Hi Terry,
You can use safelists to test messages before running adverts in e-zines, especially if you are giving away something free and want to collect people's contact information in exchange.
But, there is a whole culture to safelists. Choosing the right ones to use for testing can be difficult.
Does it make sense to agree to receive hundreds of e-mails in your mail box?
Then there is the click on the link and up pops a site safelists. The problem here is most people are not reading the message, just clicking the link to get the hits.
Having mucked around with safelists for a while, my own view is - and this depends on who is your market -you may join one or two traditional sites to use as test beds for your message and perhaps one or two pop a site safelists to test your web copy.
But the reality is, your time is better spent focusing on other areas as unfortunately safelists are a hot bed for the 'get rich quick ...'
Suggested initial reading:
1. Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins
2. 7 Secrets of Unlimited Traffic by Allen Says
3. Affiliate Masters Course by Ken Evoy
I am sure others may come forward with differing views.
Wishing you all the best,
Kind regards,
John
P.S. Terry, recently I wrote an article called "The Art of War, Internet Marketing and You" which you may find helpful:
The Art of War, Internet Marketing And You
John Glube
Toronto, Canada
Discover How Anyone Can Get More Buyers
learnsteps4profit.com