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Subscribe First, Pay
Later
Before you pay for your classified or sponsor
ad, it may be a good idea for you to take a look at the newsletter at least one
time. The best way to insure satisfaction is first subscribe to the newsletter of
choice and then read through a few of the issues to get a feel for everything (you
can do this by simply sending an email to the publisher and asking for a "sample"
issue.).
Sometimes, the website will have an area for past newsletters or "archives". Take
a look... read some of the articles... look at the classified ads and see if you're
comfortable with the "environment".
Also, one simple trick you can use to see how successful a newsletter is for the
advertisers, is by watching all the classified ads for a few issues. If you see
ads repeated, issue after issue, chances are that the newsletter
is working for these advertisers. (Not too many people are going to continually
pay for ads, issue after issue, if they weren't making a profit off of them!).
The More The Merrier
One question I get ask is, "What's better, a
newsletter with low or high subscriber count?" Usually, the higher the total subscriber
count, the better response you'll get... But this isn't always the case.
As stated above, you'll get your best responses from very targeted newsletters that
are 100% opt-in, with 1-2 informative and original articles containing only 10-15
total classified ads.
Of course, the higher the subscriber count... the higher the price will be for your
ad. But, as always, to get a definitive answer to any question you have to TEST.
I've had incredible results with a couple newsletters that only contained 6,000-8,000
subscribers... and I've also had almost no results with newsletters containing over
250,000+ subscribers. (Test, test and then retest!)
Writing A Winning
Ad = $$
Advertising, whether it be on or off the Internet,
classifieds, banners, search engine promotions, or a full-blown sales letter...
is the KEY to any successful business. This may be one of the only real "secrets"
to a money-making business. (Never underestimate the power
of good ad copy - NEVER!)
Anyway, we've discussed ad copy tactics many times at this site and as important
as it is, we'll probably do another issue on copywriting and how to write winning
ads in the VERY NEAR future (maybe the next issue).
Due to its importance, I can't justify writing a couple lines of text on the subject.
You can read our article on "How
To Sell Anything, To Anyone"
which covers the basics of ad copy, copywriting and classified ads in general.
NOTE: If you already have the
Cash
Flow Reporter, then take advantage
of it and read the entire section on "Ad Copy Tips". Tons of articles
and marketing tactics.
If you don't have your own copy, you can start off by downloading
a free copy of the demo Cash Flow Reporter ... it has well over 20 articles,
including ones on ad copy tactics. |
Testing = More Profits &
Less Losses
Before getting started, I need to emphasize
the most important factor between you and success... and that's TESTING! In a minute,
I'm going to give you step-by-step "rules" for getting the most out of your time and
money, while keeping your losses down to zero!
Regardless of how much money you currently have or make, the last thing I want you
to do is lose money or make a bad investment when it comes to advertising and promoting.
So, read the below steps carefully and take notes!
| 1. |
The first you want to do is start small!
Place 2-4 classified ads in the online newsletters/ezines... and wait for
the results. How were they?
Good Results:
See which of the ads gave you good results and make a note of it. What you
can do next is continue to place more ads in the newsletters/ezines
that were profitable... or go to the next level and try out a sponsor
ad (if it is offered). If a classified ad is profitable in a particular
newsletter/ezine, chances are a sponsor ad will make you even MORE money!
Bad Results:
If one (or all) of your ads were not profitable, then it's time to evaluate
the situation. Did your ad even go through properly (sometimes, the
publisher forgets to place your ad and it never gets sent out)?... Did you
place the correct URL link in the ad (I've misspelled my own URL on numerous
occasions!)?...
If you've done your "damage-control" checks, and everything in the ad was
fine, then chances are that the newsletter/ezine you placed your ad in was
either NOT targeted well, or it just sucked!
Now, you have two options - The first is to do a sponsor ad (if it
is offered) because even though a classified ad may fail, a sponsor ad may
turn out to be profitable. If you do decide to test out a sponsor ad in
the ezine, just do ONE test to see if it really is the fact that the newsletter
is bad or if it's just something else.
The second step is to make a note of the "poor" results and to NEVER
advertise in that newsletter/ezine again. |
| 2. |
After you've done the above step one,
you can start experimenting with sponsor ads. If you recall, sponsor ads
are similar to classifieds, except that they are all by themselves, usually
at the very top of the ezine... so they don't get lost with all the other
classified ads.
Because they get the "spot" light, they are a more effective form of
advertising... but they are also more costly. So, once you've tried
and experimented with the above classified advertising tactic, and you are
more comfortable, more confident and have made some of your investment back,
proceed to sponsor advertising.
Test small... only 1-3 sponsor ads, wait for the results and depending on
if the results were good or bad,
you'll know if you have a winner or loser on your hands.
Follow the same steps as I mentioned above for the classified advertising
tactics. |
| 3. |
One last tactic you can use is to have
the editor/publisher of an ezine, send out a special "solo" mailing
to all of his current subscribers. This is by far the most effective tactic...
but with everything else, it also costs a lot more money.
Don't even consider solo mailings until you've done both classified
and sponsorship advertising (or at least one of them and you've received
good results). You can make and definitely lose a lot of money if the solo
mailing does badly. There is a lot more risk involved, so proceed with
caution!
Not all ezine publishers offer solo mailings. In fact, most don't. So, chances
are after you've done all of your research and testing, you'll probably
need to contact the publisher directly and ask them if they do offer such
a service.
Most of the time, if they do at all, it needs to be reserved in advance.
If your solo mailing turns out to be profitable, wait about 3-6 weeks
before sending out another solo mailing to the same list.
| NOTE:
With classified ads... or even sponsor ads, repeated advertising's
bring in MORE sales. Usually, the potential customer needs to
see your classified/sponsor ad a few times before they order. But,
with solo mailings, one shot is all you need. Sending out too many,
too often is counter productive. |
Send out a solo mailing, wait for the
results... use other promotional tactics... wait some more... then you may
want to try another solo mailing 3-6 weeks later.
As always, TEST... TEST... TEST! |
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