Ezine Advertising Myths

Hello to all Brian’s friends!

The freedom of speech, the lack of education plus the others’ herd instinct create some monsters … the myths. It is said “A fool throws a stone into a lake and twenty wise men can’t stop the ripples.”

Let’s see what some ezine advertising “experts” discovered and many other followers spread everywhere they could…

1) Ezine Advertising Doesn’t Work Anymore

Article marketing doesn’t work. PPC doesn’t work. Ezine advertising doesn’t work. Actually for some people nothing works. You know why? They are busy spreading rumours instead of investing in their education.

Well, it’s not our problem what other people are doing, but do you know what the real problem is? There is no one “up there” to force us to wear badges.

Whaaat? Badges?

For example, how nice would it be if an “I‘m dumb” badge were added to someone who tries to drive with the tank of his brand new Mercedes empty? When that person will tell you, “Hey, those new cars are good for nothing”, you’ll take a look at his badge, say politely “I see …” and then you’ll run away quickly without further telling all your friends the “bad” news you’ve just heard …

2) The Longer the Waiting Time, the Better the Ezine

If the waiting time for publishing your solo ad is long (over 4-6 weeks), you found a gem. If you read articles about ezine advertising it’s impossible not to notice this “wonderful” idea.

Let me tell you something quickly … During the last 6 months, the waiting time for solo ads to be published in my own “Ezine Advertising Info Newsletter” was at least 2 months. And you know what? My newsletter is NOT a gem. I wish it were, but it’s not.

By the way, I just checked something … I’m not wearing any embarrassing badge

3) The Higher the Number of Subscribers, the Better the Advertisers’ Result

First of all, the result depends very much on you. Therefore, if you promote a poor quality product, if your landing page is not good, if your ad copy the same, it doesn’t matter the number of subscribers. You will fail anyway.

On the other hand, most of the times a very big number of subscribers hides something: the list is stale, or email addresses are purchased leads (a big No-No), or even the number of subscribers is fake.

Let me quote from the most recent report issued by a reputable email marketing company:

“Messages delivered to small and medium lists have far greater open and click rates than messages delivered to lists containing 1000 or more subscribers. A smaller list does not directly effect open and click rates, but mailings to smaller lists may be targeted better, contain more relevant content or have more recent subscribers” (MailerMailer, Email Marketing Metrics Report issued on May 2009)

This report is not based on beliefs or amateur tiny size tests, but on the analysis of over 300 million messages across 21 industries sent through MailerMailer between July 1st and December 21, 2008.

* * *

There are many other ezine advertising myths (such as “Buy only solo ads and top sponsor ads. Classified ads are not good.“) but if I post a novel here, then Brian may run out of space for his interesting stuff.

So … I’ll stop here thanking him very much for hosting my thoughts …

To Your Success, Whatever You Do!
Adrian Jock

P.S. Hey, I’m sure that Brian’s readers don’t wear any embarrassing badges … If you are a solo ads advertiser and if you want to invest in your education, my brand new ebook fills in the existing gap in this domain … the one and only
(A voice from the backstage … “A big round of applause, please, and let the drums roll”) …
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Ultimate Guide to Solo Ads
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Brian on June 2, 2009 | Filed Under Email Marketing, Featured Articles, Marketing

19 Comments

Brian on June 2nd, 2009

Hi Adrian, I want to thank you for being our first guest blogger and you have written a great post. I agree with everything you have written except one thing… Your ezine is a gem. You also did a fantastic job on Ultimate Guide to Solo Ads and I would recommend it to anyone serious about solo advertising and email marketing.

Adrian Jock on June 2nd, 2009

Hi Brian, thank you so much

Adrian Jocks last blog post..Ultimate Guide to Solo Ads is LIVE

Steve | Trade Show Guru on June 3rd, 2009

Hi Adrian,
I like your quote about ripples, and the idea of having badges, though I’m not sure if I would like what my badge says…

I don’t mind all the myths and bad information floating around. The more competitors that are wasting time on wild gooses chases or just giving up because “nothing works” or “it’s too hard”, well… the less competition and the easier it is for me! Great post! ~ Steve, the trade show guru

Steve | Trade Show Gurus last blog post..The Dirty Little Secret to Designing Great Trade Show Exhibits

Adrian Jock | Ezine Advertising Tips on June 3rd, 2009

Hi Steve,

I see your point (and BTW I’ll give you a nice badge ). However, the whole thing depends on what is the side of the fence you’re looking from.

Taking ezine advertising as an example, if you’re an advertiser then I’m sure that you’re happy if your competitors think that ezine advertising doesn’t work. However, if you’re an ezine publisher who sells ad space you cannot like the myths and bad information floating around.

This applies to any domain. Even to trade show exhibits

Adrian Jocks last blog post..Ezine Advertising Sins Revealed

Walmart $4 Prescriptions on June 4th, 2009

I can’t help but to nod my head in agreement. All the learning is futile if we don’t put it into action.

Yan

Kim Morrissey - CEO TrafficTesters.com on June 5th, 2009

Excellent info! Having tested hundreds of sources in the last 4 years, I can tell you that many of the smaller and “newer” advertising sources can generate much better response rates than the larger and “older” sources. HOWEVER, that’s not always true.

The key is, that you’ll never really know unless you TEST, TEST, TEST! Forget this crucial step, and your going to have a tough time surviving online.

Kim
TrafficTesters.com

Adrian Jock on June 5th, 2009

Hi Steve,

Two days ago I replied to your comment but it seems that Brian’s Akismet considered it spam (Huh?). Let’s see if I remember my reply and this time maybe Akismet will reconsider its opinion

I was saying that I see your point and your badge is a nice one

Strictly regarding your “joy” when some myths are spread, it actually depends on what side of the fence you are.

Let’s look for example at ezine advertising … If you’re an advertiser, you’ll be happy when myths are spread because the less competitors you have, the better your results.

However, if you’re an ezine publisher, the more dumb ideas show up about ezine advertising, the less customers you have … Not so nice.

This applies to any domain. Even to trade show exhibits

That was my reply (or something like this ). Let’s see what Mr. Akismet says now …

Adrian Jocks last blog post..Ezine Advertising Sins Revealed

Adrian Jock on June 5th, 2009

Hi Kim,

You’re perfectly right. Testing is a key word in any type of advertising. Unfortunately too many people think that ezine advertising is a copy & paste business… and then spread different “nice” things

Adrian

P.S. Thank you for subscribing to my “gem”

Adrian Jocks last blog post..Ezine Advertising Sins Revealed

Brian on June 6th, 2009

Hi Steve, I’m pretty impressed with Adrian’s post. I’ve been to his site ADS MARKET Ezine Advertising enough to know he’s a pro. I’m also subscribed to his newsletter – Ezine Advertising Info Newsletter. His ‘tell it like it is’ attitude appeals to me.

I liked the quote about ripples so much I’m going to use it in my next ezine but I couldn’t find the author. I’ll link it to this post or Adrian’s site.

“A fool throws a stone into a lake and twenty wise men can’t stop the ripples.”

Brian on June 6th, 2009

Thanks Yan, as bloogers it’s easy for us to participate in spreading rumours without knowing it. Researching our posts can be difficult and time consuming but it’s important we try. The problem is when the rumours get so big it seems like fact. We see it all of the time in ‘SEO’, for example.

Brian on June 6th, 2009

Hi Kim, Testing really is very important and this is another example of all the rumours out there. Like Adrian said, “Unfortunately too many people think that ezine advertising is a copy & paste business”. This comes from things like marketers trying to promote ebooks and programs that feature instant headlines, subject lines and even complete ‘fill in the blank’ ads. The rumour just spreads from there.

By the way, I believe I was a member of TrafficTesters.com shortly after you launched. Do you have a Twitter account so I can follow you? Mine is ExtremeEzine. I just subscribed to your newsletter.

Brian on June 6th, 2009

I apologize for that Adrian. Akismet must have spammed your comment. As soon as I got your DM on Twitter I went in and found your comment waiting for approval for some reason. I went in with my laptop while out of town and lost signal when I hit approve. I assumed it published but now I can’t find it anywhere. Akismet just released a new update so hopefully it improves a little. Lately it’s also been missing obvious spam comments as spam.

BTW, I’m using threaded comments now so you can hit the ‘reply’ button below a post to reply to a certain person if you want to.

Adrian Jock on June 6th, 2009

Brian, actually that is a proverb that has many versions.

“A fool throws a stone into a well, and it requires a hundred wise men to get it out again.” (some people say this is an Italian proverb, others that is a Greek one and others say that is a proverb shared by Arabs and Jews)

“A fool throws a stone into the sea and a hundred wise men cannot pull it out.”

“When a fool throws a stone in the garden, ten wise people cannot find it.” (Jewish proverb)

and so on

Adrian Jocks last blog post..Ezine Advertising Sins Revealed

Adrian Jock on June 6th, 2009

Hey, your name is Brian, not Akismet. So … you don’t have to apologize.

Don’t worry!
Adrian

Adrian Jocks last blog post..Ezine Advertising Sins Revealed

Brian on June 6th, 2009

That’s very cool Adrian, thanks. They all make a very good point.

Kikolani on June 17th, 2009

I think that most of these things work, they just require a lot of time and dedication to making them work. So many people spread the idea that everything comes quick and easily, when in fact, it really takes much more work than people want to put into it. Instead of jumping from one plan to the next, stick with one for the course and it will start to work for you.

~ Kristi
Kikolani´s last blog ..Benefits of Blogging – Building a Community

Brian on June 18th, 2009

It’s true Kristi, many give up on just about anything online far too early with applying any effort at all. Because it’s the internet it’s somehow everything is expected to be an instant success, including list building and ezine marketing.

Pheak Tol on June 23rd, 2009

i think the “im dumb” badges should work wonders haha i like that – nice guest post Adrian
Pheak Tol´s last blog ..TwitterSnipe – The Ultimate Twitter Automation Platform

Brian on June 23rd, 2009

Hi Pheak, it’s been a while. Adrian’s sign idea is a good one. I use to say the police should be able to hand out ’stupid tickets’ on the road. I like Adrian’s idea better.
Brian´s last blog ..Extreme Advertising Turned Landmark

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