by Tim on October 7, 2008
1) How and when did your online business get started?
My exchange has been online for about a year and a half. After surfing exchanges for a few years, I decided I should try my own as it seemed like a good business model.
2) Which exchange(s) do you own or co-own?
Currently I own jurassicsurf.com and looking at a second exchange possibly with a partner.
3) Do you currently work exclusively online?
Unfortunately I don't work exclusively online yet but like all businesses it takes time to build. I hope sometime soon to be able to quit my day J.O.B.
4) How many hours per day do you spend on your exchange(s)?
I try to spend a minimum of 2 hours a day on jurassicsurf.com as I want my exchange to be a good one. I know some of the exchanges I am a member of seem to let their exchanges run by themselves.
5) Do you do support yourself, or do you outsource support?
For the time being I do my own support as I like to be hands on. However should jurassicsurf keep growing like it is, I may have to get some help.
6) How fluent are you with HTML, javascript, and PHP?
I can handle most html for what I need to get by and javascript snippets are available to insert in the html. However php is a language all its own and you either understand it or you don't and I don't. I leave it up to the experts to do any fixes I need. If I could get a course that could teach me on a more layman's level I would take it as its difficult to find good php programmers.
7) Approximately how many members join your exchange a month?
It was a little slow at the beginning but now its picking up and averaging 50 to 100 a month.
8) Does most of your advertising come from members referring, or you?
I would have to say about 50/50 right now. I have some great members who like my exchange enough to do a great job getting referrals.
9) Are you subscribed to any blogs? Which is your favorite?
I am subscribed to a few blogs and my favorite is an ebay one.
10) What would be the biggest tip you could give to readers?
I would say my tip, be TE owner or surfer, would be stick with what you are doing as it will work out in the end.
by Tim on September 30, 2008
1) How and when did your online business get started?
I got started online in October of 2003. I joined SFI and MPAM and found out about traffic exchanges through there. I purchased Hitpirate off of Ebay in December 2003 (on an old ASP Walker script) and started developing my own business at that point. I branched out and learned how to do design work to create my own splash pages and then branched out from there. I have no schooling in computers, so everything I know I have learned on my own.
2) Which exchange(s) do you own or co-own?
I own Hitpirate and Genie Traffic. I also own Pirate List Building (List building tutorial site) ClickOrRead (New Mail Less safelist) and Hitpirate Marketing (My blog)
3) Do you currently work exclusively online?
No I do not, I work full time as a restaurant manager. I do have aspirations to be online full time, but haven't reached that goal yet. Everything I make, I re-invest in my business to help it grow and provide a better environment for my members.
4) How many hours per day do you spend on your exchange(s)?
I spend about 3-4 hours a day working on the exchanges.
5) Do you do support yourself, or do you outsource support?
I do my own support :)
6) How fluent are you with HTML, JavaScript, and PHP?
I have pretty solid HTML skills.
Don't know much about JavaScript.
Don't know enough PHP.
I will be diving into PHP over the next year, I think it is important to know enough to fix any bugs that may come up. Sometimes it's hard to get a programmer on your project quickly. So I want to learn it to fix them bugs quicker :)
7) Approximately how many members join your exchange a month?
These days, about 200-300 a month have been joining HP.
8) Does most of your advertising come from members referring, or you?
I would have to say it's pretty even, I do spend quite a bit of money advertising. I also have some weeks where I really surf my butt off on the exchanges. But I do have a great bunch of members at HP that help bring in new people :)
9) Are you subscribed to any blogs? Which is your favorite?
Hit Exchange News (my favorite) TE Scoop and a few others.
10) What would be the biggest tip you could give to readers?
Avoid the HYPE online. Do your due dilligence and study things before you go spending alot of money. If it sounds too good to be true, it IS!
Working online is hard work, It takes a lot of effort and there is alot to learn to do it properly.
Find yourself a great mentor that is truly willing to help people. Then surround yourself with like minded people that are successful. Duplicate their efforts.
Be prepared to spend money when the time comes. No business in this world is free. As they say "It takes money to make money"
