On a previous post I mentioned a minimum 5 second surf timer policy adopted on ePayTraffic. Today, I will share how I decided to configure my traffic exchange for free members and upgraded members. But first, I want to emphasize two elements that are common across most sites and programs designed to promote content, build membership lists, generate revenue streams and delivering products and services.
Time and Reward. How much time you invest versus the reward for your time expensed.
The above image is a snippet of content on the home page of ePayTraffic. It was important, and still is, that a visitor to the site understands the deliverables being offered. How a traffic exchange script is configured is telling of the full potential value of operating a business based on a cookie cutter program. I have several years experience operating a business in some high risk areas. I am/was a full license holder to resell various styles of Paid To Click (PTC) scripts like Aurora, MaderiteScript, SDR, BUX and LFMTE. Not to mention all the versions of matrix scripts, foreign exchange scripts and now the expansion into the crypto world that is experiencing unbelievable growth. The growth is not all good because there are many tokens created as the new way to make a fast buck. So you have to admit, the risk is high that you could get caught up in the next scheme that will rob you of your time and money. Program and site focus changed over the year since the original idea of sharing a collection of links between members to boost traffic to member sites. More views should lead to a greater chance of getting a signup or sale. Unfortunately, there are many dishonest players and a lot of greed on the internet. This creates a shift in the behaviour of many players and site owners. These players can pollute a healthy ecosystem. An ecosystem where every player believes they are a subject matter expert on operating an online business. With the cost of hosting going down and the added functionality from new and improved coding technology, almost anyone can give the impression of being part of a successful, profitable and growing business, be it in advertising, marketing or gaming for example.
I use Project ePayTraffic to help communicate and demonstrate traffic delivery with a value added service for registered members. We have to think and operate at a much broader level then the limited capabilities of a generic traffic exchange script. Please, allow yourself to explore opportunities that exist beyond a traffic exchange script. You are part of building and enhancing a traffic exchange community. An LFMTE script is just a small subset of something much bigger. Just like #CTP tokens are a small subset of something much bigger. Don't spend too much time taking care of one tree when there is a whole forest around you screaming for your attention.
In 2015 and 2016, I evaluated the pros and cons of a surfing timer for a manual traffic exchange. I looked at the value to the member, the operating cost to the owner and the growth potential as per economy of scale. I found the limitations of existing tools, scripts that arguably causes the site owner to work for the tool and not the other way around. I decided to focus on surf timer and a reward system for surfing before I addresses the limitation and quality of advertising and marketing via a traffic exchange site. I tried various timer duration and I captured a lot of feedback from members and other owners. I figured that I would use some dollars from my advertising and marketing budget that could be distributed to members as part of generating a revenue stream for loyal and active members. I called it a Revenue Sharing Program. Revenue Sharing Units were formed and eventually I felt compelled to change the name to Project Units because of a huge negative response from the existing traffic exchange community. There is nothing more destructive and challenging than the words and action of an ill informed influencer. They exist to ensure you go through a lot of pain before you transition to a much better environment.
The default timer for a free member on ePayTraffic is 15 second. When you complete 250 page views you are rewarded $0.15 US. No need to go to some extra steps to claim the reward. The system takes care of it. You are compensated for your time. Feedback from the community; Ah your a paid to click site and your the reason why Paypal limited our accounts. Why do people blame others and systems for their own misfortunes? Maybe it is because what they do is questionable as being a quality product or service. Do they have an overly inflated service price to help generate a cash flow for an affiliate marketing program? I remember the Paypal review. I got caught up in it because I had many paying members and I only used Paypal for my online business. I didn't have any problem explaining to Paypal the value of my business and how I was well aware of industry best practices when it came to finders fees, commission and loyalty programs. I didn't lose my account but I lost a significant cash flow from loyal and active members. Paypal cash flows are slowly coming back and now that I am expanding into the crypto world I see many more opportunities. Whenever there is a shakeup there are always opportunities created.
So a 15 second surf timer is too long for some members. Even is you create a marketplace where the members can spend some rewards to enhance future cash flows, these members will not spend anything but time. They need money and expect to be paid to view ads. Now the paid to view marketplace is interesting because players, including many site owners, also want to earn a fast buck from time expensed. Today the effectiveness and value of a traffic exchange is often defined by the size of the membership collecting things. The advertiser needs people to look at their ware so they are drawn to the sites that have high activity. The high activity is often a result of traffic churning by the same lookers collecting things across many similar sites. It can be a very misleading environment.
Many existing traffic exchange sites create their membership upgrade levels based on surf timer duration and the ratio of credits earned per page views. Also, the monthly subscription includes bonus advertising credits and often a higher commission rate on sales. Pay a fee and maybe you get more for your time or spend less time on the site and hope to get more. There are many possible outcomes and it varies greatly across the membership. For this post, the main focus is surf timer and advertising credits earned.
Over time, while surfing on many sites, collecting things and earning advertising credits it became apparent that there was no need to purchase an upgrade on most sites. There was no additional value to spending money. Many sites use cross-promotions to boost site traffic and hopefully grow their membership count. Many sites use gaming as a way to boost traffic to their site. You can participate in many different types of partner programs designed to boost traffic, get signups and create new revenue streams.
My analysis of the marketplace and my desire for continuous improvement became a driving force to implementing and demonstrating a new approach to generating revenue within a traffic exchange community. Changing focus of an existing community is challenging. It's like having to build a new marketplace before refining your products and services that are in demand. You have to cause a shift in thinking. Influence change. If it's a cultural change then that can take many years.
If your a free member, or any member on ePayTraffic you can complete 128 page views and earn an 8 Second Surf Day credit. Which means you can earn the 15 cents per day in less time and you can collect more things in the same amount of time. Plus, all members have a 1:1 credit ratio which is not available to free members on most traffic exchange sites.
ePayTraffic has a 4 hour surf time limit for all members. If you visit the most active surf sites, have a look at the leaderboards. Do you see the same names across many sites? Sure you do. You have people surfing many thousand pages per day, everyday on these active sites. Now I am not one to do the same as others and expect better results. And why would I want to compete in such marketplace? Maybe to say, I own the most active site in the industry? I prefer to learn before I earn. That means not spending too much time and money in the wrong places. Plus, it is not healthy to surf too long. If a member wants to surf more than 4 hours they will need to pay a nominal fee to reset their time for another 4 hours of surfing time.
15, 8, 5, 1:1 and 4 are standard operating conditions on ePayTraffic. These conditions help define the core value and pricing of surfing and earning advertising credits. Don't expect much as per changes in this area because they are key components to the foundation that will support future development via Project ePayTraffic.
In a future posting I will focus on the value added service for advertisers, promoters, influencers, etc. Also, passive income generation will be explored. With your participation, feedback and support, Project ePayTraffic will demonstrate how to leverage an existing traffic exchange business to the web3 world. Bridging, integration, transitioning and wrapping will be explored in the process of moving from the web2 to web3 world.
I hope the information provided gives you a better understanding of my involvement in the traffic exchange world so far. Also, it should provide some indication that I am still very involved in the traffic exchange world and that I see value in building a new traffic exchange community. No need to be limited in thinking and practice when it comes to the technological changes impacting the existing traffic exchange world today.
Have an awesome day and thank you for being part of a new traffic exchange community.
Jack