Posted by Ray White on January 21, 2010 Comments (8)

Lately I have been doing some research, mainly in forums, conference rooms and a few other sites where people have an opportunity to rate or discuss online programs.

Seems that traffic exchanges always come up and get their fair share of comments and discussions. That is a good thing, because it simply means that traffic exchanges are being used by more and more people, thus the awareness grows.

However, as with any program there are a lot of negative comments. So, with those findings, I did some research, examined the ones I could who might have been members of my programs. Though it is hard to identify most, several were easily recognized by their name, etc.

The numbers are small I guess because it appears that so many people wanting to earn online are trying to hide their identity. That in itself goes strictly against any reasonable thinking. Why would anyone wanting to succeed online not want to be recognized everywhere, you know, the branding effect we always talk about.

My findings were as follows:

Those who had negative remarks about traffic exchanges also had negative comments about most other programs. The people I identified that were or had been members of my traffic exchanges with comments like TE’s don’t work, etc… 97% had sent less than 25 hits to any of their sites. 100% had sent less than 100 hits.

Most had not logged into their account in the last 6 months, they had no ID’s entered in the downline builders, had not used or setup any of the personalized splash pages, had no banners or text links in their account. Plus most of their sites were slow loading, long affiliate sales pages that everyone and his family were also using. Some had site url’s entered that were 404 not found errors. Very sad.

On average, they registered, set up an account, added one site, surfed 10 pages and never returned. Makes you wonder why they didn’t see any results? Real SHOCKER … a couple of them had never sent any hits to their sites, no surfing, nada, zero, nothing and yet were complaining about results?

In other words, no splash pages, no lead capture pages, and were basically not using any of the tools available. Their name’s were mostly obscured and not found on any of their advertising. I’m pretty sure they are doing the same thing in all programs, expecting results without really utilizing the program or taking the time to understand how.

This not only applies to traffic exchanges, I have seen the same scenario with adkreator and other online programs I am personally involved with.

Truly there should be no excuses for not understanding since there are literally tons of ebooks and information available free of charge, including the information that any program owner worth his salt has provided. So the only real excuse would be laziness or maybe can’t read? Not sure, who knows what excuse each would have? I do suspect lazy is the key word here?

Maybe that brings us back to the loop and understanding why it is written that 95% + who try to earn online fail? Not sure, no data.

It is not my intention to defend traffic exchanges or any other program. I know they work if used properly and with the right attitude. It does concern me that others might read the total failures remarks and not understand the source and reason for their comments. Pretty easy to say a program sucks without giving the details of what they have done or how much time has been spent learning how to utilize it properly.

On another note, the more positive comments found in the same sources I used were exactly the opposite of what the failed ones had done. They were actually branding with their name, using splash pages, lead capture pages to build their list, had either surfed or purchased enough credits to keep their advertisements rotating 24/7 or very close to it. Plus they had referred other members to the sites to reap the benefits.

Most had utilized ALL the tools available, had sites, banners, and text links in rotation, name was clearly defined, branded well, see them all over the net and recognize them easily.

In summary, taking the time to learn a program inside and out, using all the tools at your disposal, keeping your ads in rotation, building your list and branding yourself works! If done in a consistent manner. Traffic exchanges are the easiest and one of the most simplistic tools online to learn…nothing hard about it.

Next time you see negative comments about any program, ask some detail questions if possible, find out how much advertising and what the person truly knows about the program they are yapping about. Above all, consider the source before you make a decision.

Funny thing is, I have even seen traffic exchange and other type program owners demand you do things their way or fail. Believe me, what works for them might not work for you… there are no set rules. Advertising at best is fickle, you only learn by doing, testing and trying different things. Plus if everyone followed the “authority“, no one would be unique or different, being a clone in advertising is not the best route in my opinion.

I seriously doubt that many online program owners have a degree in marketing. In fact most have probably never owned a business outside the online world and most likely have no idea how a business operates. Real world experience can make a difference.

In all honesty, if I had paid attention to all the negative’s found online from so called “authorities” when first starting, I would have given up and went back to work for someone else. So easy to be negative isn’t it? A little bit tougher to research and work for something you earn and desire for yourself. But the end results out weigh the time spent a thousand fold.

I’ll finish with this thought: “People who fail never blame themselves”

Please check out some of our previous articles for other ways and means to improve your online awareness. Only try what fits into your plan and works for you. My ghost writer has been busy.

Comments always welcome…

Ray