Adswapping Tips
As a follow up to Ken's post about being careful who you deal with here I thought I'd share what I've learned in the world of adswaps.
1. Adswaps are fantastic and the majority of the time go really smoothly. I built a highly targeted and very profitable list of 2k subscribers in less than a month but obviously that was only because I had a really hot topic offer, an existing list and really put in the leg work lining up swaps.
2. Put the effort into building your list first. A few people will do swaps under 1k subscribers but to make it worth everyone's time that's pretty much the lowest number of subs you want to bring to the table. Run some free WSOs, spend a bit on PPC, drive forum traffic. It really shouldn't take long to get to that point. My first free link cloaker list got there in under a week but that was a couple of years ago now and kind of a fluke.
3. Stuff goes wrong. Be a grown up about it. During my recent adswapping I screwed up a couple of times. I managed to fail to queue up one swap entirely (sorry mate, you know who you are) and another massively underperformed (or rather his list out performed mine by a big margin and I'm still trying to make up for it). Be nice about it, apologize and put the effort into fixing the situation. Your reputation is worth so much, don't mess it up over a few adswaps.
4. If you're new here, be prepared to do your mailing first and let the other guy schedule at his convenience. Guys like Fabian Tan and Ken Strong clearly aren't here to scam anyone. Ask any of the dozens of adswap partners who have worked with them. It'll help you build up your reputation and put the bigger players at ease about swapping with a newbie that could be pulling a fast one.
5. Don't over do it. I learned this one the hard way. I over booked my recent adswaps and really turned off my subscribers. A highly responsive but smaller list is worth far more than a bigger one that you've sucked dry by over mailing.
6. Stay on topic. Remember what your subs signed up for. If you've got a generic grab bag IM list, great, you can probably mail about just about anything. Usually though, you'll have a sub-niche and should stay on that topic or you're just going to turn your subs off super quick.
7. Look for adswaps with people who are affiliate hunting. Some of the best adswaps you can line up are people who are looking for affiliates to promote their product. A couple of swaps I did this way saw people sending twice as many people to my free offer just to say thanks for promoting. Plus of course you make commissions from doing it too.
That's all folks. Please feel free to add your own.
Andy
1. Adswaps are fantastic and the majority of the time go really smoothly. I built a highly targeted and very profitable list of 2k subscribers in less than a month but obviously that was only because I had a really hot topic offer, an existing list and really put in the leg work lining up swaps.
2. Put the effort into building your list first. A few people will do swaps under 1k subscribers but to make it worth everyone's time that's pretty much the lowest number of subs you want to bring to the table. Run some free WSOs, spend a bit on PPC, drive forum traffic. It really shouldn't take long to get to that point. My first free link cloaker list got there in under a week but that was a couple of years ago now and kind of a fluke.
3. Stuff goes wrong. Be a grown up about it. During my recent adswapping I screwed up a couple of times. I managed to fail to queue up one swap entirely (sorry mate, you know who you are) and another massively underperformed (or rather his list out performed mine by a big margin and I'm still trying to make up for it). Be nice about it, apologize and put the effort into fixing the situation. Your reputation is worth so much, don't mess it up over a few adswaps.
4. If you're new here, be prepared to do your mailing first and let the other guy schedule at his convenience. Guys like Fabian Tan and Ken Strong clearly aren't here to scam anyone. Ask any of the dozens of adswap partners who have worked with them. It'll help you build up your reputation and put the bigger players at ease about swapping with a newbie that could be pulling a fast one.
5. Don't over do it. I learned this one the hard way. I over booked my recent adswaps and really turned off my subscribers. A highly responsive but smaller list is worth far more than a bigger one that you've sucked dry by over mailing.
6. Stay on topic. Remember what your subs signed up for. If you've got a generic grab bag IM list, great, you can probably mail about just about anything. Usually though, you'll have a sub-niche and should stay on that topic or you're just going to turn your subs off super quick.
7. Look for adswaps with people who are affiliate hunting. Some of the best adswaps you can line up are people who are looking for affiliates to promote their product. A couple of swaps I did this way saw people sending twice as many people to my free offer just to say thanks for promoting. Plus of course you make commissions from doing it too.
That's all folks. Please feel free to add your own.
Andy