Listbuilder Pro is a scam, and Erik James (Erik Hopkins) is a scam artist. Let me repeat that in quotes just to make sure the search engines pick this up when others search for information. "Listbuilder Pro" is NOT a co-registration service. A co-registration service allows you to select a number of newsletters you might be interested in, by putting a tick next to the newsletter name and description that you are interested in, and you then just wait for your confirmation email or newsletter. Depending on where you subscribe, the service actually tells you to look out for the confirmation emails that will be sent to your inbox. I'm saying that although Listbuilder Pro claims to do this, this is an outright lie.

I have very good reasons for saying this:

* Reason Number One

If you want to receive a newsletter, which email address will you provide the list owner with. Obviously, you will give him a working address, wouldn't you. Not so if people sign up at worldwidelists. Here, people sign up with old, deleted, inactive email addresses. Now why on earth do one sign up for a newsletter that you actually WANT to receive, using a false email address? Okay, so it is possible that one could make a mistake, right, but 57 out of 63 people making the same mistake? I think not! View proof that what I'm saying is true! (Click on the picture to enlarge).

• Reason Number Two

According to my autoresponder 63 subscribers has been sent, and 57 failed. According to Listbuilder Pro and Mr Erik James/ Hopkins, they have sent me:

Opt-in Method: Single
opt-in Subscription Limit: 1500 subscribers Subscriptions Reported: 313 % of Subscription Limit: 19%

So that does not add up, now
does it? I mean, not ONLY did 57 subscribers not provide me with their correct addresses, another 250 did not even bother to click on the link my autoresponder sent them. And it works, I know, cause I tried it. And it goes through yahoo and other similar services' spam filters. I know, I tried that too. Oh yeah, and another thing, three of the subscribers I have... is me! Which brings me to...

• Reason Number Three

The reason Mr Eric James gives as an explanation for this, is this and I quote:

When asked this question, I always ask list owners to put themselves in the position of their subscribers.

You see, if you subscribed to one or more lists on WorldWideLists.com, and you then received a confirmation message from WorldWideLists.com, you would quickly and easily recognize the name WorldWideLists.com. As a result,
your tendency to respond to our confirmation would be almost certainly guaranteed.

On the other hand, as a subscriber, if you subscribed to one or more lists listed on WorldWideLists.com, and you then received a confirmation message from a source other than WorldWideLists.com (e.g., "ABC Autoresponder
Service"), then you would probably wonder "What the heck does "ABC Autoresponder Service" have to do with my subscribing to lists on WorldWideLists.com?" And so, your tendency to respond to a confirmation
message from a source other than WorldWideLists.com would be much lower.

For this reason, more and more List Builder Pro members are now using our double opt-in method. This way, the response rate is much higher, and the overall quality of your list is much improved.

Okay, sounds reasonable, but if I sign up for a newsletter at worldwidelists that says: "Golfnewsletter" and I subsequently receive an email with the name "Golfnewsletter" from the "Golfing Newsletter Team" asking me to confirm if I want to receive "Golfnewsletter" I mean OBVIOUSLY it could not possibly be connected, can it? (In case you missed it, I'm being sarcastic!)

So then Mr Erik James/Hopkins/Scamster suggests that you rather use the double opt-in method, BUT if you use the double opt-in... (and I quote:)

"You are sending me double opt-in email addresses, but my autoresponder is also double opt-in, so my subscription rate is very low. How can I handle this?

Since you are using a double opt-in process with your autoresponder, in effect you would be asking your subscribers to opt-in twice (like a triple opt-in service).

Your best bet would be to either use our double opt-in process exclusively (and simply import these leads into your autoresponder without having your autoresponder confirm them again), or use our single opt-in process (and have your autoresponder send out a confirm message to them).

This will surely improve your overall subscription rate."

Catch 22, damned if you do, and damned if you don't? Not so, says Mr Eric James/you know who...

All you need to do to solve all your problems, is to use HIS autoresponder service, and subsequently ... at an additional $16 a month of course,

"For this reason, more and more List Builder Pro members are now using our double opt-in method. This way, the response rate is much higher, and the overall quality of your list is much improved."

Or pay $97 to use Autoresponse Plus, in which case each and every subscriber will of course confirm their email address, because they recognise the service... or because he is just sending old email addresses that has been on that list for centuries, and as he controls the program, you are never notified of undelivered mails. Convenient, isn't it?

So what else irritates me? There is this
phrase on his salespage:

"Still
not convinced? Check out more unsolicited testimonials
from leading email list owners who continue to use List Builder Pro to gain high quality subscribers"

Ah come on Louise, what's wrong with that? I'll tell you. This is wrong with that -

"Please take a moment to send us your customer review ... that's all you need to do to get 150 opt-in email addresses for free ($37 value)."

"Plus,
if you send us your photograph, then you'll receive a total of 250 opt-in email addresses for free ($57 value).

Better
yet, send us an audio or video review, and if we post your comments on our web site, you'll receive a total of 1,000 opt-in email addresses for free ($177 value).

This clown is PAYING people to give him testimonials, and then
he dare call them "unsolicited". Maybe I need a dictionary, maybe I'm the one who does not quite understand the meaning of the word. Lest I forget:

Our 45 pages of customer reviews and success stories are from members who are simply expressing their honest opinions. They're not resellers or personal friends. And, they don't have hidden agendas for endorsing List Builder Pro.

The 45 pages of "unsolicited" testimonials contain 4 to 5 testimonials per page, in other words around 235 "unsolicited testimonials" in the PAST SEVEN
YEARS. So even while PAYING people to give him testimonials, he has only managed to get 235 in TOTAL. He also makes a point of it to tell you on the sales page how "unsolicited" or "genuine" these testimonials really are. He even says that it is "illegal to make up testimonials". Who are you trying to convince Mr Erik James/what-not? Yourself?

To be totally honest, he convinced me! I signed up, with the thought in mind that I can cancel any time I want to. What I failed to notice, was that he does not offer refunds. I'm so used to seeing guarantees with refund options that I completely missed this part. I actually did cancel within the first 30 days, as I was supposed to have received at least 400 subscribers by then, and I only got about 125 at the time, PLUS, only TWO of them confirmed their email address and was added to my autoresponder. Fantastic service, wouldn't you agree?

I'm not done yet! Review this part of the salesletter:

Imagine The Top Notch Quality You'll Get When
You Take Advantage Of All Of These Exclusive
List
Builder Pro Benefits ...

(Click the links for more info.) *** disabled

Geographical Targeting
Domain
Blocking
Email Filtering
Unlimited
Autoresponders
Autoresponder Delivery
Web Form Delivery
List Host Delivery
Web Server Delivery
No Duplicate Email Addresses
No Bounces or Undeliverable Mail
Refund For Unsubscribes
"Fudge Factor" Rebate
Private Members Area
Real-Time Account Changes
Automatic Data Backup
Statistical Reporting and so
much more ...

What he kind of forgets to mention here on the salesletter, is that most of these features he is talking about are add-on, and will cost you extra a month. That to me, smacks of false and misleading advertising. I don't know how they feel about it where you come from, but in my country you can get into big trouble for it.

Then, under the FAQ section in the member's area, this:

Where do all the subscription requests come from?

Your listing will appear in relevant content areas on WorldWideLists.com, in
addition to relevant pages on premier partner sites including BizNewsletters, NewsletterStand, and Opt-Interest.

So go ahead and Google that. The domain names are for sale, and Opt-Interest is showing up in more than one posting about spamming. Do you want to be associated with a company like that?

I've
had to cancel the original email address I listed in my autoresponder, because I'm getting heaps of spam, no doubt compliments of Mr Erik James. He's probably just recycling all of his customers' email addresses amongst them.

Another interesting thing is this listing on Allan Gardyne's Site: (well, it's been taken down since I posted this, but it used to be there

Worldwidelists.com Category:
ezines

Site title:
Worldwidelists.com Website url:
www.worldwidelists.com/cgi-bin/affiliate.cgi Description:
If your site has at least 1000 unique visitors per month you can become a Worldwidelists.com affiliate. Earn 5 cents for each newsletter your referrals opt to receive. Payments are made monthly with no minimum. Submitted by Erik Hopkins..

Seems he is paying for subscribers after all. Possibly just forgot about this submission he made to Allan's site?

I'm almost done with my rant. :-) Just this one last thing. The photos on the testimonials look rather old don't they? Even worse, TRY THE LINKS. Half of them are dead!

So, if you're still considering getting this service, I'll be here when you come back to hear me say "I told you so" and offer you a shoulder to cry on.

Good luck to you in your list building efforts. Just don't use Listbuilder Pro. This service is WELL past it's sell-by date!

P.S Go search the Warrior Forum, you'll find a thread or two about this. I'm NOT the only one complaining. Some others say that their threads mysteriously disappear when complaining about this.
Pretty sure Mr Evans has something to do with that. Listbuilder Pro is one of the compulsory programs to join when you sign up for PIPS. Just a guess though, I don't know for sure - :-)

P.S.S The picture for this lens if what I wish for Mr James when he next goes on vacation with my MONEY!

P.S.S.S Rather try this one for co-reg services.