Don’t Buy Co-reg Email Lists

Edition #55

Lately we’ve been talking a lot about list building. Today I want to review a certain list-building strategy that I tried recently, and that you should avoid like the plague…

Don’t buy a co-reg list!

First of all, what is “co-reg”? Co-reg is short for co-registration, and it comes in several different forms.

Essentially, co-registration is when a person subscribes to one email publication and is simultaneously subscribed to others. Sometimes it is called co-reg when marketers mutually send subscribers to each other’s opt-in pages (this is explained in Keith Wellman’s ListFX manual), but that’s not what I’m talking about. That’s really more of a co-promo than a co-registration.

In the best case scenario, a co-reg would involve voluntarily checking boxes where the specific co-reg publication is named. In other words, the subscriber knows exactly what they’re getting.

However, in most cases it involves checking a box in order to get more information about a certain topic, without knowing exactly what you’ll be getting. You can easily see this practice if you sign up for Hotmail or almost any free email provider. They ask you to check the boxes which correspond to your interests.

Unbeknownst to most users, they are registering for any number of ezines and other email publications, which will soon be flooding their inbox.

In other cases, there is no “box checking” involved. The terms of service (a tiny link at the bottom of the page) explains that they will be sharing or selling your information to other companies.

What may happen then is they will sell these leads to spammers, or to legitimate internet marketers like me who haven’t learned their lesson yet.

Let me tell you about my experience…

A few months ago I came across a site called YourNewList.com, which is run by Jane Mark and Phil Basten of JPE Advertising. In a nutshell the site offers an opportunity to instantly own an opt-in list of 50,000 or more subscribers. You can get a 50,000 member list for $795 all the way up to a 150,000 member list for $1795.

I had been considering ordering a solo email campaign with one of JPE Advertising’s other sites when I came across this offer. Since I was very interested in building my list, and the deal sounded “too good to be true” I emailed Jane about it. I was concerned mainly about the quality of the leads.

This was her reply to me…

Your New list is the best leads you can get. They are leads for a permanent list with a list mananger. You can add your own members to the list and you can order more leads and add them whenever you like. They come with our training and our introductory letters. It’s a whole different ball game than simply running a solo ad . It’s your own list that you manage and control and mail to and there is nothing like this on the net today.

The solo ads are a one time thing

We have pretty responsive lists but to be frank with you, if you can swing getting one of these New Lists, I would drop the solo add run and apply the money to this.

Having your own list of 50,000 is what we have been working to get our clients for two years and now it’s here.

It took us 4 years and a lot of money to grow our lists to 350,000 plus and now our clients can do virtually the same thing in 30 days with a much much samller investment.

We are very excited about this and if you have a long term vision for your business on the net, Your New List is where you should be but,…

You will need to take time to develop a relationship with the list so no mailing of ads for at least 1 to 2 months just introductory letterse and free offers, that kin of thing.

As I looked at her offer, I decided it must be a good deal, even if the leads were only mediocre quality. My remaining concern was regarding the autoresponder service, which was a mandatory part of the deal (and another $69.95/month starting immediately plus a $15 setup fee). I was skeptical whether it was on par with Aweber, which is where my other lists are hosted.

Jane had this to say…

I checked with Phil and here are some of the features you get with the autoresponder.

You can schedule your mailings send in html or text or both
Personalize and track them
Get demographic data collection
Gerenate a custom sign up form to put on your webiste
Manually send
Manually ad an email address
manually delete an address

Basically it does what Awebber does and it has easy set up instructions.

These lists are coming in much faster than we expected and since you really don’t need a lot of training on this, I certainly think it has much more value than any other advertising we offer.

Our frist three oders alreay have their lists in 48 hours and we expect all of the others to be in within 7 days. Thsi will slow down as we get a lot orders but right now we are only 48 hours into this and it is moving.

We are setting up three new list of our own of 150K so you know we like it.

OK, I was assured the leads were good and the autoresponder was good, so I went for the $1795 plan (plus $69.95/month).

Unfortunately, I have to report that this investment was an utter waste of my time and money.

Please understand that Jane and Phil are well-known marketers who have been doing business as long as I’ve been alive. They generally conduct business in a professional manner from what I’ve seen. They’ve also got a lot of friends, which means I’m probably burning a few bridges with this review…so please understand that I’m putting my relationship with you above some potential future joint ventures. But as far as I’m concerned, $1795 is a lot of money, and I want you to avoid making the same mistake.

First, regarding the leads. Were they good quality? No. These were the least responsive, disconnected, unmotivated leads I’ve ever emailed.

Before you start thinking I treated them the wrong way, let me make something clear. I took Jane’s advice and sought to build a relationship with these people. I sent them introductory letters, and a slew of free stuff.

In case you’re wondering whether I sent them good content, and well-written newsletters… I sent them the EXACT same material that was sent at the same time to my primary list which resulted in these testimonials: www.ericstips.com/testimonials/.

I’m sure that’s more than 99% of internet marketers have to show for their work… I assure you that if this was going to be done, at least I did it the “right” way.

I also did the “right” thing by closely monitoring every bounced message that resulted from my mailings. I literally spent hours sifting through bounce messages, email filter confirmations, unsubscribes, and spam complaints. I did this after every message I sent.

The results were dismal, with virtually no profit being generated from this list.

As for the autoresponder, the service is run through A1eBiz, owned by Doc Phelps. Jane said it basically does what Aweber does. Well let me tell you that it basically DOESN’T do what Aweber does.

The service was missing several key features that I rely on at Aweber. For example…

-I was unable to schedule an email to be sent at a certain time
-I was unable to see the history of any emails I’d sent
-I was unable to track open rates
-I was unable to see if a message had successfully been placed in the queue
-And more…

It was really an inconvenience, and did not meet the needs of my newsletter.

However, I do need to mention that I’m not putting down A1eBiz or Doc Phelps. It’s not Doc’s fault that it was portrayed in a different way to me. In fact, I found Doc to be a cool guy who was always there to help. When I had a problem with the mailer one day, Doc made it up to me by giving me an extra 150,000 leads for free.

I will even go so far as to say that if you have a legitimate reason for needing a service that allows you to import purchased leads (Aweber does not allow you to do this), A1eBiz is a viable solution. You can check them out here:

A1eBiz Solutions

You can also buy these same leads directly from Doc for a much lower price. He has them listed on his site for $600 for 100k, but if you buy them regularly he told me he sells them for half of that! They are MLM co-reg leads, so if you’re running an MLM business and you don’t mind being called a spammer then you might want to look into it.

OK, so the list wasn’t responsive, and I was paying $69.95/month to keep it going, so I decided to bring as many subscribers as possible into my Aweber account. There were about 275,000 subscribers left on my A1ebiz list. Out of that number, exactly 71 people opted to continue receiving Eric’s Tips…and that was even after a final bribe.

Again these people received the same newsletter that received accolades from my “real” subscribers. So if you’re one of those 71 people who made the move, thank you! As for the other 274,929, I guess they weren’t reading it or just weren’t interested in making money online.

Here’s the final result:

$2019.85 spent for the list and 3 months of service
At least a dozen hours pruning the list of bad emails, etc.
Several spam complaints
71 subscribers

That’s an average of $28.45 per subscriber AND I had to work hard for them. To be honest, those subscribers may be worth more than $28 over a lifetime, but there’s a LOT of easier and cheaper ways to get subscribers.

I also do not like being called a spammer (apparently some marketers don’t mind), and for that alone the project would not be not worth it for me.

Bottom line: the point of this review is not to bash any particular marketers, but to educate you about co-reg lists. Maybe Jane and Phil will learn something from it too.

In conclusion, I don’t want to finish up such a negative-toned edition without providing a few bright resources that you can turn to for building your list the healthy way:

1) Keith Wellman’s ListFX (affordable course… I highly recommend)
2) Dave Valliere’s Advanced Email Marketing Course (Dave’s a master and you can’t go wrong with this)
3) Aweber (I use them for my lists)

As always you can leave comments here in the blog.

Have a great day!

78 Comments

  • At 2006.05.29 02:13, Michael said:

    Hi, Eric - I am spending a few hours over the holiday unsubscribing from dozens of email lists that are residuals from all the recent JV giveaways. Your blog posts like this are why I will NEVER unsubscribe from your lists. Way to go, and thanks! I got sucked in to not one but two co-reg deals in my early days, both recommended by well-known gurus, and both totally non-responsive. Keep telling it like it is!

    • At 2006.05.29 02:14, Kevin said:

      Hi Eric
      If it eases your pain I have spent over $20000 in co reg leads - from reputable brokers, used A1eBiz among others, commissioned a robust server to host my mailing program when autoresponder providers were not delivering as promised, and worked hard at it for over 12 months. Did it right - gave lots of value - got called names and after earning less than $1000 out of the whole experience decided to give it up. Quite frankly I felt a bit stupid. Everyone else using co reg leads was apparently booming and I was going bust. So it gives me small comfort to hear that I am not alone in this experience - although I would have preferred for it to have worked for both of us. maybe another reader will set us straight.
      Regards
      Kevin

      • At 2006.05.29 02:19, Tobey said:

        Eric: I am a newbie as much as a newbie can be. I have 2 websites from joining several people. However, I do not understand how to build my email list. Can you make some suggestions or have you already written about it in another newsletter? Thank you. Tobey Craft

        • At 2006.05.29 02:20, Eric said:

          Michael - thanks for the high compliment

          Kevin - Dang! your experience is more than a small comfort, it almost makes me feel good about myself, LOL ;)
          Well hopefully we can steer some people in the right direction. I heard Jonathan Mizel (one of the all-time most famous email marketers) mention co-reg leads recently. From what I recall he basically said he used to use them quite a lot, and still does a little bit with them, but does not generally recommend them anymore. So I got the impression that several years ago they were still a viable and profitable option, but now they are not too hot (I’m guessing due to the proliferation of spam). I would be interested to hear if anyone out there has had success with co-reg and if so, where and what they did…

          • At 2006.05.29 02:21, Eric said:

            Tobey - you need to learn the basics of email marketing. The good news is that you can do it the RIGHT way from the very start.

            I would suggest picking this up for only $9.95 and reading all the material and listening to all the audios:

            $9.95 ListFX special

            • At 2006.05.29 02:27, Nigel Baker said:

              Thanks Eric

              Its take guts to tell it like it is

              I appreciate your comments and time take

              Keep it up

              Regards
              NigelB

              • At 2006.05.29 02:33, Olwyn Kinder said:

                Hi Eric

                Presently I do not have a website as I am still working on getting online.

                I find your reviews very helpful and informative. Your constructive criticism certainly enables those of us who are not so well informed not to make costly mistakes.

                Thanks for all your advice.

                I look forward to your emails as they always contain something worthwhile.

                Regards

                Olwyn

                • At 2006.05.29 02:39, Ken Little said:

                  Eric

                  I feel your pain.
                  I really appreciate you taking the time to share your experience
                  so it’s one your readers don’t have to go through.

                  Thanks heaps for sending Eric’s Tips.

                  Its great content that I make sure to read.

                  Write Your Way to Prosperity
                  Ken Little
                  http://www.Articles-Profit.com

                  • At 2006.05.29 02:39, Douglas Titchmarsh said:

                    So I’m not the only one to find co-reg leads a waste of time. I purchased over 8,000 leads from a reputable marketer, tried to build a good relationship by sending only good information and freebies for the first few weeks, and then tried to get them into my main list with a bribe.
                    Nothing. Not one response in any way at all good or bad.
                    I tried several times, and from the 8,000 I got not one subscriber to my main list. I also tried another service, which turned out to be just a way for the seller to build their own list by reselling leads, and letting someone else take the risk to get them to join the sellers mlm list bulder.
                    I was considering trying one final time until I read your post Eric, now I’ll stick with building my own lists the slow but sure way.
                    Thanks for the warning
                    Douglas Titchmarsh

                    • At 2006.05.29 02:42, Michael Holdcroft said:

                      Offers like that sure are tempting. I have a couple like that too, but I am very carefull about how I use them. The main problem is not knowing where they came from.

                      On top of that, they are usually quite “old”, which can be anything from a week upwards. That means they often do not remember signing up and blast you for spamming them.

                      Usually, I just look through them and just use the yahoo addresses, which I then can use with IM or 360.

                      I can certainly agree with your comment about them being very low on responsiveness. Generally, I would say they are not worth the time, energy and price.

                      • At 2006.05.29 02:42, Liz said:

                        Hi Eric

                        Thanks for the great tip. I was recently at a seminar in Chicago and must have recommended your blog to a 100 people! Many were newbies some old timers, but I told them if they wanted to read a newsletter from a marketer that would really look out for their best interest, to join Ericstips! Keep up the good work!

                        • At 2006.05.29 02:46, Christi said:

                          You know, I’ve always been leery about those sorts of things, although I HAVE seen them touted by people I “respect” (sorta) online. Bad enough to have to subscribe to their service, but when it can’t deliver the service you want, that’s not at all good. Then, bad leads on top of it?? Bad news all the way around. Too much like work. Guess it’s better to stick with the prominent autoresponders that build relationships with the ISPs–AWeber, EmailAces, GetResponse are the only ones I know of.

                          Appreciate the info, Eric. (Oh, I also have a problem with folks that can’t spell that badly, but that’s just me). Regards,

                          • At 2006.05.29 02:47, Eric said:

                            Liz- thanks for the word of mouth :)

                            Christi- Yes I’ve seen this stuff promoted by fairly respectable marketers too. The problem is they havn’t tried it. YourNewList has a very lucrative affiliate program, and I was so excited about the opportunity that I almost turned around and promoted it to my own list before trying it out. Fortunately, I decided to wait and see how it panned out….but I could see how a legitimate marketer could promo something like this thinking it’s a good way to help their members build a list…

                            • At 2006.05.29 02:51, Edith Leonard said:

                              Hi Eric.
                              I guess you could say that I am the oldest newbie you ever had.
                              Still learning about what a computer can do.I get Eric’s tips
                              and use them when I can. Being in the 80’s and trying to help
                              a Soc. Sec. Income. A Bit glad that I wasn”t able to buy a lot
                              of items ( no cas$). I did find another very helpful person tho’
                              and if anyone wants to visit him, they can email me for his
                              website. Sorry Eric, hope you do not mind. But I do need instructions, like the old song-Put your little foot right there,
                              some programs I need to do baby steps . Eric”s tips are grrreat. Edith

                              • At 2006.05.29 02:55, Izrul Fizal said:

                                Hi Eric,

                                After reading your review on Co-Reg List, I wish you tell me sooner. Because I am a victim of this Co-Reg List as well. But I don’t buy this YourNewList.com. I join this sort of program handle by Gary Baker. I have to pay $45/month to get his so called responsive list of 5000 lists.

                                I was very happy to obtain the list. So I followed exactly the same step like you did which is by sending a friendly email to this list. Man, not only this list not responsive, most of them request to be deleted or unsubsribed. And some are very angry by telling me where the hell did I get their email address from. Before you jump to conclusion saying that I send an offer to them in my first email, the thing that I done was by giving them a lot of freebies for them to use to promote their business.

                                I was very frustrated after spending $45 for nothing. So I tried to request for a refund. This guy insult me. I don’t even want to mention what he said to me. He also have his own forum so I tried to post a message to everybody about him, but he is so damn smart, he already blacklisted my IP address so I couldn’t post a message. Everytime I tried to post a message, it will reply like this “You are not that smart”.

                                So, the conclusion is simple. To those who read Eric’s blog right now, STAY AWAY from Co-Registration List program. It will not work. It’s better to find your own list rather than to buy leads. Its so expensive and you cannot be sure the responsive of the list.

                                • At 2006.05.29 02:55, Frank Woodman Jr said:

                                  Eric,

                                  It’s good to see someone telling the truth and I too will keep reading your newsletters and emails.

                                  The fact is there aren’t any easy, fast, cheap ways to get good leads and build a good list except to do it yourself.

                                  Anyone who tells you different is just after your money. Worse is the fact that you stand a very good chance of being labled a spamer for your trouble. I guess in fact you are if you end up sending out email or newsletters that people didn’t subscribe too. Just because you gave someone money for the list doesn’t mean that your not spamming.

                                  So the bottom line I’ve learned is; don’t use email blasters, list services, or tricky misleading methods to try to build your lists.

                                  The only way to survive in the long run while making money on line is to take your time and build a good solid list the old fashioned way one valued subscriber at a time.

                                  Frank Woodman Jr

                                  • At 2006.05.29 03:09, Ross said:

                                    I have been sniffing around the internet and internet marketing for some months and my over-all impression is that internet marketing is just a small group of people selling internet marketing tools etc. to other internet marketers. Am I just to cynical?

                                    • At 2006.05.29 03:23, Gordon Lee said:

                                      Eric,

                                      Thanks for your honest and no holds barred reviews. This has been a subject that has been bugging me for a long long time as I have been burned a number of times by these co-reg lists.

                                      The first time, I thought that perhaps I was inexperienced and did not know how to nurture my list and build a healthy relationship with them. My leads practically disappeared overnight (ok, it was 2 nights!).

                                      The second time, I was smarter :) or so I thought. I painstakingly build up my autoresponder messages… threw in tons of freebies…. did not even ask them to buy anything for 10 emails. Hmm…. every time after a mailing, I will lose around 10 to 15% of my list! I was tearing my hair out trying to figure out what was happening.

                                      I then gave it a shot recently again. Same story, same ending.

                                      I am getting off the Co-reg boat and applaud you for warning others about it. I guess, if its too good to be true, it usually is.

                                      Gordon

                                      • At 2006.05.29 03:25, Jamie said:

                                        Hi Eric,

                                        I must say, that is an AWESOME review. Yes, yes, it was permeated with a negative tone, and had not much good… NOTHING good to say about co-reg lists, but it was awesome in it’s straight forth honesty. I have to say that I know that I will never un-subscribe from your list. I knew that as soon as I read 8 lines into this review.

                                        Something I am astounded by, though, is that Jane and Phil are supporting something so crappy! Man! *shakes head*

                                        Alright man, keep up the good work, keep telling it… And SELLING it straight.

                                        Your my kind of people Eric. The kind with a work ethic and integrity that screams “DO IT RIGHT, OR NOT AT ALL!”

                                        Ya hit it right on the head with this one. Rooting for your success,

                                        Jamie

                                        P.S. Christi, it’s not just you. Spelling and grammar are major selling points to me too.:-) Peace folks.

                                        • At 2006.05.29 04:03, Eric said:

                                          Thanks for the comments Edith, Izrul, Frank, Gordon, Jamie, and anyone I missed….

                                          Ross- You certainly have every right to be cynical, but internet marketing is not just marketers selling tools to marketers. The internet is a huge medium for worldwide commerce, and billions of dollars are being spent on the web. Only a small % of this is comprised by internet marketing tools.

                                          Before getting into the “marketing advice” niche, I was making the majority of my income from promoting non-marketing related products and services.

                                          • At 2006.05.29 04:04, John Watson said:

                                            Hi Eric

                                            Thanks for your compelling and courageous blog. I appreciate you
                                            putting your readers interests first.

                                            Mercifully, I haven’t tried co-reg lists but I have wasted a lot of money
                                            on things that didn’t work or which I didn’t make work so it cheers me up to hear of other people wasting their money too!

                                            Best wishes and keep up the good work.

                                            John Watson

                                            • At 2006.05.29 04:23, anne said:

                                              Thank you Eric I really appreciate your straightness and ability to say it how it actually is. I have been burnt so many times it is not funny - however I will continue in an effort to actually make money online as I really believe it can be done! Again thank you.

                                              • At 2006.05.29 04:24, Janet Barrett said:

                                                Hi Eric!
                                                Once again you tell it like it is! Brilliant Review! Up front, straight forward, no BS. Always there to help and warn others like us not to make such costly mistakes. I have already deleted many, many subscriptions because I’m not getting anywhere with them, and quite frankly I ended up deleting them without bothering to read - most of them seem to be duplicating/copying each other with the same old yada yada. But your newsletters are always refreshing and I always look forward to them!

                                                • At 2006.05.29 04:51, Rich Rubinstein said:

                                                  Eric,

                                                  I’ve been very satisfied with the items you’ve recommended and with your newsletter, which is one of the very few that I get that are actually worth reading.

                                                  So, although your credibility was already high, it shot up like a rocket when I read your negative review. I had a very similar experience with Jane and Phil. Since they are such respected and experienced marketers, I had thought that it was just me.

                                                  I also had a similar experience with Doc Phelps. I found him to be willing to bend over backwards trying to help, but I got poor results using his service.

                                                  I think that you did a great job of covering the pros and cons of co-reg leads.
                                                  I’ve had similar experiences with “spam” complaints and enormous attrition as a result of purchased leads from supposedly reputable marketers.

                                                  I am convinced that the only leads worth having are true opt-in leads, where the prospect actually knows who you are and what they’re signing up for.

                                                  Great job!

                                                  • At 2006.05.29 05:04, Albert said:

                                                    Thank you, Eric. I greatly appreciate your honesty and integrity.
                                                    You have every reason to bash people, but you use tact and sensitivity. That really takes self restraint to bridle one’s emotions. You have every reason to be totally angry, but you turned your negative experience into a “silver lining” learning moment! Thank-you!
                                                    I am slowly by slowly trying to build my lists. I certainly had considered Co-reg leads, but no more. Thanks for your insights. Please keep up the good work.

                                                    • At 2006.05.29 05:09, Gavin said:

                                                      Hey Eric,
                                                      I have a huge co reg list and you know what?
                                                      The first mailing I sent them was a high value freebie and guess what, 40,000 subs and only 7 clicks!
                                                      3 of which were me testing, I think the issue here is that A1ebiz has been abused by many marketers and as such has been blacklisted by most isp’s so very few mails even get delivered.
                                                      The only way to build a responsive list I’m afraid is to do it the old fashioned way, JV’s etc.
                                                      Let me know your thoughts!
                                                      Take care
                                                      Gavin

                                                      • At 2006.05.29 05:56, Paul Kincell said:

                                                        Hi Eric

                                                        I cannot spek too highly about your reviews and your erudite and regular e mails. In a full inbox yours are the e mails that I always open first and I look forward to improving my education in this fascinating area with every mail.

                                                        Its like having my own trusted friend giving me advice and that is a great comfort in this busy and copmpetitive world!

                                                        Keep up the great work Eric, from a satisfied and appreciative ‘friend’!

                                                        Sincere thanks

                                                        Paul

                                                        • At 2006.05.29 06:04, Graham said:

                                                          I am another newbie with little understanding, no money , plenty of time,a wish to find success, but still without luck. I have tried a couple of programs, lost money, and even had money taken from my credit card months after resigning. Now I won’t use my credit card on the net.
                                                          The major problem I have is understanding instructions being given to get something up, and running. It seems new words are being used to mean the same thing by different “services”
                                                          I need baby BABY steps as I always seem to be lost, not knowing what to do or be able to find where the next step is from the instructions given.
                                                          Had My gripe don’t feel any better though.
                                                          Graham

                                                          • At 2006.05.29 06:05, Eric said:

                                                            Graham - Hang in there and don’t give up the dream. The one thing I will contend however, is that you will probably need to spend money online at some point before you can become successful in online business. I’m not saying you need to go out and buy every gimmick and tool… after all, another well known marketer (maybe Mark Joyner?) said something to this effect…

                                                            “You don’t need money to make money. If you can’t make money without money, what makes you think you can make money with it?”

                                                            In other words, there is no magic program out there that you can buy which will make you successful.
                                                            YOU are what will make you successful. However, that being said, there are certain things you need to buy simply due to the nature of this business… like a domain, web hosting, and usually some form of advertising.

                                                            I’ve had this type of comment many times, and I’ll try to take the time in the next couple months to put together a special newbie page with my personally recommended “baby steps”.

                                                            • At 2006.05.29 06:21, Rev. David B. Smith said:

                                                              Thanks Eric. I reall appreciate your frankness. It’s great to find someone who tells it like it is (and who shares my dislike of leads).

                                                              • At 2006.05.29 06:22, Kenneth said:

                                                                Eric,

                                                                Sure glad to read this blog on Co-reg ! I was really toying with idea of trying out the program!

                                                                I get more information from your newsletter, in a short message then in all the ebooks i’ve downloaded and read!

                                                                Just keep me on your list and well informed, heck I need the info you send!

                                                                Ken

                                                                • At 2006.05.29 06:22, Dave said:

                                                                  Hi Eric,

                                                                  Thanks for that..I looked at the newlist offer when it first came out but decided against it due to financial constraints and also like Izrul I tried Gary Bakers co reg lists and can confirm it is an utter wate of time. If you want to succeed in this business then you have to build your own list - it may take longer but at least you have the chance to build a relationship with people who wanted to be on your list.

                                                                  Keep up the great work it really is a refreshing change to hear from someone who actually tells it as it is even if it may upset one or two of the “alleged gurus”

                                                                  Kind Regards

                                                                  Dave

                                                                  • At 2006.05.29 07:12, Linda said:

                                                                    Thank you for sharing your pain!! I have considered this route but didn’t have the funds to gamble. Now I know NOT to and I appreciate you taking the time and having the guts to take a stand.

                                                                    • At 2006.05.29 07:18, Dorothy Harper said:

                                                                      Dear Eric,

                                                                      I have been on your list for some time now and always find your tips to be enlightening, informative, honest, and your style of delivery very refreshing. I intend to stay on your list.

                                                                      I was wondering if you could give me a nudge in the right direction. I have a few challenging irons in my internet pot:

                                                                      * I Create unique, hosted, and fully managed (I do all the work) Real Estate Websites: (www.miniworldrealty.com)(www.realty-net.us)

                                                                      * I am creating a Holistic Portal (with real answers for the most perplexing health problems) still under construction: (www.holistic-net.us)

                                                                      Lastly,

                                                                      * I’m trying to promote a health and wellness product that I use every day, that I truly believe in: (www.xooma-net.us)

                                                                      Recently, I purchased some biz-op leads (200) with my limited budget, and have not had any response whatsoever, which leads me to my next question:

                                                                      One of your responders, Frank Woodman Jr said:

                                                                      “The fact is there aren’t any easy, fast, cheap ways to get good leads and build a good list except to do it yourself.”

                                                                      “The only way to survive in the long run while making money on line is to take your time and build a good solid list the old fashioned way one valued subscriber at a time.”

                                                                      Eric, I honestly believe that Mr. Woodman is correct. My only problem is — how do you do that? How do you build a list from scratch - other than put up a website and have folks opt-in for your newsletter?

                                                                      Eagerly looking forward to your response,

                                                                      Dorothy Harper

                                                                      • At 2006.05.29 07:32, Mamadou Yabuku ll said:

                                                                        hi eric, just look at all the people making comments here.
                                                                        i thought you were my secret weapon.

                                                                        people care because, You care!

                                                                        you share the good and the bad with us and that makes you
                                                                        human.

                                                                        keep telling it like it is.

                                                                        Mamadou Yabuku ll

                                                                        • At 2006.05.29 07:34, IAN Del CARMEN said:

                                                                          Hi Eric! :-)

                                                                          I also did almost the same thing. But I didn’t spend that much! I started having my accounts from free autoresponder services which include a specific number of email addresses. I started having them in my mailing sequences (building relationship and giving away freebies and all) until they one-by-one opted out. Then I realized that the real best thing is to have your own list from your own sweat.

                                                                          I started building my own responsive lists with the two best giveaways: EveryoneWillWin.com and EasterJVGiveaway.com and until now, they’re with me and we’re all having a great time.

                                                                          I got Keith Wellman’s ListFX and it’s helping me now. I’m also looking at Jimmy Brown’s List and Traffic.

                                                                          Bottom line, build your own subscribers by working on it. Co-registration leads, free leads, safelists, etc. are just a waste of money and most of all, TIME.

                                                                          IAN Del CARMEN
                                                                          http://iandelcarmen.net/blog

                                                                          • At 2006.05.29 08:09, Charlie said:

                                                                            Hi, Eric~
                                                                            One of the things that keeps me coming back to your Tips is the fact that you “tell it like it is.” Keep it up, and you will have at least one loyal subscriber!

                                                                            I have had nothing but good things to say about Doc Phelps and A1ebiz. Several years ago I used him when first starting out with exaclty the same thing you have done w/ co-reg subscribers, using Doc as a resource. Although my experience was as typical as the ones posted here, Doc was a blessing to me. When I first signed up to his free account to test, I had trouble uploading leads, and had only been working on the account for an hour when the phone rang. It was Doc calling to walk me through it all step by step. A guy can’t ask for any better customer service than that…

                                                                            Peace,

                                                                            Charlie~

                                                                            • At 2006.05.29 08:33, Mei Ling said:

                                                                              Hi Eric

                                                                              You are one of the few marketers whose newsletters and emails I read and look forward to. I am still a newbie and I have yet to start building my list. However, I am in the process of doing something to build my list. Yes, I am taking action.

                                                                              I feel better that even experienced marketers get “conned” into purchasing leads because I have spent nearly $4500 on a traffic generating program. And I have also purchased leads from a well known marketer. But after reading so much about the risk of being accused a spam, I did not do anything with the list after all.

                                                                              Looks like there is no short cut to success. However cliche it may sound, slow and steady is the way to go.

                                                                              This is the first time I felt compelled to give my 2 cents worth : )

                                                                              • At 2006.05.29 09:37, Greg Miller said:

                                                                                Hey Eric, thanks for giving us the straight goods. I know how you feel about the spam complaints. It drives me crazy. I am giving out FREE 200MB Online Backup accounts and I send info on how to get the most out of your free account. For some strange reason I still get the odd spam complaint. To top it off I am generating most of my leads by paying $2000/month for a text link on a site with an Alexa rating of under 360. Paying to have people complain about me is one thing I will never get used to.

                                                                                Greg Miller

                                                                                • At 2006.05.29 10:07, Anthony Tomei said:

                                                                                  Eric,

                                                                                  You couldn’t be more wrong regarding co-reg lists.
                                                                                  Yes, you may have gotten a RAW deal, but that doesn’t
                                                                                  mean ALL co-reg leads are a bad thing.

                                                                                  Co-reg is the SECRET behind the BIG lists you hear
                                                                                  some GURUS bragging about. It is the fastest way to
                                                                                  build a massive list in a few months time.

                                                                                  The trick in making this work is finding a reputable
                                                                                  lead generating company that offers co-reg at an
                                                                                  affordable price, these leads need grooming, they
                                                                                  need to be viewed as an unresponsive list at first,
                                                                                  and expect more than half to unsubscribe, but…

                                                                                  The other 25% that don’t unsubscribe will be yours.
                                                                                  Let’s say you bought 600,000 co-reg leads and then
                                                                                  you sent an e mail in which 450,000 unsubscribed.

                                                                                  You gained 150,000 new subscribers!

                                                                                  That’s 1 to 3 years if you were to build it on your own.

                                                                                  You gained that much in a fraction of this time.

                                                                                  It’s all about choosing the right company to purchase
                                                                                  co-reg from. You happened to get burned and charged
                                                                                  way too much for too little leads…

                                                                                  Thanks For Listening,

                                                                                  Anthony Tomei
                                                                                  http://www.tomeimarketing.com

                                                                                  • At 2006.05.29 10:32, Linda said:

                                                                                    Eric::
                                                                                    I am still learning my way around internet marketing. I know that building a list is very key to the success of a website. But I had never heard of co-reg leads before receiving your email. Thanks for saving this newbie a ton of money. It seems we are always looking for the magic bullet, and so far, I don’t think any of them have hit the target. Keep up the good work.

                                                                                    • At 2006.05.29 10:36, Jack Hadley said:

                                                                                      Hi Eric,
                                                                                      Here is one to stay away unless you like giving money away. I purchased E-Blaster Pro Plus (Howard L. Moreland) for $ 397.00.
                                                                                      I didn’t get even 1 response let alone anyone signing up. I e-mailed them 4 times and called them 4 times but no one would return my calls. All I was asking for was what day did you send out the e-mails. After 1 month of trying to get an answer I told them I wanted my money back. They sent me a e-mail stating they would look into it. That was 6 weeks ago and still no answer.
                                                                                      There should be some way to report these rip off people. Eric, if you know anyway to report these programs please let me know. Thank you.

                                                                                      Jack Hadley

                                                                                      • At 2006.05.29 10:59, Andrew Larder said:

                                                                                        Eric, there’s no affiliate link here, so you know i’m just doing this as a favor - but take it with a grain of salt as I don’t use sophisticated metrics, etc. You already know the best lists come for the giveaway type promotions - I have had fairly good results from a local Vancouver company - Eric James at Listmedia.com - I can abolutely say A) great customer service - personal response from owner B) lots of tools to help (or at least TRY to help get better response rates, etc from whatever lists we have and C) a variety of options as to how the subscribers are gathered - single opt in - that’s what I did, roughly $500 for 5000 subscribers - price goes up if you opt for double opt in - I’m going to switch to this as I have received some 12 year old emails asking who the heck I am -LOL - and even TRIPLE opt in is available!

                                                                                        They have a large sign up sheet, and people tick off whatever publications they wish to receive

                                                                                        Response has been good - except for 12 year olds - LOL - I’ve been meaning to move to double opt in - should have done it ages ago

                                                                                        There are MANY big name marketers recommending it on their recommendation page, and the subscribers are just popped into your getresponse or aweber account - automatic - you get an email each day telling you how many were added

                                                                                        Take this as a careful recommendation as I can’t give you actual purchase numbers and how it has actually worked money wise - I was more interested in reaching a larger mass - and I passed 20,000 subscribers just the other day

                                                                                        No affiliate link - but maybe you’d find what they offer to be the best co-reg out there

                                                                                        Watching and Reading your stuff,

                                                                                        And loving it!

                                                                                        Andrew

                                                                                        • At 2006.05.29 11:42, Michael Duarte said:

                                                                                          Eric,

                                                                                          A very BIG thank you. I was this close to signing up for one of their packages. I have become
                                                                                          very gun-shy about these kinds of leads. As other participants replied in this bog, there absolutely
                                                                                          right about finding ways to build you lists …”the old fashioned way”. I don’t think you ever have to
                                                                                          worry offending anyone when your putting out this kind of review and experienced it yourself.
                                                                                          Great advice and thank you for having the courage to write it. We need more of this type of honesty
                                                                                          about different “bally-hood” programs.

                                                                                          Michael

                                                                                          • At 2006.05.29 11:50, Bruce Symons said:

                                                                                            Hey Eric
                                                                                            Its about time somebody has the guts to let all know about the lead sellers.
                                                                                            I have been burned many times. The best and safest way to get a list without
                                                                                            many spam complaints is build it yourself. The Listf/x you mentioned is a
                                                                                            great start for anybody they know what they are talking about.

                                                                                            Thanks again Eric
                                                                                            Love your tips and use them

                                                                                            Bruce

                                                                                            • At 2006.05.29 12:00, Suzanna said:

                                                                                              Thanks for the Great Info Eric! I too am a Newbie, but learning daily. You know the more you learn the more you seem to need to learn to keep up. Each day I weed through my emails, still get a lot of spam from people I know I did not sign up with, so I must have been on one of those lists. Also I have noticed I get a lot of duplicates right after the other and of course you can’t talk to an autoreponder to let them know about it, you just get another auto reponse to send a support ticket, who has time for that. After I weed through all the worthless stuff and duplicates they are flagged and then I go back and read through them. Your tips and newletters are always the first ones I read. Please, Keep the Great information coming I learn a lot from you and its Greatly Appreciated. I got a very disturbing blog letter from another person I subscribe to on marketing practices of pre-made ad sense sites, if anyone is interesting in reading it, go here,

                                                                                              http://www.howtocorp.com/cgi-bin/webbbs_config.pl/read/55186

                                                                                              Again thank you very much! Suzanna

                                                                                              • At 2006.05.29 12:01, Eric said:

                                                                                                Suzanna - thanks for the comment. A few quick comments about the Adsense sites issue you brought up…
                                                                                                1) I can’t say for sure, but the sellers intention probably wasn’t to scam newbies. He probably just had bad instructions.
                                                                                                2) Newbies who file complaints with the FTC and get their lawyers involved because a $29.95 product didn’t work out from them are not the kind of person we should be listening to.
                                                                                                3) I am currently working on a fantastic solution to the poor-quality AdSense sites/templates that have been running rampant across the web. I can’t reveal the details yet, but it will be out in the first week of July.

                                                                                                • At 2006.05.29 12:04, Lisa Preston said:

                                                                                                  Hi, Eric!
                                                                                                  I knew you were more than just another pretty face! ;)
                                                                                                  I am simply delighted to read this post, as I was considering the same purchase, from the same people!
                                                                                                  I may be a bit old-fashioned and over-cautious, but I really do prefer to build my list through slower, more personal means. I’ve never had someone accuse me of spam, and I spend most of my time GIVING things, rather than SELLING things…
                                                                                                  For me, this is rewarding.
                                                                                                  I hope to build the incredible trust and relationships with my own list as you have with yours.
                                                                                                  You are a true inspiration!
                                                                                                  God Bless!

                                                                                                  Warmest regards,
                                                                                                  Lisa Preston

                                                                                                  • At 2006.05.29 12:33, Eric said:

                                                                                                    To the dozens of replies that I don’t have time to respond to - Thank you for your encouragement and support! I appreciate every comment.

                                                                                                    • At 2006.05.29 12:38, Brother Paul said:

                                                                                                      Eric,

                                                                                                      Thanks for the tip. Was about to go with Nitro Marketing and their penny a lead deal on co-reg, but got the news from you in time. I, also, will continue to build our Found Secrets list a few subscribers at a time the right way.

                                                                                                      To answer somebody’s question earlier about internet marketers just selling to each other, we know there are some that do that. But, then there are some good ones out there, like our good friend Eric, who has proved otherwise. There are others who branch out into a niche market so they are not competing directly with other internet marketers.

                                                                                                      There’s good and bad in internet marketing. And, sometimes, you just have to LOOK to find the GOOD!

                                                                                                      Make it a great day!

                                                                                                      Brother Paul
                                                                                                      Webmaster

                                                                                                      • At 2006.05.29 12:42, Eric said:

                                                                                                        Dorothy - There are a lot of techniques which can speed up the list-building process. These are the most successful ones I’ve found so far. Hopefully I will be able to expand upon this at some point in the future…

                                                                                                        1) “Butterfly marketing” style sites, with a free giveaway. You can actually build these type of sites without any software, but I’ve found it often helps to use a program like BM or my Motivated MArketing system.

                                                                                                        2) Join free giveaways. I did a newsletter about it here: Ebook giveaways and directories

                                                                                                        3) Do co-promos with other marketers. You email your list and they email theirs (obviously you have to have a list before you can do this)

                                                                                                        4) Buy solo email ads from respectable marketers. I’ve found lately that I need to suppress the desire to use solo ads to promote products, and use them only to get subscribers. You can make money by promoting products, but if you can capture some of their subscribers you’re building your business.

                                                                                                        • At 2006.05.29 12:54, Jim said:

                                                                                                          I too thank you for this post Eric.

                                                                                                          Really, how many of the big guys (no names but… we know who they are) would or have made an admission such as this to their readers WITHOUT the text driving straight to a direct offer? Hum…

                                                                                                          I do find it difficult to do business with people who either can’t spell or take 30 seconds to use a checker (such as the response emails you received
                                                                                                          from Jane Mark). To me, this usually exposes the backbone of any business. I’ll stop there on that.

                                                                                                          And, for the many who are cynical about the “marketing advice niche”, it really is no wonder. This sector is loaded with marketers who will say anything to get into your wallet. (And we might know who some of these guys are too, right?)

                                                                                                          A trend I have perceived recently is one of “desperation”. Things are getting really tough out there. Nothing becomes viral faster than negative
                                                                                                          marketing.

                                                                                                          Thanks again for your honesty and integrity Eric!
                                                                                                          Don’t ever stop on this.

                                                                                                          • At 2006.05.29 13:05, Eric said:

                                                                                                            Anthony Tomei - I appreciate the comment. I know there are marketers out there making money with co-reg lists, but to me it just doesn’t seem like the right route to take. Can you speak from personal experience?

                                                                                                            I just hate spam, and after seeing the reaction to my attempts, I’d feel like a spammer if I emailed hundreds of thousands of people who never heard of me.

                                                                                                            The other thing I should mention is that successful lists are not just about size. Let’s say your example is true, and you were left with 150k subscribers out of a 600k co-reg buy. How responsive are those people going to be? Just because someone hasn’t opted out, that doesn’t mean they’re actually reading your messages.

                                                                                                            For example, with A1eBiz I started out with almost 400k leads (Doc tends to over-deliver). I had whittled that down to about 275k. That means 125k people had been removed from the list, but apparently it didn’t have any correlation to the number of people who were actually reading my email.

                                                                                                            Another way to look at it is this. If you could have a list of 150k people with 100 buyers on it, or 5k people with 100 buyers on it, which would you rather have? I’d rather have the 5k list because I don’t want to bother with 100k subscibers who aren’t really reading my newsletter.

                                                                                                            I know this is true, because I regularly beat out “gurus” with 100k+ lists in affiliate contests.

                                                                                                            Another good example is the fact that Cody Moya recently “gave away” 61k subscribers as a bonus for Keith Wellman’s ListFX. This is from Cody’s site…

                                                                                                            About a year ago I wanted to test how coop list work and I purchased two sets of coop lists. First I purchased 600,000 list and about a month later second 200,000 list. I believe that I spend close to $12000 to buy those two sets of lists.

                                                                                                            Story below is about that 200,000 then list.

                                                                                                            I warmed up this list and then I sent to this list 27 issues on my Ezine.

                                                                                                            After a year this list shrink from 200,000 to currently 61,709 but those who are left already have received 27 ezine issues and many advertisement emails. My assumption is that all who are staying on this list are really interested in internet marketing business.

                                                                                                            Since I have this 61,709 list I decided to slice this list into 4 parts and give each part to 8 people. Therefore I can give this bonus only to 32 people (4 times 8 ). Each of 4 lists has 15,426 subscribers.

                                                                                                            After you get The List FX though my link you will get this 15,426 opt in list for free as bonus, if you are one of the first 32 people.

                                                                                                            Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not bashing Cody, because he’s a smart marketer (and I DO want to do business with him in the future)…but my point is this:
                                                                                                            Do you really think he’d be giving away those 61k subscibers if he thought they were responsive?

                                                                                                            On the other hand, his story might confirm your theory. Cody does not mention the current status of the 600k list…AND Cody has one of the most profitable lists in the business, so perhaps his 600k co-reg buy was successful.

                                                                                                            I am always open to learning what works. Do you have any names of co-reg lead sellers that seem to work? Heck, I’d test it out even if just for the sake of doing a review in Eric’s Tips ;)

                                                                                                            • At 2006.05.29 13:09, Eric said:

                                                                                                              Jack- Thanks for the tip about Howard Moreland’s blaster. There are some consumer “scam reporting” sites, but I think the best place to get the word out is places like this blog. Most of these marketers aren’t running what I’d call a scam. They have terms and conditions that protect them, and a lot of them are decent people in real life. They’re just selling crap…

                                                                                                              Andrew - thanks for the tip. I’ll be sure to check them out when I get a chance. I read your newsletter too -keep it up :)

                                                                                                              • At 2006.05.29 13:42, Eric said:

                                                                                                                Quite a few of you have commented about Jane’s spelling errors… I agree there’s no excuse for not automatically running spell-checker on all outgoing messages, but I do want to mention that my intention for posting the emails was not to expose spelling issues. Her replies were quick, which is rare in this business, so the errs are forgivable. The reason I posted them, is to show the “pitch” that was made directly to me, which caused me to buy it.

                                                                                                                • At 2006.05.29 17:21, Jon said:

                                                                                                                  Eric,
                                                                                                                  I’m an newbie to internet marketing and I’ve got to tell you that it’s really great to have people like you out there who are honest and have integrity. My inbox is overloaded with emails full of hype and empty promises on a daily basis and it is a breath of fresh air to read your tips and reviews. Thanks so much for helping all of us.
                                                                                                                  Jon

                                                                                                                  • At 2006.05.29 22:27, Russell said:

                                                                                                                    Eric,
                                                                                                                    As a newbie your tip’s are invaluable and so are your referals, contacts and friends who also provide an invaluable source of free information and access to maketing tools I don’t even know what to do with, yet. I spend as much of the free time I have to understand as much as I can about marketing - SO THAT I CAN MAKE INFORMED DECISIONS - & save myself alot of money, as I believe I already have. Please allow me to compliment you and your friends as the most highly qualified guinea pigs on internet marketing.
                                                                                                                    Russell

                                                                                                                    • At 2006.05.29 23:02, John said:

                                                                                                                      While we are on topic of people “off their rocker” … I just got this email from Jeff Johnson … and his product codenamed “The Next Big Thing.” I don’t care how good he is or he thinks he is. There is no way I would pay $10,000 for any product. RSStoBlog and RSStoBlog Mass Installer does all the important functionality for $500. With all the money the top Internet Marketers make I think it is going to some of their heads. This is ridiculous …

                                                                                                                      Audio to hear what “it” does:
                                                                                                                      http://www.superaffiliatecoachingclub.com/audio/nextbigthingoverview.mp3

                                                                                                                      His email …
                                                                                                                      ——————————————————————————————————————
                                                                                                                      Hi John.

                                                                                                                      I guess I failed to mention the price for the next big thing.

                                                                                                                      I have also purposely not given out the full details on the discounts.

                                                                                                                      So here are both (if I make a mistake the sales letter will superscede this email):

                                                                                                                      The next big thing will cost $10,000 U.S. upfront, and $297 a month for licensing.

                                                                                                                      To qualify for the $2500 discount you must belong to one of the following groups.

                                                                                                                      1. A member of my $25,000 Platinum Plus Mastermind and Coaching group.

                                                                                                                      2. An owner/buyer of the $3000 DVD set from my $25,000 Platinum Plus Mastermind and Coaching
                                                                                                                      seminar held last September.

                                                                                                                      3. A member in good standing (a current member) of my Super Affiliate Coaching Club AND you have
                                                                                                                      been in my SACC group at least 3 full months.

                                                                                                                      To qualify for the $1250 discount you must belong to the following group;

                                                                                                                      1. A member in good standing (a current member) of my Super Affiliate Coaching Club AND you have
                                                                                                                      been in my SACC group at least 30 days but less than 3 full months.

                                                                                                                      To qualify for the $500 discount you must belong to the following group;

                                                                                                                      1. A member in good standing (a current member) of my Super Affiliate Coaching Club for less than
                                                                                                                      30 days AND you waive your right to a refund for the SACC.

                                                                                                                      Well folks, I guess that about covers it.

                                                                                                                      If I missed anyone in that long list I reserve the right to include them as I see fit.

                                                                                                                      Get ready to take the internet by storm with the next big thing. Let’s Rock!

                                                                                                                      Jeff Johnson
                                                                                                                      ——————————————————————————————————————

                                                                                                                      • At 2006.05.30 00:27, Eric said:

                                                                                                                        John

                                                                                                                        Very interesting. This is the first I’ve heard of it. $10k does sound like a lot… It’s probably a good program. Jeff Johnson is a marketing stud to be honest. But it will only be a matter of time until someone like me pays a programmer to build something similar and sells it for $97 ;-)

                                                                                                                        • At 2006.05.30 07:09, Joe Jutrisa said:

                                                                                                                          Hi Eric,

                                                                                                                          Just read your email and had to get here and stand on my soap box too! I’ve even put aside watching “American Hotrod” and “Rides” (Sorry guys, I’m a rev-head from way back! I rarely watch “the box” and I really look forward to these shows). I’m stunned at the number of replies!

                                                                                                                          This sort of “crap” and “BS” really annoys me. Like yourself, I don’t want to be down on other people, their sites, or their business. There’s something for everyone and I believe the majority of people are great and I tend to trust everyone (without being naive). As we say Downunder, everyone deserves “a fair go, mate”.

                                                                                                                          I had a similar experience recently when I purchased some leads from a clown called Baker. I think he got a mention here somewhere. He also recommended this “Doc” character. I also use Aweber and wanted to import the leads but found out I couldn’t import purchased leads.
                                                                                                                          Hmm…Perhaps they know something! What now?

                                                                                                                          I checked out this “Doc’s” site and read all the fine print. I think he turns a blind eye to this stuff, because his fine print is much the sames as any autoresponder company’s, with lots of don’ts and can’ts…so I didn’t use his service. I thought, geez, what do I do now? I then started looking for mailing software and I came across a few that do bulk mail. I ended up purchasing a product called Prospect Mailer. All their products seemed brilliant and very clever, great sales page, etc. etc.

                                                                                                                          So, here I am. I’ve got leads. I’ve got software. We’re in business now!
                                                                                                                          Guess again. This high tech software wouldn’t work because my ISP blocks certain ports that are required to use this mailing software. Funny, they didn’t mention this on their sales page!

                                                                                                                          I spent days trying to sort this out and trying to get it to work on my computer. I looked at all sorts of options cause I really wanted to make this package work. I tried to get a refund but these guys don’t exist. You can’t contact them and the best you can expect is one of those “Bullshit Help Desks”. (Sorry, Eric. I know that your one works). By the way, the only times I’ve ever been “ripped-off” is when support is supplied via a help desk (sometimes even from famous marketers)! Maybe, we should all do an expose here.

                                                                                                                          What’s the result?

                                                                                                                          I’ve got a few thousand useless leads. I can only send out 10-15 at a time and 30% bounce!
                                                                                                                          Haven’t got one sign up yet, but I’ll keep plodding along. They’re obviously garbage, but I’m persistent and curious. Luckily I purchased them via Paypal and quickly cancelled the monthly payment after the first set. I’ve got very clever software that I can’t use, and have got no hope of getting a refund and I’ve wasted a good couple of weeks.

                                                                                                                          The moral?

                                                                                                                          I should have followed my own advice that I outlined in my book on internet security and doing business on the internet. Check out their support BEFORE buying. Read the fine print. Look for real names, addresses and phone numbers. Email and call them. See what happens. Do some online research. And finally, watch out for flashy, state of the art sites and sales pages.

                                                                                                                          Regards and best wishes,
                                                                                                                          Joe Jutrisa.

                                                                                                                          • At 2006.05.30 09:51, Nan said:

                                                                                                                            It’s refreshing to see a review that isn’t hype. Most times everything is presented at “the next big thing, don’t miss out”. I’m new to all of this and building my list. I have heard only good things about aweber so when I get to that point, I’m hoping to use them.

                                                                                                                            • At 2006.05.30 20:48, George Whitecraft said:

                                                                                                                              Well Eric
                                                                                                                              I am glad somer one said somer about then two Jane and Phil because I have trouble with them two also
                                                                                                                              I have go as far to have my credit card company to charge back the money tha I paid to them.
                                                                                                                              I paid for a ad to run the newsletter and I ask to show me that the ad was run, but no answer
                                                                                                                              to my 5 Email I send to then or phone call But when the credit card company charge back then I get
                                                                                                                              email from them and it was not a nice one. I also know other people with the same problem.

                                                                                                                              Thank you saiding some thing about this

                                                                                                                              George
                                                                                                                              http://whitecraftsoftwarecompany.com

                                                                                                                              • At 2006.09.06 15:38, Monica M. said:

                                                                                                                                Domain Registration Cheap

                                                                                                                                Thanks for short yet informative article. It covers most of things I wanted to know on this topic

                                                                                                                                • At 2006.11.21 02:58, joe said:

                                                                                                                                  I’ve had tremendous “Bang for buck” with coregcomplete.com.

                                                                                                                                  One fixed price per month, ongoing, high quality leads every month.

                                                                                                                                  • At 2006.12.30 02:20, Brian said:

                                                                                                                                    Thanks for the information Eric , as usual you have told it like it is. In fact , one of the main reasons
                                                                                                                                    I read your “TIPS” is because it is straight forward. I am a firm believer in cross-linking or whatever
                                                                                                                                    you choose to call the sharing that goes on with the use of any website on the net . It works .

                                                                                                                                    Unfortunately , this is one case where they are not all exactly the same. I think it is safe to say that
                                                                                                                                    one good piece of advice about using any list to simply email prospects ( subscribers & alike ) , is
                                                                                                                                    to treat these activities as something you fully intend to keep , not just use . So considering the
                                                                                                                                    number of emails you intend to send should be paramount in your thinking and beware.

                                                                                                                                    It may have been said before , but , do we ever consider the fact that the higher number of emails
                                                                                                                                    we send , directly effects the responses , as after all , we are all sharing this information . I think a
                                                                                                                                    good rule of thumb is to test , test , test a small amount and refine your email message in the process.
                                                                                                                                    Actually , any good marketer is going to do this , and eventually promote the one email that appeals
                                                                                                                                    to people and gets responses first , before sending 100,000 emails across the globe from any
                                                                                                                                    autoresponder. Testing 1000 emails with a few different versions would provide some data to work
                                                                                                                                    with. Then send your remaining 99,000 in the final format . This also cuts the spam complaints to a
                                                                                                                                    minimum , thereby serving up your emails for consumption with both integrity and noticeable care
                                                                                                                                    and forethought . Also thereby resolving the recipient ’s intent to make an issue of the emails
                                                                                                                                    themselves or passing on negative feedback .

                                                                                                                                    In a nutshell that is what you did with the co-reg opportunity , by testing it to see if it fitted your needs.
                                                                                                                                    If I had to answer the question as to how to be successful with any email marketing , it would be to
                                                                                                                                    follow the old practice of putting yourself on the virtual receiving end first , not last .

                                                                                                                                    Co-reg applications only work if they are truly a convienience , not a burden . You’ll be happy to know
                                                                                                                                    that I found your “Eric’s Tips” by clicking on a link in another unrelated email that suggested that you
                                                                                                                                    had a great source of information in the first place . It works , and you’re proof of that for sure.

                                                                                                                                    As far as the subject of repeated canned emails , I think they are a testiment of why alot of email gets
                                                                                                                                    deleted at first glance . You have to dare to be different to get responses that are different , lest your
                                                                                                                                    responses will be “canned ” in more ways than one.

                                                                                                                                    Which brings to mind the “Canspam Act” regarding emails . Since the act considers any commercial
                                                                                                                                    email to be illegal if there is not an allowance in each email to opt out immediately if the recipient so
                                                                                                                                    chooses , your emails should always contain this without fail as it will be recognized instantly . Your
                                                                                                                                    compliance alone can sell your information on merit , not to mention the amounts of times people
                                                                                                                                    will see the same email in many different places . Consideration should also be paid to how many
                                                                                                                                    different email boxes these “canned” type come from , the “Canspam Act ” says you can only have
                                                                                                                                    a maximum of 4 email boxes for commercial use , or that is illegal too.

                                                                                                                                    In short , there is nothing worse than sending countless emails across the globe that are not your own
                                                                                                                                    words and non-compliant in the industry you are participating in to make an attempt to promote your
                                                                                                                                    product or service. These will get deleted right away , or worse . The worst of which I found , was
                                                                                                                                    an unsubscribe link , through a co-reg link , that was a redirect to another advertisement on purpose.
                                                                                                                                    This is a trick that will get your email address completely disregarded as being anywhere near worth
                                                                                                                                    accepting emails from right from day one.

                                                                                                                                    Have A Happy New Year Eric & fellow marketers

                                                                                                                                    PS. “Thanks for all the emails”

                                                                                                                                    • At 2007.01.01 14:54, Matt L said:

                                                                                                                                      Eric,

                                                                                                                                      I feel your pain, but coreg can work well if one does a bit more homework that what you outlined in this blog post. One can lose a truckload of money on this unless they use coreg from a very select list of providers. Also, how old are the leads - very important? Are they selecting your newletter specifically or are you just lumped in the “other service”? Required use of their autoresponder? Sounds like a crummy list provider right off the bat. Also, the approach for coreg needs to have a couple more steps than what you would do for your normal opt-ins.

                                                                                                                                      There are a ton of other questions one would ask, but certainly too much for a blog comment. Guess what I’m saying is that you shouldn’t give up. Before you get back in, make sure you get some tutelage from someone who routinely uses coreg to make profits. It’s not automatic money because it takes a bit to get in, but if you do your homework right, you can get some good flow.

                                                                                                                                      • At 2007.01.10 01:19, Dusko said:

                                                                                                                                        Hi

                                                                                                                                        After watching the PipeLine Profits Videos, I can easily see where all users of co-reg are going wrong. In the video, they say that if you don’t email the prospects immediately — literally within a minute or so, the prospect will cool off and become worthless. So, getting a lead a week old is a futile exercise. This means that, essentially, if not done in real time, the whole idea sucks.

                                                                                                                                        As of my own experiences, once I have also thrown 200 bucks for a list of 5000 leads, and was not able to do anything with it. However, I have also bought I think 600 leads from Eric James and there were very little unsbuscribers if at all. Note however, that I wasn’t able to make any money with either of these lists, so it was all a waste of money, time and hope. The only way is to make site that the visitor will like and will want to make an extension of contact with you by means of opting-in and receiving your newsletter or ezine.

                                                                                                                                        • At 2007.01.15 12:33, Inger Nilsson said:

                                                                                                                                          HI!
                                                                                                                                          I reached this blog through “Pipeline Profits”- blog, and we are now in January 2007, so I guess most of the replies above, are posted a lot earlier than today’s date. Anyway - I got some names of some Coreg. companies, that I believe you folks should look into.

                                                                                                                                          From what I understand reading through 97 % of the replies here in this blog, you are all talking about coreg lists and Not coreg. companies - I don’t know if I am right or wrong about this, but you talk about individual small compaies with one or persons that you have purchased a coreg list from? Only Anthony Tomei, talk about something else.

                                                                                                                                          I will now give you addresses to some coreg. companies that you can check out:

                                                                                                                                          1. CoregMedia.com
                                                                                                                                          2. Aptimus.com
                                                                                                                                          2. PrimeQ.com
                                                                                                                                          4. Netblue.com
                                                                                                                                          5. theuseful.com

                                                                                                                                          Note:
                                                                                                                                          I haven’t used any of them myself, but after going through their policies and business deal offer I believe PrimeQ.com to be the best for the small Internet entrepreneur.
                                                                                                                                          Correct me if I am wrong.

                                                                                                                                          I also recommend you people, to take a look at ‘Pipelineprofits.com’, if you haven’t already - they have now given out 5 or so video’s for the coreg. business thing, without charges what so ever.

                                                                                                                                          They will also offer a system of their own, January 18. and note here that I am not affiliated with t hem in any way and do not get anything from this, since i am not an affiliate, just want to pass along some perhaps useful info.

                                                                                                                                          But - If you need no cost high quality content, like articles, and valuable no cost software’s, ebooks etc. + a free link directory, and a no charge submission service for your own articles - you can always visit my article directory at ArticleNorth.com - no charges what so ever never, and with lots and lots of content to you all.

                                                                                                                                          Thanks Eric for great blog content, tips and wonderful info.
                                                                                                                                          Inger Nilsson,
                                                                                                                                          from Scandinavia and a dark winter Sweden

                                                                                                                                          • At 2007.01.17 19:19, Jean Claude said:

                                                                                                                                            Hi Eric : I am also looking to build a list and this site was sent to me by
                                                                                                                                            Michael Cheney and also backed up by john Reed a well know marketer.
                                                                                                                                            You can look at it and let me know what you think if you want .You dont have to put it on the blog if you dont want. They are up to 8 video and launch at 12:00 Pm.
                                                                                                                                            tomorow the 18Th of January.A bit late as i just found your blog a while ago.
                                                                                                                                            http:pipelineprofits.com/blog/

                                                                                                                                            • At 2007.01.20 05:03, Jack said:

                                                                                                                                              The problem I have with these comments and reviews is it creates the same scenario over and over again. Marketer buys lists, list companies have pre-checked entries for subscriptions.; result? Spam complaint city!

                                                                                                                                              Buck and Brock from Pipeline Profits show you how to select the right broker and how to avoid pre-checked, incentivized programs. They have made a killing with Co-Regs because there is a right way and a wrong way to do it. Plain and simple. The leads opting in checks a box and should get a response right away increasing the marketer’s chances of following up with a kick-butt sales pitch and product. Hope that helps.

                                                                                                                                              • At 2007.01.23 04:43, Esti StraightArrowAllina said:

                                                                                                                                                Dear Eric,

                                                                                                                                                I have been considering co reg’s and understand their ups and downs.
                                                                                                                                                Two guys recently sold a system called Pipeline Profits and they use
                                                                                                                                                co regs, but mention that they’ve found only 4 reliable sources. I think
                                                                                                                                                the source and how the leads are generated are essential.
                                                                                                                                                If you want a customized co-reg program, there is a company called
                                                                                                                                                http://www.leadsales.net owned and operated by Gilda Christensen (?) with
                                                                                                                                                whom I’ve spoken several times, but have not yet done my custom
                                                                                                                                                lead-generation campaign with her yet due to reasons unrelated to her
                                                                                                                                                company. She is the only one I would work with at this point for any kind
                                                                                                                                                of lead - and I haven’t yet blown the size wad you guys talk about here!
                                                                                                                                                I recommend looking at her website and getting in touch with her. She’s
                                                                                                                                                very high integrity and will give you the straight scoop. Her website also
                                                                                                                                                offers useful information about marketing and advertising. For instance,
                                                                                                                                                she recommends against ‘incentivized’ leads and won’t do such campaigns
                                                                                                                                                herself.
                                                                                                                                                Again, I haven’t used her services yet, but in the future she will be the only one
                                                                                                                                                I go to.
                                                                                                                                                Eric, I very much appreciate your blog in it’s being a place to get some honest
                                                                                                                                                information. Keep it up!

                                                                                                                                                • At 2007.01.29 19:05, Vishy said:

                                                                                                                                                  Hi,

                                                                                                                                                  The intensity and passion of the writers about co-reg is wonderful. My first contact with lists goes back to 1987. Many of you may not have been around then to try your patience with floppy disks.

                                                                                                                                                  I learned quickly that there are three major elements to a list.

                                                                                                                                                  1- Demographic qualification which helped me narrow down the ability and willingness of the potential customers.
                                                                                                                                                  2- The time interval that had lapsed between the time they had requested information and the time they received my offer.
                                                                                                                                                  3- My sales copy’s strength in helping them remember and the incentives I offered them to remember.

                                                                                                                                                  The first item was really about how good the broker’s data was. The second item was a combination of how old the data was and how fast I could send the information and the last item was totally dependent on my ability to write and in those day my ability to talk over the phone.

                                                                                                                                                  Have any of the members here tested these items with the lists they have used?

                                                                                                                                                  For example we cannot compare a person who opts in to get financial information from a website that sells lawn seed, with the a person who wants financial information from a stock brokerage site.

                                                                                                                                                  Or, have you checked to see if you offer is sent within seconds of the potential client request or within days?

                                                                                                                                                  And finally a split test for the offers you have made?

                                                                                                                                                  Thanks,

                                                                                                                                                  Vishy

                                                                                                                                                  • At 2007.01.30 14:16, Gerry said:

                                                                                                                                                    I have been hearing allot about Buck and Brock w/ pipe line profits.

                                                                                                                                                    Come on get real. Although what they say does make sense, Don’t you think that they are NOW coming out with this because coreg has been done to death and it NO LONGER works???

                                                                                                                                                    Maybe it is one of those things are are just NOT working any longer but sounds good on paper.

                                                                                                                                                    Frankly, If I made that much money, I would just keep my mouth shut and keep making it..
                                                                                                                                                    and NOT open a new business that would tell others about it…

                                                                                                                                                    Has anyone here purchased the program??? Is anyone out there willing to give up the right coreg partner???

                                                                                                                                                    I think not

                                                                                                                                                    • At 2007.01.30 21:01, George said:

                                                                                                                                                      For me there is only 1 question left to ask: WHO are the 4 co-reg companies Pipelineprofits buys their leads from?

                                                                                                                                                      thanks

                                                                                                                                                      appreciate it.

                                                                                                                                                      • At 2007.02.12 20:56, Inger Nilsson said:

                                                                                                                                                        Gerry (above),
                                                                                                                                                        Please keep your cynism to yourself - have you ever heard of that when you get to a certain level, it is no longer a question of the money?

                                                                                                                                                        • At 2008.01.30 07:04, sealemill said:

                                                                                                                                                          Hello!
                                                                                                                                                          Nice site ;)
                                                                                                                                                          Bye

                                                                                                                                                          • At 2008.05.16 04:11, Mark said:

                                                                                                                                                            Hi there guys,

                                                                                                                                                            I’d have to agree on co-regsitration - It simply doesn’t work that well at all.

                                                                                                                                                            On the other hand I noticed a post about Gary Baker, well I don’t know how much I would trust Gary Baker the so called expert.

                                                                                                                                                            Gary “Sold” me his co registration “Business” for $11,000 back in 2006.

                                                                                                                                                            Once I bought the business he informed me I still had to purchase all the leads through him.

                                                                                                                                                            He provided 0 support and wouldn’t answer any of my emails. In the end I simply had to close shop - then he simply started selling the lists himself again!

                                                                                                                                                            If you’re going to be dealing with this shady character - Beware.

                                                                                                                                                            I’m more than happy to verify the story if anyone has any queries. contact me through http://www.infoweblink.com

                                                                                                                                                            Mark

                                                                                                                                                            • At 2008.07.03 17:56, Massimo said:

                                                                                                                                                              I tried CoReg lists and I must say they were a waste of time and big money. A pure business failure.

                                                                                                                                                              Quite frankly, I don’t need them anymore.

                                                                                                                                                              It seems many “popular” marketers are not that kind of honest people we think. What a bad joke. :(

                                                                                                                                                              Your Name:

                                                                                                                                                              Email (will not be published):

                                                                                                                                                              Website (optional):
                                                                                                                                                              To have your picture next to your comments, sign up for a gravatar