Attention grabbing headline, interesting solo ad, no words or expressions that trigger the spam filters, high converting landing page, great product. It's not easy, I know, but you can do it. However, if a small detail is overlooked, then your promising solo ads advertising campaign may be ruined in seconds. What may be that nasty "bug"?

Did you hear about blacklists (or blocklists) of domain names? They are databases of domain names that were reported as being used in spam messages. Once a domain name is listed by a major blacklist, all major spam filters will flag any email that contains a link to any page from that domain name.

I can hear you, "But I don't spam, I'm a legit email marketer, so that's not a problem for me ..."

Well, don't take this issue so easy. There are many newbies that think that spam is also an email that they don't like or they are not interesting in. There are people who forget different things, including the fact that they subscribed to the newsletter they have just received. It happens ... If such a "nice" person reports your email to the appropriate place, no one will ever give you the chance to defend yourself. Your domain name will be blacklisted without no further notification being sent to you. I know, it's surprisingly and unpleasant, but that's the reality.

Affiliate and reseller links are other potential dangers. If another affiliate or reseller sent spam or has been reported as spamming and the reported email contained her/his affiliate link, then the whole domain name of that affiliate program may be blacklisted. Suddenly your own affiliate page is blacklisted even if you're an honest email marketer...

How to detect such problems?

Before starting any solo ads advertising campaign, check whether the domain name of the link you inserted in your solo ad is blacklisted or not. Do it no matter who the owner of that domain name is, how famous is and how honest is.

How to check whether a domain name is blacklisted or not?

Search on Google for "URI blacklist" and you'll find the major blacklists. Most of them have a feature called "Lookup" and you'll be able to search their databases.

What to do if a domain name is blacklisted?

If it is your domain name, contact the staff who runs the blacklist and prove that your email marketing practices are according to the laws and industry's standards. If it isn't your domain name, you cannot ask for its delisting. All you can do is to warn the owner. Until she or he succeeds to delist the domain name - don't use your plain affiliate or reseller link. Hide it using an URL shortening service or an URL redirection service. Are these solutions safe? Yes, spam filters don't click on links so that to notice what's behind the new links.

To the Success of Your Solo Advertising Campaign!
Adrian Jock