September 12, 2007
September 12, 2007
Welcome to the latest edition of the HS Trail News. A warm welcome to the many new members who have joined us this week, we are so excited that you’ve joined us. Please be sure and let Doug or I know if you have any questions.
What is the function of a Traffic Exchange.. what is the role of
the exchange owner? As a program owner, are the members ‘our
list’? As a member, should we expect anything from an exchange
beyond the delivery of traffic to our website?
These questions have surfaced a lot lately and I’m very
interested to hear what your take is on the subject. Feel free
to post a reply here or take it to The Members Forum - the Hit
Safari section.
For a start… here’s my 2 cents.
Traffic Exchanges aren’t meant to be a way for members to
make money or even to build their downlines through exchange
referrals.
Traffic Exchanges are designed to provide members with the best
advertising for their money and/or time spent. That’s it.
If we allow you to email your downline.. if we provide downline
buiders.. these are bonuses and should be viewed as such. We are
not your vehicle for building a business through your referrals
to the exchange.. for those referrals you are rewarded with
credits and/or commissions for their purchases.
What we DO provide is an excellent platform for you to advertise
your program or better yet, yourself. Make yourself different..
make yourself unique.. get yourself noticed and build your own
list.
That being said, many of us feel a personal obligation towards
our members to help them.. to be supportive.. to not take
advantage of them by emailing offers every other day.. to go
above and beyond the most basic definition of quality customer
service. Does that make the others wrong? not at all.. it’s just
a difference in the way we do business.
It’s up to you the members to decide where you want to be a
member. But keep in mind what the function of a Traffic Exchange
is.. to provide quality traffic in a legitimate and professional
manner.
There were 187 members who surfed 50 on 5 this week. But not 200!
No money prizes 
and I do so like to give away money.. Watch for cash prizes again
soon.. I won’t do it this week because it’s Wed already.. but I will double the prizes
to 10, 2 of each prize, if we’re over 200!
msimm - 500 credits
youlong - 400 credits
entwood - 300 credits
paulhofer - 200 credits
lesnorth- 100 credits
Every week each member who has surfed at least 50 times on 5 separate days of the week, Monday - Sunday, is entered into a drawing. 5 members are chosen randomly and are awarded credits.
Prizes are either credits in the amounts of:
500, 400, 300, 200, or 100.
If there are over 200 surfers who qualify, prizes are inceased by 50%. If there are over 300 who qualify, prizes will be doubled!
Congratulations to this weeks winners! (credits have been added to your accounts)
September 4th Hoopla Ranking.. #4
(week before.. #2)
Alexa ranking… 14,238
Percentage of Unique hits… 35.7%
S
I must say after reading Admin’s response to this issue it is very easy to see why Hit Safari has been one of my favorite traffic exchanges.
It will take the delegation skills which Admin here at Hit Safari has so eloquently displayed to settle this dispute.
Personally I do not think that exchange owners should use their traffic exchanges for their personal down line building. The surfers are the ones spending their time and in many cases their money if they have upgraded. It is like paying for something and then having it taken away.
I also agree it is up to each person as to where they surf. Personally, I take several things into consideration when joining one. I will say, I might surf one that advertises to my down line but I will not upgrade. I am not going to pay for the exchange owners down line. Many people are not even aware (the newer surfers) that this is happening or what it means to them.
As to the rights and the wrongs of all this I think it is about as complicated as “if trees fall in the woods and no one is there do the falling trees make a sound.” I think everyone involved should stop just a second and think about this: If the trees keep falling soon there will be no forest. If surfers get tired enough of the bantering back and forth they are going to leave. Then everyone loses.
Good job HitSafari on the news letter
Susan Boston
Great blog Paula
This is truly a great site that of which I am proud to be a member. You are always there to help your members and treat them with respect and kindness. You go above and beyond your job duties.
Keep up the great work!
Your loyal surfer,
Kimberly
Hi Paula,
Great post from Susan Boston. Totally agree with her viewsabout downline building. Maybe if some of the TE owners would spend less time trying to build their mailing lists, they would have more time to provide better customer support.
Let’s face it, most TE users are advertising affiliate programs/products. How effective is that advertising going to be if the TE owners have already bombarded the TE members with e-mail advertisements for the same program/product as soon as it is released? Are they not rendering their own TE’s less effective? Think about it. You know who they are— the wannabe marketing gurus.
I believe Vern over at Smiley Traffic has addressed this issue before in forums and e-mails. He is one TE owner who “gets it”. Of course, the Vern-basher TE owners tried to hoot him down as usual.
Ok I’m done, except I’m happy to say Hit Safari is not in the group of TE’s referred to above. It’s at the top of my “A” list.