I've heard alot of good things about ezine solo ad mailings. But having tried more than one ezine, with different products, i've been burnt more than once. I actually earned less than I invested. What do you guys think about solo ad mailings as an advertising tool for "home based business opportunity" products?
Ssamekul, It has been my experience with email advertising, the best you can expect is a 2% to 3% response ratio. What does that mean? 97% to 98% of your ads will be unread and deleted. 2% to 3% will be opened (clicked). You have another .5% that will hit your landing page and enter their name, email etc. I use Rent-A-List.com in the past and was very disappointed. The name of the game with email marketing is massive quantity. Over a period of time and depending on your opportunity; you must email at least 500K to 1 million leads to see decent results.
My favorite method is to get the targeted traffic from PPC advertising. But if you're not good at this then you're going to have the same money losing problem that you are having now. There are courses available (some free) that can help with the PPC (Google Adwords, etc) techniques to make them profitable.
It's better to either drive traffic in other ways or build your own list. I don't think that buying email lists is a worthwhile investment. If you can build a good site, you don't need to buy lists. Newbie Shield
Thanks for the input everyone. Quoting: Newbie ShieldIt's better to either drive traffic in other ways or build your own list. I don't think that buying email lists is a worthwhile investment. If you can build a good site, you don't need to buy lists. What do you think about using solo ad mailings to harvest leads, someone suggested to me that instead of focusing on selling anything in the email focus on getting leads. do you think that is a good method of building a list?
Hi again Ssamekul, I'm dead against unsolicited email. I'm sure you know how it feels to receive it. It burns my blood so I wouldn't victimize anyone with it. Few unsolicited emails provide an honest opt-out link at the tail end of the obnoxious message. This makes it even more annoying! The very nature of solo ads make my stomach tense. Most services advertise unsolicited email every day for 7 days in a row. Some services advertise safe lists only. Safe lists are better because folks have asked for something in exchange for being added to the mailing list. Still, I doubt that most recipients enjoy these ads. Do you like to get unsolicited email every day for 7 days in a row? Who does? How about if you agreed to be put on a list in exchange for a free eBook or some other free item? A synonym for Solo Ads is Exclusive Mailings. Just because someone subscribes to a service, do you think that they are happy about or even okay with receiving additional offers? I'm not one to buy into this sort of logic. I think it's unconscionable. Bottom line = it's damn annoying to get these sort of emails. Furthermore, don't do it. If your site is worth a darn and you know how to promote it, don't resort to evil tactics. Newbie Shield
There are some articles about ezine marketing. http://www.realworldtactics.com/ezine-marketing.html Read them and see if you get something out of it.
I agree, email list marketing doesn't work very well, at least for well defined, small niches. I made the mistake of sending an email ad to 400,000 subsribers for $20 dollars!! I thought I was going to make a killing - not one sale.
Quoting: MarktechI agree, email list marketing doesn't work very well, at least for well defined, small niches. Actually, the opposite should be true. If you're marketing to a well defined niche...it's targeted. Your offer should be targeted towards them. Targeted List + Powerful Offer = Great Response
Quoting: Newbie ShieldIt's better to either drive traffic in other ways or build your own list. I don't think that buying email lists is a worthwhile investment. If you can build a good site, you don't need to buy lists. I agree - well put
Do not forget it also depends on your ad copy how well it's written and your headline, also your target market is important. Also do your product or service has good value will these prospects benefit from your product or service Let's not forget their is alot of junk out there also so we have to find out what works and what doesn't. So we do have to test and track our results when we market online.
The key is to find a GREAT LIST, then submit a GREAT offer! The biggest hurdle is to find the great list! Hopes this helps!
The magic pill to marketing is consistency in a variety of ways. Establishing a presence of your product/offer. Some products/offers work better with some marketing techniques but it really comes down to the list/recipient and what their interest is. Some list will be winner and others won't, but then it can depend on what is being offered. One shot wonders in marketing won't make one a bunch of money. People often respond to things they repeatedly see thus establishing that what is being offered is still good. Thus many program jumpers continue to fail because they never establish themselves in any particular biz opportunity or the like
ssamekul The ads would most likely have a better response if they are repeated... But....many factors can impact the success.....targeted ad.... ad copy and of course, the offer....
Well actually I do think I have something to add to this discussion as this is what I do. What you need to do when buying solo ads is well its several things. 1. You should always check the source. Ask for a list of current customers and their email contact so that you can verify for yourself. 2. Be sure that the list is focused towards your niche. 3. Ask questions about how the list was built. Was it from swaps, PPC etc. 4. Tell the person that you wish to sign up for the list first and where can you do that at. THEN MOST IMPORTANT.. 5. Only buy solos based on paying per unique click. Get a guarantee of how much per unique click. This way you know exactly how much that targeted traffic is going to cost you. If you have done all of the above and know the conversion rate of your offer or squeeze page then you can quickly do a cost analysis and decide if that particular list is right for you I hope this helped ! John Cornetta
