Hey AbeLincolnBart. Thanks for the comment. I think that this is what this forum is all about. We can go back and forth and exchange ideas. After reading some points I want to clarify some things.
Ok
1st: The model is not to be used to sell solo ads. The point of the model is to create volume for the thank you page. Imagine that you have a cost per lead cpa offer on the thank you. You get 2 dollars a lead (times) 200 clicks a day. Once they are in your list you swap to get fresh leads into your funnel. Plus you can do CPA offers that are per sale. As a reminder, alot of CPA offers sell through the phone. they don't use email marketing because of the saturation so the lead value is there, just not through email marketing.
2nd
$15 to $16 an hour.
Based on my experiences I hired people over seas in the philapeans, india, et and you can easily find 1.25 - 2.00 an hour employees. The issue as with everything else is simplification of tasks so they don't get confused. One of the possitive sides of
this model is that you can simplify it so that 15 can be 8- 10 profit after payroll. That is not bad considering you are not doing anything. It's an outsource-ble model . If you look at hiring a phone sales team for example then that is harder to outsource and requires alot of volume and more cost to keep going and 2 an hour won't cover that.
3rd:
High life time value. At the end of the day the biggest problem with all Solo buys is saturation of the inbox. This is why I think this model has a downside. The goal here is to figure out how to mail more to apear ahead of the competition. This is where you start geting into double optins and setting up your own mailing server, etc..
The bottom line is you can't build a realtionship here as suggested because relationship building through email marketing is done when your prospect opens your emails in a procedural order. You can forget about doing that with solos. IT's not something that I believe can be done.
IF someone is selling solos to their list that's a red flag. They are selling competition to their own inbox. This is why you pay the rates you do with media buys, etc.. You are buying access to a polluted inbox with solos. The only thing you can do here is swap and extract clicks that pump your funnel front end thank you.
To create high customer value in the internet marketing niche you are required to have a deep funnel. Look at MOBE for example: They have events, their MTTB, and MLR. Even then matt loyde did a webinar showing how not all media buys are profitable.
With this model you are concentrating on volume over depth. It's not a bad model, it's great but you need to have a DEEP funnel and even then it won't pay back with liquidation of some kind to give you enough cash flow to eat.
I agree with your basic premise however, I just think this model is something that works when done correctly and people are quick to bash everything without understanding that it's a different environment. You can still make it work. I wouldn't give up on it so fast..
Good luck to you.
(02-08-2015 11:15 AM)AbeLincolnBart Wrote: [ -> ] (02-07-2015 11:32 AM)lazydeveloper Wrote: [ -> ]AbeLincolnBart - The point is that solo ads are built with ad swaps. Go to adswaps.com and you will see that almost all solo ad sellers build their lists this way. If you do a swap with someone then they now get emails from 2 marketers instead of 1. When you sell solos and do swaps the inbox becomes saturated and that is why you can't build a relationship with the subscribers with this traffic source.
The point of a model is to get volume, by creating a system with consistent lead flow. These are just two different models.
Banner media costs money. You need to have a high life time value of a customer for it to pay back within a reasonable time frame. This model allows you to build up capital. It's a different model.
- lazydeveloper -
Thanks for your comments on the C&B model.
I absolutely understand the model.
And, it is scalable up to a point. But there are so many solo ad sellers using the same model has ensured that the quality of leads has become deplorable. Solo ad buyers, the customer you are trying to please in this model, is not pleased with abysmal leads that are the same ones every other hapless solo ad seller possesses and won't pay high prices for these "distressed" leads any more.
Yes, the model is still profitable, but not very. I have 3 friends who've been working this model for a living for over 3 years, and I can't count the number of times they've skype'd me in the last year to complain about how tough it's getting. (Maybe they are doing it all wrong and someone knows better - well - great!!! But I doubt it....)
6 months ago I took the time (3 hrs/day) and money (about 2K) with new accounts all around
(in my wife's name) to test the concept personally. It "works" just like you and Matt P. suggest. I kept track of how much I spent on solo ads, the money I spent on adswaps.com, autoresponders, hosting and software. My 2K investment turned into 5.6K (3.6K profit) in 3 and a half months. I did make money!!! The 250 hours I spent means I made somewhere around $14 -$15 an hour.
But the model continually requires more solo ad purchases to "prime the pump" as it were. I get it, a cost of business. My buddies thought I was lucky to do so well. Maybe I was. But I have learned how to build a pretty good backend funnel. The worst part of it is that you have to "work" at it every day to keep it maintained. There is very little "resting" possible. Maybe outsourcing is the answer. One of my friends did that but then had most of his business taken from him by a "trusted" solo ad seller working in cahoots..., another story, another time...
Maybe the solo ad business is just going through a temporary down cycle that will turn around in the future. I hope so for my friend's sakes, and anyone else choosing that method.
I still prefer the business model where you get high customer value per lead from building a relationship. You have so much more control over your income. AND..., everything valuable in life is about control....
As it is with most things, to each their own....
AbeLincolnBart
