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As promised, here is the 2nd Installment of my exclusive interview with David Foley of Traffic Taxis.

If you missed yesterday’s 1st Installment, you can find it here: He’s Just One Man (1st Installment)

I was so excited to see so many different viewpoints on the issues yesterday. We had new program owners, seasoned program owners, cash surfers/incentive surfers, and all of those opinions are important. It’s really starting to help me see the bigger picture here, and I hope that’s what you’re gaining from this as well.

We even had well known people with past differences giving their professional opinion and keeping it classy. You guys rock, thank you for that!

You’ll notice that this Q & A session spurred some followup questions. My questions and comments are always bold; David’s are always plain text. Let’s keep this spirit of discussion going with today’s Installment… enjoy!

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Winter:
I think everyone notices the amount of email you send (even I tease you about it from time to time), but I’d really like to know if there’s a concrete reason. Are you just spamming us so we don’t forget about Taxis, or do you have positive results from the method you use?

David:
One thing I always praised myself on was my ability to look at why someone does something.  Not just take things out of context.  People will always have a strong opinion about this and this is simply a case of what you like, and what you don’t like.

Let’s begin with the word spam. Can you please define that word for me? Because it’s a word that people use, and I don’t think they really understand it.

- I guess I mean in a general sense, maybe bombard is a better word.

The word “Spam” as applied to Email means “Unsolicited Bulk Email”.
Unsolicited means that the Recipient has not granted verifiable permission for the message to be sent.

Reasons for why I might feel the need to send more than 1 email a day is really simple.  I am a very active owner. I stay engaged. I have always been a very reactive and situational person.  And when I feel like I want to have an interaction with my business, I do it.

I have spent thousands and thousands of dollars designing and perfecting the most advanced administration I possibly can so that I can see exactly down to the absolute second, how responsive surfers are; or are not.  It not only helps me to understand the mindset of a surfer, but even just how someone responds to an email.

I like seeing activity… I like when I see people respond.  It’s what drives me.  If it didn’t excite me,  I wouldn’t do it. Email is king, and it’s just an email, nothing more, nothing less.

Winter:
What would you say to those surfers that love Taxis, but might not be as excited about the all mails as you are?

David:
Im sorry…
but seriously, if you are going to be an internet marketer, these are just things you need to let slide.  I get hundreds upon hundred of emails daily. To me it doesn’t matter who they come from, and whether they come once, twice, three times a day.  But one thing you do notice is which owners are active and which one are not. You can guarantee, if you see an email pop up in your inbox from Taxis.  I am right there on the other side doing my job.

Winter:
What value do you see in the cash surfing/surfers trend?

David:
Well, this is definitely a topic that has been coming up lately.  I see a lot of different ideas and perspectives on this one. I think the most important thing again, is establishing the term “cash surfing.” Let me ask you a question. Define to me what you consider to be “cash surfing”?

- To me cash surfing is surfing that is ONLY done for the money that can be won, cash that can be gained from surfing. They might not even have a page in rotation because hits don’t matter… the cash does. Its equivalent to PTC, viewing ads for cash.

Ok. What you defined above is a behavior of a surfer.

- How so?

Well surfing that is only done for the money that can be won, would define an action of why a surfer is using an exchange.

- But aren’t you contributing to that cash surfing mentality since you’re giving away so many cash prizes? Isn’t that targeting them directly?

If by contributing to it means offering a member the chance to win a cash prize if they are surfing at my site, then yes. But there is obviously a big difference between the “chance to win” and “paid to surf” which is understood as earning a definite amount per page clicked.

Being a program owner is no different than hosting a party. A promotion is suppose to increase excitement. How fun would an email be if you just said.  Please log in and surf.  Make sure you watch every single page.  Please assign your credits and make sure you use splash pages and squeeze pages?

Now don’t get me wrong… I always make my plugs and I have my rants sometimes when I see people not using the site to its full potential. And I definitely do enjoy reminding them about why they are really suppose to be using a Traffic Exchange. But I think it’s just human nature to want to be where the fun is… call me crazy.  But who likes a dull party?

- Do you think your “party” is affecting other exchanges that focus on results as opposed to fun? Do you think Taxis is a factor for their decreased sales and activity?

There are thousands of sites out there.  One single site could never have that kind of an impact.  The world is just simply too big.  But….. at the end of the day, no matter how you look at it. Each and every single Traffic Exchange is in direct competition with one another. I soley concentrate on what I do.  If what I’m doing is not bringing me satisfactory results, I simply just switch gears and  find something that does.

There are so many new people coming online each and every single day.  All with new and different reasons why they enter this niche. As the expression goes. ” You can’t do the same thing over and over again and expect different results”. If something isn’t going the way you want it to, do something about it.  I spend a lot of time figuring out what makes people tick and I adjust as quickly and effectively as I possibly can.

Winter:
Can you give any tips at all for what some people see as the changing TE climate, how to adapt.. without giving away secrets of course.

David:
No need to reinvent the wheel, you just need to change the way it rolls :- ) I mean now that program owners and people that are known in the industry have started to talk in depth about it, the members and the surfers definitely have a right to be supplied with the facts.

I have yet to see any at all.  We all know climate change happens in everything. No single industry stands still for too long.   I haven’t been here long enough to make an honest and true educated decision. But I think it’s safe to say what I was saying above.   Yeah change happens, always has, always will.  You either sit by and watch it change around you, or you get on the ball and keep up.

- What would you say to those that feel its too hard to keep up when so many exchanges are offering cash prizes?

Find a new business model. Running a traffic exchange is the hardest thing I have ever done in my entire life. It’s not a part time job. It’s not an easy learning curve.  And I would say that I got in at a very good time.   If I tried to come in to this realm right now, today… forget it. There is simply just too much competition out there… unless you come out with guns blazin and something that shocks the world, it can be very discouraging to try to compete.

There are many many times I sat in front of my computer and considered shutting it down forever.  And I’m sure there are people out there that wish I had lol,  but for me, I was always somebody that struggled with keeping goals.   If this was an easy job, everybody would do it. But that constant learning curve is what kept me going. I was always pushing and pushing for more and more information.

Best advice I can give to any new owner with the same passion and drive I have.  Just don’t stop. No matter how hard it seems, it will get easier.

Winter:
Recently there’s been a lot of talk, a lot of negative talk about how ineffective TE’s are becoming, and how hard it is to keep things moving. There’s also been a good point made that the negativity might be what’s playing a role in TE activity decline. How much of an impact do you think the negative press and cash surfing debate has had on TE’s as a whole?

David:
Well people definitely will always be responsive to feelings. And depending on the source, it can have monumental effects. TE activity decline I think is a non existent term. If a TE is declining in activity it says a few things loud and clear.  What you are offering…or better yet, what you might not be offering is what’s driving people away.

Yeah there are tons of blog posts, forum posts, conference discussions on these matters…. they should be behind closed doors if it is really a concern. If you are worried about decline or activity with your program, stop putting the content out there to further increase the negativity.  It’s definitely not helping. An awareness approach is a more appropriate in my opinion.  I don’t see the trend here at Taxis, it still grows everyday  and as long as I continue to pay attention to what makes people respond, I don’t think I will ever see it.

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I will post the last and final installment tomorrow, that even includes a little switcharoo! David had some questions for me as well, and it’s only fair, right? Again, please feel free to discuss what was covered today. You guys did awesome yesterday, lets keep that same productive, debating spirit going today!

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Related posts:

1. Exclusive Interview: He’s Just One Man…
2. Traffic Exchanges Are Hurting! Now What?
3. More Cash Surfing Hoopla