To be Free or Not to be Free?

That is the question!

Do you join free, or not join free? The simplest thing to do is to write down the rules that I use. I think that if you follow these rules, you will not go far wrong.

1.  Join ALL the free list that you can - especially those that offer free pro upgrades. This usually means that you can post more often. Most of these lists are small when they offer this kind of incentive, but don't let that put you off. These small lists grow rapidly, and before you know it, you can send your ad to thousands every day.
2. Keep you eye open for special offers. Sometimes a list will offer a pro upgrade for a very nominal amount. If they do, check their numbers (how many members they have) and make a business decision. Do NOT upgrade EVERY pro offer you get. You can afford to be choosy, or not do it at all.
3. If you are tempted by a large list offering a deal for subscribing to their pro scheme every month, why not try it out for a month? If you do this though, you must track your ads and see how good the return is. I have listed some of the Safelists that I have tracked and give you my opinion on them. On some of them, I have had very poor returns. I have had advice that some of these have worked for other people. My advice with these is to try them for yourselves.

Paid Memberships

This is a list of Safelists that I have paid to join at some time, and the results that I have obtained with them.

Herculist

Herculist is one of those lists that you can join for free and then upgrade. They offer deals from time to time, so it is worth waiting. Their Safelist has in excess of 20,000 members and I have found them to be very responsive. I suggest that you join for free and then upgrade when a deal comes along.

Remember that if you do pay, please make sure that you start tracking your ads. That is the only way to ensure that you get good value for money. There are some good ad tracking programs in the tools section.

One of the deals that often comes along is a chance to join Herculist's sister program, Smart List. This is a changing list of over 1000 email addresses of active marketers. It is an excellent list, very responsive and great value for money.

Business World List

This is a big list, in excess of 30,000 members at the time of writing. You can join for free and mail less often then as a pro member. To be honest, I have had limited success with this list. However, other Marketers that I have contact with do get success, so my suggestion would be to join for free, and then test the ads you send out. If you get success, then upgrade.

Pro Money Mail

This is part of Gary Shawkey's empire. It offers a number of things to help you run promotions, but the part you need to be interested in is the Community Mail Server, in other words his Safelist. At the last count it had in excess of 25,000 members, and it can be very effective, as my own Ad Tracking will attest to. It has a free and a paid option. You can send mail every day with the paid option, but my advice with this is the same as with the others - join for free, and test the responses that you get. When you are comfortable with your ads, and you are getting the responses that you should, then think about upgrading.

I have found that this list has become less and less effective as time has gone on. I would strongly advise that you join free only, and upgrade if your tests indicate that the list is working for you.

My view is that Gary Shawkey has got himself involved in a number of activities, and this Safelist has taken a back seat in his affections.

Rogues Gallery!

There should be a government health warning about the next three. They are all owned by the same company, they all purport to send your ads to thousands of lists, and they all do nothing. If there advertising material is to be believed, I must have sent hundreds of thousands of ads out. I did not get one response. And believe me, there are many others out there who have discovered the same problem.

You have been warned! Make use of your barge pole if dealing with these lists.

UnitedHD

Intellisend

Ad Blast King

Ad Blasting

I have also had very bad (and costly) experience with some email 'blast' services. These kind of things sound so good, but in my experience they are a waste of time. A wise man once said that if a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is. And he was right!

In particular, steer clear of these people

Life Time Marketing

These people promised the earth, send an ad (that they wrote) to 750,000 people who had allegedly asked for information on online marketing etc. They delivered absolutely nothing of course. Steer clear!

In fact, as a rule of thumb, if anyone offers to blast ads for you, decline politely. It is far better if you obtain your own leads and submit them yourself.