I recently subscribed to Traffic Bug. I told my Squidoo readers about it yesterday and received a comment that there was a huge thread on the warrior forum that said it sucked and didn’t do anything. Not surprising. The comment and the warrior thread. 
I don’t buy too many things anymore, but there are times I pull out my wallet. I want to share with you what goes through my head before I plunk down my debit card.
1. Is this something that will assist me with what I’m currently doing?
At this point I’m generally buying software and not really ebooks or courses. I have a grip on my online marketing strategy, and I’m not trying to get distracted by another shining thing with all its shiny promises of riches. In fact, most days I don’t even click through to sales pages (because they are generally so well written I would be very tempted lol). However, there is a lot of “stuff” I have to do in my business and I’m finally realizing there are things out there that can help me get it done.
So… if I find a tool that can help me do something I’m already doing, save me time, and energy then I will at least look at it.
2. Who’s recommending the product?
About a month or so ago while I was in 3 step ads I saw an ad for SEO LinkVine. Now I use 3 step ads on a pretty regular basis, but I don’t know who runs this site, I don’t know anything about them. I looked at SEO linkvine and the sales page was great ~ of course. But that’s what people pay the big bucks for ~ great sales copy. I went looking around to find some “real” information about this service.
Of course the first thing that popped up in a google search was a warrior forum thread. I do not trust warrior forum threads at all. Here’s why. I don’t know these people from Adam. What I tend to see is a bunch of beginners who haven’t made a dime, but are throwing their money at everything they can trying to make it and bitching about how it didn’t work for them and how someone scammed them out of their money, and most likely it’s because they didn’t use the product correctly or jumped ship to the next shiny thing before it ever had a chance to work.
I always look for the opinions of people who are successful in this business, who know what they’re doing, who have really used the product/service (in the way it was supposed to be used!). I can’t guarantee that from the warrior forum, and in most cases I highly DOUBT it is possible to get that kind of information from that resource.
I did eventually find a website from someone who did nothing but test out these linking services with some really good backup data. That helped me make my decision.
I don’t buy from any Tom Dick or Harry who says something’s great. I buy from people I know and trust online ~ people who are doing what I am doing, who I know I can trust and have had success with things they’ve recommended in the past.
I have a few people online that are like that for me. Yaro Starak, Ed Dale, Gideon Shalwick, Brian Johnson, Jonathon Leger. Who are the people you buy from? Do you know? I found once I started listening to mentors, I started spending a lot less money lol.
3. How much does it cost?
This is still important to me. It doesn’t matter how much a tool will rock my world, if it’s going to screw up my budget it’s a no go ~ or a save up money until you can afford it type thing. I do not spend money I do not have. Period.
I recently got an email from a reader, and it’s very sad. They recently got some bad news about their health. They didn’t have health insurance because they decided to spend the $97 a month it would have cost on books/websites/services online to help them make money ~ thinking they would make money first and then get health insurance. Now they’re screwed.
I’m not going to get into a health care debate, and I’m in no way judging people with no health care (as I’m one of them) but I’m just saying… take care of yourself and your family first… then spend money on your business. There is nothing you can buy online that will serve you better than food or rent.
So back to Traffic Bug. Here’s why I bought it.
1. It does the linking I’m doing and MORE.
It submits my sites to RSS directories, website directories, pings them and bookmarks them, as well as submits them to search engines ~ over time ~ just as I would do it. (It also has new features in the works)
This is all stuff I would be doing if I wasn’t so lazy. So it is submitting to RSS directories (which I do do) as well as a bunch of things that I wish I was doing. Right now. In my business ~ it takes about an hour or two a day out of my schedule.
2. It was recommended by Ed Dale.
Ed Dale runs the annual “challenge” to make your first dollar online. I’ve done the challenge a few times, and I trust Ed Dale implicitly. The first Challenge I did with him he recommended Market Samurai which was in Beta at the time. Brand new, not even completely finished. I think we all know how that turned out. He has since rolled out many many tools for the challenge and they have all been amazing. I trust his recommendation even for a product that is brand new and in beta.
3. The price was super low
Ed always gives a great deal. Even without Ed’s deal the price was less than half what the next closest tool would have cost me each month. So far it’s been a dream to use ~ customer service has been excellent (yes, I’ve sent emails and they’ve been replied to multiple times 
), and I’ve seen quick indexing thus far, and since it will take time for the links to go out I’ve documented where all my sites are now that I’m using with it so I can see my own results. Traffic Bug is helping me, saving me time, doing work I hate, and helping my sites in multiple ways, so it was a purchase that was a no brainer for me.
Those are the things I think about before I purchase something for my business. I know in the beginning it was really easy to get caught up in a long thread at the warrior forum, but now, for me, it’s not worth the time it takes to read it. I stick with recommendations from people I trust, and things that will work for my business. These are my three questions… what do you ask yourself before you whip out your card? I’d love to hear… tell me in the comments section.
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