Some feel that if you accept free ads in your publication, it will help build your subscriber base. If you do decide to accept free ads with hope of quickly building your subscriber count or a mailing list, you just might be in for a big surprise.

Realizing that spamsters will most likely harvest their email address, many advertisers get a free "throw away" email address. They use this in their ads, so they don't have their permanent email address inundated with offers from other advertisers. When their offer changes, they get a new one and "beat goes on".

Statistics show that almost 8% of all email addresses submitted by advertisers, are undeliverable each and every week. That means that in about 12 weeks or so, many any of original addresses you gathered are no longer valid. If you are not getting new subscribers at a higher rate than you are losing them, you will find that work is not worth effort required.

The free ad route is a difficult "row to hoe", so why do it? Some people offer free ads with hope of converting them to a paid advertiser. Many people who rely on free ads as their primary method of advertising however, are just not serious when it comes to their business, When they don't achieve immediate success, they either give up or try something else.

While some publishers may consider an "affiliate arrangement", whereby they provide free advertising in return for a split of profits, most won't. While it sounds good on surface, in practice it seldom works out. This also applies to offline advertising such as telemarketing or list services. Most publishers have learned a long time ago that giving away advertising space like this is not cost effective.

Benefits of Opt-in Safelists 1. Email to thousands - this can be done with free safe lists or paid safe lists. Even if you only get a 1% response from thousands, you interact with those that will respond.

2. It's immediate – you can instantly send your ad and receive an immediate response from those interested. With ezine ads, you often have to wait for days or weeks before your ad is displayed.

3. Test your product or service – safelists are a good place to begin testing your ad, before you spend a lot of money on other advertising methods.

4. Track your ads – track those ads that pull best. (Some safelists incorporate tracking in their subscriptions). You can then use these same ads repeatedly in other forms of advertising. The key is to have a great headline, because users will be scanning them for what catches their eye.

5. Low cost way of email marketing – this is a much faster, less expensive way to market than offline marketing. You can reach many more people in a shorter space of time.

6. No fear of spamming or being penalized for spamming – this is because all subscribers are strictly opt-in.

Types of Opt-in Safe Lists Free Safelists - Pros It's free to email to whole list – you can mail to all free and paid subscribers. Email to thousands immediately Pays commissions on referrals

Cons Fills your email box with thousands of offers from other subscribers. No tracking of ads provided Email once a week only

Paid Safelists - Pros Email list (free and paid) every day or every 2 days. Doesn't require you to receive other e-mail ads from subscribers. Membership fees are low Tracking of your ads Pays higher commissions Personalize your messages