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A New Beginning for Online Entrepreneurs
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 Solo Ads to Private Contact Addresses -- RealityCan you imagine the outcry if your phone company, the gas company, the electric utility, your doctor, everyone who has your private contact information called you or sent you junk mail all day long trying to sell ads for third parties or trying to get you to buy something else from them besides what you contracted to buy from them originally? How does receiving "Solo Ad blasts" from List Admins differ from suddenly receiving a barrage of junk mail and brochures from drug companies and offers for medical insurance originating from your doctor's business mailer? Having special access does not automatically grant a license to abuse the privilege, and smart marketers understand that principle and use the privilege wisely. Regardless of disclaimers or concessions that had to be accepted by listmembers in order to be allowed to join a safelist, the practice of Admins blasting Solo ads to contact addresses is irresponsible and very counterproductive...and I'll explain why. Contact ads to Free members at a reasonable frequency may be a fair exchange for letting them use the system at no cost, but abusing the privilege can still be counterproductive. At least put something of value in them, not just the same ad they get in their List account degraded by half a page of condescending "disclaimers". Free members are also trying to make money and may be in desperate straits with little or no income, few skills, and little education to find jobs in the conventional market. They probably don't have much to invest...that's probably why they are at the Free level. They may have to access the Internet and their email using a dialup connection and a modem, so how long do you think it takes them to download hundreds of "Solo Ads" they don't want to see before they can get to their important email or visit a website they want to access? They probably don't have big, expensive computers with lots of storage space for junk mail, and they may be operating on a shoestring, so piling on more junk mail with the expectation that they will like it and read it and buy whatever is being blasted to them is questionable at best and poor marketing without a doubt. If anything, they need a break more than paid members do, and they may even need mentoring, not abusive ad blasts to wade through. Generating good will with them could pay big dividends in loyalty and trust when Admins do send them an offer that the Admin endorses. Admins have a ready-made personal contact list, which is worth a lot of money. They are building an ever-growing enemies list -- for themselves AND the person whose ad they are blasting -- if they keep abusing it. Listmembers may be willing to invest the few dollars they have if they trust the Admin who vouches that the offer is a sound investment with high probability of earning revenue, not just another gamble based on hype and smoke and mirrors that the Admin is offering only because someone paid to send it. What credibility does a third party have with listmembers? How much credibility does the Admin lose if this is just another worthless scheme but the Admin sent it to them in a full page "Solo Ad" anyway?...full of "disclaimers". The number of dollars an Admin might make selling Solo ads that are summarily deleted by frustrated and angry listmembers pales in comparison to the multitude of signups and sales s/he could generate by treating listmembers with respect and earning their trust and confidence. When they do have an important message to send to the listmembers, it may not be seen or it may get summarily deleted along with the rest of the Junk mail out of habit. Which would you consider favorably, the same hyped-up third party ad blasted to you 100 times in your Contact address or ONE well-written offer from your list Admin who is offering a proposal in which s/he is also investing time and money? With some "incentives" in it such as extra credits, interesting contests with prizes, or just plain old good business tips, readers would look forward to receiving it. Sending any information to a Contact address carries with it a degree of authority and credibility for the Admin. If the Admin has been careful never to mislead listmembers or try to coerce them into some fly-by-night unproven scheme offered by a third party no one knows anything about, both good will and trust keep growing. Having created an atmosphere of trust and respect, when the Admin sends listmembers an offer, s/he can be assured that they will look at it seriously. If the Admin says "this is a proven opportunity, I thoroughly checked it out, I am making money with it, and I will help you make money", most listmembers will be more willing to take a chance as opposed to the third party ad where the Admin puts a disclaimer saying "Admin neither endorses nor verifies the claims made in this third party advertisement"...(read, "I have no respect for you or the sanctity of your private Contact address; I just use it as a second List address to try to make more money off of you by selling as many "Solo Ads" as I can, and you HAVE to let me do it because you agreed to accept them when you signed up"). "A^dmin is not responsible for the contents of this a*d. It is being sent as a service to the purchaser of this solo a/d [and as a DISservice to the listmember who is legally being extorted to receive it]."...actually Admin is responsible. Admin sent it. If it contained a death threat or other prohibited content, Admin would be in big trouble because it came from Admin's mailer. Why the use of anti-SPAM "masking" in the disclaimer? Guilt, knowing that these messages are simply SPAM but they must be accepted by the recipient in order to be a member of the Safelist?...or something left over from the original SPAMmer's template? No need to "mask" legitimate messages sent to an email address to which the originator is authorized to send email, right? Are you beginning to understand the ramifications? I hope I have effectively outlined the pros and cons of sending "Solo ads" to listmembers' Contact addresses...and the fallacy of the current practice of indiscriminately blasting them to listmembers as though the Contact address is a second List address. Contact with listmembers is a business necessity and a valuable commodity. Abuse it, you lose it. Blasting "Solo Ads" to Contact addresses could kill safelists altogether, and then everyone loses. Bruce Obermeyer TR Associates Discover How To Capture Your Own Leads And Drive Them To Your Paid Program Effortlessly...and Ethically! THIS is the PROPER way to utilize the Solo Ad ...to TARGETED opt-in addresses -- 100% FREE! 
...and before you write it off as just another means of clobbering ezines with ads, check it out. You will be pleasantly surprised. ...and then try this: ...and then try this: Send out to 166,000+ free ads today! ...and then try this: Advertise Directly to 362,797 Targeted Leads -- 100% FREE! Finally! A Free Advertising Service That Actually Works. Say "Goodbye" to other "free traffic" services that don't work. Get thousands of new leads, web site visitors, subscribers, and customers every week! And it's completely free. * Service Created By Entrepreneurs For Entrepreneurs. 
Read this "Product Review of ListInferno", one of the simplest, fastest growing listbuilding tools available...of course it's free.
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