The Best Safelists for December 2010

Welcome to December!

Lots of stuff happened last month so let’s jump right into it.

Darren Olander launched Adchiever at the beginning of November.  This was probably one of the biggest launches i’ve seen so far for a new safelist/viral list builder.  The site opened with a pre-launch with the mailer scheduled to open a week later.  Unfortunately some technical problems kept the mailer from opening on time but it did eventually open.

Adchiever has a bunch of cool features to keep it’s members active.  Now that the mailer is open I am receiving 200+ emails a day which is a lot but the results have been worth it.  As you can see from the stats below even with only 2-3 weeks of mailings Adchiever is performing right up there with the best mailers.  If you are not a member yet this is definitely one to join.

Another new launch was Stefan Berg’s The Lead Magnet.  This one got off to a much slower start.  We just hit 1,000 members (1,001 right now) and opened the mailer last night.  I love what Stefan has done with this site and expect this to show some good results on my stats next month.

I wrote a review last month about a new software product called Safelist Genie.  Unfortunately my review wasn’t very positive.  I could probably make a lot of money by promoting this software but given the version I tested I could not recommend it to my readers in good conscience.  The good news is that the creator was responsive to my suggestions so hopefully I will be able to give it a second look soon. Safelist Genie is free for 15-days so if you want to try it for yourself be my guest.

There’s a new mailer coming soon from the creators of Sweeva. It’s still being developed and I am not supposed to talk about it yet so you didn’t hear it from me.  Shhh!

Ok, let’s get to the stats!

The stats you see below are my own tracking stats for several splash pages that I am rotating at various safelists and viral list builders.  I am upgraded in most of these sites and try to do the maximum daily mailings so please take that into consideration when deciding which sites to join.

Total Clicks Unique Clicks Action Sales CTA CTS
Quick List Profits 1,883 1,007 74 23 7.35% 2.28%
List Joe 2,323 1,554 125 18 8.04% 1.16%
Adchiever
1,562 1,188 106 16 8.92% 1.35%
StateoftheArtMailer 4,218 2,105 100 15 4.75% 0.71%
List Auction
1,216 638 36 13 5.64% 2.04%
AdTactics 3,325 1,040 84 12 8.08% 1.15%
List Zillion 1,238 657 41 12 6.24% 1.83%
ListBuildingMaximizer
1,336 639 35 7 5.48% 1.10%
List Effects
526 380 19 7 5.00% 1.84%
DownlineBuilderDirect 868 488 36 6 7.38% 1.23%

“Clicks” is how many people viewed my splash page.  “Action” is how many people clicked the link on my splash page to go to the main site.  “Sales” is how many people joined my site.  CTA and CTS are “clicks to action” and “clicks to sale”.  I ranked these safelists by sales but it is also important to look at the other numbers to determine how responsive each safelist really is.

Go Quick List Profits! Definitely didn’t expect to see this one at the top of the list but this program is kicking butt.  This is a brand new program from my friend Kym Robinson.  If you’re not a member of Quick List Profits yet get in there now!

List Joe always rocks.  No surprise there.

And a big welcome to AdchieverAdchiever didn’t open until just a few weeks ago but this site is already delivering as promised.  I can’t wait to see how many sign-ups I get this month.

I guess that’s gonna do it for this month.

Of course I always like to point out these are my own personal stats and there are lot of different factors that go into getting these sign-ups.  Obviously your results may vary.  I provide this information as a guide for you to try out new safelists and viral list builders.  The only way to know which sites work best for you is to track your own ads.  You can get a free link tracker from TEToolbox.

 The Best Safelists for December 2010
Click here to get Safelist Marketing Tactics

Ponzi Scheme Frustrations

Hello again!

Sorry I haven’t been updating my blog as often as I would like.  I’m still around, I just haven’t had much time to write.

But today I am ready to rant!

Yep, welcome back!

So, lately I have been spending way too much time on Sweeva.  Frankly, i’m addicted.  Whatever.  In case you live under a rock Sweeva is a social marketing site / traffic exchange.  So by using it you are not only getting your site seen by other marketers but you are also getting to know a lot of other marketers socially who are promoting their own sites.

I guess recently it has really started to bug me to see how many talented Internet marketers I know are out there promoting illegal pyramid and ponzi schemes.

I know.  These programs have been around even longer than I have.   It’s not like I haven’t seen hundreds of them come and go over the years.  But it’s interesting now to finally see the faces and talk to the people who are promoting these programs in a social environment such as Sweeva.

Ok, for the record i’m no angel.  I’ve been known to bend a few laws in my time.  If I am in a hurry I might go a few mph over the speed limit.  I probably play the stereo in my car louder than I should and I might even admit to having a few mp3s on my computer that I didn’t pay for.  Hey, I’m like a modern day Jesse James.

Let’s be realistic here.  The police probably aren’t going to break your door down and haul you off to jail for promoting an affiliate link that might not be entirely legal, but does that mean you should do it?

As long as nobody gets hurt, right?

Wrong.

People do get hurt.

Money doesn’t just magically appear.

No program pays out more than it takes in.

The only way for you to make money in these programs is for other people to lose money.  Your success can only come from someone else’s failure.

Am I the only one bothered by that?

No, i’m not a lawyer or a judge.  I can’t pass absolute legal judgment over every site out there.  But if you are not selling a product or service and the only thing you are offering people is a money making opportunity then chances are it’s either an illegal pyramid scheme or an illegal ponzi scheme.

What’s that?  You program offers a product or service?  I guess that makes it legit, right?

Of course it does!

In fact, Bernie Madoff would be a free man right now if he had only thought to provide his clients with some ebooks and a rotating banner ad on his blog.

You can dress it up anyway you like.  If people are spending money on these things with the goal of making more money back then slapping on a worthless product or ad credits isn’t going to make them any more legit.

It’s frustrating to me though because sometimes I just want to grab these people and tell them what they are doing is wrong… but I can’t.  Who am I to tell them what they should or should not promote?  Right?

Look, if you have the money and you want to gamble it on one of these programs I don’t really care.  Maybe you’ll get lucky and eventually make a profit.  Congratulations on your wise business investment.

My problem is with the program owners and the people who use these programs to prey on newbies who don’t know any better.  The people who only care about making money and don’t care where it’s coming from.  To me that is more than just breaking the law… it’s just wrong.

The Great Sweeva Widget Hunt

I just had a crazy idea.

What if somebody made a list of web pages that display the Sweeva widget?

We would then have a list of sites that we could visit every day looking for “prize” widgets and the owners of those sites would benefit from the extra traffic as well as winning half of the prizes.

Here’s the list of sites I have found so far:

http://www.GetRichWithJerry.com (this page)
http://www.TimLinden.com
http://www.HitExchangeNews.com/news
http://lynnm.net
http://www.WinterPerkins.com
http://traffic-exchange-news.com
http://morebloghits.info
http://www.imfaceplate.com/lynnm
http://www.DianeMerriam.com
http://froggyknows.com/blog/
http://goldpavedroad.com
http://traffictips.myccblog.com/
http://www.cashmaker5000.com/
http://www.lucidleads.com/blog/
http://www.youwanttraffic.com/
http://www.CouponCorner.com
http://catherinedwhite.blogspot.com
http://elite-soldier.blogspot.com
http://jerwinblog.com
http://nikki-m-morris.blogspot.com
http://theprofithub.webs.com/apps/blog
http://networkramblings.blogspot.com/p/join-me-on.html
http://www.mmaco.net/Ads4You
http://sirmalachismenagerie1.blogspot.com/
http://freebielandgateway.com
http://virtualhow2.com/
http://fundingyourdream.com/
http://en-money-ptc.blogspot.com/
http://www.firstchoiceinvestors.com/citygaze.html
http://www.caxtlazone.com/tep/indexTE.php
http://splash2.trafficapache.com
http://trafficexchangeplus.mysurfsite.com
http://ad.trwv.net/t.pl/32225/201689
http://herbs-n-oils.blogspot.com
http://swomguide.info
http://butterflywebworks.com/thebridges/index.php
http://philjansen.com/swom
http://downlinebuilders.info/programs.php
http://coshawsfi.blogspot.com/
http://www.triimart.com
http://www.articlefarms.com
http://vitalviralpro.com/m/26020
http://getcommissions.com
http://www.opportunities-home-business.com
http://squishycash3.blogspot.com
http://vitalviralpro.com/m/26020
http://getcommissions.com
http://www.opportunities-home-business.com
http://askralphlyon.com/home
http://www.1modernsolution.com/blog/
http:/blog.olbizsuccess.com
http://www.tonsoftraffics.com
http://www.mytraffic-pro.com/free_tools.html
http://thetrafficworkshop.com
http://freepesos.weebly.com
http://www.zenoval.com/sweeva
http://www.benjaminfitts.com
http://moneyorker.blogspot.com
http://wp.me/p16fK9-2H

All links should open in a new window.

When you visit each of these sites look for the Sweeva widget.  If it says you won a prize click it to claim your reward.

Want to see your page listed above?

Here’s all you need to do…

Step 1
If you’re not already a member of Sweeva join here: http://MySweeva.com

Step 2
Add the Sweeva widget to your website

Step 3
Submit the URL of the page showing your Sweeva widget in the comments section below.

Just in case you don’t know, Sweeva is a brand new social marketing website that allows members to interact with each other while looking other member’s websites.  The Sweeva widget is a little piece of javascipt that you can add to your website which either shows the current site being displayed on Sweeva or it displays your own personal Sweeva stats.

Occasionally the Sweeva widget will turn into a “prize” widget that looks like this:

Don’t bother clicking it.   That’s just an example.

Click the list of sites above to locate the real Sweeva prize widgets.

Also, don’t forget to check the widget on the right side of this page.

Have fun and leave your widget sites in the comments below!

Sean Supplee Launches Take Action List Building

This past weekend I had the opportunity to sit down and read a new ebook that is getting released today from Sean Supplee called “Take Action List Building“.

Take Action List Building does a great job of explaining the entire process of building a list including how to setup your autoresponder, how to make a squeeze page, how to get traffic to your page, and how to write follow-up  emails that make you money.

It’s a quick and easy read but this book is jam packed full of useful resources and  helpful tips!

Sean even added some really nice bonuses to the site including some  personalized squeeze pages and a 5-day email series that you can load right into your autoresponder.

And best of all… Take Action List Building is free!

Click the image below to get your free copy.

Take Action List Building
Click Here to Download
“Take Action List Building”

btw, if you are a TE user you are going to totally flip out when you see the offer Sean has put together for his new members.  Make sure you don’t miss it when you login because it’s the only time you’re ever gonna see it.

Build Your List, Build Your Business

Welcome to part 2 of my exclusive money making series.

Today I want to start talking about my favorite subject… List building!

There  is is actually a lot more to this subject than I can cram into one blog posting but i’ll try and go over the basics to start with as much as I can.

If you are reading this chances are you have already tried promoting some kind of online business or affiliate program.  I am guessing you probably figured out  how to get some traffic but for some reason you aren’t getting many sales… if any.

Not as easy as you expected, is it?

Well, you are not alone.  Even people who are promoting free affiliate sites can have a hard time getting sign-ups.  That’s because most people don’t know them or trust them enough to join.

Trust is very important!

Here’s one of my favorite quotes:

“All things being equal people would rather buy from someone they know and trust.  All things NOT being equal… people would STILL rather buy from someone they know and trust”.

So how do you build trust?  Well, it does take some time…  and it usually takes a lot longer than the time it takes for someone to read your site.

In fact, here’s what usually happens.  Someone visits your website, they read your offer and think “sounds interesting, but i’m not ready to commit to this right now”. So what happens?  They leave and probably never come back.  The time and energy you spent getting them to your site was wasted.

That’s where the autoresponder comes in.

Your autoresponder is the single most important weapon in any Internet
marketer’s arsenal because it let’s you follow-up with your prospect days
and even months after they leave your website site.

The way it works is that you offer something of value to the people coming to your website in exchange for their email address.  Your offer can be a free ebook, a newsletter, software, or almost any other “digital” product.

When your visitor fills out the form on your site their info is sent to your autoresponder which then begins sending out a series of pre-written emails to them.  These emails can be used to tell your subscribers more about yourself and your business while providing them with more free information that they can use which compliments the free product you first sent them.

Hopefully over time your readers will get to know you and even look forward to the emails they receive from you.  Once they begin to trust you it makes it much easier for you to recommend paid products and services that you can earn commissions from later on.

Another great thing about autoresponders is that once you have your emails series setup you can practically set it and forget it.  If you wanted to you could set it to send an email a week for the next 5 years and it would do it for you.

Compare that to sending someone directly to your website where you only have one chance to get a sale.

Unfortunately good autoresponders are not free.  That’s one of the few things that you are just going to have to bite the bullet on if you want to succeed in this business.  Expect to pay about $20/month for a good autoresponder.

I recommend using either Aweber or TrafficWaveAweber is considered to be one of the best and includes a lot of advanced features.  TrafficWave is a more affordable alternative that will definitely get the job done.

Both autoresponders offer 30-day trial memberships so there is no reason not to try them both and decide which one you like the most.

Ok, I think that’s enough one day.

I’ll be posting my JV giveaway events listing tomorrow and Ryan Hogan is about to launch a new product so look for my next post in this series early next week.

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