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Are Solo Ads Dead?

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So many people have been asking the question, ”Are solo ads DEAD.” Many are now questioning the effectiveness of solo ads. Is this tested form of lead generation no longer working?

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Are Solo Ads Dead?So many people have been asking the question,”Are solo ads DEAD.” Many are now questioningthe effectiveness of solo ads. Is this tested form oflead generation no longer working?

Are Solo Ads Dead?By Merv Stevens on January 29th, 2014

So many people have been asking thisquestion….”Are solo ads DEAD.” Many are nowquestioning the effectiveness of solo ads. They’vehad the feeling of something was wrong for sometime. They’ve not been getting the results they werehoping for. Is this tested form of lead generation nolonger working?

Stuart Ross, co-founder of SFM & DEA madea short video giving his opinion on this verycontentious subject.

Are Solo Ads Dead?

Stuart Ross, co-founder of Six Figure Mentors(SFM) and Digital Experts Academy (DEA) usuallygets asked a lot of questions by those wanting toachieve better results with their marketing. But theone question that keeps cropping up again andagain is, "Are solo ads DEAD".

He wanted to stop people making some bigmistakes when it came to solo ads or any type ofmarketing whatsoever. Stuart decided to step upand share his opinion on this very discussed topic.In no way does he think solo ads are dead andhe does not think they will ever be dead – for thissimple reason: you will always be able to send anemail promoting your products or services to a listof subscribers.

The point he wanted to make is that the solo adsto ‘make money online’ and ‘internet marketing’ listsare dead and have been for some time. That’s abit of a ruthless statement because people do makesales with solo ads with to those kind of subscribers.

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But it’s always been hit and miss and there’snever been any consistent results from that type ofmailing. Let’s dig in to what Stuart is actually talkingabout.

Are Solo Ads Dead? WhatType of Lists are You Using?

When you’re going to a solo ad provider the firstthing you’ve got to decide on is what type ofreadership they have. Internet marketing is often the‘make money online’ type of people, so for manypeople that would be the obvious route to take.

This what you DO NOT want to do. The first tip– as with everything in marketing – is to do thepolar opposite to what most other people are doing.The solo ad providers with ‘make money online’and ‘internet marketing’ lists tend to take advantageof that marketplace as they know it consists ofhyperactive, motivated, buying individuals.

They promise purchasers of solo ads that if yousend a solo ad to their list you’ll get a ton of options.The solo ad provider writes the ad copy and you getall excited at the expectation of a flood of peoplebeing added to your subscriber base.

Your ad copy comes back and it usually includesthe type of wording about a “simple, easy, magic,loophole solution to making money on the internet.”“It’s never been so easy”, they’ve “broken the code,”and all that kind of thing.

Whenever Stuart receives that type of copy froma solo ad provider, not only does he think aboutchanging the copy, but he also considers cancellingthe mailing all together. Here’s why. If that’s the typeof copy they are writing to their subscribers, whattype of audience do you think they are cultivating.

Even if they are reaL people looking for realopportunities, what type of people do you think willoptin to this “simple”, “easy”, “magic solution tomaking loads of money overnight” type of capturepage. Probably lazy people with an entitlementattitude who are looking for a “secret system” wherethey have to do no work but somehow still get paidloads of money.

In Stuarts opinion, these sort of ‘make moneyovernight systems’ do not exist. Even if they did,they would not be sustainable and so it would be avery short term solution to anybody’s problem. Well,if you want to go and make money just for a year, allwell and good. When you stop earning any incomeafter this period it’s going to suck.

Solo Ads are Dead: Providea Valuable Real Education

You are wasting your time even if it’s a short fix(I’ve never experienced a short fix myself), althoughI’ve heard they do exist. What you really want to belooking for yourself and to provide for other people,is as an education. An education that is sustainableand that can really have an impact and change theirlives.

In other words an education that provides realsolutions to real world problems. Not “magic andsecret loopholes.”

If you are targeting lists of people who are looking forthese type of unreal and non-existent solutions youwill find that the providers are “list pimping.” That isthey are just going from one solo ad provider atoanother and they’re all buying each others solo adsso they can build bigger lists and so sell their soloads for more money.

They can then go and sell their solo ads toindependent marketers who are launching andpromoting their “latest greatest” system. When youget ad copy back from these type of solo adproviders it can be pretty ‘cringe-worthy.’ But mostpeople will let it be sent anyway as they think the theprovider knows their list and so knows what worksbest.

When the solo ad goes out you get some leadscoming in and it’s all very exciting. But then… ‘viola.’Nothing! If you are lucky you may get some resultson a very small scale. You’re wasting your time andit’s not the right approach.

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Try Lists in Different Niches

Let’s get back to what a solo ad is. A solo adis where somebody has built a list and providesthem with a regular newsletter – it could be inthe fields of cooking, business, network marketing,health and fitness, general wealth creation, etc.The ‘spammiest’ lists where you are most unlikelyto get any sort of positive result is the ‘internetmarketing’ and ‘make money online’ niches. The“magic loophole” readership. So don’t go there.

So what is Stuarts’ advice? What is his solutionto this obvious problem? The solution is to go todifferent types of lists. To lists of other people whohave other interests.

If you think of the solution that Stuart offersthrough Six Figure Mentors (SFM) and DigitalExperts Academy (DEA) – it’s an education. It’san education that’s going to help people to be ina position to take advantage of this new ‘DigitalEconomy.’

It’s an education that’s really going to help peopleprepare themselves for the future. Now the type ofpeople that are going to be interested in this type ofeducation can come from all sorts of backgrounds.

You see this in the SFM and DEA community. Someare semi-professional football players, medicaldoctors, golfers and teachers. It’s a very diversegroup of people.

The type of people who are going to go throughthe SFM and DEA system and take in theinformation, watch the bootcamp videos, and get onthe phone and have a chat with one of the businesscoaches about their education. They are going tobe motivated, committed, entrepreneurial (maybe),hungry individuals who are looking to change theirlives for the better.

Now let’s think of some lists outside of the ‘internetmarketing’ and ‘make money online’ niches thatmay have the type of people I’ve just mentioned.Well… people who tend to look after their health andfitness, whether it be through hobbies, recreationof even at a semi-professional level, tend to bequite motivated people. They’re getting off theirbacksides and looking after themselves to be fit andhealthy.

People who are interested in investing. Forexample, wealth creation through investments.These types of people tend to have money becauseif they didn’t have money they would not be readingemails, newsletters or following gurus in the wealthcreation niche – because you need money to invest.

Let’s start to think about other areas of your life.Maybe you are a ‘stay-at-home mom.’ There arecertain newsletters that ‘stay-at-home mom’s’ mayread. It may not be ‘work from home’ type stuff butthings like parenting tips.

When you look at things from this perspective,Stuart’s advice would be to choose different typesof newsletters with lots of diverse people on there.In the back-office at SFM we recommend the‘Directory of Ezines‘ as a source that details lists inall sorts of niches.’

Send Out the Correct Type of Copy

The next thing to think about is the type of ad copythat is being sent out to the lists. Let’s stick with theparenting theme at the moment. What if you were towrite a solo ad telling a story. This would be one ofthe longer solo ad – 100 to 200 words.

The story could be about how you are a parent andhow you were struggling to find a balance in life– working long hours and not having enough timeto spend with the kids and put them through theschools you wanted to.

So you looked for an alternative and found one: anew education. One that has never existed beforeand one that prepares you to thrive in the new‘Digital Economy.’

You could elaborate further and talk about how yoursituation – how you made a few sales within a fewweeks of getting started (if that is the case) andprovide them with a link to the solution (in this casethe SFM & DEA).

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You would be engaging a certain type of personthrough your solo ad. The type of people (throughthis example) who are parents and who are likely towant to provide the best possible life for their kids. Ifthey’re following a newsletter on parenting tips thenthe chance is that they are pretty good people. theyare going out of their way to be good parents.

These type of people are worth a million times more(probably literally) than somebody opting in from a‘get rich quick scheme’ type of list.

Quality of Leads

Solo ads can be a very cost-effective way ofadvertising. But most marketing gurus will be talkingabout how to get the maximum option rate withfigures like 62% conversions. This is something thatshould be stressed , especially with solo ads – itshould be about the quality of the leads and not thequantity.

Even if you are only getting a 5% – 10% option rate,it could still be a great result if that 5% – 10% areindividuals who are highly likely to buy your productor service. Yet so many people just focus on thegetting a high conversion rate, the ‘hypeiest’ landingpage, the hypes ad copy, to get the most amountof clicks, to get the most amount of people opting-inwith some deluded promise of free stuff.

If you are offering free stuff all the time, what typeof people are you attracting? Something that Stuartwould encourage you to do when writing ad copyis to use the word ‘complimentary’ rather than theword ‘free.’

Using Common Sense

I think you would agree that it’s common sense thatthe type of people you want on your list are thosethat are willing to be educated, are committed andprepared to work hard and learn new skills. Peoplethat are motivated and prepared to invest in theirfuture.

I think you would also agree that it’s better togenerate quality leads rather than a large quantity.Do you want 100 people on your list that areexpecting the world without having to give anythingthemselves? Or would you rather have 10 peoplewho are serious and want to change their lives forthe better and are prepared to learn, work hard andinvest in themselves to do so.

With solo ads do not worry so much about gettingmaximum conversion rates but focus on getting thehighest quality from the right type of people. That iscommon sense. If there is one thing that has servedStuart well in business (and just not online) – isusing common sense.

So many of the courses out there are misleading.A lot of the internet marketing trainings are basedaround conversion rates but they do not put moneyin your bank account because of the poor quality ofleads generated.

If you approach solo ads with the attitude of hypedsales by thinking you can only ask for an emailaddress, promise loads of free ‘stuff’, and thinkthis will result in you getting more conversions andso have more people to follow up with – goodluck. Because what you will be doing is just whateverybody else is doing and that’s following the‘gurus’ – a lot of whom are not making any realmoney.

The only way they are making money is by creating‘hype’ and selling that ‘hype.’ A lot of them startedonline so long ago that they managed to create aname for themselves. But if they started today theywould have little chance of succeeding.

So, are solo ads dead? Not if you choose the righttype of people to target. Do this and offer a genuine,valuable service or product that will offer a solutionto peoples problems and you will build yourself a listof responsive individuals who are prepared to learnand invest in themselves. Do this correctly and youwill be able to build financial freedom and also thetime to spend with your family and friends.

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Merv Stevens works in internet and network marketingand is based in London, England.  He is of the opinionthat marketing online provides the potential for peopleto create a substantial income and a life filled withfreedom and flexibility and believes if you provide qualityproducts and services with integrity and ethically thenyou will achieve success in your business and allareas of life.  It’s these values and practices that hebrings to his internet marketing business. To learn moreabout what Merv Stevens has to offer visit his blog:www.WealthSuccessVentures.com