I read somewhere this week (can’t remember where so I don’t know if this is true or not) that last year there were 180,000,000,000 emails sent compared to ‘just’ 60,000,000 Facebook messages and status updates…
Personally I don’t think you can draw any conclusions from this BUT here’s my personal opinion…
1. Email marketing is still a massive force when it comes to driving warm, targeted traffic
2. Facebook messaging is probably (my educated guess) not used for business anywhere near as much as people might believe
And I know that from my own solo ad marketing, both as a sender of emails to my list AND a buyer of solo ads as traffic, it’s still pretty damn lucrative, and is directly responsible for my five figure a month income.
So really the proof is in the Pina Colada I’m sipping as I work from the beach…
…OR if we’re being honest, the cup of green tea I’m drinking as I type this on a cold, grey Yorkshire morning (although I have been watching people trudging to work from my warm home office window so I’m not complaining)
The debate about email marketing as a selling tool AND as a means of purchasing traffic continues relentlessly on the Warrior forum and other places internet marketers hang out to whinge
You hear the horror stories AND the success stories, with each point of view usually being dependant usually on what is being sold, or who’s had a bad experience.
I’ve been shafted when buying solo ads a couple of times.
Didn’t stop me making a straight $30,000 from just ONE of my many campaigns last year.
My advice to you would be to shut down the forums, stick some Foo Fighters on to drown out the chatter and get stuck in. Build a funnel and test it
I’ve started using a service called leadpages – Click HERE for a demo of what they offer – because with them I don’t even have to upload my squeeze, upsell, download or any other pages any more – they do it for me, instantly and deliver the URL so I can give it to the people I buy solo ads from.
This means that I can build funnels – including squeeze pages, upsell pages, download pages, integrate Aweber, deliver free gifts – the whole shebang – in under five minutes. It’s all one-click, drag and drop stuff with nothing to install on your PC
Now when you consider I’ve worked with clients who have struggled in IM because it took them MONTHS to build a funnel, five minutes is pretty remarkable eh?
The point is this – the tools are there for the taking (5-minutes funnels using leadpages is now a reality) and the traffic is there (buy safely, and track easily with Safe Swaps)
(Note: With safeswaps there’s a monthly fee for an account that will enable you to buy solos, which is well worth it, but HERE is a link to a free account with them so you can check out their services before you buy)
Email marketing, once you’ve built your list, is money on tap – money on demand. It really is.
Forget the nay-sayers, look at me and other marketers out there. We’re living proof that list-building and email marketing is life-changing. I’m not saying there’s no work involved – there is – but with the available tools and services it’s much easier now than it;’s ever been.
Comments / Questions welcome…
Get my blog posts delivered by Email
Hi Tony
I’ve always wondered about solo ads as the quality of the traffic is so low … the most money seems to be in the sale of the actual clicks rather than the transactions that the traffic takes….
I know someone that is also doing 5 figures a month with solos and people with good lists that don’t burn the out by giving them quality emails and products as opposed to the norm.
Email marketing in the IM space is crowded I feel and people tend to mail the same offers … with the higher end Marketers coming out on top due to the bonuses they can afford to offer…
I feel that IM is now starting to follow the trend that all businesses do historically … where the ‘Big Boys’ take over the market and the ones at the bottom cannot compete any more unless they join forces and unite…. or change niches to Peruvian basket weaving or something 😉
I still do business on Facebook – but the selling is mostly done through email still ..
Thanks for the post Tony – nice to hear from you as always
regards
xxxxcarlxxxx
Always good to hear from you Carl and you raise an interesting point about quality of solo ad traffic.
Don’t agree with your opinion though mate 🙂
I think it would be wonderful if every traffic source sent over red-hot buyers but obviously that’s not how it works – yes some solos send burnt out, overly mailed lists…
…and these are the ones that I LOVE. It’s my job to turn these leads into rabid fans and buyers by offering content, products and a persona they can resonate with.
They’re not buyers because they haven’t found anything they want to buy yet 🙂 That’s where I come in!
The job of an internet marketer is to TURN jaded and crusty old leads into buyers, and if you can do that (it’s not hard – I have some new training on how to do this coming pretty soon) then you’ll make a mint where others marketers struggle or give up.
Tony