Giving Away Things Really Works
Ok, let’s stop being slackers here. I finally did it. I finally made a splash page that gave away something free for subscribing. And guess what, it worked!
I know what you are thinking.. DUH! Am I right? But then, are you giving something out?
It took a while before I did it. Because I’ve had an idea of what I should give out for a long time, but I just hadn’t made it yet. But then I realized that I could regurgitate my blog series on bad exchanges! I put them all together into one big PDF. Because at the time of that series there were less people subscribing to my blog! So not everyone has seen it. And being in one PDF, it’s a great way to save it to your PC and reference later (or easily print).
So if you aren’t giving away something free, think about what you could give away.. and do it! My very simple, inelegant, splash page below is getting good results. Now I know people want this PDF, so my next step will be to make an even better looking splash page to see if I can really maximize the results! Can you believe this dull page is getting 1 subscriber every 100 views on some exchanges? It’s gotta be the give away!
Lords-Of-Traffic Review
Lords of Traffic is run by Kjell Skogsoey. I would say Kjell is in the controversial category as an owner, as there seems to be some disagreements between him and other owners. You’ll see what he has to say in his interview in the future =P
With that aside, Lords-Of-Traffic has a good design and is a customized script, not an out of the box one. It’s got teams, hover surfing, a chat in the surfbar, and other things to make it unique. While he may not have gotten along with other owners, it looks like he’s worked hard to make his exchange stand out. And as of writing this it’s the top suggested exchange to be added to Traffic Exchange List.
However, I must warn you that the flaw in LOT is in the surfbar itself. If you know about traffic exchange security, you’ll know that having a single surfbar button to view the next site makes it very easy to cheat. And not only that, but it can hover surf, which opens up to more ways to exploit it. All you need to do is have a macro that moves the mouse around the screen and it’ll eventually hover over the image. (whereas multi-button hover bars it would hover over incorrect buttons and trigger alerts).
Because of that, I can’t really recommend it to you nor will I give you my referral link. If it’s fixed then in the future I am willing to re-visit it for an updated review, but for now this will stand.
Easy Surf Exchange Review
Easy Surf Exchange was recently launched by Robin Bouwhuis and is already grabbing attention. And with this design it sure caught mine! Design plays a major roll in getting attention, and Robin’s decision to go with Shark Studio for a design was smart!
Time will tell how effective Easy Surf Exchange is. I’ve got my website in rotation and will later update the review to reflect on the outcome of the tracking. I was able to purchase traffic and instantly receive it which was nice, and it also has the Hits Connect checker to help keep rotation clean.
I’ve seen Robin in the forums and I believe I saw him in the last conference room I was in. This speaks volumes as it’s someone who I know I can get in contact with if necessary, and is making a name for himself!
You can join Easy Surf Exchange by clicking this link.
Interview with Richard Cook
1) How and when did your online business get started?
I started working on EzClicking.com July of 2006. The history behind this decision was multifaceted. Time for history a lesson. I introduced myself to the WWW sometime in 1993 by purchasing “Web TV” and a dial up connection. Back then I used the ‘net for research, chatting, and just general surfing. I upgraded to a PC (233Mhz Dell…lol) and kept the same trend until sometime in 2005, with a few upgrades along the way. The main and only reason I had not done more with internet marketing before 2006 was due to one thing, “Dial up”. That was all that was available and it was frustrating to say the least. As soon as DSL become available I jumped on the band wagon and have never looked back. This new found speed catapulted me right into trying develop my on web sites and such. I then started doing online surveys in an attempt to pay for the cost of hosting my web sites. I soon learned that while doing online surveys was paying for my online activities, I would not ever make enough to live off of. This lead me down the path of learning about affiliate marketing, list building, and promotion. By learning that there was not enough hours in the day for me to do enough surveys to make a substantial income, I turned to building a down-line by referring others. This lead to the creation of CashSurveysNow.com. This is my personal web site that I created to help me refer others while providing a free resource for those wanting to learn about participating in online surveys. While learning all this, I found the need for web site promotion which introduced me to the wonderful world of traffic exchanges. I joined and used many TE’s with much success but felt like this industry was still in its infancy and had a lot of potential for growth. And this lead to:
2) Which exchanges do you currently own or co-own?
I am the proud owner of EzClicking.com. Benefits include: Random surf bonuses that reward surfers with credits and/or “SplashPoints”. Referral bonuses and up to 10 tiers of referral surfing bonuses. We provide a down line mailer and feature “Live” support when ever I am available which in noted right on the site. I conduct referral contests and frequent specials called “EzClicking Time” which is a special time when the surf clock is lowered and bonuses are increased.
3) Do you currently work exclusively online?
Fortunately no. I am a Registered Nurse by profession. Even though my online income may dwarf the income from working as a Registered Nurse, I enjoy and feel personally responsible to use my knowledge and skills to help other in a time of need.
4) How many hours a day do you spend on your exchange?
26…. No, but really I spend at least 8 to 16 hours a day actively doing something online that involves EzClicking.com, whether if it is answering support tickets or promoting and networking with others. I am always there in one way or another, even in my sleep I dream of ways to add features and value to my members.
5) Do you support yourself, or do you out source support?
I do some of both. If it is a simple matter that involves HTML or simple PHP I can provide my own support. However, if it comes to graphics or heavy coding I will hire a professional. I will admit that as the industry grows, the supply of people specializing in graphics and TE coding has not. This is definite area of demand and could be a lucrative area to specialize in..hint, hint.
6) How fluent are you in HTML, javascript, and PHP?
As I touched on above, not nearly enough. I have taught myself the basics in HTML and PHP. I would really like to have formal training in these areas, but do not have the time. And the local college does not offer specialized instruction in these areas.
7) Approximately how many members join your exchange a month?
This really depends on me. If I intensely invest into site promotion, I can usually average 200 to 300 new members a month. This is probably childs play compared to some, but I believe in slow steady growth.
8) Does most of your advertising come from member referring or you?
I can honestly say that most if not practically all my advertising comes from me. The reason is simple, I have not made cookie cutter splash pages for my members. I do know that some still promote by using the front page, but I encourage all members to be creative and produce their own splash pages. I am sure I will one day provide splash pages, but I really want my members to understand that personalized advertising is where it is at! Always promote yourself first, then your product.
9) Are you subscribed to any blogs? Which is your favorite?
I am subscribed to many, but I do not have any favorites. I constantly scan several and gain information from them all. There just is not a one stop blog…
10) What would be your biggest tip you could give to readers?
I am sure we have all seen the frog that is in the cranes beak with both hands wrapped around its neck. The motto here is, no matter what, do not ever give up!!
The fact of the matter is, we all must take chances and sometimes leave our comfort zone in order to find success. We will fail, but the key is to learn from failure and move on, do not ever give up!Richard Cook
Owner
http://www.ezclicking.com
Why would you want to surf large exchanges?
I found a forum post where a reader was asking for input on her exchange, and she references my blog series on how to spot a bad exchange and the design element. 3 people respond saying that I’m a guru (thanks!) and that I have a hidden agenda. But one of them posted a question that I thought was interesting:
“I may be pretty off base with this idea, but who would really want to join a huge site like Start Exchange or TS25?”
Well I wanted to give you my thoughts on why you want to surf large exchanges (and then I’ll also go over why you might want to surf smaller exchanges). Now before you say I’m a guru and I’m hiding my agenda.. Yes, I own a larger exchange, but I’m not here to talk you into surfing my exchange. I’m here to help you become successful so you use my exchange long term. If I tricked you into using it and you really didn’t succeed, would you continue using it? No.
The Reason To Surf Large Exchanges
[u]They have lots of people to view your site.[/u] You earn or buy 1000 hits and even with a 50% unique ratio that’s 500 people viewing your ad. The goal is for you to advertise your site right? Having a large audience at your fingertips is HUGE!
And because of the huge amount of members, they can also afford to give out bigger prizes or run bigger contests. The bigger the exchange the less impact giving away 1000 credits as a prize is, so the more often they can do it.
There are exchanges out there that boast giving you thousands of hits just for joining.. But what good is it if they only have 100 members in there exchange? It would be pointless to even surf because you already know that each member should see your site 10 times just from the signing bonus. And since everyone gets it, are people [i]really[/i] going to surf?
Also, generally speaking, larger exchanges tend to have better services. They have the resources to hire support people, to have programmers on call if things go wrong, faster better servers, etc. For instance I just purchased traffic from a smaller exchange and I have to wait for someone to manually approve my purchase. Most larger exchanges have this all automated.
Now I say generally speaking because this isn’t the case for all large exchanges or even all of the aspects of one. For instance I accept Google Checkout, but have to manually approve those purchases. But I think you get the point I’m trying to make.
So Why Would You Use Small Exchanges?
Well there are a few reasons… Smaller exchanges can have different people that aren’t using the bigger exchanges. There are in fact people who prefer a small exchange, and to advertise to them you’ll need to use a small exchange.
Different owners also have different backgrounds. Soren Jordansen has a background with safelists, so his exchange most likely has more people from the safelist arena than others. The same goes for all the owners, each one is different and can attract a different crowd.
So what are we supposed to do?
Well I believe Mike Paetzold said it first, but really you should be focusing your energies on the larger exchanges and supplementing it with smaller exchanges. If you are tracking you’ll see which are giving you the results. Simple really.
One last comment
I think it’s funny that the exchange they mention actually looks decent. Their advice to her is that I discount small exchanges. In reality I would have given her tips to improve it but I don’t think the design goes in the bad exchanges category. Look at Traffic-Splash - does the design scream corporate look? No, but it’s still a top exchange.
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