Safelists! What Are They and Why Should I Use Them?
| Category: E-mail Marketing | Date: 2003-03-06 |
People who utilize safelists probably think this is such an elementary question. Well, thats because they already know how to work them.
There are plenty of people who have no idea what a Safelist is, or how to use it. I hope this helps.
A Safelist is merely yet another tool to advertise your business, service, opportunity or what have you.
Some are more responsive than others. Its a pity that some people use them ONLY to send their own messages and never take a moment to read anyone elses. In my opinion, they are the losers. They dont even know what they might be missing out on!
Bad business judgment.
If you ask a dozen people what they think of Safelists youll get a dozen different answers. A sampling of the negative ones are: they are time-consuming, they dont work, they are useless, they are email harvesters. It goes on and on.
Heres the deal from where I sit. Good, bad or indifferent when you are in business you need Advertising. As far as I am concerned, you grab it wherever you can find it. Just as a real estate person lives by the motto, "Location, Location, Location", a business persons mantra is "Advertise, Advertise, Advertise".
Safelists are one way of doing it. You will find that many require what is referred to as an Opt-in sign-up process. This shouldnt throw you. All it is, is an exercise that asks you to confirm your request. With the amount of people crying "SPAM!" these days the Opt-in feature is a source of protection. It confirms that you really do want to belong. SPAM eliminated!
Many newsletters/ezines use this Opt-in feature, my own included. Sure its a little bit of a nuisance, but wouldnt you rather take less than a minute to secure your request rather than being bombarded by email you dont want? Dont we get enough of that already?
Most Safelists have levels of joining, usually Free, Pro and perhaps something called Executive (they all have their own terminology). The level you join at determines how often you can send your mail as well as what other services you may take advantage of at the site. Youll find that many Safelists have some pretty terrific resources designed to help you grow your business.
Another benefit from joining some Safelists at a certain level is that you can make the decision as to whether or not you want to receive mail. If you paid for a certain level of membership, most will just send you mail from other members at your level or higher. Theres no question it makes a difference.
There are arguments pro and con against paying for any level of Safelist membership. You should make your decision based on what you think is best for you.
Some Safelists have stricter policies than others, particularly in the area of bouncing emails. Some will send you fair warnings; others will just delete you automatically. Most do not want to lose you as a customer so they will let you know if your status is in trouble.
Another thing they may stipulate is that if your account is dormant or inactive for a certain period of time, it will be automatically deleted. But, they give you a long rope here. Most say about 180 days of inactivity. Thats a long, long time for an account not to be used. I would think if you havent logged on in all that time, you dont want to be a member any longer, anyway.
It is usually recommended that you get another email address to handle what can become a terrific volume of mail from safelists. Ive been tardy of this and am in the process of doing so. If you join a number of Safelists its a smart move.
Another good feature of Safelists is that you have an option of putting yourself on vacation mode. Essentially, this just means you want to take a break from receiving all that mail, especially if you join one with thousands of members.
Typically, you just go into your account and "sign off" for a period of time. Keep in mind, you will not be able to start resending messages until you switch back over to non-vacation status. Expect to need to wait for a 24-hour period to begin sending again.
Its important for you to know that. Many mistakenly think that the minute they switch over they can start re-sending their messages.
It makes sense that the owners of Safelists dont allow that. Whats to stop anyone from constantly switching back and forth so they can send their own messages but make it glaringly apparent they have no intention of reading anyone elses? Thats NOT what the objective of a Safelist is all about.
To the naysayers of Safelists I have to counter that with the fact that I have built downlines from Safelists, I have grown my Ad Writing Services through Safelists, I have increased the subscribership of my newsletter through Safelists. So, I know for a fact that they do work.
Am I ever disappointed in the responses? Of course. That is the nature of advertising no matter whether its here in Cyberland or out there in the brick-and-mortar world. You must continue to send your ads (good ones, I hope) over and over again. Just like any other business. In fact, just like TV. You dont see them pulling the plug on a commercial after its been shown once or twice.
Bottom line: go ahead and make use of a Safelist to get your message across to the masses. You can always change your mind, but what a shame it would be to have a place to draw attention to what you have available and pass it up.
(c) Sam Knight
About the Author
Author, Sam Knight heads an Affordable Ad Writing service, "The Write Place", is editor/publisher of "BOOMER BRIGADE!" Newsletter boomer4ever.com, and partners with a company that offers low-cost Quality Computer Systemscomplete with a no credit check or interest accrual Lay-a-way Plan! http://www.profitwebservices.com/smk.html
:To contact online see details below.
sam@boomer4ever.com
http://www.boomer4ever.com
There are plenty of people who have no idea what a Safelist is, or how to use it. I hope this helps.
A Safelist is merely yet another tool to advertise your business, service, opportunity or what have you.
Some are more responsive than others. Its a pity that some people use them ONLY to send their own messages and never take a moment to read anyone elses. In my opinion, they are the losers. They dont even know what they might be missing out on!
Bad business judgment.
If you ask a dozen people what they think of Safelists youll get a dozen different answers. A sampling of the negative ones are: they are time-consuming, they dont work, they are useless, they are email harvesters. It goes on and on.
Heres the deal from where I sit. Good, bad or indifferent when you are in business you need Advertising. As far as I am concerned, you grab it wherever you can find it. Just as a real estate person lives by the motto, "Location, Location, Location", a business persons mantra is "Advertise, Advertise, Advertise".
Safelists are one way of doing it. You will find that many require what is referred to as an Opt-in sign-up process. This shouldnt throw you. All it is, is an exercise that asks you to confirm your request. With the amount of people crying "SPAM!" these days the Opt-in feature is a source of protection. It confirms that you really do want to belong. SPAM eliminated!
Many newsletters/ezines use this Opt-in feature, my own included. Sure its a little bit of a nuisance, but wouldnt you rather take less than a minute to secure your request rather than being bombarded by email you dont want? Dont we get enough of that already?
Most Safelists have levels of joining, usually Free, Pro and perhaps something called Executive (they all have their own terminology). The level you join at determines how often you can send your mail as well as what other services you may take advantage of at the site. Youll find that many Safelists have some pretty terrific resources designed to help you grow your business.
Another benefit from joining some Safelists at a certain level is that you can make the decision as to whether or not you want to receive mail. If you paid for a certain level of membership, most will just send you mail from other members at your level or higher. Theres no question it makes a difference.
There are arguments pro and con against paying for any level of Safelist membership. You should make your decision based on what you think is best for you.
Some Safelists have stricter policies than others, particularly in the area of bouncing emails. Some will send you fair warnings; others will just delete you automatically. Most do not want to lose you as a customer so they will let you know if your status is in trouble.
Another thing they may stipulate is that if your account is dormant or inactive for a certain period of time, it will be automatically deleted. But, they give you a long rope here. Most say about 180 days of inactivity. Thats a long, long time for an account not to be used. I would think if you havent logged on in all that time, you dont want to be a member any longer, anyway.
It is usually recommended that you get another email address to handle what can become a terrific volume of mail from safelists. Ive been tardy of this and am in the process of doing so. If you join a number of Safelists its a smart move.
Another good feature of Safelists is that you have an option of putting yourself on vacation mode. Essentially, this just means you want to take a break from receiving all that mail, especially if you join one with thousands of members.
Typically, you just go into your account and "sign off" for a period of time. Keep in mind, you will not be able to start resending messages until you switch back over to non-vacation status. Expect to need to wait for a 24-hour period to begin sending again.
Its important for you to know that. Many mistakenly think that the minute they switch over they can start re-sending their messages.
It makes sense that the owners of Safelists dont allow that. Whats to stop anyone from constantly switching back and forth so they can send their own messages but make it glaringly apparent they have no intention of reading anyone elses? Thats NOT what the objective of a Safelist is all about.
To the naysayers of Safelists I have to counter that with the fact that I have built downlines from Safelists, I have grown my Ad Writing Services through Safelists, I have increased the subscribership of my newsletter through Safelists. So, I know for a fact that they do work.
Am I ever disappointed in the responses? Of course. That is the nature of advertising no matter whether its here in Cyberland or out there in the brick-and-mortar world. You must continue to send your ads (good ones, I hope) over and over again. Just like any other business. In fact, just like TV. You dont see them pulling the plug on a commercial after its been shown once or twice.
Bottom line: go ahead and make use of a Safelist to get your message across to the masses. You can always change your mind, but what a shame it would be to have a place to draw attention to what you have available and pass it up.
(c) Sam Knight
About the Author
Author, Sam Knight heads an Affordable Ad Writing service, "The Write Place", is editor/publisher of "BOOMER BRIGADE!" Newsletter boomer4ever.com, and partners with a company that offers low-cost Quality Computer Systemscomplete with a no credit check or interest accrual Lay-a-way Plan! http://www.profitwebservices.com/smk.html
:To contact online see details below.
sam@boomer4ever.com
http://www.boomer4ever.com
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