In my last article I asked if CPC or CPM advertising was better. I also mentioned I would talk about the four types of solo ad sellers and even reveal how the scammers rip you off.
Today let’s look at the types of solo ad sellers, along with some tips about doing business with each.
I will devote an entire article to the scammers, and reveal their dastardly tactics as well.
For now, here are four places where you can buy solo ads.
Ezine publishers sell solo ads.
Solo ads started with Ezine publishers. Ezines are still the best source of solo ads in my view.
The reasons are is simple.
- Ezine publishers sell ads on a CPM basis, not a CPC basis.
- Ezine subscribers want to get the content of the Ezine. They are pre-qualified because you already know what they are interested in by knowing what ezines they read. This is huge.
Let’s look at CPM vs. CPC for a moment.
- CPM means cost per thousand. It’s the cost you pay for every 1000 subscribers to the Ezine.
- CPC means cost per click. It is the cost you pay for each click from your ad.
When you buy CPM advertising you get all the clicks that the ad generates. If your ad is good, and you have matched your offer to the subject of the Ezine, you will do much better with CPM.
Major paid advertisers always buy CPM ads because they want all the clicks, not some of the clicks.
Some solo sellers offer “guaranteed clicks”. With “guaranteed clicks” you are limited to the clicks you can pay for.
But what if your ad would have created three times the clicks you bought? Well, you just lose out. The solo seller can do what he or she wants with those extra clicks.
This can be a big red flag, because it is very easy to buy traffic from China and get all the clicks you want.
More about this in an upcoming article, so stay tuned for that.
Here are two Ezine publishers who sell CPM advertising.
Take a look at what they offer and you will see quality everywhere. When you are spending your hard earned money on advertising, quality matters.
Online marketers sell solo ads.
Some online marketers will sell solo ad space on their list. That simply means you pay a fee and they send your solo to their list. Sometimes that is a list of buyers but most often it is their prospect list.
The most common arrangement with online marketer is an ad swap. Sometimes called a joint venture, it is an arrangement where I mail for you and you mail for me and we promote each other’s products.
As you can imagine, this can be very profitable.
Just imagine a Ryan Deiss or Jeff Walker or Tony Robbins mailing for you.
As you can also imagine, these arrangements are hard to get. But not impossible.
Here is my best tip for getting a JV with a big name.
Do something for them first.
The best case scenario is to become their affiliate and work hard to promote for them. No matter how big the name, they will notice their top affiliates. And when they notice you can ask about a JV.
Another option is to be introduced. John Maxwell asks everyone he meets “who do you know that I should know?” Over the years this has opened more doors that you would believe.
Solo ad specialists sell solo ads.
There are advertising agencies that specialize in selling email ads, and solo ads as well. These companies are few, and the prices you pay per thousand will be typically around $180. Yes, $180 per 1000 names mailed.
If that seems steep to you then this form of advertising is not for you at this time. That’s okay. There are many affordable solo sellers you can use and do well with.
But if you want to mail to people on Publisher Clearinghouse’s list the cost will be higher than someone on the Warrior Forum.
Of course, the results will be much higher as well.
Here is one agency you can visit to get a feel for how it works.
Scammers and thieves sell solo ads. (Sorry, someone has to say it.)
“Warning, beyond this point there be scammers.”
That’s the sign that should be hung on the home page of some solo ad sellers, especially the ones where the pages all look alike and they only sell guaranteed clicks.
These sellers have learned a devious system of buying cheap traffic from China or Afghanistan and then incentivizing people to click and then selling the clicks.
I have an entire article about this, but let’s break it down briefly here.
Solo scammer John finds people in China (or another country where US dollars are highly valued) who will click anything he wants for 5 cents per click.
To them, that’s big money and they are working online. And there are plenty of people who will do that.
John then puts up a site selling his “guaranteed click” solo ads and fills the site with fake testimonials.
- “John over delivers! I bought 100 clicks and got 125!”
- “47 subscribers from 100 clicks. John, you are amazing!”
- “Fastest and best solo I’ve ever sent. I’ll be back!”
Sound familiar?
Now John is ready to make the easy money. He prices his solo ads at only 50 cents per click. He knows that people often have to pay more than that with Pay Per Click. John starts to make sales.
When John makes a sale of 200 clicks at 50 cents per click he collects $100. Most buyers can risk $100 on something that is “guaranteed”.
Now John contacts his clickers and tells them to click this link 200 times. For this John pays $10.
John makes 10 times his money all day long, and no one can complain. You see, he did deliver the clicks.
There were just garbage clicks. Totally integrated non-buyers who are now on your list.
They never buy so you think your follow up system is broken when the real problem is the source of the traffic.
It is important to not let the scammers of the world get us down.
Most solo ad sellers are reliable. Solo ads work better today than they ever have. And these scammers can easily be avoided if you know what to look for.
And what to look for is in an upcoming article. I’m not going to hold back. You will know exactly what to ask, when to run, and how to spot a scammer after reading that article. So stay tuned.
If you have never done a solo ad I encourage you to do so. I’ve given you some resources here and would be remiss if I did not mention that the Directory of Ezines lists hundreds of top solo sellers.
When you find a solo ad source that works, stick with it. Use them again and again for other products and for other approaches to your own product.
Because when you find a reliable ad source, you will have found a beautiful thing indeed!
