WinterPerkins.com

Traffic Exchanges are suffering financially. Less upgrades are being purchased, less real marketers joining for the sake of exchanging traffic. We’re beating a dead horse here, I think everyone is in agreement that Traffic Exchanges are hurting. We can talk about that fact until we’re blue in the face (which seems to be the popular thing to do), OR we can combine our efforts and find a way to move this industry forward!

As I write this post, I’m literally rubbing my forehead in frustration. I attend tons of conferences and the topic is almost always “Boohoo the cash surfing is destroying the industry.” Come on! Where’s the positive attitude that can move real manual exchanges forward into a new era? Where are the new innovative ideas to breathe life back into the exchanges for us that actually use them the RIGHT way?

We are still here; we are still surfing; we are still building our business! WE matter! Cash surfers/surfing purely to earn a few cents (sorry if this offends but I’m being 10000% honest) do NOT matter! They aren’t what keeps this industry alive, they’re not who should be getting the attention and energy that us real surfers rightfully deserve.

The conferences are a wonderful way to get a group of owners and surfers together to discuss the state of the Traffic Exchange Industry, and I love them, absolutely love them. But why does it have to be a group bitch session? Can we not use that time productively to work on changes instead of just collective griping?

We know cash surfing hurts the industry, we know people are investing less money into upgrades, credits. Now what? No amount of collective griping is going to change those issues. No amount of ranting is going to contribute to helpful ideas! Let’s think! Let’s do things that have never been done before.

If people are not spending money like they used to on upgrades, maybe it’s time to rethink upgraded membership benefits? Just because the structure and benefits of an upgrade have always been the same, and have always worked, doesn’t mean you don’t have to adapt and rethink them at some point.

It is the “This is the way it’s always been done,”  mentality that kills a business, that keeps it stagnant, from achieving progress and forward movement. I love the Traffic Exchanges, and I love the owners. It just breaks my heart to see the “lie down and take it” attitude creeping in. You guys are better than this! You’ve been here for years, this is YOUR industry! There’s nothing you can’t do here… so let’s do it already!

This is my public plea for the groaning and complaining to finally take a back seat to real thought, progress and innovative ideas that I know are just waiting and fighting like hell to be born. Let’s put the spotlight back where it needs to be, on us surfers that need for the Traffic Exchange industry to succeed, so that we can do the same. Cheers!

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Ok I give… I’m throwing my thoughts in the ring here on the whole “cash surfing” issue. I know this is a hot topic, it’s on many blogs right now. I try to keep my comments on other blogs short, and I just have a little bit more to say about it.

The central theme seems to be that David Foley is almost single handedly bringing down the Traffic Exchange industry as a whole. And I love David, he is my friend, but to give one person credit for a dive of the industry is a bit much. I think it’s a combination of many things, some that we can’t even control. Yes, David kicked off a cash for surfing trend in Traffic Taxis. Do you know how many owners were chomping at the bit to get into the Jackpot Surfing coop? A ridiculous amount. Yes, David still turns the cash surfing on daily, but at some point, there has to be a level of responsibility for these other owners that play “follow the leader.” David is responsible for Traffic Taxis and how he chooses to market that site, just like every owner is responsible for the marketing of their own exchange.

That being said… in MY mind, cash surfing exchanges are no more similar to non-cash surfing exchanges, as manual surfs are to auto surfs. Cash surfing exchanges in my eyes, are not really manual traffic exchanges anymore. They are a breed of their own, and rightfully so. When you look at the traffic exchange industry as a whole right now, there are really 2 categories of surfers in my mind, extremely different categories: those who are here to earn some money while surfing, and those that are here to earn real visits for their websites. You cannot grab a real visitor’s attention by saying “Hey come surf for some pennies.” You in turn, cannot grab a cash surfer’s attention by saying “Hey here’s a real business opportunity for you.” See what I mean? Two totally different groups, two totally different mindsets, therefore to me, two totally different markets.

As much as half the industry hates cash surfing, there is another half that loves cash surfing. Like it or not, I believe it’s here to stay. Why? Because it makes owner’s like David Foley a LOT of money, and some people are just willing to do what we aren’t: surf for hours on end for a few cents. It would make cash surfing owners even more money if they would embrace the fact that they are no longer a real manual surf exchange, and target their cash surfers by saying “By upgrading you can find even more money in the surfbar, and get random referrals!” This is a PTC/cash surfers dream! They would come out of their pockets so quick to make just a bit of extra cash. Trust me… I was in that industry for years before coming here.

Also, we have to take into consideration the outside factors that allow this new cash surfing industry to thrive. Think of the world’s financial markets, think of the new breed of kids coming in just starting out trying to make a little bit of cash online. Cash surfing is appealing because it’s easy money. Little, tiny amounts of money yes, but nevertheless easy money. People have less and less money to spend on real business opportunities as well, which can account for some of the decline in responsiveness.

I dislike cash surfing because it serves no purpose for me, my goal, or my business. I don’t hate cash surfing anymore than I hate PTC sites. It’s just not my choice of advertising methods. I think the fire can be put out, at least just a little bit, if we stop looking at cash surfing exchanges as real manual traffic exchanges… they clearly are not. The traffic exchange industry will continue to grow and change, and not always the way we want or expect… that’s business. Just spend your advertising dollars the way you want to, where you want to, and all should be ok in the end.

I’m personally close to over with this whole debate, but I had some things to share, and I do believe I got all my points across finally! Til next time… later taters!

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I, Winter Perkins, being of sound mind and body, surfed for almost 5 hours straight last night. Yes you heard me right, 5 hours… and as we all know I (say it with me) hate to surf! It’s not the most PC thing to say when I’m so integrated into the Traffic Exchange industry, but I really just don’t enjoy the act of surfing. I, of course, love advertising in Traffic Exchanges and the results I get from building my list in them. BUT I make sure to upgrade when I can in the exchanges where I’m getting my best results or catch credit specials, so I can free myself from the task I dislike so much.

Why this much surfing all of a sudden? It’s all thanks to a tiny, awesome device with a big price tag….. the iPod Touch. My daughter has wanted one of these for a long time, but it’s a little pricey for my budget right now. She put in a huge effort at school this year, even winning a few achievement awards, so she definitely deserves the iPod. Luckily, I Love Hits is giving one away for FREE! Of course, you have to surf a bazillion hours to win lol but I’m definitely going to try as hard as my fingers will allow. I Love Hits always gives away an awesome prize every week to top surfers, but you know it has to be super cool if I’m willing to surf for it right?

I actually surfed, two… count them TWO sites yesterday! I spent some time surfing in Sweeva.com too, and visiting some really cool blogs. Sweeva of course is the Social Browsing site that’s caused some commotion in the Traffic Exchange industry lately. I love the site, and it’s one of the sites I can browse in for almost an hour before getting bored, that’s saying something for me.

Yesterday Tim Linden and Jon Olson introduced a whole new element to the Sweeva game… Random Widget Prizes! If you don’t know what a Sweeva Widget is, scroll down almost to the bottom of this page, look in my right sidebar column, and you’ll see it there. It has my picture, the awards I’ve won so far, etc. Most importantly, these widgets are all over the web: on blogs, in splash pages, on Traffic Exchanges, you name it.. they are everywhere. Now these widgets are set to randomly give prizes at any given time. You have to keep your eyes peeled because when you see a widget that looks like the one below, click it! That means you’ve won a huge prize, not only for yourself, but also for the person proudly displaying their Sweeva Widget. These prizes can be just about anything: Sweeva Experience Points, credits, hats, shirts, coffee mugs, even… Flip Cams! If you’re already a member of Sweeva, fly your widget proudly. If you’re not, signup today, grab your widget, and get ready to win some huge prizes. Be sure to look for these widgets everywhere you go, and if you see a widget that looks like this….

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv CLICK IT, you win!

Example of a Sweeva Winning Widget

In conclusion…. wish me luck on the iPod Touch prize in I Love Hits, please don’t crush me in the brackets, proudly display your Sweeva Widget, keep your eyes peeled for winning widgets, refresh this page a million times and hopefully we’ll both win some awesome prizes at Sweeva (kidding about this part of course…. or am I).

Have a great day all, see you in the surfs! Wow, I sure don’t get to say that often lol good luck!

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