Are solo ads worth all the hype?

23 replies
How many of you use solo ads for driving traffic? Do you have any other sources of traffic that you prefer? What is the most newbie friendly method of traffic you like to use?
#ads #hype #solo #worth
  • Profile picture of the author Enfusia
    Most solo sellers have beat the crap out of their lists. the traffic is all but worthless in most cases.

    You'll likely do much better driving your own traffic.

    That being said, how do you do that?

    There are many ways, but one that works well is;

    Get a funnel set up. Set up a few YouTube videos to drive test traffic.

    Test the crap out of your funnel and get it converting.

    Go to Bing and set up a search traffic account there.

    Create great ads, send traffic that converts and makes a great ROI.

    Then take what you've learned to adwords, test it there with a clone of your lead page.

    Once it's converting look at your opportunities to scale it up.
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    • Profile picture of the author K40water
      Thanks for your reply. I appreciate the suggestions and I look forward to trying them.
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    • Profile picture of the author Steve L
      Originally Posted by Enfusia View Post

      Most solo sellers have beat the crap out of their lists. the traffic is all but worthless in most cases.

      You'll likely do much better driving your own traffic.
      This has been my experience as well!
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    • Profile picture of the author altar22
      Great answer, you don't just pin the problem but also offer a solution.
      Maybe you could explain something to me:
      Adwords will cost at least $0.6, right?
      How can these affiliate deals make adwords profitable for marketers?
      If they have a 1% conversion rate, they would have to get more than $60 per sale in commission to be profitable, no?
      So they manage to have a conversion rate of more than 1%?
      Like those ads you see everywhere "this weird trick will make you lose your belly fat" etc, they actually have high conversion rates?
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  • Profile picture of the author vedremo
    Banned
    Originally Posted by K40water View Post

    How many of you use solo ads for driving traffic? Do you have any other sources of traffic that you prefer? What is the most newbie friendly method of traffic you like to use?
    It can work and has worked for a lot of people here. Like any PPC it's a quick way to generate traffic, but there will be winners and losers.

    Check out Udimi and experiment.
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    • Profile picture of the author Gary Thatcher
      I would say use Udimi. I tried Fiverr. got bad traffic.
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  • Profile picture of the author altar22
    I've been thinking about this hard and I might be totally wrong but
    1. these leads might have been rented out dozens of time, might be downright fake, you have no way to check before paying
    2. these emails were obtained by promising free stuff, so probably very few are willing to buy anything.
    3. Therefore it might only work if you have some "irresistible" offers that cost very little (<$20 )
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnVianny
    Go to Clickonomy or Udimi and ask the vendor if your opt in page is good for the list, and if they have emailed already something equal, so you are sure you won't be a duplicate.

    Then test.

    Of course it's ONE SOURCE of traffic: it's virtually impossible to declare what is ok for everyone, you have to test:

    Solo Ads in Facebook Group like "Solo Ads testimonial" and Udimi / Clickonomy.

    Bing

    Facebook Ads.

    AND learn, test and rinse and repeat.
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  • Profile picture of the author ChrisBa
    Originally Posted by K40water View Post

    How many of you use solo ads for driving traffic? Do you have any other sources of traffic that you prefer? What is the most newbie friendly method of traffic you like to use?
    IMO no.
    You are better off building your own list so you can ensure the quality and have the people on your list as close to your target niche as possible and this way you can control how many times you email them (solo ads often hammer their email addresses)
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  • Profile picture of the author K40water
    I really appreciate all the feedback I am getting. I am going to probably do an assortment of these suggestions.

    For those of you who USE solo ads, where do you like to go to shop for them? Do you have any suggestions for how to shop for them? What questions do you like to ask the merchant?
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  • Profile picture of the author Naseem Kaloo
    Banned
    I have'nt tried solo ads but have heard that they are a good source of driving traffic. It depends on your niche and the kind of ads you are able to produce and it will determine the success of your initiative. Secondly, guest posting, forum posting, blog commenting etc are the ways you can drive traffic to your site and they are newbie friendly too!
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  • Profile picture of the author Rory Singh
    Solos can still work and work well. Yes the list does get hammered a lot but their lists do keep getting replenished as new people will keep subscribing.

    Now that is said and done, not all solos will work with your offer.

    You as a marketer have to test the waters so to speak as to find the ones that will work well for you.

    Solos are a learning curve but can become a gold mine for you as you get more experience.

    It's a process.
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  • Profile picture of the author Adrianne_
    I think it's a toss up whether solos work or not.
    It really depends on your offer and ad copy,
    not to mention the list you advertise to.

    It's like Traffic Exchanges. Most people say they
    don't work and that you'd be wasting your time
    with them. Well, if you examine the type of offers
    being advertised there (generally free offers) and
    then promote a free ebook or free software that
    will help them grow their business, you would get
    a better response than someone promoting a paid
    product or service.

    Solo ads are not that much different. It's one of those
    things you will have to test out.
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  • Profile picture of the author K40water
    Im seeing mixed reviews on solo ads. Some people are saying they can be profitable depending on the niche. Have any of you had success with them in the weight loss niche?
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    • Profile picture of the author myob
      Originally Posted by K40water View Post

      Im seeing mixed reviews on solo ads. Some people are saying they can be profitable depending on the niche. Have any of you had success with them in the weight loss niche?
      Do a search for ezines or newsletters about your niche. Many of them will offer solo ads or classified ads (recommended for testing the list).

      I have found that the smaller to mid-range size ezines (1,000 - 10,000 subscribers) to be particularly effective and seem to provide the best ROI.

      You may even consider offering relevant articles to some of these ezines if your ads are pulling in acceptable results.
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  • Profile picture of the author nicheblogger75
    Solo ads are awesome if you are in the "make money online" niche.

    I've built my list with solo ads for years and I absolutely crush it.

    However, you need to know how to set up a funnel that will work for solo ads, and you definitely don't want to buy solo ads from Udimi or Clickonomy. Another part of being successful with solo ads is having the right vendors. If you buy from any of those solo marketplaces, chances are you will buy from a vendor with a played out list. However, if you know where to find the right vendors, it's a completely different story.

    I've been a proponent of solo ads for years, but only if you are in the MMO niche, and only if you know what you are doing.

    It's like any form of paid traffic. If you don't know how to do it right it won't work for you.

    A lot of people seem to be under the impression that you pick a vendor, pay for the solo ad, and then sit back and get great conversions and profit. When that doesn't happen for most people (and it doesn't for most people), they ultimately blame the method when they should be blaming themselves.

    I used to get all worked up and try and defend the crap out of solo ads, well, because I've gotten tens of thousands of subscribers from them and made well over 30,000 affiliate sales between JVZoo, Warrior Plus, and Clickbank.

    Now, however, I don't bother to try to provide stats or even go as far as set up funnels for people and coach them for free on how to do it right.

    The way I see it, the more people who don't think they work the better it is for me. That means less people using them, which ultimately means better leads for me all around.

    So yeah, if you think they don't work, that's cool with me
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  • Profile picture of the author SiteNameSales
    Solo ads is, like most other strategies you can employ with internet marketing, an investment that may or may nor work for you, or may work one week for you and not another and might work with one vendor but not another. There all sorts of factors, from the quality of the list, the experience of the vendor, the appeal of the offer and whether or not your offer has already been beaten to death by other marketers.

    As stated, there's no way of predicting the outcome with any certainty and if you are on a limited budget it's easy to give up and make generalizations about the whole venture. It goes without saying the more money you're willing to invest and your willingness to take risks is a major factor in your opinion about solo ads.

    If you're just starting out, I'd recommend using solo ads to build a list rather than promote a particular product. You don't have to worry about the success of a one-time opportunity and, for better or for worse, you can promote to your heart's content. to those who remain an opt-in.

    I believe using solo ad providers to build a list is a better option for getting started. If you find it has some value, you can expand your comfort zone as time goes on.
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  • Profile picture of the author Brent Stangel
    How can these affiliate deals make adwords profitable for marketers?
    A lot of affiliates you see using Adwords will go broke.

    That being said, if done right, PPC can be wildly profitable. You have to understand targeting and relevance. You need to understand commercial intent and how to know it when you see it. You need a well-tested funnel and follow-up and, of course, a well-converting offer.

    You have to be prepared to invest in testing that may or may not ever be profitable.

    Perry Marshall once said something like, "Awords is like playing 3-D chess against 100 opponents at the same time and they are constantly changing the rules three days before they let anyone know."

    It's a learned skill but well worth investing the time and money to learn.

    Brent
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  • Profile picture of the author gcbmark20
    Clickonomy is probably the best I've seen (Anik Singal's group) but
    not sure if he's allowing more members in at the mo.

    You get to see actual stats, ratings etc AND if you're not satisfied
    with your clicks, you get a money back guarantee. It's pretty awesome
    for that and protecting your investment.
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  • Profile picture of the author ashL
    I've tried solo ads roughly 4-5 times buying 100 clicks each time. No sales womp! and the email followup open rate conversion was low.

    Someone mentioned - you have to test for yourself - if you have some money to throw around you may find something that works for you

    I got higher email open rates when through my optin form on my blog. Also someone mentioned Youtube. Thats pretty solid advice because people feel like they know you since they can "see" you. And are more likely to open your email messages right off the bat. Unlike solo ads they have no clue who you are so you may have to work a bit harder to get them to open your messages.
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  • Profile picture of the author BradKasten
    I wouldn't spend time or money on Solo Ads. The leads are not high quality and will seldom convert into sales. Good leads are extremely valuable and no one is going to sell them to you for $50 -$100 bucks.

    Spend your time and money advertising to highly targeted prospects and build your list that way. It will take longer but the leads you get will be a thousand times more valuable than a solo ad lead.
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    • Profile picture of the author K40water
      Are you talking about places like Facebook ads? Do you have any other suggestions I can try?
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  • Profile picture of the author SiteNameSales
    There are a lot of very experienced (and very rich) marketers who spend $1,000s a month on solo ads, so I wouldn't completely write them off as ineffective. It's one strategy among many and, as I indicated in my post above, results can vary.

    I think one's budget is the bottom line for much of these varying points of view. If you have sufficient resources to invest in your business you will eventually find the right mix for success. Patience, as they say, is a virtue, but even patience usually requires a steady income stream.
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