What’s A Solo Ad?

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Email At SymbolYou may have seen the term bandied about in your searches and training on affiliate and internet marketing. It’s a common technique for getting the word out that is becoming more and more popular every day, and it’s a method that can get very quick results if done right and with an ounce of good luck and timing.

But what’s a solo ad?

 

Solo Ads Explained

It’s very simply really. You are essentially buying ad space on someone else’s email list. As it can take a while to build up your own list of subscribers, sometimes it makes good business sense to advertise a product or giveaway, or just your business in general, on someone’s list that is already sizeable and established.

Say for instance you wanted to promote the latest affiliate offering in your niche, but didn’t want to do PPC advertising or wait months and months to start getting organic traffic through Google. Then solo ads can be the way to go.

You search for someone offering solo ads in your niche and buy ‘clicks’ off them. You create what is called an email swipe. In this email will be your offering, whatever that happens to be. The solo ad provider will charge a certain amount of money per guaranteed click on a link within your email. Clicks are usually offered in blocks that are multiples of 50 or 100. You select how many clicks you would like to buy, pay the ad provider the money, he/she then sends your email swipe out to their list, and when the designated amount of clicks is reached, the email campaign is ceased.

That’s pretty much it.

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What Are Solo Ads Good For?

As I mentioned, promoting a product in your niche is one common use of solo ads. Another might be to get subscribers to a list you are in the process of building yourself. You have your lead magnet (a report, eBook or whatever) which you are offering for free if someone gives up their email address and subscribes to your list. Even though you may not be making sales by gathering subscribers, it’s a good way to build your list quicker and it could pay off for you down the track.

Even if your goal is just to get website visitors so more people are aware your site or business exists, solo ads can be very useful indeed.

 

Start Off Small

Never start by purchasing a huge expensive block of clicks. Test the water first with just a small block of 50 or 100 at most and see how it goes. If it works well and you get subscribers or sales, then buy a bigger chunk of clicks second time around. If the results are not what you hoped for, either try a different approach or a different offering, again testing things by starting off small.

 

What’s The Cost?

This varies. It depends what site you are buying ads from and the individual sellers. Those sellers with experience, a big list and a solid track record of results may tend to charge a little more per click than someone just starting out selling solo ads. As a ballpark figure, the average cost per click is around 40 cents.

 

Where To Buy Solo Ads

There are a lot of websites that specialise in listing solo ad sellers. There are also individuals that rent out their lists for a price, but they can be harder to track down. I’ll just list a couple of solo ad websites here that I’ve personally dealt with, and if you like you can click on the links I provide to go over and check them out for yourself.

Udimi

Udimi LogoThis is a very easy platform to use and navigate. Very simple set up. Lots of sellers to choose from. It mostly deals in the online marketing arena, plus health and finance, so if your niche is sporting goods or pet products or something, the sellers’ lists on Udimi won’t really suit you. I find the prices quite reasonable on this site too, with many sellers selling clicks for less than 40 cents.

Website: www.udimi.com

Clickonomy

Clickonomy LogoThis is a more sophisticated looking platform, but also comes with a higher average price tag per click. While some sellers are down in the 40-50 cents per click range, many of them are offering clicks at over $1 each. Again, the internet marketing space seems to dominate this site as well, which is good for us internet marketers.

Website: www.clickonomy.com

 

Final Thoughts

So that’s a brief look at what solo ads are and what they can do for you. Again I caution you to start out small – just like with any form of paid advertising – and test. No point throwing bucket loads of cash at a campaign that doesn’t convert into either leads or sales. Test different products, lead magnets, email swipes and landing pages. Sometimes you have to spend a little to see what works, but once you find something that pays off, then you can scale that way up and possibly make a killing.

Solo ads are well worth looking at, so click on one of the links above and have a browse around. Take a look at the sellers, their ratings and feedback and see what you think.

To your success!

 

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Darren Burton

Site Owner
I am an author, online entrepreneur and internet marketer. I work from home and anywhere else in the world I choose to work. I've been making a living online since 2010, and you can do it too. I'm here to help.

14 thoughts on “What’s A Solo Ad?

  1. I’m so glad I found your page. I’m always looking for new ways to make money online. This solo ads is something I’ve not heard of, until now.

    This seems like a great way to get people visiting your product, without spending tons of time and cash getting people there.

    I also like that your using email to reach potential customers. Email lists are known to make a lot of money. Right product, right email list, and this could really be a winner.

    I’ll definitely be looking around your site for more tips. The solo ad is something I’ll certainly consider.

    • Thanks for reading and commenting, Stephen. They definitely are a great way of driving traffic to your site or affiliate offering, and are often used to get more opt ins to your own email list. I’m still experimenting and learning about solo ads myself, but I can see great potential with them.

  2. Solo ads are something I’ve never heard of, so it was very interesting to read your post here! To me, solo ads sound like a great way to get more traffic to your website in the form of more subscribers. What a great way to promote yourself! I also like that you pointed out that the end that starting small is key, as with anything in the online business world. Great post!

    • I think they’re a little more targeted than some other forms of paid advertising, and a good way to get traffic quick. The harder part is trying to determine whether a solo ad seller is any good. Do they have a good list, is the traffic real traffic. You can only really go on feedback and recommendations from other people until you try them out for yourself.

  3. I have been curious to learn more about what a solo ad is. I have been confused about this for some time but your article was very succinct and to the point.

    I think I get it. Instead of sending my message to my own list of subscribers (which I don’t have yet) I am essentially borrowing someone else’s.

    I am curious thought, do solo ads work for all niches? Everything I have read about them makes it seem like they are pretty much only effective in the “make money” niche.

    I recently started a website focusing on child development. I am not sure if a solo ad would work for this niche.

    What are your thoughts?

    • I’ve heard the same thing, Simone, that they are mostly effective for the ‘make money online’ niche. I’m sure they can be effective for other niches as well, but I think the main problem is finding someone who offers solo ads in the niche you’re in. Most people offering solo ads seem to have lists built up in the make money niche.

      To be honest I’ve only recently started experimenting with solo ads, so I’m still learning and testing and researching. I can see huge potential in them, though.

  4. Thanks Darren. I thought maybe this was the case. Maybe I will look into the sites you mention and see if there is anyone in the child development niche doing solo ads. At this point I am only looking to get traffic to my site as I don’t have anything specific I am promoting other than some toys.

  5. Solo Ads! this is something I have been very wary of, I have read about so many negatives on solo ads, but after going through your articles am encouraged to take a deeper look at it, I will appreciate if you would write more on this topic, especially how to sift the bad eggs, so that I don’t end up wasting my money, because I understand you ca not ask for a refund.

    • Udimi is the place I’ve used a couple of times. Just check the feedback left by other clients to gauge who is good to go with and who isn’t. It can be hard to know until you actually try somebody out. If you know others who have had success with solo ads, find out who they used.

  6. Hello. Thank you for this article on Solo Ads. I was interested to read this because I have had very little experience with this kind of advertising but I have looked into it before and it is something that I would consider trying. I am in the internet marketing niche and as you said the solo ad market seems to be full of people selling ads in this niche.

    My only problem with solo ads is the price. As you have said here, some solo ads are priced at over $1 per click. Now I know this is supposed to be targeted traffic but getting PPC traffic through Bing or Google isn’t usually this expensive and at least with PPC you are guaranteed some good results.

    I feel with solo ads that they are rather expensive and there are no guarantees that you will get good traffic. I just wondered what your thoughts on this were? Is there any way of telling who is a good supplier of solo ad traffic? I just don’t want to waste my money on something that might not work.

    • They are all about $1 per click. It’s really a bit of a lottery to know whether the clicks are from targeted traffic, but compared to PPC, these people have been somewhat qualified regarding their interest when they signed up to somebody’s email list to begin with. With PPC ads searchers can get a bit click happy and just click on your ad without necessarily being interested. I’ve done both PPC and solo ads and I’ve had more success with solo ads. With regards to a good advertiser, all you can really go on his feedback and recommendations from people who have tried them.

  7. Hi Darren

    As an online marketer myself, I never had any luck from solo ads about 10 years ago. Yes, some of my ads got clicked and my links even received traffic but never any signups or income!

    Perhaps solo ad sites are different these days, and I Thank You for the advice on starting out small and testing the waters because who wants to lose money?

    Thanks for the breakdown too! 🙂

    Neil

    • Solo ads can be hit and miss. After all, you don’t really know what kind of list the seller is going to place your email swipe on. If you can find a good one though, it can prove profitable.

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