Does anyone actually break even with solo ads?

11 years ago

Of course there are people that break even (and more!) Why else would people keep buying them?

Just like any paid advertising platform, there is a learning curve and it's not uncommon to take a loss early on. The ones who are successful using solo ads are the ones that constantly aim to improve.

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Brent Stangel

11 years ago

I want to know, does anyone use solo ads and break even with it?

The fortune is in the follow-up. Breaking even on the front is usually not the goal of most marketers.

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paulie888 11 years ago

This is exactly the attitude you should adopt about solo ad returns. I know many people (especially newbies) have the natural inclination to just go for the 'quick kill', so to speak, but this is not the way email marketing works. You should realize that you are building a long-term asset (the list) that you can monetize again and again if you cultivate it properly.

It's never about making a quick killing from one mailing to your list -- it may happen occasionally, but if you have the expectation that you're going to be constantly hitting the jackpot every time you mail, then you're going to be sorely disappointed.

Originally Posted by Brent Stangel

The fortune is in the follow-up. Breaking even on the front is usually not the goal of most marketers.
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Elvis Michael

11 years ago

I haven't tried solo ads, but as Brent stated, I would think the real benefit is to gather quality leads/signups and then profit later down the road.

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heavysm

11 years ago

I must say, the way in which solo ads are taught has to be completely differentiated from traditional email marketing and list building.

With solo ads you need a hyper aggressive sales funnel setup to pull in sales from your leads immediately. This is needed because those leads are on a ton of different lists and won't likely last a 7+ day autoresponder sequence to buy much more from you.

This is why a lot of solo people have gargantuan lists which can only pull in a few hundred clicks per mailing. The aim is to pull in clicks with solo ads, rather than building a relationship or any of the other stuff most email traditionalists preach about (no judgement here, but that's literally how solo ads are).

Many times with those aggressive funnels buyers will pull in more money than they had paid for the solo ad = profit. Breaking even would entail that the buyer got back his investment, let's say $50 for the solo, and they made $50 in upfront sales from their funnel.

I don't want people to confuse email marketing with what solo ads have done to the email world. Largely because it's a different beast and so must be treated differently.

Regular email marketing focuses on profiting from subscribers long term whereas solo ads pull in as much $$$ immediately which often reduces the lifespan of a single customer/subscriber.

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thedark

11 years ago

Originally Posted by heavysm

I must say, the way in which solo ads are taught has to be completely differentiated from traditional email marketing and list building.

With solo ads you need a hyper aggressive sales funnel setup to pull in sales from your leads immediately. This is needed because those leads are on a ton of different lists and won't likely last a 7+ day autoresponder sequence to buy much more from you.

This is why a lot of solo people have gargantuan lists which can only pull in a few hundred clicks per mailing. The aim is to pull in clicks with solo ads, rather than building a relationship or any of the other stuff most email traditionalists preach about (no judgement here, but that's literally how solo ads are).

Many times with those aggressive funnels buyers will pull in more money than they had paid for the solo ad = profit. Breaking even would entail that the buyer got back his investment, let's say $50 for the solo, and they made $50 in upfront sales from their funnel.

I don't want people to confuse email marketing with what solo ads have done to the email world. Largely because it's a different beast and so must be treated differently.

Regular email marketing focuses on profiting from subscribers long term whereas solo ads pull in as much $$$ immediately which often reduces the lifespan of a single customer/subscriber.

So, solo ads are not good for long-term profits ? I never tried solo ads but I wanted to. Anyway, my only goals is to build long-term list for long term profits and business growth. Investing $50 to get out $50 is good, but you have to work for it and it does not seem scalable. Maybe you buy other solo ads that are not getting you $50. You need to send other stuff to good converting lists. In this case, I don't think $50 are enough to write a new sales page and few emails.

I've build my list naturally, getting the leads from paid or organic traffic and sending 1-2 emails a month. It is doing good and there are long-term profits. I looked at solo-ads as a shortcut to grow the list and scale the business but it seems it is not what I thought.

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Crowsnest 11 years ago

As a newbie I have recently tried four solo ad providers with a range of click counts and it is another case of climbing a learning curve. I did research the sellers and checked out their feedback and testimonials etc, but also as mentioned above there is lots of testing to do from our end, so it's not as easy as blaming vendors when we get poor results, it's definately not get rich quick.
I found Youtube was a good place to start (simply search solo ads), as I figured untrustworthy vendors would quickly be found out through the power of social media.
I have had good results from these early attempts, although not quite break-even, I have been pleased as a beginner.

Brian B
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Sarevok 10 years ago

There's a lot of solo ad heavy hitters replying in this thread.

There's also a lot of negativity revolving around solo ads, because people don't understand the nature of the beast.

The truth is that yes, you can easily break even with solo ads.

I've bought a lot of solo ads, and I know a few here in this very thread have bought much more than me.

But, in my experience, as Janek said, you need to know your end users.

The average solo ad recipient, is the "get rich quick" type. They want to use YouTube, Facebook, and Google to make money.

They're not interested in a business plan. Unless that plan results in them "getting rich quick". Get it?

It's the "Walmart" test.

If you presented 100 random people at a Walmart with your offer, would an overwhelming majority of that sample demographic be interested?

If yes, your offer will work with solo ads.

If no, you'll fall hard like Humpty Dumpty.

So, give them what they want.

Any more questions?
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himanuzo

11 years ago

Originally Posted by Azlan.MY

Hi, I bought solos in the past but didn't have any luck. It's not like I didn't get any sales. It's just the sales wasn't enough to cover the solo ads cost. I want to know, does anyone use solo ads and break even with it? Which solo sellers that you bought from?

Maybe you went to the wrong seller or you offered the wrong product.

Before deciding to buy a solo ad, you need to read testimonials of many sellers.

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Brent Stangel

11 years ago

Regular email marketing focuses on profiting from subscribers long term whereas solo ads pull in as much $$$ immediately which often reduces the lifespan of a single customer/subscriber.

That depends on a lot of factors and assumes all solo ads and the people who buy them are the same.

While I agree you should try to instantly monitize solo clicks, if done right with traffic from the right sources you can build a responsive, profitable list.

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heavysm

11 years ago

Originally Posted by Brent Stangel

That depends on a lot of factors and assumes all solo ads and the people who buy them are the same.

While I agree you should try to instantly monitize solo clicks, if done right with traffic from the right sources you can build a responsive, profitable list.

Not all solo ads will be bad, but with how things are right this moment there is a tiny minority of solo sellers whose lists are from a variety of sources rather than 100% from solos.

Having a funnel, meaning one with at minimum a low end front offer and upsell, can lead to a long term profit from the list so as long as the list isn't battered with solo ads like many solo ad sellers do to their lists.

I think we'll agree thought that most solo ad sellers just send out solos to their lists, and only a minority of solo sellers sent out solos to their lists as part of a larger overall marketing strategy (they send out actual content to their lists as well).

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promarketer15 11 years ago

yes you are right but not many people building list many people sending traffic direct to affiliate offer many people dont know how important it is to build email list
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ed08724

11 years ago

When buying SOLO ads, or any traffic, you should send to your own squeeze page first so you are building a list. Your sales should just be used to offset the cost of the ad but will usually not cover the entire cost unless you have a super high converting offer that is well targeted. One thing you can try is to get a SOLO from a buyers list which will cost much more but might provide higher sales.

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TheProductReviewGuy

Banned 11 years ago

For me personally, I broke even with solo ads 100% of the time. Why? Because my squeeze page linked with the product I was selling.
I had a squeeze page about SEO advice and how I ranked for a competitive niche. Once they subscribed to the list, they were redirected to a offer showing how to do keyword research the right way and how to profit from them.

I managed to get a 600% ROI from that squeeze page and the solo ad I bought.

The reason why some people fail to make a ROI when buying solo ads is that the offer has nothing to do with what they are selling. I once subscribed to a list where a guy showed us how he made $60 an hour on Fiverr. I was redirected to an offer about how to use PPD and YouTube the right way. It had nothing to do with the initial offer so it was a turn off. I doubt he had a good conversion rate.

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Samcollyer 10 years ago

That's so true and a point that many people miss. Everything potential customers see must be tightly linked to what they originally saw.
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Rory Singh

11 years ago

Originally Posted by Azlan.MY

Hi, I bought solos in the past but didn't have any luck. It's not like I didn't get any sales. It's just the sales wasn't enough to cover the solo ads cost. I want to know, does anyone use solo ads and break even with it? Which solo sellers that you bought from?

I don't currently use Solo Ads. But I have friends that do & have found good sources that not only help them break even but actually make profit 'up front'.

If anyone is struggling to 'convert' with solo ads, it's probably because they haven't tested the waters enough.

Most people will try (1) method but quit way too soon before mastering that said method.

If you are planing on using solo ads (or any Paid Traffic Methods), you should put aside $1,500 (or more) just to 'test' the waters.

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jfalxr

11 years ago

I bought some traffic from funnel clicks (same as solos, just it comes from the sellers' funnel)..

As if the question will you can break even from it? The answer is absolutely yes if you got these in your hands:
1. Find good sellers
2. Have a very solid sales funnels

Even if you failed to break even, you still have the list. And the money is on the back-end offers

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tristatemedia

11 years ago

good luck with that. i only break even or do good when i use ppc not solos

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Valuable Solos

11 years ago

I do not break even when buying solo ads but I come very close (earn 70% back through sales usually). I get more money in the long run from selling solos and make more than I spent, in the end.

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TiffLee

11 years ago

Not many "break even" on the front end. The majority of money is made within the sales funnel contained in the follow up e-mails

That is why you should heed the advice to "test, test, test" your funnel and e-mails to make sure you are getting the best possible conversions.