This is Hit Exchange News...

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!

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I started in this business in the late 90′s. Back then, we didn’t know what we were doing. All we knew is that to promote our pages, we needed to click. And click we did. Sometimes I found myself spending the majority of my day in front of the computer but it was all worth it because back then, results came at you from every angle.

Time has changed but something that hasn’t in the decade plus that traffic exchanges have been around is the growing number of surfers. You see, any given week can introduce a few thousand new people to the world of traffic exchanges and a recurring question that comes up from new surfers is where do they begin…

Here’s a quick little checklist I highly recommend every new traffic exchange user to check out, and even some of us veterans can get a good refresher from this as well.

First, the big thing I stress is that this isn’t a rush.

Take your time and LEARN everything you can. If someone is telling you that you have to become an expert in this, don’t listen. Be comfortable with everything you do in the traffic exchanges but also with any business or service you join. I made the mistake years ago by joining every new opportunity I saw while surfing and well…It didn’t do me any good, it just used up the limited funds I had when I was starting out.

Second, you don’t need much in way of tools. You need two BASIC tools when you are starting out and that would be a list building auto responder and a splash page / squeeze page creation software. That’s it. Sure there is other things you will want to get down the road but let’s remember, if you keep it simple and very manageable, you will feel a lot better about your time online.

Please note: This is CRITICAL. Do not spend extra funds on stuff you don’t need when starting. Autoresponder and splash page maker, that’s it for now. Grow into other tools when you are ready.

Third, you should be a sponge. This means going to the forums, asking questions. Attending the live seminars and ask questions. Poke around at the popular blogs and see the terms and definitions that are used in this business. Heck, if you have a question about a specific program or traffic exchange, ask the owner. If the owner doesn’t respond, they are insane and you should run away from programs like that. Savvy owners and people who give a damn WILL respond to you. So here’s my PLEA…If you do have questions about traffic exchanges, ask me whenever you want. This is my direct email jon at hitexchangenews.com.

Three simple steps but it helps. Keeping things simple at the start will help you manage your time in the traffic exchanges and get into a pattern that fits your business. When we complicate it (and trust me, sometimes this business loves to throw wrenches at you) I feel that we are not as productive as we can be.

Take your time, use two simple tools and be a sponge.

Not that bad huh? But the hardest part and this is where most new surfers fail is that they give up too soon. Remember, building a solid relationship with your list and building your personal brand as someone people should look to takes time. It won’t happen overnight but keep your page in front of people and practice good list building, the results will come.

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

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Jon Olson
The Traffic Exchange Guy

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The News

- Sweeva blew past the 15,000 member mark this week and is only few accounts away from 16,000. I guess the iPad giveaway contest really peaked people’s interest but what I’m seeing is that this program is slowly being built OUTSIDE of the traffic exchanges. I think this whole social browsing thing might just catch on…

- There’s a new contest taking place that gives you the chance to build your downline in 5 different programs and gives you a chance to win some cash prizes as well. Nice to see a bunch of like minded folks get in on the joint giveaways even if all the programs are from the same company LOL Hey it’s KRM and they started this whole giveaway gig so more power to them.

- Important 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 – While surfing Sweeva during the past few days, this page has stuck out the most and for good reason. It even won a few trophies as well! 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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HEN Top 10

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. StartXChange
2. Splash Page Surfer
3. Web Biz Insider
4. Traffic Splash
5. Soaring 4 Traffic
6. Easy Hits 4 U
7. Hits Booster Pro
8. Traffic Witch
9. Traffic Era
10. Traffic Swarm

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 or Sweeva 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 Ramblings

Video Rant – It’s Time We ALL Supported Who Supports Us!

Note: Enjoy this week’s Deep Thought. I made a video instead of typing my thoughts. Hope you guys enjoy it and please do comment below and let me know what you think about this topic. It’s pretty important to me, that we discuss this =)



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Things That Make You Go Hmmm…

- After coming home from my first offline non-internet marketing seminar, I can say…It’s so sad to see people younger than me, already trapped in the mind set that traditional marketing is the only way to build businesses.

- Speaking of returning to my old habits of attending offline events, I read two amazing books this past week. I highly recommend Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh and Rework by Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson. Amazing messages behind both books. One is that customer service RULES and the second is to…Keep it simple!

- “The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook…” – William James

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Related posts

It’s actually been a fantastic few weeks in traffic exchange land, just after my latest whining fit about there not being much creativity taking place in the industry. I have to hand it to three groups of people this week and I’m very excited about the new additions to our industry…

The first being a very cool new program from the guys at KRM. It’s called T.E. Command Post. Essentially it’s a ‘control panel’ where you can manage and monitor all your traffic exchange campaigns around the net. It’s a very cool new program and something a lot of people have already adopted as being a ‘must have’ service.

Next comes from Matthew Graves of Web Biz Insider and Top Tier Traffic fame. His brand new ‘hybrid’ traffic exchange is called Splash Page Surfer and as my Paul Kinder stated in one of his emails, this is the first traffic exchange built around a downline builder and not the other way around. It combines a traffic exchange, downline builder and a massive 6 level viral list builder. Remarkable stuff, if you look past the fact it’s not just another T.E.

And finally, this fell under the radar to most but I caught it and it deserves just as much credit. Simon Kelly from Web Centre Surf. Simon has done something I think is revolutionary and deserves a nod for innovator of the month…He added an app to Facebook where you can surf Web Centre Surf within Facebook, ‘like’ the application and of course be a fan of the site. Wow!

All in all, it’s been a pretty good 14 days and I’m excited about the new additions to the industry. What do you think? Is this a sign we are headed back in the right direction? Let me know, please comment below!

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

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Jon Olson
The Traffic Exchange Guy

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The News

- We’re having a blast at Sweeva as well. This week we started our first ever referral contest to celebrate our first month online. And how’s this for a prize, we are giving away a brand new iPad to the winner of the contest. Special note, I don’t think any of our JV’s have emailed for this prize so that means ANYONE can win and you don’t need a massive list to do it. We’ve got some cool new splash pages to help you out in promoting the social browsing experience of 2010!

- Easy Hits 4 U continues to blow me away with the numbers they are delivering. 270,000 members have now joined this program and they still get over two thousand new members every week. This is insane. And as an advertiser, I want my sites seen there as much as possible, as often as possible.

- Important 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 – Yeah, I’m a bit biased but come on… The iPad is so cool *lol*! 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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HEN Top 10

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. Easy Hits 4 U
2. StartXChange
3. Web Biz Insider
4. Traffic Era
5. Royal Surf
6. Traffic Splash
7. Soaring 4 Traffic
8. Hits Booster Pro
9. Traffic Witch
10. Traffic Swarm

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 or Sweeva 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 Ramblings

What Did I learn From Apple Inc?

Note: This article was first published earlier this week on the ILoveHits blog. But the message I think, is so important, I had to share it with the readers of Hit Exchange News. Enjoy!

With the massive success of the good ship Apple and their ever growing suite of products that this company has been putting together over the years, I find a huge message within all the hype and hoopla…

I’m not going to tell you their products are the best. Not all of them are. I’m not going to show the cool new features of the iPhone 4, because there are plenty of tech blogs salivating over it right now. But something made me really take notice today while ‘watching’ Mr. Jobs’ keynote address at WWDC 2010.

They never made the first mp3 player. They never made the first cell phone. This company really didn’t invent tablet computing. And they didn’t invent streaming movies. But what they do and continue to do so well is make things sexy.

This is a prime example of a company selling the sizzle before the steak. The oooh’s and aaah’s everytime they release a new product should tell EVERY marketer how important the visuals are for your business.

I have always been a massive fan of the visual arts especially in business. I have maintained for years that web site design is the key component to any successful campaign and well, Apple proves this point. Their stuff LOOKS and feels great. It may not be for everyone, hey we’re not all fanboys here *lol*, but you cannot debate the fact that when it comes to putting a product and it’s packaging together, they ‘get it’.

So what can we learn from this today? Make your steak SIZZLE! Make sure you get your design in play. Make your site look like a million bucks, make it pop, make your customers and potential clients ooh and aah and your visuals and we all might get a slice of the pie.

Ignore this and well…Can anyone name me an MP3 player more popular than an iPod?

Make it look GREAT! Splash pages, squeeze pages, new traffic exchanges….Visuals are everything in this business!

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Things That Make You Go Hmmm…

- I’ll be in Calgary, Alberta on Monday the 14th for the Art of Marketing seminar. Drop me a line, let me know if you are in Calgary. As always when I attend offline events, if you meet up with me, I buy everyone dinner!

- The World Cup starts tomorrow. As always, the rest of the world will be in front of their TV’s for a month while us in America and Canada watch TMZ. Not I, not me, no way…I love World Cup and can’t wait for this tournament to get started…

- “I honestly think it is better to be a failure at something you love than to be a success at something you hate…” – George Burns

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