Interview with John Marks

1) How and when did your online business get started?

Well I opened my traffic Exchange In February 2007, but I spent a couple of years in MLM trying to make my mark without much luck. I even tried losing my shirt in Hyip and Autosurfs. I wouldn’t recommend that course of action to anyone. It is an endless vicious circle.

2) Which exchange(s) do you own or co-own?

I own 2 actually. I own etrafficfreedom.com and krazyexchange.com

3) Do you currently work exclusively online?

No. I’m afraid that I am still working in the real world, however I am hopeful that 2 more years will just about find me retired from my day job.

4) How many hours per day do you spend on your exchange(s)?

It varies quite a bit actually. During the week between customer service and promotion efforts, I spend on average about 6 hours per evening. On the weekends you can say I’ll spend an average of around 8 hours per day promoting or dealing with customer needs such as approving websites.

5) Do you do support yourself, or do you outsource support?

I’d have to say that is about 50/50. Since becoming a traffic exchange owner I have learned a great deal about writing php and html, creating graphics and troubleshooting. I’m not able to build things from scratch like mods, but I can hold my own on many things. For major designs, modifications or reprogramming though, I outsource it. For the cost of a programmer or designer, it simply is not worth risking ruining something important on my own.

6) How fluent are you with HTML, javascript, and PHP?

With html and php, I get better every day and have gotten quite competent. It really is not that complicated if you take the time to learn it. Javascript on the other hand, I just cannot get my head around it. LOL.

7) Approximately how many members join your exchange a month?

That varies so much, it’s hard to nail down a number. I’ve had months where 250 new members is not unheard of, yet others where it’s a struggle to get 100. With our recent relaunch, we had 600 join us in 2 weeks. I really do believe it varies with the mood of the industry and the time of year. I think that if I had to narrow it down to an average though, I’d say between 150 and 200 somewhere.

8) Does most of your advertising come from members referring, or you?

I’ve actually been blessed as of late with quite a few members who promote heavily, but I think on average I’d have to say it is about 80% me and 20% member promotions.

9) Are you subscribed to any blogs? Which is your favorite?

I really don’t spend too much time reading blogs unless they are traffic exchange related. I do enjoy reading the Hit Exchange News on a weekly basis, and I am subscribed to Mike Paetzold’s blog and read it often.

10) What would be the biggest tip you could give to readers?

That’s not an easy answer, but I’d have to say FOCUS. Don’t dilute your time and effort trying to win at everything. Find something you do well and focus on succeeding at that one thing. Networking with the people who have already overcome mediocrity in your niche and learning from them, then applying that knowledge to better your own abilities can be of priceless value to you. If you continue to learn, build relationships with those in the know, and pursue your goals with tenacity, then you have just increased your odds for success immensely. Don’t give up.