5 Reasons Why an Exchange Dies
It’s common in the traffic exchange industry for an exchange to die. It’s really easy to get a script, so it’s really easy for an exchange to open. When it’s that easy, the number of exchanges dieing (or maybe never even being “born”) is going to be high.
- The exchange was mis-managed. This can happen in many ways. Usually it’s the owner not knowing anything about credit inventories and selling more traffic than they can deliver. When that happens people stop surfing and go elsewhere. If you can’t deliver it, don’t sell it. And don’t have a surfing ratio or bonuses you can’t deliver.
- The owner doesn’t have it. The sad truth is, not everyone can run a business. Some people just don’t have it and so people join a site because they are friends with them, but the person really doesn’t have the business mindset to keep it running.
- Technical difficulties. The biggest excuse owners make is they don’t know how to do something. Something breaks and they don’t know how to fix it. A server crashes and they didn’t have backups. This is a business using computers, so if the owner doesn’t have the knowhow and they don’t have someone they’ve hired, it’s easy to kill an exchange this way.
- Expenses > Income. Most people expect to get a huge amount of money running an exchange. They think the $5 a month hosting plan will do, and their members will promote for them. Then reality sets in. They aren’t making much money, they have to advertise themselves, and the second they do get busy that $5 host pulls the plug because on line 391 of the AUP it says they can pull the plug on sites that use too many resource. The owner then has to start spending their own money to keep it going and gives up because it didn’t go according to plan.
- They get stale. With new exchanges and new features coming and going, it’s typically the exchanges that stay ahead of the curve that’ll. It’s the copy cats and the ones who never update their exchange that die off. It’s also the hardest part of running an exchange. It’s really easy to keep running things how they are running. It’s really hard to come up with something new.
Those are just some of the reasons, there are others but these tend to be the main issues. Any one of these doesn’t mean that the owner is a terrible person. It’s all about figuring out what you are good at, and doing that. You might make a killing advertising in exchanges, but do terrible running one. So don’t try to be something you aren’t.
And don’t keep launching “new” exchanges thinking the next one will work. It’s OK if this isn’t your thing. If you can’t run an exchange, but really want to run a program, try a different type of program. Try, fail, and take notes. We constantly tell people that the money is in providing a unique service that goes with the exchanges because there is less competition. If you can find something new and cool you’ll have people jumping in left and right.
Hi Tim,
Great post today and how very true. If you have to love what you are doing and have a passion for doing it or else it usually does not work.
For myself, if I don’t like what I am doing it becomes very tiresome and very quickly. That’s why I never would stay at a job before that I didn’t like what I was doing either. If I am going to do anything I want to do it to the best of my ability and I simply can not do that if my heart is not all in it.
Marilyn
Your underlying theme here is ALL important, Tim!
People need to ‘lean to their strong-suites’, or find something in the marketplace that needs improvement.
No need to copycat OR re-invent the wheel. Just make something that works better and satisfies a common need.
My 1 month-old Instant Splash site is a prime example.
Many surfers don’t want their splash pages tied to a particular TE. And most don’t want to use a splash maker that is ’side-module’.
I simply designed a splash maker that is FREE, EASY and grows a list.
The upgrade is always there but never OTO’d or shoved down members throats.
Members seem to appreciate that, and are upgrading after they learn that it works ‘as advertised’.
Doing something different and better… is always a good idea.
I really enjoy your posts. And I know it is NOT easy to write fun, interesting snippets that make people think AND comment.
Carl Bailey
InstantSplash.com
Wow. I thought all those owners got rich and retired in the Bahamas.
So much for that plan.
Guess I’ll keep working.
Tim, You always know just what to say! This is all so very true…I see some traffic exchange owners that can barely keep one running yet they continue to buy more which makes no sense to me. It’s hard enough to be active and keep up with one – if you are actually Running it.
Personally I enjoy watching the numbers raise every day; new members, sites viewed, along with having contests, and just interacting with our members. It’s fun!
I agree with what you wrote Carl – I also do not throw or push offers onto my members…I treat them how I want/like to be treated.
Thanks Tim for helping us with your tips, I look forward to your next post :)
~ Nicole Acosta
YourHotHits.com
Very good post today Tim.
I get so many good tips from this blog, I am surprised that you do not get 1000 posts a day!
Not much to say today but Thank you,
Doug
Good Post Tim!
I have a question- What should Surfers look for so they Don’t join a Dying exchange?
Super post today.I would love to have you answer Patti’s question. A dead give-a-way for me is that my banner credits and my site credits are not going down. If that surfing bar is not clean and I have too many frame breakers, I report it. If there is no response in a couple of days, I know that exchange is not being properly montered.
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Hi Tim,
Good comments, but unfortunately, they will be read, but not followed. There will be half a dozen new exchanges try to be born before the end of the month.
After 2 years of owning an already established exchange, I thought I would create my own from scratch. Being a programmer, I knew I could make it unique, and add new mods and updates. I opened it 4+ months ago, and my original exchange has slipped badly. I do not see how owners can have multiple exchanges and operate them properly. It takes a real balance, and constant work to keep them active.
That creates the problem I see… hands off owners. They own the exchange, but expect it to operate itself. They get these fancy help desks, then hire someone to do customer support, or they feel they can spend a couple hours a week sending out emails. I operate my exchanges, because I enjoy it. It’s not a burden, even though I can easily spend 40+ hours at the keyboard “maintaining” it. It’s fun and I enjoy the interaction with members, creating new material, and watching it grow.
If your going to start an exchange, first as Tim said make sure you WANT TO. They are not money makers! They can generate some cash flow, but you will make more money creating a squeeze page, advertising in the exchanges and being an affiliate marketer.
Owning a traffic exchange is not a wash, rinse, repeat mentality. If you have that thought… use it with niche sites!
Sorry to take up so much space… just one of my pet peeves… its those lousy owners that make it that much harder for the rest of us…
DA
Another great post Tim.
Additionally there are a lot of people out there that are habitual starters, but never finish anything! Doesn’t matter what the idea is they don’t have a start to end plan, so they’ll never get there!
Tim, you couldn’t have said it better! This certainly applies to all membership type businesses.
We have been coaching internet marketers for years and see this happen almost daily.
Most fledgling internet marketers still have the “Overnight Success” syndrome, believing that the internet is a pot of gold and they’ll have instant wealth.
Building a successful business takes investments of time, money, willingness to learn, a good mentor and HARD WORK!
Kudos to you Tim also Carl Bailey and my wife Gina Sprenkle-Gunning
Hey Tim, Fantastic post … You nailed it!
Creativity and passion go hand in hand from the first notion of owning your own site to constantly planning on making it better and better.
So many people don’t realize how much work the admins really do – until they try to do it themselves.
For anyone reading this comment and think your site may have died or failed – you can bring it back to life or open a new site and try again.
Never ever give up!
Gina :)