A safelist is a form of a traffic exchange. Ads are served to members through permission based emails instead of a centralized site. Sometimes you will see other names for these programs based on how they are set up. Other names include mailers and viral mailers.
Most sites offer a free option and registration only takes a few minutes. You will need 2 email address and most providers require Gmail!
The first address is a contact email, so the site owners and administrators can contact you for information concerning the site and your membership. They may even send small amounts of advertising to this address, similar to the concept of a solo ad.
The second address is where you will receive ads emailed to your inbox. Depending on how many programs you join, you may receive hundreds of messages daily!
During registration you will need to agree to the terms of service. This will also handle the permission for them to send you emails, to avoid any accusations of SPAM complaints. You must agree to receive these emails from the site(s), or you will not be able to use any of these services!
After registration, open your contact email for the verification link. Click this link and log in to the site.
You will most likely see a one time offer, usually for special pricing on an upgrade in the site.
Upgrades for safelists may include a set number of credits per month, increase in how often you can mail, and the maximum number of members you can mail at one time.
The credit system in safelists is similar to traffic exchanges. One credit generally equals one email sent to another list member. The ad will be served similar to a traffic exchange, with a surf bar and timer. The safelist will automatically place a link into each email for this purpose.
To set up your advertising, you will need a subject line and brief body copy in the email with a call to action link. The link will take the viewer to your lead capture page or splash page. You could even send the viewer to a website or social media page. Your ad and destination link must always comply with the terms of service.
Safe lists may require more work than a traffic exchange. First, your headline is important. Second, you have to open an email and click a link before the ad is served with the traffic exchange surf bar. Finally, you will receive hundreds of emails daily and will have to allocate time to manage this contant inflow to your mailbox.
Best practices. Safelists allows viewers to see or reject you ad based on the subject line. This is different than a traffic exchange that serves random ads.
You will need to study copy writing to craft effective subject lines. The subject line must be of interest to people interested in home based business. The subject line is vital because your ad will not be seen if it is not opened.
Do not spend a lot of time with the body copy. Treat this similar to a splash page, you provide a few key points before your call to action. Most members will look for the link to earn credits, before spending time reviewing the body copy of your email.
Your best way to use these services is to build your own personal list. You can provide an interesting lead capture page with a quality lead magnet and get the viewer to become a subscriber. Safelist users are comfortable with email, and your good offer will bring you subscribers.
Safelists require more attention to detail than a traffic exchange. Your ad may not be seen if you have a boring subject line, unless a member just clicks every headline in their account. Your work with a good subject line and brief body copy is in addition to selecting and placing ads in the account.
You can receive hundreds of messages daily, and you need to allocate time to manage your accounts. This continues daily, and may overwhelm you, if you are just accustomed to the ‘on demand’ aspect of the manual traffic exchange.
There are thousands of people using hundreds of these programs. So, do not overlook this offshoot of the traffic exchange industry if you want some serious traffic potential.
The worst way to use these sites is with poorly written subject lines that only promote affiliate links. The newer and lazy marketers will still do these things.
Some popular safelists according to safelist ranking services.