Archive for July, 2012

5
Jul

Safelists don’t work.

I have heard this more than a few times.

When I posted my monthly safelist stats a few days ago I mentioned that I had received 173 new subscribers last month from all of the safelists and viral list builders that I use.  One of my readers found that hard to believe.

“Tell me how on earth did you ever recruit 173 people in one month on Safelists. You must have sent the Mafia out after them. In ten years I don’t think I got five. And of those only one ever did anything. What’s your secret?”

While I share most of this information freely and with more detail in my book Safelist Marketing Tactics I thought a quick summary of how I promote with safelists would be helpful.

1. I email every day.  Every day!  Or at least as often as I can.

2. I read other emails to earn credits… every day!

3. I use a lot of safelists.  Probably way too many.

4. I only use credit-based safelists.

5. I track my ads.  This tells me exactly which safelists are working for me and which ones are a waste of time.

6. I upgrade at the best safelists.

7. I promote something targeted to safelist users.  It probably doesn’t get more targeted than my ebook about safelist marketing.

8. I use eye-catching subjects.  I’ve studied what subjects other marketers use and I have tested dozens of my own to find out which emails get opened more often.

9. I personalize my emails.  I use the [FIRST_NAME] macro whenever it is available and try to include the name of the safelist in the body of the email.

10. I write short emails.  The goal is to just make them curious before they look at my site.

11. I promote unique splash/squeeze pages that I either made myself or had made for me.  Promoting a generic affiliate page is the best way to be ignored.

12. I use personal branding.  If someone sees my face long enough they may start to think I actually know what I am talking about.

13. I use autoplaying videos on some of my ads.  Why?  Because they work.

14. I use a rotator to show a variety of ads.  This is good for testing and can help you to keep your ads fresh.

If you are not using a rotator or link tracker you can get those at TE Toolbox.

As you can see there is no one “secret” to how I got 173 sign-ups last month using safelists and viral list builders.  It’s just a bunch of little things that add up over time.

There’s probably a bunch of other things I could be doing to improve my results more.  Anybody got some tips and tricks they want to share?  C’mon.. no secrets!

 Safelist Marketing Tactics
Click here to receive a free copy of Safelist Marketing Tactics

1
Jul

The Best Safelists for July 2012

Author: Jerry Iannucci

It’s hot outside!

The USA is in the middle of a massive heat wave.  This seems like the perfect time to stay indoors and do some advertising using some of the best safelists and viral list builders.

But first I want to talk a little bit more about the new LFMVM script that is behind many of the new mailer sites that have popped up over the last 2 months.  Over a short period of time there have been at least 12 new sites launched with the LFMVM script.  The latest being Fast Cash Mailer from Mark McCulloch and Sean Supplee (which is having server problems right now but should be back up shortly).  There is even a new downline builder dedicated entirely to helping you get sign-ups in the new LFMVM sites.

Now I will rant.

There are too many new launches!  I can’t keep up with them all.  With a few minor exceptions the new LFMVM sites are almost all the same with very little customization.  Even worse is that other than a few of them my results have not been that great.  It’s probably too early to tell as many of them just launched last month.  I guess I will keep testing and try to keep up with the new launches but I already feel like the thrill is gone and I don’t imagine many of the new sites will be generating much excitement.

I think what really bugs me about many of the new LFMVM sites is the amount of work it takes to earn credits.  The new LFMVM script has taken the lead from traffic exchanges and added a “match the shape” security feature that you must click before you earn credits.  This isn’t new to the safelist world but most of the safelists that do have this feature don’t require you to wait for the timer before you can open a new site.  I realize the LFMVM sites forces you to view one site at a time to help increase conversions but I don’t think the extra effort is worth the reward.  I am currently managing over 40 safelist and viral list builder accounts.  The new LFMVM sites have dramatically increased the amount of work I need to do every day.  I would be fine with this if the credits received were worth the extra time spent but it seems the default credits earned on most of the sites is far too low to be worth the effort.

Just my thoughts.  I realize most of the new LFMVM owners are coming over from the traffic exchange world and while I appreciate all the new members they are bringing into the safelists I can’t helping wondering if they don’t quite grasp the finer nuances of how safelists work and are more interested in just owning another membership site.

Ok, that’s enough of my ranting.  Let’s get on to the stats and see how well the sites really performed.

If this is your first time here this is how it works.  Every day I promote a series of squeeze pages for my ebook Safelist Marketing Tactics to 30-40 different safelists and viral list builders.  I use a link tracking service that tells me how many hits I receive from each mailer as well as how many new subscribers I received.  I like to point out that I do have upgraded memberships on most of these sites which often allow me to send my ads to more members and more often.  I also spend time every day clicking emails for credits which allows me to send my ads to the maximum number of people as often as possible.  Your results may vary.

Also, I took a vacation at the beginning of June and didn’t send out any mailing.  Sorry.  The stats below are from June 8 – June 30.

Hits Unique Signups Ratio
List Bonus 1664 67.00% 19 1.14%
Instant List Empire 347 56.00% 10 2.88%
Your EZ List 742 57.00% 10 1.35%
Solo Effects 1338 38.00% 10 0.75%
Viral Mail Profits 304 58.00% 9 2.96%
Adchiever 2461 68.00% 8 0.33%
List Adventure 1099 53.00% 8 0.73%
List Surfing 1611 78.00% 8 0.50%
List Outbreak 725 55.00% 8 1.10%
Max Mailer Pro 1216 30.00% 7 0.58%
Adtactics 820 40.00% 6 0.73%
The Lead Magnet 808 52.00% 6 0.74%
Viral List Builder Plus 1219 55.00% 6 0.49%
List Shock 1372 49.00% 6 0.44%
Genie Mailer 566 42.00% 5 0.88%

Total June sign-ups (including mailers not shown here): 173

Pretty stellar month considering how much time I took off.

List Bonus was clearly my top performer last month with nearly double the sign-ups of the next ranked sites.  Way to go!

The only LFMVM site to make it on to the list was Max Mailer Pro which has been performing well for me.  I’ve got lots of new LFMVM sites that I joined over the past week and have just started testing.  Hopefully next month I will have a lot more data to work with and we can see just how well these new sites can compete.

That’s all for this month.  Keep in mind that these stats are the result of my own marketing efforts and your results may vary.  These stats are only provided as a guide to show you what is currently working best for me.  What works best for you might be something entirely different but you will never know unless you are tracking your ads.  You can get the same free link tracker that I use when you join TE Toolbox.

Safelist Marketing Tactics
Click here to receive a free copy of Safelist Marketing Tactics