I love I Love Hits! I really do, it’s such a passion to own this program and work with members that really enjoy surfing the traffic exchanges and building their business. I also love doing these contests where I can give someone a REAL prize that they can use in their personal life and in business.

We have given away everything from iPad’s to Flip HD cameras in the past few months and when I asked the surfers at I Love Hits what they wanted, the rounding cheers seemed to be for an iPod Touch. Here’s the video of me picking it up at the local electronics store….

For the winner of Bracket Surfing this week, I will ship them a brand spanking new iPod Touch. But there’s a catch….

I’ve changed things up at Bracket Surfing and I hope it’s for the best. You see, I want people to use I Love Hits for so much more than just a traffic exchange. I feel these are perfect venues for social networking and networking in general. That’s why I created the Profile Pages and the in-surf chat. I KNOW this system is filled with good people and well, why not give them the tools to connect with each other.

So we added new ‘features’ to Bracket Surfing where your rank is not only measured by how much you surf, but also how much you use the I Love Hits system. Your rank is increased by using the Profile Pages, adding friends, taking part in the in-surf chat and being active across the board…

YES, don’t worry, surfing is still the number one factor in determining how you place in the weekly Brackets, but this adds more networking to the competition and let’s people get out of their shell and meet the wonderful folks at I Love Hits.

Good luck to EVERYONE and let’s make this the best week ever in I Love Hits!

Technorati Tags: bracket surfing, ipod touch, making money with traffic exchanges, networking, profile pages, responsive traffic exchange, social browsing, social networking, top 10 traffic exchanges

I’ve been sitting on my soap box during the past few weeks and begging Sweeva users to engage their fellow surfers. I’ve been describing how to do it, but I thought today I would show people and explain how to create engaging squeeze and splash pages in a VERY easy to follow method.

The first thing I did was create a basic splash page. Now I use my own server but you can use the free HTML editor at T.E. Toolbox. This serves the purpose and is very easy to use. You want to create something that fits within the surf window at Sweeva too, so make sure it fits in the fold properly.

Next, you will want to create a free account at uStream. When you get your free account all set up, you will want to create a show. Simply click ‘Create A Show’ and fill out the form. It doesn’t matter what you call it, but use a bit of creative thinking here.

Next, you will need the code for the show to stick it on your page. The options are in the ‘Your Shows’ of the uStream account. Scroll down and look to the right side of the page, it’ll say ‘Share Your Show’ and then ‘Live Embed’. Copy that code.

Paste that code in your newly created splash page at T.E. Toolbox. Now I know the code looks funky and there’s a LOT going on but look for the part of the code that says “value=”autoplay=false&amp” . Don’t worry, I know this sounds techy, but it’s a very easy step.

Simply change where it reads ‘false’ to ‘true’. That’s it. Replace the word false with true. What this does is let your live stream play automatically when people come to your splash page.

Save your splash page, edit it as you see fit and make any changes to really grab people’s attention. And that’s it. Now once your page is added to Sweeva, wait for the bid to be accepted and then ENGAGE the Sweeva browsers. Grab their attention, give them incentive to opt into your mailing list or click a link. Ask them to post their thoughts in the chat box. TALK to them!

Remember, using live video separates you from 99.9% of the other advertisers and people really appreciate the fact that you are trying to work with them. Be creative and have fun. I know this seems like a little bit of work, and yes, it does require a little bit of copy and pasting. But it WORKS! I have been using a uStream page all this morning in Sweeva and have been interacting and building relationships with dozens of viewers.

No regular splash page can do that!

Here’s my example, feel free to poke around and look at the code of how I did it. You can do this as well, it doesn’t cost a penny and it will make you stick out so much in Sweeva and around the traffic exchanges!

Technorati Tags: auto responder, free traffic tools, how to build a business online, making money with traffic exchanges, online business tips, professionally designed squeeze pages, responsive traffic exchange, results in traffic exchanges, social browsing, surfing the traffic exchanges, sweeva, the two b's of the t.e.'s, traffic exchange surfing

I surf a lot. And the two programs I have been spending the most amount of time in has been I Love Hits and Sweeva. Both of these programs have in surf chat systems (even though Sweeva is very different). And while I may not be chit chatting all the time, I do observe quite a bit of chatter.

And what’s alarming to me is that a big chunk of the people surfing these programs, while they are VERY dedicated, I think their focus is misplaced. I’ve heard things like ‘What is this traffic exchange giving away this week for a prize?’ and ‘What kind of money are we getting if we surf 500 pages’? Things like this are common place and while people may get a cool bonus or two for surfing so much, I feel that their effort could be much more focused if they practiced list building and personal branding.

Heck they are already doing an amazing job of personal branding just by being in chat and engaging other surfers. But when I ask them what they are promoting it’s usually some affiliate page or another common trait, they aren’t promoting anything, they are just surfing to win prizes.

I understand that this whole thing may look like a huge mountain to climb but if you spend all that effort surfing and building your relationships in the chat PLEASE make sure you benefit by building your list or promoting YOU first with all those credits you are earning.

Remember, the two B’s of the traffic exchanges are building your list and build your brand. You have tackled a huge task by getting people to know you…Now get those same people on your list! This will save you YEARS of frustration and could earn you a lot more money than surfing 500 pages in any traffic exchange.

So my advice and please do take it to heart, if you are going to spend all this time surfing and being seen in the traffic exchanges…Make sure YOU benefit directly…Build that list!

Technorati Tags: advertising online, auto responder, brand your name, branding your name and business, build your list, building your list with traffic exchanges, free traffic tools, get paid for using traffic exchanges, how to build a business online, list building tips, making money online, making money with traffic exchanges, networking, online business tips, professionally designed squeeze pages, responsive traffic exchange, results in traffic exchanges, social browsing, sweeva, tips for traffic exchanges, traffic wave, traffic wave downline, trafficwave

So I attended my first ever ‘offline marketing’ event this past week and wow, it’s a whole lot different from the online marketing seminars I’m used to. One thing about this event that really stuck out is that people aren’t as relaxed compared to the online ones. At the online events, everyone is smiling, laughing and well, drinking…A lot.

This event while it was only 8 hours long, didn’t have the same feel where people that attended it had a vested interest in meeting others in their field. This was very corporate and while the presenters were GREAT, I think the crowd was a bit too…Up tight.

And the strangest thing, these were young professionals too. Mostly around my age or even younger but well, looks to me like they have fallen into the 9 to 5 trap already.

As for content? This DESTROYED the online events though. In the online world, you are usually given about 10 minutes of content and then the rest of the presentation is the speaker trying to pitch you on some over priced consulting gig. This past event had loads of content and the message was clear…Adapt or die!

Adapting. Change. It’s hard, it’s not easy but the speakers, particularly Gary Vaynerchuk (the MAN!) and Mitch Joel, really showed people how to do it in this day and age. I had to laugh though, their message was hidden behind comments and questions like ‘How do you see an ROI for spending an hour a day on Twitter’?

The message didn’t get to that attendee then. You see folks, in this day and age we are living in the era of engaging the customer. It’s critical and instead of pitching people left right and center we need to engage them, ask questions, listen, develop relationships and THEN you won’t even need to worry about ROI. The ROI on customer loyalty really doesn’t have a price tag, it’s what we should all be aiming for. And with the tools available for us to use, it’s easier than ever before.

That message, like I said, I think didn’t fall in favor of the ’suits’. They wanted to figure out how to spend their next advertising budget on television spots and radio ads. Ahhh well, they lose, we win.

So what did I take away from the seminar? Engaging the customer is even more important than before. We need to adapt and embrace the changing market place and above all else, there is a lot of people who DON’T see the power of these messages…Your competition WON’T engage, they won’t adapt and they won’t build customer loyalty.

Can anyone say HUGE OPPORTUNITY =)

With the massive success of the good ship Apple and their ever growing suite of products that this company has been putting together over the years, I find a huge message within all the hype and hoopla…

I’m not going to tell you their products are the best. Not all of them are. I’m not going to show the cool new features of the iPhone 4, because there are plenty of tech blogs salivating over it right now. But something made me really take notice today while ‘watching’ Mr. Jobs’ keynote address at WWDC 2010.

They never made the first mp3 player. They never made the first cell phone. This company really didn’t invent tablet computing. And they didn’t invent streaming movies. But what they do and continue to do so well is make things sexy.

This is a prime example of a company selling the sizzle before the steak. The oooh’s and aaah’s everytime they release a new product should tell EVERY marketer how important the visuals are for your business.

I have always been a massive fan of the visual arts especially in business. I have maintained for years that web site design is the key component to any successful campaign and well, Apple proves this point. Their stuff LOOKS and feels great. It may not be for everyone, hey we’re not all fanboys here *lol*, but you cannot debate the fact that when it comes to putting a product and it’s packaging together, they ‘get it’.

So what can we learn from this today? Make your steak SIZZLE! Make sure you get your design in play. Make your site look like a million bucks, make it pop, make your customers and potential clients ooh and aah and your visuals and we all might get a slice of the pie.

Ignore this and well…Can anyone name me an MP3 player more popular than an iPod?

Make it look GREAT! Splash pages, squeeze pages, new traffic exchanges….Visuals are everything in this business!

Technorati Tags: ad kreator, bracket surfing, color schemes, color schemes on web sites, ipad, online business tips, social browsing, sweeva, website design

Yes folks, Sweeva is one month old! Amazing how time flies by and to celebrate our first 31 days on the net, we are starting our first ever referral contest…

The rules though, differ than other contests. Your new referrals need to either surf 100 sites to be counted in your total or upgrade their account. This way we are getting REAL new members to the site and not fly by night joiners. We have always wanted Sweeva to be an active and engaging community, hopefully with this new cvontest we can get even more activity in the system!

Here is a link to the Sweeva blog with all the details!

Good luck and we hope you enjoy your new iPad =)

Technorati Tags: bracket surfing, ipad, making money with traffic exchanges, social browsing, sweeva

I was driving home last night from my little romp through the Canadian Rockies and when I drive I like to listen to ‘business’ related shows on Sirius radio or pop in a CD or MP3 of some kind of educational material. The drive through the prairies can be…Dull at best, so I like to keep my brain thinking and focused on self education.

So I came across this training seminar on a CD from the late great Jim Rohn and on it he mentioned how he used to wake up in the mornings and read the newspaper. In it, he found out all about deaths, wars, accidents, shootings and all sorts of lovely things that society has conjured up over the past 24 hours.

He stated, this is negative garbage that floods into your mind and essentially makes you depressed….I couldn’t agree more.

I used to listen to the morning talk show here in Saskatoon, and while not much happens in this fair city, you’d still hear of whining politicians, car accidents and the occasional stabbing.

Great stuff to wake up to. Good morning….

Anyways, I stopped feeding my brain with this kind of information and did things like read Tim Linden’s blog, or check out my favorite tech blog du jour, or even read a few pages of the current book I was nose deep into.

You see, when you fill your mind with information that helps you become a better business person, you will see much better results. When I started reading daily and focusing on furthering my learning, I saw huge jumps in my business. Because I was thinking about business and focused on building it.

Homework for today, pick a book (I’ve got a great list you can check out here) and everyday when you wake up, read a chapter….STAY AWAY from local news and national news too first thing in the morning…Fill your mind with stuff that will help YOUR business, and you will see some pretty amazing stuff…

Technorati Tags: affiliate marketing, best business books, business habit, business off the ground, how to build a business online, internet marketing books, making money online, online business tips, personal branding, responsive traffic exchange, social browsing, sweeva, the two b's of the t.e.'s, traffic exchange surfer

Simple enough but here’s what I’m doing all day. I’ll be surfing Sweeva and in rotation there maybe a splash page or two promoting I Love Hits. When you see this page, simply add your username for I Love Hits and I will gift you some bonus credits just for taking the time to surf Sweeva and comment on the splash page…

Easy huh? Let’s get busy =)

Technorati Tags: bracket surfing, free traffic exchange, networking, ranked traffic exchanges, responsive traffic exchange, results in traffic exchanges, social browsing, sweeva, te toolbox, the two b's of the t.e.'s, tools, top 10 traffic exchanges, traffic exchange commissions, traffic exchange surfing

I’ve posted a few articles about how to use creative advertising and campaigns in anything you are doing in the traffic exchanges but more so Sweeva these past few weeks. I really applaud the people who have been doing very big things with their advertising. Seeing people like Arvell Lewis, Carl Bailey, Eric Goettman and Janet Legere really go to town and using unique adverts is a welcomed change for this seasoned traffic exchange veteran…

But…And here’s the big BUT!

I’d say only about 5% of the people using Sweeva are using the system to it’s full potential…Heck, I’d say even less than that because one surf session and you see the standard crap that has plagued this industry and kept us from reaching the next level. Yes, I’m pretty much fed up with the generic bland affiliate pages and the claims of ‘never before seen income opportunity’ pages that are not only in Sweeva but around the traffic exchanges.

Wake up!

This is becoming just plain silly because YOU can get results like never before if you just use a little creativity and a kick butt splash page generator like Instant Splash, Ad Kreator or TE Toolbox. Each one of those services are free, so you cannot use the ‘I have no money’ argument.

As for ‘creativity’…Here’s how you do it. Surf Sweeva and find out which pages capture your attention the most. Ask yourself why they captured your attention. And then get some ideas from it and create your own version. Simple. Yes, it may take an hour or two to get everything set up *gasp* yes, that means a bit of work but enough is enough…

Let’s go folks, you have a MASSIVE opportunity to get the best traffic this industry has ever seen, live feedback, live comments, people FOCUSED on your web site and what you are promoting…Let’s not waste it!

Technorati Tags: ad kreator, advertising, bracket surfing, get paid for using traffic exchanges, justin ledvina, making money with traffic exchanges, networking, results in traffic exchanges, social browsing, sweeva

My mind has been spinning since we launched Sweeva with ideas on how to use social browsing and benefit everyone involved. You know one of the most intriguing parts of this system is the fact that you KNOW everyone will be looking at your site at once, this is the perfect opportunity to ‘grab their attention’ like never before.

We have seen the pages that are getting all the trophies and they have been clean, crisp and attention getting but let’s take it one step further. Remember, this is a SOCIAL site so let’s be social. How about this idea..

Step One: Start a live stream, something like uStream or similar.

Step Two: Start your video / stream and then bid to get your site seen.

Step Three: Once your bid has been accepted, start talking in the stream and grab the viewers attention.

Tell them to stop surfing, tell them ‘remember’ your page. Ask them to ‘Tweet’ your page. Engage them. Grab their attention like no other page before yours could.

We do this all the time with Traffic Exchange Live and it really gets people talking. Remember, the more people engage your site at Sweeva, the more expose and results you will get. Get your viewers to use the social tools to spread your message and ask them questions in the chat box.

So get creative and try this ’streaming’ idea…I guarantee you that your competition won’t do this…

Technorati Tags: branding your name and business, building your list with traffic exchanges, get paid for using traffic exchanges, how to build a business online, making money online, new traffic exchange members, online marketing, results in traffic exchanges, social browsing, sweeva, traffic exchange rankings, traffic exchange results, traffic exchange surfing