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!
It’s another 365 days gone into the history books in the traffic exchange industry and while we are still going strong, this past year was a real wake up call for a lot of owners. In this post, I hope to stir things up a bit and look back at the year that was in our beloved industry.
This past year we saw a huge push towards the ‘social surfing’ movement. With the launch of programs like Sweeva and the ever growing popularity of in-surf chat at exchanges around the net, the ‘social’ aspect of doing business was very prevalent.
We saw a change in mentality. The future is very bright for this movement and while a lot of people in the industry, like Traffic Hoopla, do not agree with me on the social front, we are seeing brand names being built and surfers becoming ‘famous’ in their own right, just by being active. It’s pretty exciting but that’s not all that happened in 2010.
Newcomer of the year award has to go to Carl Bailey. The owner of Instant Splash quickly became a fan favorite and his blog is one of the most read and commented on sites in the traffic exchanges. His programs are top notch and he has a fantastic outlook on business in the industry. I personally cannot wait to see what he has up his sleeves in 2011.
The traffic exchange of the year goes to Sweeva. I know, I co-own it but when I sat down to write this article I asked myself which program made the most noise this year. Lots of names came up like Traffic Swirl, EasyHits4U and the like but in terms of bringing something new to the table and igniting a fire in everyone’s behind…Sweeva did it. Please do comment if you disagree, because I don’t want this to come off like I’m bragging. I’m just trying to be honest =)
We saw a big change in how the ‘big boys’ do business. A few years ago, there was a whole lot more joint ventures, new launches and basic community between the bigger and more active programs. Now we are seeing more ‘surfers’ uniting. I see a lot of communities being built and surfers working together. The whole ‘team’ mentality was very popular this past year and while I think the idea was good, to work with like minded people, a lot of the promises left something to be desired…
I suppose that’s the way the cookie crumbles and I say kudos to the surfers. The people that are the life blood of this industry, 2011 will be once again your year to shine.
2010 is done. It’s been a fun year and I am very excited about 2011. Both I Love Hits and StartXchange will be celebrating their 10th anniversary in 2011 and lots more milestones will be reached.
What do you have planned for 2011? What do you want to see in the traffic exchange industry? Here’s to a great 2010 and an even brighter future in 2011!
David Foley is quickly becoming my favorite dude in this business…The owner of Traffic Taxis has been busy this week, not on his own programs but working with the Hit Exchange News Top 10 rankings and just recently SWAT Traffic!
First, we got some new ‘buttons’ done for the Hit Exchange News top 10 list. With every week, the top 10 traffic exchanges, ranked by yours truly, will display their rank on a unique ‘button’ that they have all been given.
Of course, not all traffic exchanges love Mr. Olson, so not all of the Top 10 will have their ranked button displayed, but those that do, will have their weekly rank displayed on their site (which coincides with the Top 10 in every issue).
Mr. Foley wasn’t done there though…He has been working on SWAT Traffic over night and added some brand new features as well as a brand spanking new surf bar to the system.
Everything isn’t completed yet, but when it’s done we are talking about a masssive 3 way joint venture with Taxis and Traffic Wonderland. We’re talking cash, credits, impressions, jackpots and so much more…
Get ready for some big changes at SWAT Traffic over the next few days…We are just getting started!
Thank you very much for being a reader of Hit Exchange News and have a wonderful week!
- Cindy Battye is another one of my favorite people in the world and this week she absolutely dropped the bomb of all bombs with her release of Membership Gold Rush. This amazing step by step training service has taken the ENTIRE internet marketing world by storm and shows no signs of slowing down. Be sure to grab your copy today and learn from Cindy, one of the best in the business!
- I mess things up on a constant basis! One of my all time greatest goofs was about a year ago, I was doing a HENry Hour at I Love Hits and opened my big mouth and gave everyone 6 for 1 (yes, buy one credit package get 6 times the amount). Well it’s taken me this long to finally turn things around at ILH and today I can proudly say, traffic flow is back to absolute insanity levels…Over 500 page views per URL per day…And climbing….
- 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 – Wanna see the power of coming to Net Marketing Forum and asking for advice on squeeze / splash page design? Ragnar Miljeteig is in the process of developing something really special! 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.)
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 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 Rambling
Things Like This, Make Me Smile…
This may seem weird, warm and fuzzy or even borderline sappy, but this weekend I’m smiling from ear to ear. You see, it seems to be the goal of every new marketer to come online and one day build an income online that rivals and if not exceeds their offline career / job…
Two things are happening soon where one lucky lady is about to take her online career to the next level by going ‘full time online’ and the next is the product of years of hard work, being a pioneer and finally being in a position to PURCHASE his first home for his family…All from internet marketing and more specifically, traffic exchanges.
This week, I congratulate Sunny Suggs for making it a goal of hers and nailing down the day (this weekend) where she is officially a full time online business owner. Sunny has been involved for a few years now and has done everything she needed to do, to put herself in a position to become full time online. The message here, she aligned herself with the right people and became a sponge for quite some time. Learned everything she could, and continues to impress people across the net….Way to go Sunny!
Next, and I’m pretty pumped about this because Tim Linden has been someone I have known for close to a decade now. Tim is a dedicated family man, programming genius, program owner superstar and one of the best dudes you will ever meet in business. He mentioned on his blog that he is ‘moving’ very soon into the first house he has ever purchased.
Congrats man, it’s been a long time coming and I wish you nothing but success and happiness.
Two great people, fulfilling their dreams….Through the traffic exchanges. I don’t know if there is anything better in this business!
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Things That Make You Go Hmmm…
- Whirlwind Traffic is for sale. Maybe instead of selling these programs, owners could shut them down?
-Did you miss the SWAT Traffic seminar last night? If so, check out Tony Tezak’s blog to find out what you missed…
- I’m back from fishing…I spent 4 days without checking email once…Very refreshing!
