How Safe Are Safe Lists?

What is a safelist and what is it protecting you from?

A safelist is an email list that you can join of your own free will which enables you to send your email offers to all the other members.

The disadvantage is that all the other members can send you their offers too. This may not be a disadvantage to you if you like (or at least don't mind) reading a lot of other email offers but for most people this is a bind.

There is a way out of this however so read on.

Why is it "safe"? What is it protecting you from?
Answer. (Drum roll please!)
It is stopping you being accused of the cardinal sin of spamming since everyone who receives your email has opted in (ie agreed) to receive it.

There are two types of membership of a safelist.
The first is a free membership and the second is where you pay a (normally quite small) subscription to belong which often gives you certain advantages. See below.

So what are the advantages of Opt-in Safelists?

Often there is immediate response. Your ad is sent instantly and those people that are interested can respond straight away.

A good place to test your ad before paying out money advertising by other methods.

Ability to track your ads. Some safelists have inbuilt tracking systems.

A relatively cheap way to advertise.

AND last but not least:-
The ability to email to thousands of people.
Bear in mind, however, that many of these people will not read your offer but on the other hand even if 1% of thousands respond then it could be very worthwhile.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of the FREE safelist?

The fact that it is free is the major advantage and as pointed out above the possibility (no I'll rephrase that the probability) that you will receive thousands of email offers in return is the major disadvantage.

Also, generally, there is no tracking system in place and the options to send emails tend to be limited normally to once a week.

So what are the advantages and disadvantages of a PAID safelist?

The main advantages are that you can email your offer(s) more frequently maybe every day or two days and you have the ability to track them.

Also a major consideration is that you may not be required to receive email offers from the other members and you probably have a better opportunity to personalise your messages more.

The main disadvantage is that people may still not read your ads and as you have paid you are wasting money.

When safelists originated there was and probably still is concern that most email offers are not read. After all if we are honest what we really want is for people to read OUR offers without us having to read theirs!

The safelist organisers have addressed this problem by incorporating some hidden prizes into the email campaigns which means a lot of people read them in the hope of winning this prize.
This has been quite effective.

Also new rules have been instituted by the operators to stop lists being ruined. So read the rules and stick by them!

Another point to bear in mind is that safelists have become web-based. This means that you should never download any list to your address book and send them out via your own email program.
The email is sent from the organiser's web server not yours.

So what else should you consider when using a safelist?

Ensure that you use a targeted list

Make sure that you use a benefit-laden headline.
However don't forget that you only have a few seconds which is too little time to really pitch your offer.
It is better to create some curiosity so that the reader has to visit your website or send off for more information.

Track and test your campaign.

Make sure that you have a follow up strategy in place
It is generally accepted that a person will see an advertisement for around seven times before taking action.
It is therefore in your interests to keep repeating the advertisement on a regular schedule.
That is assuming that you have a good advertisement in the first place of course!

Only use web-based safelists. See above

Make sure you understand the rules of each safelist and follow them.

Test several free safelists and then become a paid member of the most successful one (or ones)

Safelists do work provided that you follow the rules and certainly should be considered as one of your internet marketing strategies.

To your success

John Beaumont
Internet Marketer