Charging for Stats
I’ve wanted to charge for the Traffic Exchange List reports for quite some time. Much like Hoopla does. However, I don’t know a good price point. What do you think it’s worth?
For a long time I’ve wanted to keep it free too. But it reaches a point where there are only so many exchanges I can manage for free. I can only devote so much of my time, knowing that I’m not getting paid for that time.
So with those thoughts in mind, how much would YOU pay? $1/month, $5/month, $10/month, what’s reasonable? And do you currently subscribe to Hoopla, why or why not?
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:: (15) Comments ::
Traffic Exchanges ::
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October 19th, 2007 at 9:02 am
I don’t think a charge is needed. It is difficult for beginers to start using paid account. Free members normally came to train themselves.
ClickMasterPro.com , I got it free from Dan Mosses. They pay money as bonus. So far I have $4.00 in my account
I vote for free traffic exchanges — not paid
Lee Teck Chye (Malaysia)
October 19th, 2007 at 9:16 am
As in most things I think the price (to the extent that there is one) ought to reflect the product or service quality. I’ve never been a huge fan of simple lists and rankings without some kind of rationale or explanation as to how the authors arrive at such a list. I would never pay for a top 10 list that simply shows me 10 names. Means nothing. Although I don’t charge for my top 10, and I admit being biased, I would pay more for the analysis vs simply a list.
Blogtommy
October 19th, 2007 at 9:37 am
I would like to see it kept free and I would suggest you monetize the website with adsense or other means to make money for your efforts. By keeping it free you will surely have much more traffic and exposure to your business, while helping others to get started.
October 19th, 2007 at 9:45 am
The key thing is information how much will be provided as has been said a list of names isnt really much use do you intend on taking the information we get now such as the pics of visitors and the amount of traffic away from the free areas. I personally use a stat counter that collects much more than a list of names for example what browser what os and what country the person is using and how they arrived this is a free service although to be fair they only provide information on the last 100 visitors. I have been able to target what the people see due to some of that information whereas a list of names would not have helped.
As for paying it is difficult to say when we are spoiled by so many companies that provide free services. Perhaps keeping if free for the upgraded members and charging a small fee for the free members this may encourage the free members to upgrade. Well thats my cents worth anyway.
October 19th, 2007 at 10:20 am
Please keep it free.
October 19th, 2007 at 10:24 am
Thanks Tim, for the opportunity to provide some feedback.
No, I do not think you should charge for the list.
I appreciate the work involved to put a list together, but it should be seen as a cost of doing business, a courtesy, a form of branding. When I spend hours clicking, promoting various TE’s, I don’t get paid for my time. Traffic Exchange owners get tons of free leverage from my efforts promoting their TE’s (which in fact is a list building machine for the TE owner to promote their offers in competition to the offers I seek to promote). In my opinion, putting a list together, gives another way for you, Tim Linden, to stay on the top of my mind when I think Traffic Exchange. The competition is fierce - and you are doing a great job. Offering the list helps. It is nice to have, but not absolutely necessary.
On the other hand, if you must charge, perhaps it could be offered as a freebie (a perk or enhancement) to those who upgrade in your excellent award winning StartXchange TE, much like you do with TEToolBox.
Thanks for all the hard work you do Tim.
I am impressed with the quality and professional nature of your work.
Best regards,
John @ Prime Promotions
October 19th, 2007 at 1:37 pm
Here is another vote fo FREE. When I see the list on Monday It reassures me that I am using exchanges that someone with your expertice has in the top 10. HonestlyI have settled in on just a few that for various reasons I like to use, startxchange being one of them even though it is not on you list for the reason you state on the Monay list.
tacwash
October 19th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
I can certainly see where you are coming from - It takes time to analyse and produce the reports.
I would not be in favour of adsense/googleads - I actively avoid sites using these where possible.
I like Joys idea of offering the stats to upgraded members on StartXchange, assuming most of your upgraded members on SX are already using the service, and charging free members a small premium.
I do not yet subscribe to a hits results service, mainly because the cost of the service was greater than my perceived need of the information. I probably would not go above $5 monthly - depending on the quantity and quality of the information offered.
One possible approach might be to tie the results service into a traffic co-op service, so members buy hits to the top performing exchanges, and know that they do not have to be constatntly updating and maintaining the list.
Just a thought
DeHawkinz
October 19th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
I think it’s reasonable to take payment for things people need and want.
Personally I’ve used various statistics but my own trackings really give me the results I need so I don’t need external services.
I have no idea what people would pay, but I guess they would need to see the results before they know the value.
Oh, Tim, Like many other blogs this one also took a very long time to load.
I was just about to cancel when it was eventually displayed.
October 19th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
Inge - I’ve turned wp-cache on, that should help a bit.
October 19th, 2007 at 3:02 pm
About Traffic Hoopla. There are just way to many programs in there. I signed up, put my user name in a few fields and said this is just too much. I felt that any users signing up under me would probably feel the same. I would rather concentrate 3 to 5 good programs and build up there instead of trying to keep up with referrals in that many programs.
Instead of charging, throw in some site support pages (ads). And people could pay a small fee to not have to click on them
I
October 19th, 2007 at 3:48 pm
Hi Tim,
I don’t think that I would sign up for a paid subscription (I am a paid member of StartXchange), as I am a paid member of Hoopla.
I joined Hoopla for the detailed results and stats on both safelists and traffic exchanges. This information is a very good filler for one’s newsletter.
I like your TE by the way, I am a paid member of many and a free member of many more. I do however, tend to surf your’s more than the others.
Keep up the good work.
Regards,
Jeff Henshaw.
October 19th, 2007 at 8:49 pm
I understand that it takes work to publish these lists, and I enjoy yours. However, I don’t subscribe to lists that I have to pay for. Like Inge, I use my own tracking to determine what’s working best for me.
However, Joy’s idea of having paid members of SX getting it free may be a good compromise.
October 25th, 2007 at 2:02 am
Free is always prefered, but I can see where Tim is coming from.
October 27th, 2007 at 8:39 pm
Hi Tim,
I vote for free and you would earn me as a client if you keep it that way.
All the best,
Mark