My Look at the CTP Badge Hunt
As always, before writing a rant or my opinion about something, I want to clarify things... :) I'm relatively new in the affiliate marketing business and I have no much experience in most common things that are used on #CTP platform, but I'm learning every day little by little...
I wasn't a member of the "old CTP website", I was just a Steemian "lured" into aff. marketing world and signed up to the current version... So, I don't know the history, relations, etc... I heard about traffic exchanges back in the days (+10-15 years) and tried some of them (to get traffic for my Adsense websites, when it was almost legal :) )... But that was it... I didn't promote them, or try to get referrals, etc...
created on canva.com
For the badge hunt concept I heard the first time when @jongolson started "Summer Badge Hunt" (if I remember it right) and I know that, at that moment, I was surprised about the fact that it is such a big thing! As Jon always repeat that building a list is the most important thing, I have decided to buy a few badges and start with building my first list!
So, the CTP Christmas Badge Hunt has started yesterday, and I was excited to be the participant in the hunt, but also the guy who gives badges to others! And, as @gadrian used to say, I'm hooked and I get the bug... :)
As a newbie in this world, I had an advantage in creating my badge tasks as I'm not familiar with common tactics and usual stuff... On the other side, maybe that is a disadvantage, but I like to look at it in a positive way... :)
I have bought 5 badges and created 4 tasks until now, and left the last one for the second week of the badge hunt. The first badge is a simple one... You just have to sign up to my mail list and you will get the badge in the first email... If you decide to stay on the list, I promise you some good stuff for your brain inside the future mails.
The second badge requires more action from members, but still, it's very easy... You just have to make a comment to any of my blog posts here, but with a special message (find out which one inside the badge hunt at ClickTrackProfit)
The third and the forth badges require a bit more action than the first and second... Actually, the third one is easy, you just have to register to a free program... In the last (active) badge I have asked the community to give me some idea about the fifth badge (for the second week of the hunt)... And, as I expected, it gets very little traction... until now... we will see in the next few days how it goes...
So, what was my conclusion from all this? Nothing spectacular, just usual stuff... People tend to work on the badges where they can turn off while doing it (for example, clicking on the little pictures on T-E websites, counting clicks)...
Don't get me wrong, I have done that also, and picked some of those badges... But, I have done it now for the badges, and I do a little every day, while I do other stuff... As I can see, there are people that are doing this every day, and not for half an hour, but for a half a day... That is a lot of time...
I don't want to sound as an egoistic, prepotent jerk, but is it really so profitable to surf every day 1000+ pages at 10-20 traffic exchanges? I mean, is that INVESTED time worth it? Can you maybe do something other instead, and earn more? And, not just EARN, but LEARN something new, grow as a person...
I'm beginning to be famous for my CALLS FOR ACTION in my blog posts... It looks that I like to bother my readers to START CREATING content here on CTPTalk, and STEEM in general... To connect with their readers, to engage with them, to reward them with crypto tokens...
I bet you CAN do it! I bet you can TRY the content creation, and you can grow every day, doing it better and better! It will help a lot in your aff. business as your members/clients/partners will know you better.
It's a time for changes and YOU can lead those changes... Don't be just an observer, be a player!
~ph~
Check out ClickTrackProfit website and find my badges there.... ;)
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Don't forget to follow, resteem and browse my steempage to stay connected with all the great stuff!
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Very well said Zoltan, to be completely honest for the most part I don't like this mindless surfing, if they have some interaction like the rating system in LeadsLeap or an active chat like in Hungry4Hits it's very boring, which is one of the reasons I have not surfed very much since entering Steem, the other reason being that I did not feel I had a good enough offer to promote, but the last ebook has changed that, so I will surf a bit more, but only where I get results and it's not boring, and it's kind of fun that those 2 things usually go hand in hand, if it's fun I also get a much higher CTR, stay awesome.
I was afraid that I'm the only one with this weird look at surfing for hours and I'm glad that I'm not...
Thanks for your comment and good luck with your ebook!
Thanks Zoltan, use your tracking to see where you get the best results after having a high enough sample to see that and then focus your time where you get the most subscribers to your list and cut away the rest, then repeat, and as I said having a good time surfing and getting a good conversion ratio usually go hand in hand, stay awesome.
Well said. You are new blood in CTP and in my opinion needed new blood.
You make some great points.
I spent, in the past, surfing thousands of pages.... I still surf some, I enjoy seeing what people are promoting.
But I have come to love this blogging on #Steem and #ctptalk much more.
Bradley
Don't get me wrong, I also surf for some time every day... But, it can be addictive and then it takes a lot of time... And I like to invest my time in my friends and family more...
I understand 100 percentage :)
I'm upvoting things that I agree with but also, as I have on friends or family to speak of really, I have a lot of time to fill, every day, day after day ... n/m I like doing other things like reading and taking pictures and a bunch of stuff including posting funny comments. :-)
The balance is an important thing and I'm glad that you are trying to keep it! It helps a lot in moving forward...
I've said it for a long time. I used to do the mindless surfing and surf thousands of clicks a day, across many sites. In the end, it was, and I believe it is still a waste. You have hundreds of people promoting the same "stuff". What's the point?
It's not just about promoting the same stuff... It's just common sense... For the time that you have invested in thousands of clicks, you can create a unique blog post, earn some crypto, convert it to USD and BUY that clicks! Soon, you will not have to convert it at all, you will pay by CTP tokens!
You will grow as a person, engage with others, meet some friends here... and still have those clicks for promotion...
I agree with you, time is money. It doesn't make much sense to surf for hours and hours unless it is paying you well. With that being said consistent surfing through the week will get your brand out there, a few sign ups and by seeing the sites you will get ideas of what to do and what not to do in your own promotions.
I agree... Surfing a few sites just for joy is OK... Just to show your support and be there... But, if you get paid better somewhere else for the same time... and it's more interesting, fun, amusing, then go for it... You can always buy an upgrade on TE sites and have those clicks... ;)
The sooner 'TE Land' stops worrying about how many pages are surfed, and starts focusing on building lists and using effective marketing within the business...The sooner that will become a viable place to advertise again...
We need owners that step up and focus on getting their members results...Not just a place to see hit counters spin.
Badges (in TE's) were always meant to reward people for doing something and that something was to 'brand and build'....Sadly, neither seems to be happening these days.
Yes, I have noticed that they are popping up some unknown members on my badge list that I didn't see before... It's interesting that I didn't know that some of them are actually TE program owners...
I know that because I was always hiding behind the emails, but the new time has come and we can't survive without social networks and transparency... People want to KNOW the owners, communicate with them, share their thoughts, ideas and problems... And I find that useful for both sides... But, the train is moving slowly...
Love this!! I was in the old CTP world & while I was all for surfing, picking up pennies & the badges, the boredom would settle in quickly for me. Maybe it's because I am a Gemini & tend to change things up a lot? lol But I like to engage as well as do the easy tasks. Without balance of the two, I get bored quickly.
I agree with this post because engagement is what keeps us connected & interested. Some people unfortunately don't want to put in the work & just do the mind numbing tasks. (I WILL do these when I am tired or don't have much time to do a lot more. ) I have seen evidence of this with my badge as well. Only one person has done it so far. LOL But it will pick up.
I think it's great you are coming into this with a different perspective than most. It mixes things up. Maybe it will light a fire under some people. Thank you for sharing them.
With that, I would like to announce I have saved 16 unicorns today! (It's part of the job of a pixie ;) ) 🧚♀️🦄❤️
Okay, I have to admit that sometimes I also DO NOT want to think about anything at all... and that time is perfect for surfing at TE websites... :)
But, doing that for hours is almost the same as watching politics on TV all day... loool... Just brainwashing... And I don't want to be brainwashed and the same as others... :)
Hi Zoltran @ph1102 - It always good to have a new perspective on the old, one should always treat the next step as a new one, even if influenced by the old, now thats cryptic lol
But keep them newbie eyes, it will spot things that the oldies dont :)
Badge hunts are great and a big part of CTP crowd. Its all about receiving something for achievement and dagnabit, us humans seem to want this type of thing :)
who are you calling human? :-)
Exactly... and I like the most this mix of two different communities... everybody can learn from everybody... :) I have learned a bunch just in the last 3-4 months about aff. marketing world from all of you guys...
Maybe, I didn't jump in the fire right away, but I like to store the knowledge slow and steady... then it lasts longer :)
here here, no more mindless surfing :-)
:-) It's OK doing it for fun... Just be cautious to stay non-addicted :)
Well said Zoltan, and I agree with your viewpoints.
For me, I do not have the spare capacity of time anymore to surf traffic exchanges. I find I get very little results out of them for my affiliate marketing. I spend 1-2 hours per day, every day in the surf. Usually I surf maybe 10 TEs regularly, perhaps 5 most days, to get the credits I need to promote my wares.
If you want better results, then get into mailers as these sites are 1000x more effective and you spend far less time on them getting the credits you need to launch your messages. People who use mailers are serious about their internet businesses, so they tend to engage more. The confidence you get from using mailers will also set you up for the next, vital step: list building.
List building is something that @jongolson and @blainjones and so many others say is absolutely critical to having a successful internet marketing business.
So what do people (myself included) do, they observe Newton's first law: laziness aka gravity; do nothing until they're compelled to change. For example, the Paypal massacre of their affiliate marketing member accounts brought about change so suddenly and so effectively that elevated blockchain out of investment and into functionality.
Newton's second law is now in effect so we will see increasing momentum for blockchain usages across all sectors of industry, including government, that will mainstream cryptocurrency globally. Newton's third law...well, I think you're getting the idea, eh.
Heavily promote ClickTrackProfit and Steem in all your online and offline endeavours, as the future is blockchain, so cash in on this wonderful opportunity now. Use "crypto" in your lead capture pages or social media posts to generate interest. Pull people to ClickTrackProfit so they can get the training they need, and from there push them to Steem.
Thank you so much for this valuable comment... At least, it is valuable for me! I've getting slowly piece by piece all the stuff around the affiliate marketing and your comments are always a big help for me... Actually, signing up to one mailer program is one of my badges...
I do tend to do a lot of mindless surfing when I am online (not just TEs but also news, blogs about my hobbies, etc). I am trying to do more content creation, too. It helps to see others encourage me to do it. I saved 17 unicorns today! docious1
Content creation will leave YOUR mark on the web and in the community! Especially here on CTPTalk (Steem) and the blockchain... It will stay visible for everyone for years to come!
Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts on this topic @ph1102, and you also got a lot of really great feedback, so I will just say, build your list, track your results, and use the best tools for traffic that your tracking is telling you, and good luck with the badges, it's awesome.
This post is AWESOME!
It has therefore got a manual 100% upvote from @thisisawesome, for the Awesome Daily Upvotes in category CTPtalk, I give out 1 such vote in that category per day, plus 3 more in other categories, and your post will also be featured in todays Awesome Daily report for more visibility.
The goal of this project is to "highlight Awesome Content, and growing the Steem ecosystem by rewarding it".
Thanks, Erik... And comments on the post were awesome. A lot of valuable content for everyone.
Thanks @ph1102, and they where awesome comments, keep up your great work.
You are a welcome addition to the ctp community! I saved 18 unicorns today kschimmelwriter
Thank you for your kind words, Kimberly! And we have to watch out on those unicorns... they are too clumsy...
Man, I started not to receive mention notifications... I don't know if it's just me, because I don't have as much owned SP on my main account or notification services are scaling down...
Anyway, I just saw your mention after looking at SteemWorld...
Yup, you have the CTP bug! :) Not necessarily a sickness. I have the Steem bug right now... You might have both actually. But as all bugs, we need to keep them under control, lol!
I'll go to CTP and have a look at what CTP holders had in mind for their badges this time around.
Don't know about the mentions issue as I use it only on eSteem app.. and it works fine... It shouldn't be connected with owned SP...
And, I admit... I'm double-bugged... :)
This is a great post I collected your first badge joined your list. I enjoy surfing at the traffic exchanges and looking at the different ads more than watching the click counter grow and dont spend all day on them lol. I saved 18 unicorns today ctp user @howyf!
Thanks for saving those poor unicorns!
Yes and Thank you for the badge time to get the next one :)
I have been following you and never would have thought you were new to affiliate marketing. I have gotten some great tips from you and look forward to seeing you around & growing. I saved 19 unicorns today!
Thank you so much for your kind words! You have a message inside the CTP website... ;)