20/01/2011. Q&A Session with the admin of SureFireSurf

BEWARE! THIS PROGRAM HAS STOPPED PAYING! PLEASE DO NOT INVEST!

Hi all! One of the most successful surfing based programs to hit the net in recent times is SureFireSurf. Not exactly a big hill to find yourself king of, but to be fair just because the competition isn’t all that stiff in no way takes away from the program itself. SureFireSurf and its admin Christopher have been doing an amazing job over the last couple of months in not only making the program the number one choice for thousands of surfing fans but also in bringing in a substantial number of advertisers trying to reach a wider audience.

So you may remember that recently Christopher was gracious enough to agree to a Question and Answer style interview where MNO readers were invited to submit their own questions for him. So apart from the first two questions here where I am simply asking Christopher to remind us about who he is and what SureFireSurf is all about, the rest is contributed by you guys. So congratulations everyone, nice job! And if anyone doesn’t like the questions, well, you had your chance and should have opened your mouth!

So before we hear from Christopher let me just remind you that SureFireSurf offers two plans that require surfing as well as one that doesn’t. Terms include 10% for 12 days (surfing required), 8% for 15 days (surfing not required), and 144% after 12 days (surfing required). For a more detailed description as well as more info on the program in general, see my original review published here.

“1. Just to recap for the benefit of readers not yet familiar with your program, please introduce yourself and give us a brief description of the program you are running and what your own responsibilities are in it.

Hello readers. My name is Christopher Linton. Obviously. I am the owner / administrator of SureFireSurf. SureFireSurf is an auto surf program, where users can advertise their sites or referral links to our member base. It also lets our members upgrade their accounts and have the ability to earn money while auto surfing. There is a minimum of only 12 sites to be surfed daily (for the surfing plans) . We have 3 plans right now which members can choose from. You can read a detailed description of our plans and site overview in Paul‘s review of SureFireSurf. I am the only person working on the website so everything in it is my responsibility. Be it the payouts, the customer support, live chat, and everything that involves work in the site is my responsibility.

2. Tell us also about the investment plans you offer, what returns are available to investors, and how much does it cost to get involved.

SureFireSurf has 3 available plans. Two of them are for those who like auto surfing while the other is a HYIP Plan that does not require surfing in order to earn.
Let me break them down here.

Fiery 10% Daily Plan

– This pays you 10% daily for 12 days. Earnings are added after you surf your daily required minimum sites of 12. You can withdraw your earnings daily from this plan. Total return is 120% , actual profit is 20%

Flaming 144 Percent Plan

– This pays you 12% daily for 12 days but you can only withdraw your earnings after the plan has expired, or after 12 days from the day of your upgrade. Surfing 12 sites daily is required in order to earn your daily earnings. Total return is 144%, actual profit is 44%.

HYIP Plan 8% daily for 15 days

– This one pays you 8% daily for a total of 15 days. It does not require surfing so your earnings are added every 24 hours to your account and you can withdraw daily. Total return is 120% after 15 days while actual profit is 20%.

Minimum upgrade amount is only $5 and maximum is $10,000.

3. Concerning the surfing plans, what does a member need to do in order to get paid?

In order to get paid at SureFireSurf if you have upgrades in the surfing plans (Fiery10% Daily plan & Flaming 144% Plan) , a member only needs to surf 12 sites daily. And when I say daily, please follow the server time. It is located under the 468×60 banner on all pages of the website.

If you have an upgrade in the HYIP Plan 8% daily for 15 days, you do not need to surf. All you need to do is wait for every 24 hours to lapse for your earnings to reach your account and then you can withdraw.

4. Why, if you are primarily a surfing site do you offer a non-surfing HYIP style plan? How is that beneficial to the program as a whole?

For those who still do not know, SureFireSurf was launched on November 1, 2010. December came and many members requested for a non-surfing plan and I made available a non-surfing plan temporarily until December 31, 2010. Many realized that they need an option if they cannot surf for the week or while they are on vacation. This proved to be true during the holidays season. Many of the members needed a plan where they are not required to surf and they can just come back and check their accounts and withdraw profits as they came.

January came and many members requested that a permanent HYIP plan so we redesigned the non surfing plan and came up with what is available right now 8% daily for 15 days.

Let us admit it, not everyone likes surfing and in order to get many of them, who do not want to do the surfing, a HYIP plan was needed. And so there it is and it is proving its worth now.

5. Can you explain the difference between a regular HYIP and an autosurf?

The difference is pretty simple. An auto surf requires surfing of a certain number of sites using the auto surfer page while HYIP does not require its members anything in order to earn. Another thing that sets auto surf apart is the ability of its members to advertise their referral links or website and get traffic. Autosurfs generate revenue also from advertisements sold on their websites. This is true and applies to SureFireSurf.

6. Can you also explain the difference between regular surfing sites and paid to click websites?

A regular surf as mentioned in my previous answer, requires that its members surf in order to earn, be it manual surfing or auto surfing. It still will require you to surf. Paid to click websites, on the other hand, requires you to click advertisements in order to earn. Surfing websites have the ability also to provide Paid to click ads to its members.

Most surf websites require that you buy upgrade units in order to earn cash while PTC websites let free members earn cash without upgrading their accounts but also suggest upgrading their accounts in order to earn more and get paid more.

Both PTC and Surf websites offer their members the ability to generate traffic and advertise their websites and get paid while doing so.

7. Does your program depend primarily on “new investment” or are there other income streams to keep SFS going? How much of your income comes from advertising revenue and how big a role does it play in maintaining payments to members?

I would be lying if I told you that I have an income stream that supports the program. I can however, boast that SureFireSurf has been selling ads regularly. This may not be a huge amount to begin with but I trust and believe that after a longer grace period the percentage of revenue that we generate from ads on the site may get bigger and may cover a bigger percent of the required payouts. That is in due time of course.

Prices on our advertisements are currently set a a lower rate but as we grow, the prices will go up progressively.

So, yes majority of the payouts come from incoming funds at the moment. And I am sure 99% of the members know about it too.

8. What investment strategy would you suggest for your program?

I cannot suggest a specific investment strategy for my program right now but from what I read on the forum discussions, many are putting a certain amount daily in a certain plan so they get residual income. I also see many members putting up a fixed amount of upgrade daily and they get paid daily.

So, I may say that upgrading your accounts on a systematic way, like for example, upgrading every 3 days on the Flaming 144% plan , will get you paid every 3 days. Or you can put up daily upgrades too so you get paid daily too.

9. How long do you see SFS sustainable at the percentage you now offer? and What can we do as members to help SFS last longer?

The current growth rate of SureFireSurf has been phenomenal and I said that because if you have been part of SureFireSurf from the beginning, you will know that there were not referral contests, no cash contests, except for a testimonial contest where I only paid a small amount to those who were happy with the program.

Getting over December was a big achievement too. I think members are to be applauded for this achievement because they have been very supportive and proactive in promoting the program in ways they can. We just have to continue what we do and we will reach heights with SureFireSurf. It has been proven already for the past months that it is effective. So let us continue to do so.

10. I’ve been really impressed with Chris’ consistent level of quality customer care. Eg, he’s readily available, responds to issues right away, keeps us informed on everything- be it that he’ll be offline for a few hours, to details of site access during recent attacks, he makes payments as soon as possible, and is always friendly and helpful in all interactions. I’d love to hear more about his philosophy on customer care and its importance. I’ve only been investing in these type of sites for less than a year, but I think Chris’ respect and care for the members is what truly sets him apart and makes SureFireSurf the success it is.

Thank you to those who appreciate my work ethics. I just strongly believe that customer care during and after the transactions should be constant and should always be at its highest level. Just like when you buy a product from a company, the business does not end when you purchase the product but even the aftersales should be as good or even better than while the sale was being finalized. A happy customer is a returning customer.

That is very much applicable with SureFireSurf. I know that people like it when the customer support of any company is always good and is fast when it comes to response. If all businesses will provide fast and efficient support, their success is almost guaranteed.

I only ask myself, if I were the customer, how would I want to be treated? You know the answer to this questions.

11. Can a surf membership get too big to sustain? Which factors are most significant here?- eg ROI rate, number of investment plans, time commitment of the admin, number of members, server capacity, etc?

Since SureFireSurf is not considered a low ROI program, not even a long term nor medium term program, growing is the greatest factor with its success. Therefore, the membership , no matter how big is sustainable. That is the exact thing we want SureFireSurf to be, to grow bigger.

I am sure many will agree to this, but the most crucial part in making a program successful is not just with the members but of course it depends on the admin as well. If the admin has no intentions to make a long lasting program, no matter how supportive the members are, he will just ruin the program anytime he wants. So the commitment of the admin plays the vital role in ensuring the flow of the program until it reaches stability.

12. With the recent emergence of several other similar programs, how much room is there in the surf industry for competing websites?

There has always been room in the surf industry. It was just a matter of how many admins would take the risk and open up a program and see if members will support it. Many admins would not take a gamble but I did, look at where SureFireSurf is now. In this industry, it should be mutualism and not just the members who risk it, but admins must also risk it, in order to bring the interest back in the surf industry as a whole.

13. What’s your ambition for the eventual size of the SFS membership?

I opened up SureFireSurf with only one thing in mind, to bring the interest back in the surf industry. I have no limit to how much the membership size will grow. I will let it grow for as big as it can and just continue to do my work the best I can. I may falter sometimes with technical things in the site but I will definitely use those as learning points and move forward with even much more experience.

14. How will you be able to maintain the payment as most of us that have been part of surfing programs that collapsed in the past because of lack of funds after a certain time can see that they were at least partial ponzis and as such don’t work?

I can only do so much. Without incoming funds from membership upgrades the site will collapse definitely. My partial revenue from ad sales on the site is definitely not enough if we rely on it fully. 99.9% if not 100% of HYIP and Autosurf programs rely on incoming funds for their longevity.

Even if I come up with revenue building methods, it still will never be able to supply 100% of the profit percentage that our plans offer.

15. How did you manage to keep the SureFireSurf online this long when so many others have failed? Assuming you can maintain the current level of public interest and support how long do you realistically think it can run for?

I would be lying if I predict to you now how long the site can run. I can say a year, 6 months, 5 years. But that would be very baseless. Sites like SureFireSurf can never tell how long they can keep paying. It all depends on the day to day incoming and outgoing statistics. I do not want to look like a fool if I say a certain estimate of lifetime of the program.

Assuming the support is great and the program is steadily getting new members and the cycle does not stop, I still won’t be able to tell how long it can run.

16. How closely do you monitor the pages submitted to be surfed by members? How can I be sure I’m not going to pick up a virus from surfing? Or end up viewing offensive or inappropriate material?

Nothing is perfect and I occasionally approve some bad websites. Some members put up placeholder sites and update the contents once the site has been approved. I do look closely on the sites and check them for several things that might give the surfers a hard time or problems.

17. Can you give us a detailed description of the security of SureFireSurf? Who is your current hosting provider, how highly do you rate them, and why did you change?

The site is protected by Dragonara. I am hosted with RyleeJames.com on a custom dedicated server which is a high spec’d one. I stayed with them after thinking of moving because their customer support is second to none if you ask me. The security is very high, because the DDOS protection provider is not the same as the host so in case something wrong happens, I can easily access the site files and back it up and transfer easily. When it comes to security of the server, it is very secure.

16. And finally for such a huge program you must have some plans to expand and develop SureFireSurf even further if you want to stay on top. What are they?

For almost three months now, SureFireSurf has been online and is growing steadily without promotions, contests and cash give aways. I think it would a perfect time to launch some interesting contests within the next months to keep it a little more interesting. I am planning also to launch a forum on its hundred day anniversary. Just a forum for issues within the site to spread out the load on support and many members are already very willing to be moderators and support staff when that day comes.

With regards to expansion and further plans, I would say, we can discuss those in the next interview. May I request for such after the 100 days anniversary?

Thank you very much Paul for this interview. I had a great time sharing my thoughts and my answers to you and your readers. You gave me some good questions and I hope I answered them satisfyingly.”

Thanks a lot to Christopher for taking the time to complete the questions in such an honest and forthright manner. But especially thanks to all the readers for submitting such interesting questions, and I sincerely hope you found it helpful and that it shed some light on SureFireSurf for you while answering your question satisfactorily. Apologies to those readers whose questions were missed but there was a very clearly stated deadline and we couldn’t wait forever. So maybe next time.

That’s all for the moment guys, but don’t go too far because I’ll be back later this evening with all the day’s main news stories so stay tuned and see you all then!