Safelist Tidbits

Posted by Brian on 23 September 2008

In this post I want to talk about safelists. Yes,
another misunderstood and misused form or promotion online. Well,
hopefully, I can clear some of this mess up.

Safelists get a bad rap, mostly because people don’t know how to use
them and don’t know what safelists to use. I’ll touch on both points
in this issue.

Let’s start with how to use safelists.

The majority of people use them as a pitchfest. This isn’t going
to get you anywhere. You’re much better off using a safelist as a
means of giving people some good free content that may actually
help them in their pursuit to earn a living online. They may be
surprised to see an email that actually helps them. Get them to
opt into your list by giving them a free report. Then follow up
with more information. Show them that you’re more than just a snake
oil salesman.

Now let’s move on to what safelists to use.

Most safelists are useless because people use throw away email
accounts and don’t read their emails. However, the people who use
credit based safelists have to read their emails because that is
the only way they get to send out their offers to others. This is
your best shot at reaching those who use safelists…sign up with
some credit based ones. Yes, you will have to read emails as well.

Another method is to use the shotgun approach. Use a submitter like IPostAd You’ll only get about a 1% open rate, but when you’re
reaching over 7 million people, it still brings results. But the
credit safelists still work better.

There is an art to making safelists work for you. I’ve been using
them effectively for over 4 years, so it is possible.

One of the best ways to use them is not to sell anything.
Direct readers to your optin or splash pages. Advertising free
to join programs gets good response with this type
of advertising utilising safelists, free is popular with this crowd.

See you then.

Sincerely,

Brian Dew

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Are You Making These Common Affiliate Mistakes

Posted by Brian on 06 September 2008

There are many myths concerning affiliate marketing that make it appealing and attractive.  People who do not know the entire system the wrong way round are prone to believing that it is something capable of giving them great fortune overnight.  Stories concerning affiliates who earn tremendous amounts of money swim in their heads, and while these stories are as true as they can be, there are those who believe that they are going to have the same fortune once they indulge in this particular business. While its entirely possible to replace the income from your full time job breaching the “Big Dogs” club is not as easy as it seems.

It is true enough that affiliate marketing is financially rewarding.

 People who have gone through everything to be able to succeed in this business are reaping the seeds that they untiringly sowed.  Many of them enjoy the kind of existence that was not possible for them to have had under ordinary circumstances.  Having gone through the A-Z of affiliate marketing, however, these people are the ones who know that while such business is lucrative, there is absolutely no easy money in it.

Ignorance of this fact is one of the main reasons why there are people who fail miserably in the internet business.  There are those who believe in myths concerning the easy money involved in systems such as affiliate marketing.  They do not know that there are those who have wasted time, effort and too many resources in trying to pursue the life of ease that they believe this business will give them.  And so they go into affiliate marketing armed with nothing but myths and fantastical notions of wealth swimming in their consciousness, never realizing that they bound to make mistakes that would prove to be their downfall.

What may be the reason why in businesses such as affiliate marketing, many are called but few are chosen?  Perhaps the answer lies on the fact that many affiliates make mistakes that result from their ignorance of facts concerning how the entire business runs.  Affiliate marketing is not as simple as an affiliate promoting a merchant’s wares through his website and getting paid for it.  It is also about knowing the market and the customers at hand.

Discovering what the most common mistakes affiliates make can perhaps dispel the gloom about myths surrounding affiliate marketing by correcting some wrong notions about it.  It might also be able to make those concerned understand that like any other business, there are dos and donts involved in this one if they want to make each of their steps count.  The first common mistake affiliates make is their lack of knowledge concerning principles involved in their business.  This refers to the affiliate’s knowledge of search engines in particular and the other types of traffic mediums available.

Affiliate marketing involves advertising, and advertising through the internet could not have been better without the existence of search engines.  What every affiliate has to do is to make these search engines his best friend through studying search engine optimization closely.  This way, he is able to know what to do in connection with building a better website to ultimately use for his business. There are many other ways the affiliate can market as well using video sites and social sites etc.

Another mistake is that affiliates make the mistake of stuffing their sites with banners

Another mistake is that affiliates make the mistake of stuffing their sites with banners that do not provide enough information about the product at hand.  The best way to battle this mistake is to provide good content hand-in-hand with such banners.  It is important for customers to know and understand the features of a product, and good content will be able to help them realize this goal.

And next - there are affiliates who make the mistake of promoting only one product.

 Consequently, customers are not given enough options to choose from.  There is also the risk of generating fewer sales as compared to having more options for customers ponder about.  It is always better to give them a few better alternatives than to give them only one.

Lastly, there are affiliates who make the mistake of promoting too many products.

 As a result, customers are confused and end up beyond making a choice.  It is perhaps good to give them only the best choices.  This is because it is ultimately up to them to judge which one is the best for them to patronize.

All in all, affiliates that are doomed to fail in this business are those who do not exert enough effort to understand everything involved in the industry that they are in.  Knowing their path step by careful step will prove to be beneficial to them, as there is no other way to succeed than to go through any path slowly but surely.

Take action and follow thru.

Till next time,

Brian Dew

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