Believe it or not but many people like getting the latest offers from marketers. If you don't then probably you shouldn't be on their list.

Thanks,
Adam

it is getting kinda a crazy. I get the same offer from 10 people.

I like free stuff

I have cut down doing this.

I used to do this a lot but although it can build a list fast some of the people on your list can get really angry.

I hear you, I don't mind adswaps but marketers really need to make sure the person their swapping with has #1 a great product to give away and #2 is an ethical marketer who won't try abusing his list.

Adswaps also tend to very quickly decrease the value of your list because the more lists your subscriber is subscribed to the less likely they are to open up your emails.

For example you guys have seen when ever a big launch comes along everyone promotes it. I'm on like 20+ marketers list but I'm only taking the offer from one person.

This is the strategy that "mentors" are teaching. But even I can see that daily drivel would irritate even your most ardent subscriber.

Some of it is touted as 'building a relationship' in the sense that you're not selling - you're giving for nothing (ie. in the income sense) in return. I can see how that works for newbies totally unaware of adswaps and just thinking ... "Wow, how does this dude make money".

And then some of the free stuff has cookies for sales so aren't just adswaps.

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I once got 9 invites to buy a product from 9 different 'gurus'. Every email was word for word the same. I am not sure how that is developing a relationship with me, but in order to do so, they will have to call now.

If it aint broke, don't fix it... I'm not saying pounding your list is a good thing but ad swaps work, if every time a marketer sent out an ad swap email they had massive un-subscribes they'd be pretty quick to stop doing ad swaps. To me it's like a radio station, if you don't like it, turn it off (unsubscribe)

As someone who's been guilty of this in the past...I understand your plight.

The real key with this stuff is creating a gift that's both unique but also beneficial.

All the same reports get passed around just to collect subscribers and if you don't build a relationship...then you're just going to be stuck with a big aweber bill and a list that doesn't believe in you.

On the other hand...list swapping is an effective way to build a list...and done properly (with other sources of traffic) is a good way to build a list and provide value.

The key is just to not overdo it.

Cheers,

Brad

I guess it always boils down to the same thing.. are you in it to make a quick buck (or in this case build a list fast) or are you in for the long run and are determined to provide good and solid content to your customers (in this case people on your list)?

There is definitely nothing wrong with ad swaps as long as they are relevant and not over done.

Dave,

Good point bringing this up! Lately I've been enjoying lots of freebies but after a while all of the emails look more or less the same as DogScout rightly mentioned - but at the same time, it's pretty easy then to spot the IMers who take the time to differentiate themselves and write quality content - the rest I just unsubscribed..

I guess the lesson is that at the end of the day, if we're in this biz for the long haul, every touchpoint with our customers needs to count.

I love free stuff, too, but there's only so much I can read, digest and handle, even if it is free.

I have been introduced to some good programs through adswaps and I appreciate them when they are done right. But the guys that I continue to trust don't do adswaps often, give plenty of good content in between time and build up a beneficial relationship. I always open their emails.

On the other hand, I think that some email marketers think that the adswaps themselves are good content, because we get content in exchange for opting in. I stop opening their emails pretty quickly if they have that attitude. I might not unsubscribe. I probably just keep deleting them.

I guess its what they call recycled traffic. Or recycling your list.

Why not focus on fresh new subscribers instead of recycling exiting ones via adswaps and having more people exit as a result of receiving low value spammy looking offers even if it is free?

There is no point having a 100K list if the conversions are dismal whats the point?

Have a small loyal list and protect them like gold from all the crap out there and you will milk the list.

The money is in the list for people who respect their customers and dont send them 10emails a week.

Jees are people not allowed to have the time to have a life and work at their business without a daily pitch from you who is desperate to milk every cent out of them. Desperation can be smelt from a mile off.

While it is nice to receive a freebie and find out whats going on in your market from your so called trusted guru or mentor. If you are constantly diverting there attention by pushing them away you can actually lose sales long term because guess what
they have found some where else to go shopping and it wont be at your store.

Also gives the impression that obviously you are not good enough and your new best guru friends products are.

Respect your list and dont treat them like they are stupid.

Each email is actually a human being!

What a newbie like should do now? I'm just starting to build my list and as I read your thoughts it's confusing me a bit.My opinion is,yes it should not be abused like sending our subscribers with 10 to 15 emails a week.I used to be a subscriber to maybe around 20-30 internet gurus or coach,and I found out that these people are JV and everyday each promoting one another,most of the time marketers are giving away the same freebies with different pitch page.I found it annoying sometimes and I did unsubscribed.Now that I am starting to be a marketer and building my list,,how should I do it correctly? My vision is to give only valuable products to my subscribers,can I say no to a prospect JV after checking that his product or freebie is just a crap? One more thing is I think I should always look for fresh subscribers,I mean people in a common room may have common subscribers and should not be promoting each other otherwise it might irritate their subscribers.What do you think guys? Please give this newbie some advise and correct direction.Thanks a lot!

Well, there are folks who unsubscribe from your list even if you send email saying you`ll give them $1000 for free...

You don`t need to do ad swap every day...or even every week... just dont overdo it...

And when you select ad swap partners, actually check out what they are offering. If the freebie is good and provides value it can`t be that bad...

-Lauri

Sorry but I talk with swappers everyday and I am one of the most active swappers at safe-swap with over 50 under my belt. And yes it used to concern me when subscribers made comments similar to your and or unsubscribe but then after discussing it long and hard with several other IM'ers we all agreed then that "you" are not the typical subscriber and it's just not worth chasing every single person on the planet. That is not to say that what you say and your feelings and beliefs and stance on the issue is wrong, what I am saying is that if you don't want those types of emails any longer the only thing to do is only subscribe to very pinpointed niche lists like "flea removal for small dogs" because that guy can't swap with too many other list owners anyway so your bound to just get his or her one boring email a month.

I'm not even joking here and I said "flea removal for small dogs" because if you make it any less specific then that like lets say you leave out the "small" word or you have a subscription to a list that is "flea removal for small dogs" without the word "flea removal" these list owners are going to swap with every single word you can find on this planet + small dogs.

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"AdSwaps" sound like a great way to either annoy your subscribers, remove your subscribers, or leak your subscribers to a list you don't own. Of course, it works both ways...but still.

Maybe the smart ones segment their most valuable subscribers out before doing this

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I do adswapping and most of the times whenever possible, I would refrain myself from using the "free...worth...$$$" cliched subject or have that line even included in the body. I mean, if I were the one reading it, I would have sniffed that there's a catch to it in me joining as a subscriber.

I would prefer to send each email as unique as I can. It may be repeating the offers but from another perspective. That way it might not hurt my list that much.

Question for all you AdSwappers out there in IM Land: Do AdSwaps actually bring you 'targetted traffic' in your niche?

Has anyone done any testing and tracking - is the subscriber who comes via an AdSwap as 'good' a Subscriber as those that come to you via your regular attraction device (whether that's YouTube, Article Marketing, Guest Posts, etc)?


TIA

I am a perfect example of overdoing adswaps.

I used to do them an almost daily basis and took my list from under 1,000 to over 10,000 in the space of about three months.

All was well, the open rates were decent as were the click throughs until my list just got fed up of receiving the offers - I assume they were on multiple "ad swap" lists and just started ignoring obvious "swap" messages.

I have deleted approximately 50% of my subscriber base in the past six weeks due to them not opening emails for a lengthy period of time and I am nuturing those I have left / new subscribers with a two/three times weekly email newsletter.

I provide them with good content and the occasional offer, no "ad swap" stuff as of yet and the open rates / click throughs are improving steadily.

I may return to the occasional ad swap every now and again with trusted JV partners who provide a quality product and then integrate that swap within my newsletter content.

But I am done with solo ad swap mailings, it can be too damaging.

David