How to Get Free (Or Really Cheap) Solo Ads and Build Your List Fast

Warriors,

I haven't posted here in a while, so I thought I'd share something that may help some of you that have yet to get going online or are just starting out.

This online thing is really not that hard at all...

Here's what it boils down to...

1. Targeted traffic
2. Collect leads
3. Sell the leads stuff they want/need (provide solutions)

I see hundreds of posts on here talking about things like SEO, video marketing, email marketing, solo ads, cold calling, Facebook ads, PPC, adswaps, JVs, being an affiliate, this software, that software, etc., etc...

Many marketers are SO tactical that they forget (or never realize) how simple making money online really is...

I'll repeat:

1. You find a problem, need, or want
2. You provide a solution
3. You match the two up (traffic... could be one or many of the above that I've mentioned)

One of the fastest and easiest ways to get started online and building your own list is with solo ads.

They are great because:

1. The traffic is fast and you can get going quickly
2. You can get very targeted depending upon where you buy the clicks
3. You're paying for X amount of clicks

(Moderater EDIT)

You'll want to send the traffic to a squeeze page, so you'll need an autoresponder. Aweber still has a $1 free trial and I have seen some GetResponse trial offers floating around. The bottom line is you will need to have an autoresponder if you want to build your list.

So, you have an autoresponder and you have a traffic source... now you'll need a squeeze page to siphon the traffic onto your list.

Although there a several free squeeze page templates out there (search Google or the Warrior Forum), if you want to get going quick and don't like to code, for $37 per month, you can use LeadPages.net. They have some cool features and you can get your squeeze page done in a few minutes. I really believe that for some, the technical piece to all of this is a bit scary, so they don't do anything. There are other options for a squeeze page too, but again, it's all tactics and what suits you. I personally use LeadPages.net because I hate coding and love all of the features they offer. The ability to get a squeezepage up quick and easy is worth the small amount of money to me.

The key to having success is just jumping in and perfecting along the way. Sure, there may be a more efficient or better way to do things once you get going, but the most important thing is to get going.

I've found the simplest squeeze pages with big benefit headlines tend to convert the best.

Headlines like:

Learn how John made $1,241 his first week online...

Discover the 5 Free Tools That Sharon Uses To Make Professional Videos From Her Kitchen Table...

Free Video Reveals How A Marketing Newbie Gets Business Owners To Write Him $5,000 Checks Without Leaving His House or Making A Single Cold Call...

If you're headline is strong and compelling, you don't need a ton of copy on your opt-in page.

Now, you may not have a giveaway product... Especially if you're new. That's fine. You don't have to, and it doesn't have to be a free report. If you don't have a giveaway, you have a couple of options...

You can reach out to a product owner of a product you plan to promote to your newly created list, and say this...

"Hey, Mr. Product Owner, I'm going to be sending traffic to your product, and I wanted to see if you had anything I could give away on the front end? Perhaps a report, the first chapter or 1st video in your product, etc."

Most will agree.

If not, you can quickly draft a one-page or 5 Tips type of report, or just send them to the sales page after the opt-in. Webinarswap.com has some solid products and archived webinars.

You can literally put on your squeeze page:

Free Video Reveals...

Your Headline

Enter Your Email Address for Instant Access to The Video

----

That could literally be your giveaway if you have absolutely nothing, and you can get up and going quickly. I've done this before and created funnels in a matter of a few minutes to an hour.

1. Find a solo ad vendor
2. Ask them what converts best with their list
3. Find an affiliate offer that matches
4. Put up a squeeze page with a compelling headline and send them directly to the affiliate offer after the opt-in
5. Have an email sequence prepared sending affiliate offers to your list and providing valuable content

The above is quick and dirty, and not the perfect funnel, but it's a start, and you can have this all squared away in an hour or less.

Once you get one funnel up, you can tweak and test different thank you pages, OTOs after opt-in, giveaways, different traffic sources, etc., but just get started with something.

If you're short on cash, use affiliate products that pay instant commissions to your PayPal account. There is tremendous value in building a targeted list... you can promote offers, sell solo ads, etc., so initially, focus on using the commissions you make from affiliate products sold after opt-in to cover your solo ad costs.

Here's an example...

You find an affiliate product that's paying 75% commissions, and the product is $47. So, your commission is $35.25.

You buy a solo ad for 100 clicks that costs $40...

Let's say you get a 30% opt-in, which is very doable if the traffic and squeeze page are right... You have 30 people on your list. If you're able to convert one of those into a sale after opt-in, you effectively almost cut your cost of the solo ad in half and you now have a list of 30 people that you can market to. Rinse and repeat.

Obviously some mailings will be worse and some will be better. Unfortunately, a lot does boil down to the law of large numbers, testing, etc., but if you never jump in and do, you can read all of the WSOs and guides in the world and you will not make a dime online.

There are a lot of other little tricks that work well with the above method to increase sales, opt-ins, etc. that I can discuss in a future post. I may even show some examples of the above if there is interest.

All of this can be done in virtually any niche as well... Solo ad resources are not as well organized outside of IM circles, but they can be negotiated privately and generally convert pretty well if the offer matches correctly.

The biggest point of the post is there is no magic bullet... there are a lot of ways to do this, and email marketing with solo ads is one of the fastest ways to get started if you have a limited budget, limited time, and a small or non-existent list. Of course, the above is also a good way to grow if you're established and focusing on email.

Cheers!


Josh