All About Adswaps
Before I get to what I want to talk about today, just a quick update. I have added a bunch of new giveaways to the Giveaway Events page, so check those out when you have a chance.
I have been rather quiet on my blog recently, and I apologize for that, but I’m working on a number of things both here and my “day job” that have kept me rather busy. I’m also flying up to NY tomorrow for my sister’s wedding (my daughter is also a flower girl!) so preparations for that have taken up a bit of my time as well. I’ll try to be more consistent with my posting schedule in the future.
Today I want to cover adswaps. For those of you who are not aware, an adswap is when you and another marketer agree to send an email to each of your lists advertising something for the other person. It’s a simple form of a Joint Venture partnership. In most cases, the ad is for something free or low cost, with the primary motivation being list building.
You are basically paying for another marketer to advertise for you with your own subscriber list, so it only works if you have a comparably sized list, or some other way to compensate for the difference in list size, such as money, multiple mailings, cross-promoting on Twitter, etc.
Where do you find people to swap with? The best way is to look to fellow marketers in your niche that you already have a relationship with. Another great resource is the website IMAdSwaps.com. It’s a forum where you can post your ad swap request or respond to others.
If you don’t have a list to start with, then you are not going to be able to convince anyone to swap with you. Sorry, but that’s just the way these things work. That’s not to say you need a huge list; this is a way to get to that point, after all. My suggestion would be to start with the Giveaway Events, which is why I mentioned them at the beginning of this post. That can be an efficient way to build from zero to several hundred subscribers fairly quickly. Once you reach about 200 subscribers, you can start looking for ad swap partners.
I hope this has been helpful to you. Let me know if you agree with me that ad swaps are the way to go, or if you have a better list building method when you are just starting out.
Related posts:
JR,
Yes, I agree with you — adswaps are the quickest way to grow your list….and giveaway events are THE way to get your list started. I love your way of writing — very clear and to the point. -Norene
Hi JR,
A timely post for me as I am getting involved with quite a few Giveaways so I can begin doing adswaps.
Certainly seems the way to go and accelerating the list growth.
Hopefully be in touch soon with a adswap request!
BTW, check out http://www.jvhero.com it’sfree to join (no aff link) same as IMadswaps but new
Cheers
Sean
Hi JR,
I’m still frustratingly far away from being able to do ad swaps but am truly looking forward to getting involved with some of the other students.
Often feels like I am being left behind no matter how hard I work. But I need to persevere and get this list built. But built with responsive subscribers. It’s easy to get subscribers. It’s how we bond with them that’s important.
Andy
Hey JR,
These are some great tips for everyone to read.
Ad swaps have been my particular spot of interest lately. I’ve recently hit the 200 subscriber mark and am actively looking for people to ad swap with.
To date, I’ve done one ad swap and it went really well… over a 7% opt-in rate. I’ve been using the WarriorForum as a method to do this, but in the meantime, JV Giveaways allow for a steady opt-in growth.
I just signed up with IMAdSwaps.com, so hopefully that will spur some additional growth, quickly!
Talk soon,
Joe
Hi JR
Thats really clear advice.
Like a lot of people, I have a long way to go on traffic and list building in terms of numbers, so there you go.
Best wishes
Mike
I was on a friends blog when I found your blog and I started reading this post and funnily enough I have been hearing alot about ad swaps and it certainly sounds like a great way for people to build their list.
Hope to learn more from you
Mark McCulloch
JR
I agree with you but many of the Giveaway events are not that good these days. I am looking at focussing on the Blog traffic so the list can be built from there. Its not easy but as you say once you overcome the 1st 200 many opportunities like ad swapping seem to open up for people.
Rgds
Pete
Hey JR,
I read this post with great interest, i have been involved in giveaways before but not with my own product but im in the middle of writing my first ebook now so ill be ill be working with them more soon.
Thanks for the advice about adswaps.
Cheers,
Nick
Thanks for the good information on your posts. Re adswap, this sounds in theory like a good idea, I have no problem with givaways with our products, however when you speak about a list are you referring to a mailing list (sorry for the ignorance but this is the first time I have come accross this sort of thing) We are signed up with the data protection act and would not givaway any of our customers or medical contacts without prior permission, with around 8000 on the list that a lot of asking permission letters to write.
What I have found that works is sending out regular blog updates has increased our website traffic.