Yes!
I am totally prepared to be ripped apart by what I am about to say...
(and maybe even lose a few friends in the process but that is ok. If you
have a valid argument... lets hear it) but...
STOP buying solo ads from solo ad sellers!
I would bet my good pinkie toe that 99% of people who have purchased
solo ads, or even most solo ad sellers will know what I am saying is the
truth:
Solo ad sellers lists are beat to death. This is not an opinion... This is a fact. It is required by the job description.
Don't you want your offer going out to someone that hasn't already had 9 other similar offers from that person today?
Think about this: They make their living emailing their list. They only
get paid if someone clicks the link. So if they don't get the number of
clicks purchased... they have to email again, and again... and again.
Often times on the same day.
And the emails have to get more and more..... we will just say ...
"aggressive" as to not totally slander the solo ad biz. (some of my good
friends I have made in this industry are full time solo ad sellers. I'm
sorry. But you know it is true). Sometimes getting really "creative" in
order to get the click. Sometimes regardless of what your original
swipe called for.
To take it a bit deeper...
Solo ad sellers usually swap emails with other solo ad sellers to
replenish their list, who swap with other solo ad sellers, who swap with
other solo ad sellers... and so on..
So the same names just get past around add infinitum..... Then those
same people you are advertising too are also on about 100 other solo's
lists and get their inboxed filled with 500 emails a day. Flooded with
offer after offer every single day. Because that is the nature of the
business of a solo ad seller.
They get paid to send "sponsored" emails to their list. If they don't
email.. they dont get paid. It is what they must do. I get it.
SO WHAT TO DO INSTEAD???
Great question!
Buy solos from people who don't do it for a living! Simple.
I hear so many people saying they can never find solo ad groups that have lists for their specific niche outside of IM.
Well this solves that. I guarantee you not in a million years could you
run out of places to get solo's in ANY niche you want, VIRTUALLY
UNTAPPED and dirt cheap!
Here is just a short list of where you can buy solo's that the list is not beat to death and dirt cheap:
- Product Creators:
Someone who has just sold a product has a FRESH BUYERS LIST. They are
likely still excited about what they just purchased and if the product
did it's job, they are still opening every email they creator sends.
What you then get is a highly engaged list that the sender already has
their full attention and trust, and more likely believe the
recommendation. Much more than say someone who recommends something new
to their list every 4 hours. Doesn't hold as much weight
- Blog owners:
There are thousands of new blogs created a day. Lots of them get pretty
popular. Most have no idea how to monetize them... if at all. Lots of
hobby bloggers who would spitup their cookies if you offered them $50 to
mail to their 50,000 subscribers/fans. Majority of these new blogs know
nothing past adsense. You will be a godsend to them. (this is similar
to the old but effective method of finding people on youtube who make
these viral videos with 5 million view and zero monetization. They just
do it for fun and passion. WE LOVE THESE PEOPLE)
- Forum owners:
Similar to the above. Most forums are driven out of passion and have no
real monetization. Email the webmaster with a similar offer. Only takes
one before you have a massive result to untapped audiences
- Popular Facebook pages: See above
- Popular Twitter Profiles: Same thing here
- Amazon Best Selling Authors:
ok there are tens and thousands of authors in any niche imaginable in
amazon. Same with the blogs, most just write for passion. Couldn't you
offer a small link in the back of the book for $50. That is a permanent
placement. Not a onetime email shot.
THIS ONE I AM THROWING IN AS A BONUS
Direct mail: 
I can see you already gasping! How expensive right? Not even kind of.
What do you usually pay on average for a SOLID email solo click? $0.35
and UP right? You can send fully printed and mail merged postcards to
targeted lists for as low as $.44 a postcard.
Now think about this before you write it off as more expensive:
How likely are you to be the ONLY email in that persons email box that
you send that solo to? Probably better chance Nicki Minaj becoming a nun
right? The average person gets about 50+ emails per day. and I would
probably say double that for anyone reading this on the forum.
So it is easy for your solo email to get lost in the sea of madness.
Did you know the average here in the US is 2-3 piece of physical mail
per day? So the odds of actually getting your postcard delivered on a
day where you are the ONLY piece of mail is pretty high.
And they HAVE to see it. They have to physically hold your offer in their hands.
We are talking 100% open rate! And people save them. Stick them on the fridge. Tell others about it.
How many emails do you save a day? How many do you actually go back to?
Don't over look direct mail. Try it once. Take that same amount you are
about to blow... err... ummm... spend on a solo and just do ONE single
mail shot. Compare the results. If it does not at least DOUBLE your
control piece for your email ... I will eat my sock.
Done now: getting off soapbox. Enjoy
Quote:
Originally Posted by
heavysm 
I happen to agree with you. I actually just sidestep solo ads in general
Also, realistically I think the solo ad world should be separated from actual email marketing.
Persuasive story based email sequences that actually engage the reader
is very different the the hoard of email swipe files many marketers put
together.
Bottom
line, though, is that the mindset for a solo ad seller (who solely sells
solos) and the email marketer is just different. One pulls money from
their list as fast as possible whilst the other can wait a little while
as the subscribers plows through a few of their emails. These are just
different goals, really.
