What are Traffic Exchanges good for? If you’ve been using TEs for a while maybe you’ve already figured some of this out, so we can compare notes. And if you’re new to TEs, I hope these two essential tips are helpful.
TEs are great at pointing traffic firehose-like at a web page and opening the spiggot. TEs can bring loads of new visitors to a web page.
That’s fantastic, isn’t it? Yes it is, but you need to keep something in mind: every one of those visitors is about to click away from your web page moments after they arrive.
You have no more than one or two seconds to grab their attention. Just one or two seconds!
If you haven’t paused their trigger finger and grabbed their attention within the first two seconds, they’re gone.
So the only web page you should be showing on a TE is a special type of web page called a splash page.
A splash page is a very simple web page meant to grab people’s attention. It’s got to be arresting, in order to get people to stop for a moment and look at it.
YOUR SPLASH PAGE
Your splash page is good for two things:
- Building your brand identity.
- Building your email list.
Other people surfing Traffic Exchanges will see your page over and over again. Use that to your advantage by creating an identifiable brand. It could be…
- Your name
- Your business name
- Your logo
- Your picture
Through repetition, a large audience of surfers will come to recognize your brand identity.
Why is that important? Because people follow people, not programs.
BUILD YOUR BRAND
Traffic Exchanges come and go. A thousand affiliate programs come and go every day. If you don’t use your splash page to build your own brand identity, then nobody is going to know you from one TE or program to another.
If you’re promoting somebody elses program, that’s fine, but you better promote your own brand first! That’s the only way anyone will remember you as they click from one TE to the next.
And people want to follow people, not programs. So first use your splash page to promote YOU! BRAND YOU!
You do that by featuring YOU prominently on your splash page. Feature your name, your business name, or your picture on your splash page. You have to build YOU first before you do anything else.
In just one or two seconds, sell YOU first.
BUILD YOUR LIST
Once you’ve accomplished your branding, then your splash page also needs to be a call to action. What do you want people to do when they see your splash page? You want them to OPT-IN. You want them to give you their name and email address in exchange for something they need.
They’ll do that if you offer them something they need.
So your splash page needs to brand you first, and then offer something irresistible that everyone will want. It needs to include a simple form so you can collect names and emails.
THE TAME BEAR BRAND
To make this as clear and simple as possible, let’s take a look at my splash page:
Tame Bear Splash Page
Here’s what I do with this page.
- I use a large high-quality image to create the “Tame Bear” brand identity.
- I repeat the “Tame Bear” name a couple of times.
- I use a bold headline to grab attention.
- I explain my offer as simply as possible — Join my Team, Get More Traffic.
- I use a brief web page form to collect visitor names and emails.
- Only the last line of text at the very bottom hints at the actual FREE offer, or how I intend to fulfill my promise.
I’m not going to go into all the details of how all those names, addresses and URLs go into my email list — more on that later. (If you want to get a heads-up when I write about that, just use my splash page to get on my mailing list!)
Building your brand identity and promoting YOU first, and offering a helpful FREE product or service to build your email list — those are the two essential ways to use Traffic Exchanges to build your business. Here’s to your success!
Tags: Internet, marketing, splash, traffic, traffic exchange
[…] a previous post I talked about how to use Traffic Exchanges (TEs) to create your unique identity on the web and build your list. I call it “Brand […]
[…] Membership is free, though you can earn more points (lots more points!) by upgrading to paid membership. NOTE: It makes sense to pay for membership in a traffic exchange if you’re using it to build your list and build your brand. […]
[…] a previous post I talked about the two essential things that Traffic Exchanges are good […]
Here’s some additional info about my splash page, and what I am offering in order to get people to sign up. I LOVE surfing the Traffic Exchanges! I am a paid member in a few of my favorite exchanges in order to get at least a 1-to-1 click ratio. That means for every page I view, someone else will view one of my own pages. I watch for the specials, so I actually get better than a 1-to-1 ratio (usually a lot better), and then I help other people by sending additional traffic to the URL of their choice.
So if you have a web page you want more people to see, put Tame Bear on your team! I’ll work with you to send even more traffic to your web page for the next several months. And I’ll also send you additional tips every few weeks about how to make the most of your time and money in the Traffic Exchanges!
@shalinibahl over at Twitter asked about the intersection of consciousness and Traffic Exchanges (TEs). If you read my blog, you know I talk about a lot of things but the concept of nonduality is the warp my writing is woven on. Nonduality means that all experience is an undivided whole.
I used to do sitting meditation nearly every day, in order to recenter in this experience of wholeness or oneness. Then for a year or more I was really into walking meditation (on our wonderful Pumpkinvine Nature Trail). But these days, I see many different activities as an opportunity to practice wordless meditation. TEs are one of these activities!
I am a big fan of nonduality myself. I live and talk about mindfulness in business all the time. It is always refreshing to see people able to talk about consciousness and traffic exchanges in one breath.
I have a breathing and meditation practice that has helped me slow down my thoughts so I can experience the gaps between thoughts – feel more at peace, most of the time and get many inspired ideas in those moments.
Would love to understand more what you mean by traffic exchange – when you have a splash page like above and don’t explain how it is going to help me, it feels like another marketing gimmick to get my email. It might help to explain with a link from that splash page how this would work for people giving you their emails and what you mean when you say you will work for us…
Hi Shalini, I wrote a new article just for you! titled “What Is a Traffic Exchange.” That should help you understand how they work, how they can bring many more visitors to your web site, and even how you can earn some extra money in them as well.
I use Traffic Exchanges to bring more people to my “Tame Bear Weblog” here. I also help others by sending some of that traffic to their web sites too — while inviting them to join the TEs I recommend.
You may think of it as “a marketing gimmick” … I view it as helping others as I have been helped. Some call this “Pay It Forward.” (There was even a dramatic feature film around this concept, titled… “Pay It Forward.”) Yes, I want you to join my “downline” in the TEs and I want you to opt-in to my email list, but like any REPUTABLE MARKETER I honor all unsubscribe requests and you can unsubscribe any time.
Here’s something I said recently in Twitter, and it applies to the whole Traffic Exchange phenomenon:
TameBear strikes again, super blog. Very informative and I really like how you have broken down how to create a splash page that “stands” out.
You are right, you need to have something that catches your attention, so people will click on it.