What Are Solo Ads?

Solo ads are paid email traffic. You pay someone who owns an email list to send an email about your offer to their subscribers. The people who are interested click through to your page, and you pay for those clicks. You are buying visitors, not results. What happens after the click depends on your page and follow up.

I have been selling solo ads for 12 years to about 4,000 buyers, and 85% of them order again. I get asked "what are solo ads?" more than any other question, so this is the plain version: what one is, how a send actually works, who it suits, and what your money buys.

What is a solo ad, exactly?

A solo ad is a single email, sent by a list owner to their subscribers, promoting only your offer. "Solo" means your offer is the only thing in that email. No newsletter, no other links competing for attention.

That is the difference from a regular email ad. In a newsletter, your link sits next to articles and other promotions. In a solo ad, the whole email exists to send readers to you.

You are not buying the list. You never see the subscribers' addresses, and the list owner keeps them. You are buying clicks from that list to a page you control. The people who opt in on your page join your list, and those subscribers are yours.

That is why I tell every buyer the same line: the click is rented, the subscriber is owned.

How does a solo ad send work from order to clicks?

You place an order, the seller writes and sends the email, and clicks start landing on your page. On my orders, clicks start arriving within 24 hours.

Here is the sequence from start to finish:

1. You choose a click count and a traffic tier. For example 500 clicks of Mixed Tier traffic.
2. You give the seller your page link. Ideally a squeeze page with one promise, one email field, and one button.
3. The seller writes the email. I write every one myself, based on your offer and what my subscribers respond to.
4. The email goes out to the list. Subscribers who are interested click.
5. Clicks land on your page. You watch them arrive on a live stats page with unique clicks and geography.
6. Visitors opt in to your list. From here it is your follow up that turns them into buyers.

The whole thing is simple on purpose. There is no ad account to set up and no approval queue. The hard work is on your side of the click: the page and the emails that follow.

Who are solo ads for?

Solo ads suit people who sell to an online audience and want to build an email list fast. Affiliates, coaches, course creators, and network marketers are the usual fit.

They work best when your offer is related to what the list already reads about. My subscribers read about making money online, marketing, and traffic, so offers in that space fit naturally.

Solo ads suit you if:

• You have a squeeze page ready.
• You have an autoresponder connected.
• You have follow up emails written and are willing to mail new leads twice a day for the first 30 days.

They do not suit you if you want to send cold clicks straight to a sales page and walk away. That pays for traffic and keeps nothing. If you promote affiliate offers, read How Do I Start With Solo Ads for Affiliate Marketing? before you order.

What are you actually paying for with solo ads?

You are paying for clicks, not sales, not opt ins, and not a list. A click is a real person who read an email and chose to visit your page.

That makes solo ads an honest unit. You pay for an action, not exposure. But it also means no honest seller can promise you results. They have not seen your page, your price point, or your follow up.

Here is what a solo ad order from me includes:

What you get	What it means
Clicks	Visitors from my list to your page
The email ad	Written by me for your offer
A live stats page	Delivered clicks, unique clicks, and geography as it happens
Access to me	You can message me mid campaign

What you do not get is a guarantee of sales. Your page decides your opt in rate. Your follow up decides your sales.

How much do solo ads cost?

Solo ads are priced per click. My Mixed Tier pricing starts at $55 for 100 clicks, with 500 clicks at $225, 1,000 at $450, and 5,000 at $2,000. Bigger orders cost less per click.

Mixed Tier runs 90% or more Tier 1 and is my standard traffic. 100% Tier 1 and 100% USA are available on the order page at a higher rate. Custom orders run up to 10,000 clicks, and monthly autopilot plans bill at the same per click price.

I recommend 500 clicks for a first order. That is the minimum that gives you viable data on both your opt in rate and your sales. I do not recommend 100 click tests, because the numbers are too thin to act on.

Be wary of clicks priced far below that range. Cheap clicks usually mean low intent traffic. I explain why in Cheap Solo Ads.

The full buying walkthrough is in Buy Solo Ads: What You Pay For and How to Order.

Do solo ads still work for building a list?

Yes, when the clicks go to a simple squeeze page and you follow up fast. Solo ad clicks come from people who already read marketing emails, which is the habit you want from subscribers.

I go deeper in How Effective Are Solo Ads for Building an Email List?. If you are comparing solo ads with other channels, read What Are the Best Strategies to Increase Traffic Through Advertising? and What Strategies Do Traffic Builders Use to Increase Website Visitors?.

How do I pick a solo ads seller?

Pick one who shows you live stats, writes the email, publishes pricing, and has buyers who come back. If a seller cannot show you the numbers while the campaign runs, keep your money.

Product creators Frank Calabro Jr and Neil Guess have endorsed my traffic, and 85% of my buyers reorder. The full checklist is in What Should I Look For in a Reliable Solo Ads Provider?.

Ready to try solo ads?

Build your squeeze page, connect your autoresponder, and write your first two weeks of follow up. Then pick 500 clicks and send me your link.

Order your first 500 clicks here. I will write the email, and your clicks start within 24 hours.