Membership site review :
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What is the site about
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I have been a subscribers of their free newsletter for quite a while now, and each month, they offer approximately 8 cool traffic building ideas. Of course, if you work a lot online, you will be aware of some of them, but I am always nicely surprised to find out about tricks I never even heard of before.
Each month, they ask their readers to submit unusual traffic building ideas, and the ones that get published get a 100$ check. This is a pretty clever way to work, because it insures them they always have fresh content for their free newsletter.
So, first, there is the free newsletter.
They build trust and credibility through the free newsletter, and once this is done, they promote their private membership site right there.
This is excellent news for their affiliates because they get a high conversion rate. Your send them people, they subscribe to the free version, and when they upgrade, you get paid a monthly check.
DECEMBER 2004 UPDATE : Sad to say, but the free newsletter is not available anymore. The owners have decided to concentrate on the membership site alone. Hopefully they will develop more tools to help their affiliates promote the paid memberhsip site.
Another great advantage of this opportunity is this : they offer a 1$ trial to their private membership site. It is kind of hard to say no to that!
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Now, what's inside?
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They offer 2 type of memberships: Gold (44$/month) or Platinum (97$/month).
The Gold membership gives you access to the whole membership site.
The Platinum membership gives you, on top of the rest, access to an exclusive club, an exclusive discussion forum, and an exclusive monthly traffic tip no one else gets.
One very cute thing they do when you buy a membership, is the access to a page with a membership card graphic, that you can print. I don't really understand the reasoning behind this, probably so people feel important ;)
Ok, the real meat now
Once you are inside, you get an introduction audio tour, that tells you where to start. One suggestion: DO start there! There is a huge choice of information inside, and it is a little overwhelming at first.
In one section, you get access to tons of tips on various traffic related subjects. This is interesting.
But the real value of this membership site, in my opinion, is in the monthly added content : they are audio segment from big names in the industry, giving you the latest information about a specific traffic subject they are specialised in.
The big names? John Keel for Pay-per-click, Alex Mandossian for traffic conversion, Joe Vitale for powerful copywriting, Perry Marshall for Google Adwords, and a few others.
I also went to the discussion forum, which does not seem to present that much activity, but this does not mean anything really : if your questions are answered properly, it does not matter if you are the only one asking because after all, you're the one who's paying a membership!
Who is this membership site good for? I would say, not the complete newbies, but the somewhat informed web marketers. Why? Because first, not many newbies will pay that kind of money when they start online. And because the information inside is not good for someone who don't even have a website yet. But if you know what PPC is, what conversion mean, what Adword is this membership site can be very interesting.
The only downside, in my very personal opinion, is the fact that most of the information is in audio format. For some people, this will be the best thing ever, but me, I don't like to listen to stuff, I think it takes too much time and it makes it harder to understand the information. It would be better if you could always get a transcript. This way you could listen to it first, then go back to the document later on.
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What is the affiliate offer:
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Residual monthly commissions on two levels.
Trafficology pays 25% ($11 - $24) on the first tier and 5% ($2.20 - 4.85) on the second tier residual commission.
They have a complete affiliate center, with tools, a discussion forum. This helps you promote the membership site easily using what THEY provide for you.
Another great advantage of their offer is that they have many other products to sell. Those are not membership site with residual commissions, but think about this : once a client is a loyal subscriber to the Trafficology site, there's a bigger chance they will buy other products from the same company they already trust. This can mean a little more commission for you.
Gaining extra points : If you use Clickbank, you know how easy it is for you to buy a product through your own link, therefore YOU get the commission even if another affiliate worked hard to promote the product. With Trafficology, things are different. If you buy through your own link, the commission will go to the affiliate who referred you to them! This is excellent news for you if you decide to promote this membership site, because if you announce it to your list (for example), they can't bypass you. This represent more money in your pocket.
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Conclusion
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Overall, I think this membership site is good because the people behind it know their stuff. They try and test everything they offer to their members. Yes, the membership at 97$ a month can be a little expensive at first, so you can start with the 44$ membership, but think about this : If you apply ONE traffic idea each month, and get a few extra sales each month from it, your membership will be repaid in no time.
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I would love to hear from you, so feel free to send me feedback on this review.
Your partner in online success,
Stephanie Hetu
Membership Site Reviews
(514) 299-1559
