Serial adswaps? to build your list size(list=1000->1500->2000) or Does the list quality suffer?

I personally do 1 or 2 adswaps on most weeks. Some weeks I will do zero and some weeks I might do as many as 3.

I think 3 a week (or less) is enough to keep your list growing but without beating them up too much or having too much list dilution.

As far as 'how fast' that question is hard to answer because it depends on so many variables... For me personally I was able to get to 10,000 subscribers within about 6 months. However, I was doing more than just ad swaps. I was also buying lots of traffic, blogging, creating content etc.

But for a rough estimate - I would think a list of about 2,000 would do about 100 clicks or so (that would be 5% click through). You can expect conversions from 20%-60% depending on your squeeze page. So, if you are averaging 35% conversions you could expect to add 35 people to your list each adswap. So if you were doing 3 a week you would be adding approximately 105 people to your list or about 440 per month which would work out to around 5,000 after a year (I think, I'm not good at math, lol). Of course - this is using simple math and not accounting for the new growth or subscriber loss.

These numbers are a little on the conservative side but should help you get an idea.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Coby

Hey David,

I know Coby's already given you some great answers to this question, so I just want to ad a little bit extra that may help.

With regards to your questions about timetable and how often to do ad swaps with a certain list size, etc.

You don't have to be so rigid in your thinking here. First of all, your list size is irrelevent to how often you send a swap. What's much more important is your list responsiveness. You want to keep a very detailed record of your open rates and your click through rates (in terms of percentage). If your open rates start to fall, then you're sending too many swaps in relation to your value emails. (Or your value emails are not having the impact you were hoping for).

If that happens reduce your swaps and focus on value and relationship building. Ideally you don't really want to have a roller coaster of more swaps sometimes and lesss swaps at others. Try to find a balance where your open rates remain (at least) stable, and preferably increase whilst your doing your swaps. The way to do that is to make sure you're constantly providing value to your subs (without them having to pay - emails submits are a price) and building the relationship (let them get to know you).

So, in short, it's a matter of testing what works and not about some predifined schedule. You will work out your ideal schedule by testing and keeping track of open rates and click-throughs.

The reason no-one else can give you a schedule is because everyone has their own unique 'voice' with their list and they will respond to different people in different ways. You need to specifically see how they respond to you by watching the metrics I've just talked about (open rates, click throughs, etc.).

In short, keep your list engaged and don't do swaps that will be of no interest to them.

Solo's are no problem in that regard because your email is going to other peoples lists. Do as many of them as you can afford!