members, and you’ll see why.
2. What was the best new traffic exchange launched this year?
Answer: Traffic Era wins this award for creating something the traffic exchange industry never saw coming. The word ‘clock’ has new meaning thanks to Era. Sure, there is debates about how it was launched and if they have ever maximized their potential with it, but no other traffic exchange this year made other owners wonder what else could they do with their exchange.
3. Your top performing traffic exchange of 2008?
Answer: I don’t like giving ties usually but in this case, it’s too close to call. Traffic Splash and Dragon Surf share the honor in this award. Lots of other exchanges had their moments of glory, but week in and week out, nothing seemed to perform better than the Dragon and the Dolphin. When you break it all down though, it’s as simple as this…Great owners, create great traffic exchanges!
4. Strangest decision made by a traffic exchange in 2008?
Answer: I’m sure to get hate mail and some lovely jabs at me but don’t hate the messenger, read the forum and you will see that Hit Safari changing from a TCN script to an LJ Script was the strangest decision made this year in the industry. Let me say this, Hit Safari has been one of my best performing traffic exchanges since it started years ago, it’s always been a winner. But when they changed scripts, it seemed like results fell, numbers went down and surfing isn’t what it used to be. The age old saying, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’, has merit here.
5. Best new feature(s) added to any traffic exchange?
Answer: I would love to say it was the Profile Pages at I Love Hits but truth be told it was the Super Surf script that did so much for the traffic exchange industry and surfers. It was created to give surfers bonuses for surfing all 5 Super Surf traffic exchanges at the same time, but ended up being a massive funnel for outside people to get their first taste of traffic exchange advertising. Since it’s inception, Super Surf has brought in thousands upon thousands of new surfers to the traffic exchanges as it gets the like of Jeff Dedrick, Calvin Woon, Ewen Chia and other big name marketers, telling their members how to properly use traffic exchanges. And this is only the beginning…
6. Best traffic exchange related service?
Answer: Ahhh finally, an idea I came up with along with Mr. Kinder LOL. The Surfer’s Choice / Affiliate Funnel wins this award. Not only has the Surfer’s Choice put the power of ranking the traffic exchanges to the members, the 3 weekly seminars are the most attended and information packed sessions online. It’s all about the community at A.F. and when you have people voting every week for their favorite traffic exchanges and then learning how to market with them in the training sessions, you get a very powerful group of surfers. Like my good friend Tony Tezak always says, ‘Power to the surfers!’
————
Things That Make You Go Hmmm…
- Free Traffic World, the best traffic exchange that you may not have joined in 2008?
- Rant of the year for me…People filing ‘unauthorized claims’ at Pay Pal for subscriptions that they start. Here’s a tip, don’t sign up for something you do not want to get billed for.
- Tim Linden you make good scripts! This thing has added over a hundred new followers to my Twitter account…
