There have been many debates lately about email marketing. Many people claim that it is not as effective as it used to be. Some even say that it is dead, while others argue that it is still one of the most effective forms of advertising around.

What is a Safelist?  

 In order to effectively use email advertising, you first need a list of people that are willing to receive your offers. One way to do this is by building your own list of subscribers. This can be very time consuming and sometimes costly, but definitely worth it in the long run. In the meantime, you do not have to wait until you build your own list in order to reap the benefits of email advertising. You can join a safelist or viral list builder. A safelist is a form of email advertising where the members have agreed to receive each others messages. All members are required to opt-in making it a “safe” list of people that you can send your offers to without the worry of spam. Most safelists are credit based, which means that you would earn X amount of credits for viewing the link attached to the email from another member. When you are ready to send your email, it will cost you X amount of credits to send it to X amount of people. The amount of X  will vary from site to site and also by your membership level at each site. Most safelists are free to join and use. Upgraded memberships are also available. These upgrades usually include the benefits of being able to mail more frequently, to a larger amount of members and often include solo ads. 

Factors that influence your results

There are many factors that can influence the results of email advertising. If you have your own list of subscribers, it is important to build relationships with them. Don’t email them with every single latest, greatest thing that just launched. You do not want them to think that you will sell any piece of crap that comes out. Make sure that the product or program that you are promoting is reputable and include quality content in your emails. You don’t always have to try to sell them something either, from time to time you can send tips or training information that might be helpful to them. These things will strengthen your relationship, build trust and make them less likely to want to opt-out of your list. When using safelists it is important to choose a quality site. Many sites offer a rewards system or a button escalation system to keep their members active. Building a relationship is not as important when using safelists, but people will begin to recognize your name in your emails and again you do not want to be known for promoting crap. A good email will yield many results. Standard affiliate emails do not usually convert well since several other marketers are sending the same exact email. Take the time and effort to put some thought into your email to make it interesting and appealing, explain the product or program and how they could benefit from it. Make the most of your membership- Keep track of when you are able to mail again and try to stay on schedule. If you are able to mail every 5 days, but you wait 10 days in between mailings, you are losing out on an extra chance to send your offer. Every mailer is different, therefore pay attention to the name tags on each- Have you ever seen an email that says Hi {firstname}  That is because whoever wrote the mail used the wrong tag (or they were just too lazy to change it). Viral Mail Profits is a great way to organize your safelist marketing – use it to store all of your email templates, pre-fill name tag for each safelist (no embarrassing Hi{firstname}), sends reminders when it is time to mail again, track your click % and is free to join. Another highly responsive thing that people tend to overlook are banner and text ads. Most safelist offer banner and text ads. They are usually very low cost or can even be “bought” by trading email credits for impressions. 

The Answer

Who is right? Who is wrong? The answer to this is that they are both right. If done correctly, email marketing can become  one of your most effective forms of advertising. On the other hand, if done incorrectly, your results would be little to none- therefore leading you to agree that it is dead. So really the answer to this question is up to you and the effort that you exert.

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