Solution to more traffic

In today’s traffic tactic, I will talk about an affiliate marketer’s solution to more traffic by revealing a method that is currently very popular and the results can be great if done right. It is also a paid method that isn’t free (although there really are no real free traffic methods; you’ll either invest money, your time, or both – unless you work for free). I’ve had more success with this paid method than any other paid methods I’ve used. That includes traffic exchanges (bad results), pop-ups & pop-under ads (bad results), banner ads on other sites (bad results), even PPC on Google AdWords (bad results and a broken budget). This method is easy to do once you learn the basic elements behind it and use reputable vendors who offer it. It also doesn’t cost as much as other online advertising methods and receives better results.

Popular Traffic tactic

So what is it you ask? The answer is Solo Ads!

Before I go into any more detail, solo ads are not for everybody. They also are limited in what market niches they cover with the largest group of providers offering ads for the make money online niche.

Solo ads are one of the fastest and easiest ways to make money online as an affiliate. You can either use them to build your list, or send them directly to a landing page offer. But like anything else, there’s a right way and a VERY WRONG WAY to go about it. In case you never heard of solo ads and have no idea what they are, then I will give you my own definition: solo ads are a form of advertising where a list holder (provider) is willing to send your advertising email ad to their list of niche specific subscribers for a set fee and set number of clicks. What that means for you as an affiliate is that you will receive a set number of highly targeted interested prospects to your offer because that provider who is in-tune with their list of subscribers knows what they like that can help you. Unfortunately, there’s a LARGE NUMBER of SCAM ARTISTS within the solo ad provider community as well. They find all kinds of ways to cheat ‘clicks’ to your offer that are not real people and glad to take your money.

What is a typical solo ad arrangement?

First, you need to have some kind of valuable freebie related to the offer you want to promote or list of subscribers you want to build. Unless the initial opt-in is free, you will have a hard time finding a provider that will run your ad. Next, you will want to have an brief email that is written well enough to entice the reader to visit your offer. Just be aware that some solo ad providers will rewrite your ad to fit their list instead (which often is a good idea since they are more familiar with their list) If you’re just starting out, I recommend buying only 100 to 200 unique clicks to test. Each click will cost between 35 to 70 cents per click price range (make sure that it is unique clicks, not raw clicks). That means this normal price range will cost you anywhere from $35 (100 clicks at 35 cents) to as much as $140 (200 clicks at 70 cents). A good rule-of-thumb is stay away from vendors who offer real cheap clicks (under 30 cents per click) and those who charge high-priced clicks (over 70 cents per click) unless they are to their proven buyers list. I personally have had my best success paying around 42 cents per click. I’ve paid as little as 30 cents per click all the way to 90 cents per click. That is based on my ROI and click-through rate. To me, be aware of the expensive tier-one vendors who charge 80-90 cents per click or more! They are overpriced (and crazy) unless they are sending your solo ad strictly to their buyers list. They always claim to have ‘quality lists’ and like to tout, ‘you get what you pay for’ to support their absurdly high prices.

Once you buy a solo ad, what happens next?

When you contact a solo ad provider you like and decide to use that vendor’s services, you then make arrangements by paying for the ad upfront and set a date when the ad will go out to the vendor’s list. You also send them the ad copy and your promotional link. Your solo ad campaign will run at the set date and when the number of clicks are reached, the solo ad stops. This normally takes around 24 hours to complete. Some vendors like to over-deliver on their clicks where you may receive extra visits (like 125 unique clicks for a 100 click solo ad) which is a good thing.

Now comes the tricky part, results!

Just because you have 125 visitors come see your free sign-up offer, doesn’t mean they will bite. There are a number of reasons for this, but what is important is that there is no guarantee anyone will sign-up. With that said, I will say that normally you should see around a 30% opt-in rate or more. That means if 100 visitors saw your offer, then you should get 30 sign-ups. If you got more, congratulations! But if you didn’t get as much, then it’s time to reexamine your offer, possibly the vendor, or sign-up form! But before running off to redesign your offer or opt-in page, try running another solo ad campaign with a different reputable vendor for the same number of clicks. If the result remains the same or is worse, then make changes. If results improved, then it may be a vendor issue.

Now the controversial part of those results, ROI!

Finally the last important result (even though there are other factors) is the return on investment or ROI. If you invest $50, you would like to make at least that amount in return. However it isn’t always that clear. Why? It all depends upon your strategy and sales funnel. If you just wanted to build your list and now have more people signed up to promote to, how do you measure those results? If your free offer was followed up by a promotional offer, then it becomes easier to see. You know if 30 people signed up and then 5 brought the $10 offer, you just about made out. But the average isn’t on your side since the numbers are more like 2-4 percent buy. With 30 sign-ups that means maybe one person. Ouch! So list building needs to be part of the strategy if you hope to recover your investment with the solo ad. Hopefully, your follow up email campaign will eventually lead to sales. If all 30 sign-ups remain on your list, your chances of selling to them increases and so does your ROI! As always, I invite you to let me know what you think about today’s topic. I am interested in your point of view as well as any questions or comments you have!