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’…
There’s a pretty big story coming from Affiliate Funnel today with the announced launch of the ‘jump link’ service. I know, it’s a funny name and I had to do a double take when I first heard of the concept behind them.
Essentially, AF has always been about promoting ‘YOU’ first and a jump link caries on this tradition. The way it works is so simple, each and every email that gets sent either a newsletter update or an auto responder code, will have your links embedded into it. Simple huh? So no longer does anyone but you benefit from these emails.
We are continuing to make Affiliate Funnel not only the most in depth traffic exchange hub on the internet, but marketing hub as well. This new feature will help members earn a lot more commissions from the programs within the system but also from AF itself.
Be sure to check out the jump links and everything new that is going on at AF. We are just getting warmed up!
Nexus Exchange is giving $1000 cash to one of its members on May 26. Why? Because our members are the surge in e-power.
————–
The News
- Speaking of Affiliate Funnel, we will be hosting the ‘MAYhem Prize Giveaway’ live this Saturday at noon Eastern (-5 GMT). What’s so special about that? The fact that dozens of traffic exchange owners that ook part in the promotion will be on hand to give out the prizes. I can not think of a better online seminar to attend this year. This is the ‘must attend’ online seminar of 2008!
- S.W.A.T. Traffic’s weekly seminar was a huge success last night. Check out this testimonial I got from Janid Inayat;
Jon, I want to thank you for the amazing opportunity
you are offering us. The SWAT Conference is THE place
to be for anyone who wants to get their Internet Marketing
done right. The value of the tips and tricks discussed
and exposed there are simply incredible….I’ve
been able to apply the tips, tricks and strategies there,
and receive results within days.
Now that right there makes everything worth it!
- Savvy Clicks announced today that they have hit the 12,500 membership mark. I’m having second thoughts on how I use and promote traffic exchanges in this newsletter. It’s time to focus on the quality OWNERS not just the program, and something like Savvy needs to be supported across the board. Great job Harry!
- Congratulations to ‘Robert’ 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 – Lower your speaker volume because this thing is loud…..and HILARIOUS! Traffic At The Races has done it again with one of the best splash pages in recent memory! 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
Are There Too Many Traffic Exchanges?
A question that comes up a lot. And what’s odd about it, my answer has changed from 365 days ago. You see, a year ago I would have argued that there is never too many exchanges. I always maintained that a healthy industry would always have new comers coming in to try their hand at traffic exchange ownership. But then the ‘quick-launch-hype-repeat’ model came into play…
Does this sound familiar? A new traffic exchange is launched, same owner but follows the exact same model. It gets a lot of press and publicity, is promoted heavily for a few weeks, and then it starts to slow down. Not a ‘slow’ down, but a massive halt! So what does the owner do? Creates a new traffic exchange, same script with nothing new to offer, throws a new design on it and starts the process over…And over…And over…
I do not understand the need to constantly release new programs, other than a quick cash grab for the owner. There is zero sustainability in this model, and it hurts the reputation of traffic exchanges when these programs are continued to be supported and used. So for me, like I mentioned in my Savvy Clicks blurb above, I am only going to be supporting (surfing and spending money) with the exchanges that have quality ownership and a track record of performance.
It’s time to support owners that focus their energy on 1 or 2 traffic exchanges, not 5-10. The ONLY reason a traffic exchange owner would own 5-10 exchanges without any major difference in script performance is for a cash grab. That’s it folks. This may upset a lot of people and I may even lose the respect of some of these owners, but it’s time to say it….
There are too many traffic exchanges out there, and I will be focusing my energy on the ones that have those proven track records and amazing ownership behind it!
So what’s your opinion on this? You can let the world know your thought son this by adding a comment below or check out the latest poll at Net Marketing Forum!
————
Things That Make You Go Hmmm…
- Rumor has it that Robert Puddy is about to launch something ‘traffic exchange related’ that is going to be….Huge!
- Traffic Era got a new site design. Now that was quick, only a few months of being online and a re-design is ready to go. I will never complain about new looks, I think more exchanges should follow suit!
- aWeber announced this week that they have increased the price for memberships in their system. Hmmm, very strange move because I could have sworn it’s only gas that keeps rising in costs, not the ability to send emails?
———-
StartXchange Owner Tim Linden is giving away
20,000 hits to a random subscriber of his blog!
Subscribe by Sunday May 25th below!
