One Week In And Bracket Surfing Is…Way Too Addicting!
Along comes Bracket Surfing and essentially it’s become a head to head clash of some of the biggest surfers in the traffic exchange industry. Each and every day, hundreds of surfers battle it out for ‘bragging rights’ and being the top surfer at I Love Hits. If you have been following the in-surf chat you’ll know how addicting this has become…
So our first 7 days went by and the new ‘week’ has started at Bracket Surfing, and the surfers that have been taking part in this have been very supportive of the new feature however I do not think the entire industry knows about it yet and the only person to point a finger at is myself…
So I’m trying to get this out there more, and plan on making some new changes to get the word out these next few weeks. What I would LOVE is that if you have any suggestions, comments or problems that concern Bracket Surfing, please let me know. This is a new area for I Love Hits and with all new features there will be learning curves and growth issues so please do not hesitate to drop me a line and let me know what you think.
A few tips on how to get the most from Bracket Surfing…
First, be sure to fill out your ‘Profile Page’ in your I Love Hits members area. This is linked directly to your username on both the Bracket page and the in-surf chat system. This is a great way to brand your name and network with other members.
Second, speaking of networking the in-surf chat has been a huge success and anytime of the day you can find lively discussion and helpful members chit chatting amongst themselves while surfing. Remember, this is a HUGE networking opportunity, do not ruin it by posting links up. Use it to get to know your future business partners…
And finally, check the Bracket Page daily to see who the movers and shakers are each day in the Brackets and the different divisions. Some of the leaders on these boards may be people you will want to work with in the future. Click on their Profile Page and drop them a note or two…
Oh yeah and above anything else, have a lot of fun with it. Bracket Surfing is new but after the first 7 days I can tell this is something that will be a huge part of I Love Hits for years to comes. Enjoy =)
Martin Webster
Hi Jon, its always good to see new ideas however I am not sure bracket surf will help more ppl click on links in splash pages or sign up using squeeze pages. Most page views will now be seen by those ppl making 1000+ clicks in the pursuit of bracket surf glory. I’m not convinced these are the viewers I want seeing my page to help build my online business. Also having such large brackets means after 1 or 2 days there is no incentive to surf as you have no chance of winning. It might work better with smaller brackets and having a base reward for everyone in that bracket and winning more the higher up in that bracket you finish. There is a higher base reward the higher bracket you are in so there is an incentive to make brackets closer to the top. Does that make any sense to anyone else??? lol Just my thoughts.
Cheers
Martin
Keith Butterworth
Hi Jon, I share Martins views on the ppl surfing – (the other bit was way to techy for me – lol!). Maybe Tim L will be doing some testing and do a blog post… But I guess the chat/networking is what would make this a worthwhile exercise as we all know that exchanges are all about getting our names/brands out there and building relationships.
Regards
Keith
Mike Gartner
The verdict is in! ILH Bracket Surfing is STILL addicting!
Jon Olson
Martin / Keith – Trust me on this, results will ALWAYS be my priority at anything I own. That in mind, I need surfers. I need credits moving so people keep surfing, keep looking at pages, etc…
I plan on implementing many more features that will be based around the results side of things because without results, this stuff isn’t worth a hill of beans.
The big thing for me is to get people surfing, talking, chatting, networking, and taking part in this community. This will benefit the advertisers much more than a stagnant traffic exchange…God willing =)
Test it out, let me know though how your results increase or decrease in a few weeks. I will make sure your concerns are always addressed and worked on so everyone benefits!
Lynn McCutcheon
I have gotten to be so lazy about surfing lately that I don’t have much hope for getting up to Divisions 1 or 2, but I go in there and look every day now to see who the people I know that are surfing like mad every day are going up against, hehe.
I went in there this morning to discover Wanda & Diane were paired up against each other today and omg – as if there haven’t been several “bloody death matches” between people already this week! – I don’t think either one of them will leave their computer all day and night today LOL.
Sometimes I just go in just to hang out & chat (i.e. NETWORK lol) and often if I’m looking for someone in particular to ask or tell them something, I know they’re probably in there so I go in for that reason too.
So even though I’m a lazy surfer lately I’m still having a lot of fun with it by hanging out and (I really do get a kick out of this, I don’t know what that says about me) going in every morning to see who’s paired up against who that day.
And who knows, I may even start surfing more than my usual 50-100 a day just so I can get up in the higher divisions and kick some people’s bootys.
One more thing – RE results and all that – I think I’m actually finding I’m paying MORE attention to the sites I surf when there, simply because I’m spending more time on the page ‘cos I’m in there yakking with folks. Matter of fact I did sign up to someone’s squeeze page at ILH the other day – and it was a page I might not have really noticed all that much elsewhere “regular” surfing. (And I was even TRYING to beat my opponent that night.)
So while I get the concerns some are having, I am kind of leaning towards results might actually be better because people are spending more time on the page while they’re reading the chat and trash talking each other