Use Safelists To Promote Your Internet Business

A safelist is a group of individuals who have agreed to receive mailings from other safelist members. In return, each member of the group is allowed to mail out materials to the group at regular intervals. Although there is no requirement that any of these e-mails be read, most safelists operate on a "points" basis - that is, readers are rewarded with points every time they click on a link within the mailing to visit the sender's website. These points are traded in later for names when it's the senders turn to mail to the list. In other words, if a sender has accumulated 500 points for reading e-mails, he or she can send mail to 500 members of the list.

Safelists generally offer members two or three levels of membership, with each level having perks or privileges accorded to it. In general, the "free" level allows members to mail out materials once a week, limits the mailings to text-only advertising (no html coding, banners, or fancy stuff), and requires that the member receive unlimited e-mails from members in return. If too much mail bounces, the free member is ousted from the list and their IP address blacklisted. Paid subscriptions allow more mailings per week and limit the number of e-mails a subscriber receives. For a book promotion, the "free" level is fine to use, but certain steps should be taken before subscribing.

In order to utilize free safelist membership, it is best to set up a free internet-based e-mail address in Gmail or Yahoo that can accommodate a large number of unopened mailings and that allows a whitelist to be created easily. Use this address strictly for your safelist e-mail (and any other potential "junk mail" you choose to receive), and save your personal e-mail address for more important correspondence. When you stop using the safelist, then you can terminate this e-mail address and get off of any unwanted mailing lists that you may have ended up on as a result of your marketing efforts.

Next, consider what your goal is in using the safelist. Do you want to build interest in a book or a website, do you need subscribers to an e-zine or newsletter, or do you want the promotion to result in an immediate sale? Can you promote one small part of your business in order to sell other services or products that you offer? The answer to each of these questions will help you craft the promotion that you will mail out to subscribers, and to develop what is known as your "landing page," or the page that respondents will click through to see. For example, if you are a life coach who wishes to build a client base and are using an e-book you've written to promote your services, your safelist promotion may be a short paragraph reading:"Finally there is a quick way to break through the barriers to success and happiness. Life coach Joe Doakes shows you three simple steps to success..."

By: Andrea Gransberry

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Andrea Gransberry found Greenlight Search on Linkedin.com.