My First Review
I am about to do something that I have never attempted before. I recently was afforded the honor of being asked to be a launch partner for a brand new traffic exchange. So I am going to review it for you here, and invite you to join me as a member on this brand new and exciting exchange.
The Traffic House just launched on 08 July 2008 at 5 p.m. Eastern U.S. time. The owner is Joakim Andreassen. I met Joakim in the SWAT Traffic room several weeks ago, and have been very fascinated by his determination and drive to give surfers something innovative to use in their online advertising. I have helped him with a couple of the details in setting up his exchange, and have been thrilled to see him doing everything the right way his first time out of the chute. I am impressed with his insight and his ability to grasp what will work. I have seen many other new exchange owners “wing it”. But Joakim has nailed this down beautifully.
The first thing that I want to point out to you is that Joakim has come up with a very unique way for us to earn credits while surfing at The Traffic House. There is actually a “floor plan” that includes several different rooms in the “house”. As one moves from room to room, one earns a different surfing credit ratio for each room. The “dynamic surfing ratio” has never been done in this manner before, and adds some excitement to the the process of surfing. You can actually see a copy of the floor plan in the member’s area, so you know in advance what you will get during the time you spend in a room. There are no surprises here, just good solid surfing and lots of fun. 
The site has a fresh new look, and the images on the surfbar are great! You will be able to see on the surfbar what room you are in as you surf and, of course, the amount you earn per page view in that room will show above the timer when it finishes.
This traffic exchange is on the most popular LJ script, with lots of modifications to suit what Joakim had in mind when he set out to develop the exchange. As far as I am concerned, this one’s a “keeper”. So don’t wait - go join The Traffic House right now:
and let’s tour this house together. I’m already in there having fun. Lol.
While I am not yet ready to give numbers on the success of this site, I invite you to come on over and let’s enjoy this brand new exchange together. We can revisit the tracking process in a week or so, and see what those tell us. Until then, just plan on having fun and getting your links out in front of new people. I think this one will rise to the top quickly.
As always, your feedback and comments are most welcome. let me know what you think of my review. I am interested in branching out in my own online endeavors, and your comments and suggestions will be most welcome.
Best Wishes Always,
Catherine “Sorceress Cat” Heiter, Admin
What Did I Pay For?
Good grief! If I pay for something, even if it’s just a dollar, I am jolly well gonna know what it is that I bought! Do you know how frustrating it is to receive support requests from people who seemingly throw around money out there, and then don’t even know what it is that they paid for?
Or how about folks who sign up and PAY for the same thing twice by mistake? Then they want to get angry at those of us behind the scenes ’cause “WE” charged their payment processor, credit/debit card or bank account for the same product twice!
Gimme a break! People cannot possibly think that any honest online business person is going to charge their payment source for things that the buyer did not purchase, do they? What makes anyone think that any of us working on the backend would have access to the private data required to do this? Let’s not automatically ASSUME that everyone who runs a business online is out to rip us off, folks. There ARE a lot of good, honest and ethical people who make a living online. We’re not all bad.
If you’re paying for upgrades or products online, and have no clue what you bought, that shows me a serious flaw. You got money to throw away? Then let me give you my PayPal account email and you can throw it MY way. lol.
KNOW WHAT YOU ARE PURCHASING!
Most especially if it is a large sum of money that you are spending. Realize that if you purchase a “big ticket” item, chances are that whoever showed you that item will get paid a percentage of the sale. Once any commissions due are paid, you cannot easily get a refund for the product because the seller cannot recoup the commissions already paid to the person who presented the product or service to you! And crying to the credit/debit card company, PayPal or your bank is not necessarily going to solve the problem.
In case you are not familiar with it, there is a term in the U.S. business world called “Buyer’s Regret”. Its purpose is to give the purchaser 24 - 72 hours (usually the 72, which is three days) to change his or her mind about the purchase and request a refund.
If you purchased digital product(s), there is not one solid online merchant who is going to be willing to refund after the product(s) has/have been delivered!
TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR ACTIONS!
If you purchase a product pay attention to what it is, how much it is and how much time you have to “test drive” it before the guarantee runs out. Some online business people will give longer guarantees than others. Keep track of when you purchased and when that guarantee expires, folks. You will save yourself, and the seller, a lot of grief by being aware.
LEARN HOW TO MANAGE YOUR PAYMENT METHODS!
If you need to cancel a recurring payment, be aware of how to do that through the online payment processors. Any good online payment processor will give you instructions on how to cancel a subscription. Find the information and LEARN IT! To me, this is mandatory in any business.
If you use a debit/credit card or your bank account, chances are that the payment is processed by 2Checkout.com. You will need to go to their website and put in a support ticket requesting cancellation of what they call a “recurring payment”.
If you need to learn, and cannot find the information - after making an HONEST attempt to do so, then contact the support person for the program or service you need to cancel the payment. He or she should be able to give you concise instructions, but it should not be necessary for him or her to handle the cancellation for you. After all, it’s YOUR money and you darn well need to know how to handle it - whether it be in the online world, or offline.
Do you call your bank and tell them that you don’t want your automatic bill pay to pay your bills for the month? I seriously doubt it. I would imagine that the bank would tell you to go to your account online where, chances are, you set up the auto-pay feature to begin with. So why should it be any different in the online business world?
One final note, then I’ll climb back down off my soapbox. If you DO have Buyer’s Regret, be honest enough to admit that you simply want your money back. Don’t submit some trumped-up blah-blah excuse about how the product or service did not work, unless the product or service truly did not work.
If you don’t understand how to use the product or service, admit it. You will find that more support/admin people will be understanding enough to take the time and help you, if they are truly committed to what they do, when you are honest with them. They hear or read BS all the time from people who simply will not tell the truth. And to me, that’s a rotten business practice. If you do business online that way, what makes you think that I will want to help you - especially if the obvious lie you tell me is so thin that I can read a newspaper through it?
Before you do contact the support personnel, though, take the time to read everything provided to help you learn about it. Try to practice using the service or product before you complain. Then if you legitimately cannot understand how to use the product or service, contact the support personnel. Any of them worth their salt will know how to give you the guidance that you need, or they will know where to send you for assistance.
That’s it. I’m through for now. Feel free to post your comments. 
Catherine “Sorceress Cat” Heiter, Admin
Arrggghhh! Site Violations!
I have been fighting problem sites, and the number seems to be on the rise again. Talk about frustration? PLEASE submit a site URL that has the live-agent-chat scripting in it which generates two or three popups/popunders/slide-ins, etc. Better yet, PLEASE submit a blasted rotator URL with fifty or more sites in it, and have stinkin’ framebreakers or the live-chat stuff embedded in it for me or my staff to have to locate in response to a site report.
Ah yes! Here’s another good one. PLEASE submit a site that has excessive scripts and/or graphics, which cause the surfer’s computer or the site timer to freeze up while he or she is waiting for your site to finish loading! And here’s another pet peeve of mine: PLEASE submit ptp’s, HYIP’s and other sites that cause serious problems for the rest of the surfing members. No, No, NO…to all of the above!
What part of violating the Terms of Service can some of you NOT understand? You are intelligent and educated people. Many of you who are violating the TOS know the “drill”. So what do you expect to accomplish? And do you think that being an upgraded member gives you the right to violate those Terms? C’mon, folks! Being upgraded does NOT give you carte blanche to buck the system! Your site will still be suspended and, most likely, banned too.
You know something? Those of us who work in the background are here to help you. We’re here to assist you in growing your online business so that you can succeed in earning that extra income you so desire. We’re here because we want to help. We are NOT here to “slap you on the hand” when you do something wrong, and we are NOT here to babysit you.
And while we may work in the customer care service, we DO have minds that can be put to use for more than just “babysitting” a bunch of people who don’t care enough to learn how to do things for themselves!
Time spent chasing down those who insist on submitting URLs that they know are in direct violation of the TOS takes valuable time away from the more important aspects of making ourselves available to be of assistance to those who truly want to learn and succeed in their endeavors online.
Time spent repeatedly answering the same questions over and over again, when we have made numerous resources available so you don’t have to submit a contact request form, is time that could be better served coming up with new ways to help you succeed.
We have a set of FAQ’s in place. We have numerous posts on Ye Royal Scribe Blog to answer some of the most common questions. I am currently trying to put together a Squidoo Lens specifically targeted toward teaching you how to best use a traffic exchange that runs on the LJ script we use here at RoyalSurf.
So how about it, folks? Take some of the responsibility that you should be shouldering to learn by reading what’s in place for you. Take the time to be certain that your URLs you submit are completely compliant with the Terms of Service. Make use of all the tools and resources that not only the King and I try to supply you with, but also those that other responsible and caring traffic exchange owners out there provide for you to use.
Learn to separate the wheat from the chaff, folks. Utilize those traffic exchanges with good owners who want to help you, and are not just in it for the money.
Try reading and learning. Try acting like real business people who are learning to work in the online business world. Take responsibility for your actions, stop and think about what you are doing when you advertise to other members. Are you truly offering them something that will be of great value to them in their own online endeavors, or are you just concerned with putting more money in your own pocket and to H-E-double-hockey-sticks with everyone else?
Is that the sort of example that we are showing you? Is that the example you want to set for your downline members and folks that you might actually get to eventually call friends and business associates? Think about it!
It’s past time for people who are trying to earn money online to step back and take a serious view of what they are doing. It’s time for them to take a look at whether they are trying to build a real business or if they are here to try to “make a quick buck”, then take the money and run. If that’s all they are here for, I am not inclined to want to help them. I’m here for the long haul. And I want people who really “get it”, people who want to build a lifetime income and do business with integrity, morals and ethics.
If that’s the kind of person you are, and the kind of person you want to business with, step up to the plate. I am ready to feed you what knowledge I have to share. I’m no expert. I’m not the most learned person online, by any stretch of the imagination. There are others who far exceed me in knowledge and online business savvy. But I will reach out and help anyone who shows me a true interest in wanting to learn.
Traffic exchanges ARE a viable form of advertising, when used properly. But we who are operating and doing support work for them are constantly fighting battles to teach folks that. Unethical people who misuse and abuse them are, whether they mean to or not, setting a very bad example for people who have never used a traffic exchange for advertising. A new person comes in and gets walloped with a lot of the garbage that gets circulated. They take one look at it and say “screw this”, and leave - never to return. I see it happen every single day.
Do you care? If not, you should. There go that many more sets of eyes who will never see the real opportunities that are advertised in traffic exchanges. There go many more potential customers for legitimate businesses that are trying to grow and using good business practices to get ahead. That business losing potential customers and clients may well be YOURS!
Aaarrggghhh! Lazy people who won’t read and learn. They want it all, and they want it yesterday! And they want you to do it for them! I guess that’s one of the reasons so many people fall prey to the “latest and greatest” that offer them “overnight riches”. Get your heads on straight, folks. This is the REAL world that we live in, even if it is online! The old saw says, “If it’s sounds too good to be true, it probably is”. Take that to heart.
True success takes a lot of hard work and a lot of blood, sweat and tears. It takes sacrifice and a commitment to educating yourself and working the processes the right way so you can reallly earn in an online business. I’ve been at this for almost five years, and I am STILL learning and have no intention of stopping that any time soon.
Do I get discouraged? Yes. Do I quit? No. Why? Because I believe in what I do. And reaching those few people who are really trying is, for the most part, worth it.
I will now step down off my soapbox. But I’ll be back. Stay tuned.
P.S. I welcome feedback on this. If it helps you, say so. If it makes you angry, well, hit me with that too. I can take it.
Catherine “Sorceress Cat” Heiter
Admin/Owner/Customer Support Specialist