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.
No related posts.
Jackie Lee:
You wrote:
“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.”
Would you mind sharing with us what that website is?
Thanks!
Cesar Fernandez
Cesar,
Unfortunately I can’t remember the name of the site… this post is over a year old (geez, I can’t believe it!). I’ll do some searching and see if I can find it and let you know.
Great article.It’s very informative.Useful for newbies and helpful for ones who has their business already started.
Thanks for posting.I’d love to see and learn more from this blog.
Hi Jackie,
I currently use Market Samurai and i like it. I am willing to try Traffic Bug it sound great. Thanks for the great article
Interesting articleand one which should be more widely known about in my view. Your level of detail is greatand the clarity of writing is excellent. I have bookmarked it for you so that others will be able to see what you have to say.
Great article. I agree with you. Its really amazing that there are lots of tools made available over the internet to help us.
I, too, have a trial for The Traffic Bug, bought through your link (isn’t that sweet)!
My question is, do you plan a tutorial on how to use that tool? I’m asking because your tutorials are much easier to follow than any I have found.
If there is a tutorial out there, I’ve not found it yet, but that’s not surprising.
Your thoughts?
Susan
You just put in the information that’s asked for.
the url, feed url and then fill in your keywords where asked for. For the description just make something up that tells a little about what the site is about. Then reword/resay it a few times since you need at least three descriptions.
Oh gosh no! I’ve fallen into the trap of buying information just because it was a ‘hot deal’ many times. Those great deals that ‘end in 2hrs 7min 46sec’ gotta love them
There’s absolutely no doubt that you put up a lot of great content but in addition to this some people need a structured program to learn Internet marketing to get started. Once they’re off and running on their own they may benefit even more from your site and the content you post.
What do you suggest people ask themselves when deciding to learn Internet marketing (or a subset such as affiliate marketing, social media, etc) from a structured program versus taking it step by step on their own? It’s possible to learn it on your own but all too often people get frustrated and give up.
Thanks Jackie!
Just like I said. Start where you’re at. Make a decision ~ what do you want to do? Affiliate marketing? PPC? Product creation? whatever it is you want to do… find something that will help you figure out what you want to do. You can’t learn everything about internet marketing, and the best teacher you’ll have is experience. I’d suggest finding a specific program that teaches you HOW (real action steps not just theory) to do what you want to do so you can take action while you’re learning.
It doesn’t matter what stage you’re at… the rules still apply. (understanding they are my rules generated abitrarily by my brain. They may or may not work for you.)
You may need to create your own arbitrary rules. 
Sometimes I need to kick myself out of my paralysis analysis mode!
Great stuff Jackie!
Hello Joe. I can tell you from personal experience that Jackie is a great source for learning some basics in internet marketing. I’ve only had my online business for less than 6 months and I’ve started to see some respectable results. Most of what I’ve been doing to market my site I’ve learned from Jackie’s blog posts and Squidoo lenses. Because of this, I hope to soon be using my living room as my ful-time office rather than having to trek 30 miles to someone else’s office.
Amy that’s great to hear! I understand what you mean about the 30 miles. I’m at 28 miles one way. Luckily for me I work with a great bunch and enjoy coming to the office. Then again I could chat with them online…hmmmmm
Great post – I always find it difficult to figure out what marketing products to buy. There are so many scams out there. Glad to hear that traffic bug is helping you…I need to check it out.
JJ @ Here Comes The Blog´s last [type] ..Pink and Chocolate Color Scheme
Jackie – here’s a question: Do you treat buying products the same as you would when buying information or even education?
When you buy a product you can attribute numbers to it such as if I buy Traffic Bug it could save me x hours per week. But when buying information or education it’s harder to put a number value on the return you could get out of it. You could spend several thousand on learning a skill but if you implement what you learn you could gain 10x that.
Pretty much. I don’t buy information or education just for the sake of information. I only buy information to help me with what I’m working on right now… or how to further/build on what I’m doing right now.
At some point I may see I need to add an element to what I’m doing right now… that’s when I’ll buy a product/info/education about that topic. But I don’t just go out and buy for the sake of information ~ it gets me way too off track and makes it difficult to continue to take focused action.
Well written. I am quite interested in this topic hope you will elaborate more on it in future posts.
Another question- While using article bug, should I still be doing my my usual submissions to free ad blogs, my blogger site, etc?
Lisa @ InSinkErator Evolution Excel´s last [type] ..InSinkErator Evolution Excel updated Wed Aug 18 2010 6-57 am CDT
traffic bug? Yes, I would still do everything else you normally do ~ unless you want to test for yourself exactly what tb will do.
I haven’t used forums, review sites, or even search engines in the longest time when looking for product/service recommendations.
I’ve built up (and keep building upon) a great “inner circle” of sorts of fellow bloggers/marketers who’s recommendations I trust.
When I run across something I might want, I make the email rounds asking if anyone has used before; if so I then inquire as to whether they have an affiliate link for said item.
Dennis Edell @ Direct Sales Marketing´s last [type] ..Update 2 – The Marketing Blog Network
I do this as well.
I’ve also greatly narrowed my “guru” list to a small select go-to which includes: Jackie Lee, Lynn Terry, Rosalind Gardner, Nicole Dean, & PotPieGirl…..in that order.
I’ve unsubscribed from many others who just seemed more interested in “the sale” rather than having my back as a marketer and consumer.
I’m keeping my inbox “clean” these days, so that I can stay more focused and stop starting and stopping 100 projects, etc.
Hi Jackie.
I started my free trial of the Traffic Bug software and I must say I’m impressed so far. So far the software has made 402 submissions for the websites I entered which they estimate saved me 1305 minutes or roughly 22 hours of time which I completely agree with.
I don’t know if this will push me to #1 for any of my keywords, but I do know that it is creating a BOATLOAD of backlinks for my websites and backlinks are GOOD regardless
Thanks for suggesting this and giving me a tool which helps me feel like I’m moving forward with my backlinking .vs petrified with being overwhelmed.
I think your first point is super-important and is one that took me quite some time to realize myself when I first got into IM.
It is so easy to get caught up in the excitement over some new course or piece of software that you’re constantly starting new projects but never finishing them.
Only buying products that will help you with what you’re doing right now – rather than encouraging you to start doing something totally different – is, in my opinion, an essential key to success when building wealth online.
Richard @ Lifestyle Design Unleashed´s last [type] ..When To Quit Lifestyle Design
@Richard – I’m bookmarking your site. It looks really nice and there are several posts that I’m interesting in reading this weekend. Love the use of the Flickr pics as well. Awesome visuals to go with your posts.
I meant “interested”
Also a question since there is some reference to link building in this post. And this is probably a dum question but maybe others are wondering too. When link building, is it okay to use a tiny url? Will google, yahoo, etc still count those links? Just want to make sure.
Thank you,
Laura =)
Interesting question ~ I have no idea. I’ve never done it and I’m not sure why you would. I would stick to my actual link ~ unless you’re somewhere like twitter.
Hi Jackie – what I was referring to specifically is UAW. UAW has a feature within the resource box building section that enables you to create tiny url’s for your links. So, I assume that there won’t be a problem given that UAW offers this feature but I’ve never used it before. I typically use the full url (to build the link for the anchor text) but of course it can use up a lot of characters depending on how much info you want to put in your resource box.
What do you think about using a tiny url for this purpose?
Many thanks again.
Laura =)
I haven’t really tested this and I don’t really use tiny urls in things other than social media so I don’t really know. Here’s a video I found from Matt Cutts of Google that might give you some answers: http://benjanke.com/url-shorteners-pass-pagerank/
Hi Jackie – thank you so much for the link to the video – that certainly helps.
Cheers!
Laura
Perfect!
Perfect about the Warrior Forum. I’ve never been a big fan of it. It always seemed like a bunch of windbags blowing smoke up each others……
The changes to it lately have made it even worse – a bunch of whiners.
Perfect bout the questions asked before you purchase. I can say without a shadow of a doubt, if someone from The Challenge recommends something, if I can use it in my business, I’ll consider it.
My list of people I trust is very much like yours with the addition of Lynn Terry and Jason Moffatt.
But the main reason I would pick something up is just as you have said – Will it help me do something better, easier, faster that I am already doing?
Thanks for always being on top of this stuff!
Frank Dickinson´s last [type] ..Motivation and Fear- Help Me Write a Blog Post video
Hey Jackie – great post – and I checked out your link and traffic bug looks like a cool product. Like you said though, when I purchase something it needs to fit in my budget. You mentioned that the price for this product was super low and I couldn’t see what the price was on the sales page. What does super low mean? Twenty bucks or two hundred bucks? I’m reluctant to leave my email address on the sales page because I don’t want to fall in love with the product and then find out it’s $200 bucks or something.
Thanks Jackie!
Laura =)
If you scroll down to the last square at the bottom it says it is 25 dollars a month.
Thanks Jackie – much appreciated. Yes, that does sound very reasonable for what you get with this product.
Laura
Jackie,
Well said.
I love how you lay out your thought processes – nice and simple.
Detecting the BS, fluff and downright rubbish online is probably the most important skill to learn first! Simple way? Find someone who is truly doing what you want to do and listen to them….
As usual, great post, I always eagerly await your blog reminders.
Cheers
Annie from Gold Coast Australia
Annie @Gold Coast Australia´s last [type] ..Things That Make You Australian
thank you Jackie for your interesting information. My site
is new and I am looking for ways to promote it and bring traffic my way so will today check out Traffic Bug
Joy´s last [type] ..New Embroidery Designs
Hey Joy,
Most people will pull a comment that has a link like that in it. Glad you’re here. If you have any questions feel free to ask.
Welcome. One quick tip ~ the “site” link you have in this comment isn’t going to do much for your site. It’s much better to have your links use your targeted keyword as anchor text. This site uses a plugin called keywordluv ~ if you put @your keywords after your name in the name field of your comment it will create a link to your site using just your keywords.
testing your advice
Joy@YourKeywords´s last [type] ..New Embroidery Designs
think this might appear correctly
I love this learning experience
Joy@Azilembroidery´s last [type] ..New Embroidery Designs
I started out working with free sites, and as I earned money from them, I invested in software and services. The business had to prove it would support itself before I’d invest money from other sources. It’s working so far.
Jackie, I hadn’t checked in a long time but now have discovered that 2 of my lenses are on the first page of Google. Does that mean I can stop building links to them for now? It would be great to have a shorter list to work on!
Debbie @ That Figures Woman’s Fitness´s last [type] ..Eat This Not That Review
are they were you want them? Are you getting traffic? If you’re getting traffic then you can probably take a break. Keep an eye on your traffic, and if it starts to go down it probably means your search position has changed. IF that happens, build some more links.
Thanks!
Debbie @ That Figures Woman’s Fitness´s last [type] ..Eat This Not That Review
Hope I didn’t tick you off yesterday with my questions. Honestly, you’re the first person I’ve ever heard tell it like it really is about the Warrior forum. I didn’t have good mentoring, so I used to just assume the WF had the pulse on IM stuff.
Lisa @ JA Henckels Pro S´s last [type] ..JA Henckels Pro S updated Wed Aug 18 2010 11-26 am CDT
No no no, I’m not mad at all.
I get that comment almost every time I say I like something. 
The idea of the WF being the pulse of IM is exactly why I wrote the post. I used to feel the same way about the WF. However, it’s gone through a LOT of changes in the last few years, and now with the paid area, the basic area is not all that great anymore.
It’s hard, when you’re beginning to know who to listen to, and how to make decisions, especially if you’ve never done this stuff before. I thought it would be interesting for people to see the through process I go through when I make buying decisions. We’re cool Lisa ~ you just keep asking away, I love that about you.
I totally agree with you. The reason most people want to have an internet or at home business is to have more time for the things they want to do such as going to the zoo with your child.
So I am all for using tools that save time and allow me to make more sites.
There is no way I would have time to do all of the social marketing and linking that traffic bug seems to be doing. I am trying the trial and will be watching to see what results you are having also.
Bob´s last [type] ..Slimberry Pro – WELA is growing!
Since you are one of my “Ed Dales”, I’ll be looking into this product. Thank you for always keeping it real.
btw, I took your advice on my site and am in the process of implementing it on all of my other Squidoo sites. Thank you!
Michelle´s last [type] ..Fat Husband updated Mon Aug 16 2010 10-44 am CDT
Hey Jackie!
First of all BRAVO to you for your blunt honesty! I really appreciate someone who doesn’t sugar-coat things and tells it like it is.
I too have stopped going to the Warrior Forum. It’s become a huge b!tch-fest and I just don’t want that kind of negativity in my day.
I, for one, would LOVE if you would give us a Traffic Bug Update every week! I’d love to hear the results you get from using this program. I’m almost ready to bite the bullet and purchase it, however I’d like to see someone whom I trust’s results before I do.
Thanks again for all you do!
Julie
I’m using Traffic Bug also (on the free 45 day trial). Every day, I’m getting emails from directories telling me my site has been submitted, so obviously TrafficBug is doing what it said it will.
I wasn’t getting that done myself. I was stressing about not getting enough backlinking done, and also worrying about having sites that needed to get finished too. So now I know that there’s linking going on leaving me time to get my other sites finished. Of course the proof will be over the next month, if I see more traffic to my sites. But I can see that TB is doing what it said it would.
Kelly @ Hoover Wind Tunnel Vacuum´s last [type] ..Hoover Wind Tunnel Vacuum updated Mon Aug 16 2010 1-04 pm CDT
Hi
I too spent a lot the first two months but luckily on domain names rather than courses so not all is wasted.
I would follow your plan but I really question myself on is it cost effective. I dont buy or invest in tools that do something im to lazy to do. But i do look at effeciency.
Mostly im looking at tools to do a better job that free tools ive used.
So for example for keyword researching I use google adwords keyword tool (both the new and older version) which is free and i use Market Samuri (with a free 50+ day useage as part of the challenmge this year) when the trial come towards the end Ill think through how usefull its been and then spend the money.
So in summary my 3 would be
1) do i really need this tool.
2) is the free alternative as good
3) check 1 again then buy or avoid
Steve@Guitar Amplifiers Guide´s last [type] ..Pignose AC9 Power Supply for Pignose 7100
Yeah, lazy may have been the wrong word. I don’t have the time to get it all done. I do enough, but more is always better and I don’t have the time to submit every site I do to 1000 directories by hand.
Nor do I have time to create hundreds of different accounts for bookmarking services so I can submit my sites to different accounts etc.
If a service can do this for me, save me hundreds of hours that I can spend at the zoo with Hanna (which is what we’re doing today) it’s worth it to me.
Everyone has to figure out what that is in their own business.
Interested in an update to see how it goes.
Rebecca´s last [type] ..Is He A Weight Loss Friend or Foe Find Out With Our Quiz