LESSON 01
GETTING STARTED
AFFILIATE PROGRAMS USED IN THIS LESSON:
TE Command Post
All About Traffic Exchanges
The first most important step to take is to join a selection of exchanges. Making the choice of which ones to join can be overwhelming. Fortunately there are many good websites on the Internet which make these choices easier. These sites rely on public vote or their own research to compile a list of the top ones.
The most important thing to remember is although an exchange uses enough hype to make you believe you will get millions of visitors by next week, you should test the performance of each one you join. There are personal websites that list the best performing exchanges but a lot of them are using that statement as a magnet to get you in their teams. That is why it is best if you compiled your own list of exchanges.
So how do we pick out the best performing exchanges? By measuring the performance of each one using the Tracking method, which will be covered in lesson five. By using tracking you will be able to discover which exchanges are performing best for you. If an exchange is not delivering a minimum of 150 hits to your website per week then you should consider trying others. There is no point building credits in a particular exchange if it delivers traffic too slowly.
Another thing to watch out for is the membership database of each exchange. If an exchange has a lot of members then you have a larger audience for your website. However it is worth mentioning that out of thousands of members, only a few could be surfing at any one time. Also consider that many of these members may have joined the exchange and stopped using it some time ago. Although exchanges give you an option to delete your account, many people just don’t bother.
Over time you will have built yourself a list of your favorite exchanges which you will use on a regular basis. However this can take time and patience as you apply the tracking technique to each exchange to measure its performance. If you surf regularly then you will already have a list of exchanges that you are happy with. But if you do some research then you may find more you want to add to your list. Now I will introduce you to an essential tool which will really benefit your use of the exchanges.
TE COMMAND POST
TE Command Post has a selection of useful tools to make management of your exchanges much easier and it is free to join. It allows you to compile a list of exchanges and display them on one page, giving you up to date stats on how many credits you have. This saves you logging into each exchange one by one and checking if your sites have any credits unassigned to them. TE Command Post retrieves the data directly from the exchange and refreshes it each time you log in.
There are also stats available for banner and text impressions. The subjects of assigning credits, banner and text ads will be covered in lesson two.
On this page you see an example of how TE Command Post displays your exchange stats.
Looking at these stats I see that I have earned eight credits in Blue Surf (first entry) and I have seven credits already assigned. But if I look at Dragon Surf (second entry) I see I have no credits left at all for that exchange and I will need to go surfing.
If I go down the bottom of the list I see I have earned five credits for Traffic Splash and I have 633 credits assigned, which means I can look forward to 633 visitors to my website.
You see how this can be useful. The ability to see at a glance which exchanges are running low on credits so you can go and do some surfing at those exchanges.
SETTING UP EXCHANGES
We will now add up to ten exchanges to TE Command Post by joining ones we are not a member of and adding our referral IDs. Note: you can join as many exchanges as you like but only display ten at a time as a free member, however the more you join the more referrals you can get, meaning money and credits for you. If you are already a member of TE Command Post then login to your account.
Once you enter the member’s area you will see a panel which will take you step by step through setting everything up.
I recommend you download the user manual in Step One for later reading. Now click on the Step Two button to start setting up the exchanges. The following screen appears which allows you to select the exchanges you want.
On the right hand side you see a small banner for each exchange. If you are not a member of any exchange you can click on this banner which will take you to the sign up form for that exchange. Once you join you should get your membership details in your email along with a referral ID. The referral ID would either be a number or a username.
Once you have your referral ID enter it into the box that says Your Referral ID: for that exchange then click the ADD button. The ADD button will become a tick to show that the exchange has been added. In the screenshot above I have entered my referral ID “deansharples” for Blue Surf which is now on my list of exchanges.
If your referral ID is not found in your email then you can find it when you log into the exchange. Look under any section that says: Referrals, Affiliate Tools, Promo Tools or anything similar and you should be given a URL which will have your referral ID at the end.
Remember: a referral URL is also referred to as a Referral Link or Affiliate Link. To help you locate the correct IDs I will show you how to find them in Blue Surf and Dragon Surf as an example.
1. Log into Blue Surf. I am assuming you are already a member.
2. From the menu bar displayed below. Click on REFERRALS
You are now in the Referral Center where you will be able to see your referral link.
Notice that my username is “deansharples” and is found at the end of the referral link. You will obviously see your own username at the end of the link. Now let’s try Dragon Surf.
1. Log into Dragon Surf. Again I am assuming you are already a member.
2. From the menu on the left. Click on Affiliate Toolbox.
At the end of the affiliate link is the number “66501”. This is the referral ID we need for Dragon Surf. As I said before, your referral ID can be either a username or number.
Go back to TE Command Post and carry on setting up the rest of the exchanges. You can search for exchanges by entering its name in the search box or just go through the list. Once you have entered your referral IDS for all the exchanges on each page, make sure you click the Save Referral IDs button at the bottom of the screen before going onto the next page.
Step Three gives you the opportunity to set up other programs which are not exchanges. It is not necessary to do this but it is recommended if you want to make money in these programs. After all, your referrals might take an interest in them.
Step Four will list the exchanges you have added if any. Remember you can join as many exchanges as you want.
ALL ABOUT TRAFFIC EXCHANGES
Some exchanges have a different interface and may use other terms to refer to their different sections. If you feel you need a little extra help then there is a website called All About Traffic Exchanges which is a collection of guides for many different traffic exchanges.
In the next lesson we will start setting up websites, banners and text ads.