Autoresponders: Put Your Business On Autopilot
by Shelley Lowery
Autoresponders are one of the top promotional tools available online today. They are also known as mailbots, automatic email and email on demand. They were derived from the very popular fax on demand and designed to automatically respond to any email message sent to it with an automatic response.
Their popularity most likely stems from its vast variety of uses as it eliminates the need to manually answer every response. Subsequently saving hours of valuable time. Your information can be available to your prospective customer 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Get your best ad copy ready, load it to your autoresponder and your business is set to autopilot. When your prospective customer sends a message to your autoresponder address, your information will be instantly delivered to their email address.
There are many ways of utilizing the power of autoresponders:
Free course
Articles available for publication
Free reports
Product list
Price list
Welcome letters
Thank you letters
Order confirmations
Advertising Rates
Advantages:
There are many advantages associated with the use of autoresponders. Not only do they automate the daily task of manually replying to requests for information, but they provide instant gratification for the recipient. They also enable you to track your ad responses and gather the email addresses of potential customers.
A good autoresponder service will automatically send you an email notification informing you each time someone requests your information.
Selecting a quality autoresponder service:
When selecting a autoresponder service, there are many factors that need to be taken into consideration to ensure maximum performance.
Personalized responses - This makes the recipient feel that the letter was sent specifically to them.
Automatic follow ups - Studies have shown it may take up to seven contacts before closing a sale.
Unlimited text length - If you are inhibited by the amount of text your autoresponder may contain, you may be forced to revise a successful sales letter, ultimately costing you business.
Free unlimited updating - It is imperative to provide your customers with accurate, up to date information on your products and services.
Automatic notification - You must have the ability to track your ad's performance. You should be instantly informed each time someone requests your information.
Advertising Tips:
Include your autoresponder address in your signature file
Opt in email discussion lists
Guestbooks
Business cards
Letter head
Your web site
You can obtain free autoresponders with all the amenities mentioned above from the following sites:
http://www.getresponse.com/
http://www.fastfacts.net/
Autoresponders can assist you in putting a lot of your day to day tasks on autopilot. Use it to your advantage.
Autoresponder Courses: The Automated Marketing Tool
Autoresponders, also known as mailbots, automatic email and email on demand were derived from the very popular fax on demand and designed to automatically respond to any email message it receives with an automatic response.
Autoresponder programs vary from software set up to run with your desktop email program and automatically answer your incoming email to a script that runs on your server. The script may run a Web-based autoresponder system that utilizes a web page form, or it may run with your pop email account on your server. It is programmed to automatically send out a predetermined message when a message is received to a specified script address or email address.
In addition to the standard autoresponder systems, there are also autoresponders that can send an unlimited amount of follow-up messages. These follow up messages can be set up to automatically be sent out at predetermined intervals. In other words, you can set up your autoresponder to automatically send out a new message each day for as many days as you would like.
This powerful technology is currently being used by some of the top online marketers to reach thousands of potential customers. As you may know, it may take up to seven contacts with a potential customer before closing a sale. By setting up an autoresponder and offering a free autoresponder course, you can completely automate a portion of your marketing efforts.
Creating A Course
The first step in creating an autoresponder course is to decide upon a subject. Your course should focus on a subject in which you have a great deal of knowledge and target your potential customers.
Once you have selected your subject, you'll need to make a list of topics. Each topic will represent one lesson. If you have five topics, then you can offer your visitors a free 5-day course. If you have ten topics, then you can offer your visitors a free 10-day course and so on.
Separate each of your topics into course lessons. Your first lesson should welcome your subscriber to your course and explain a little bit about what they are going to learn, followed by the first lesson.
The key to creating a successful autoresponder course is to provide quality information that will be of interest to your target audience. Each daily topic must contain valuable information or your reader may decide to unsubscribe. In addition, make sure you include information in regard to your course such as the lesson number, lesson title, information about your products or services and highlights of the next lesson.
Your course should identify a problem, provide advice in regard to solving the problem and provide the solution with your products or services. Keep in mind, your course should not be written like a sales letter. It must provide quality information written to teach and inform.
Setting Up Your Course
After you've written your course, you'll need to transfer your text into an autoresponder. You can find free follow-up autoresponders here:
http://www.getresponse.com
http://www.fastfacts.net
Sign up for a follow-up autoresponder and follow their instructions in regard to setting it up.
Once you've gotten your autoresponder set up, your final step will be to place your course information on your web site. This will include a description of your course and a mailto link to your autoresponder.
By offering your visitors a free autoresponder course, you are not only providing them with a great service, but you are also automating a portion of your marketing efforts. This form of free advertising can increase your sales considerably.
Copyright © Shelley Lowery
About the Author:
Shelley Lowery is the author of the acclaimed web design course, Web Design Mastery. http://www.webdesignmastery.com And, Ebook Starter - Give Your Ebooks the look and feel of a REAL book. http://www.ebookstarter.com Visit Web-Source.net to sign up for a complimentary subscription to Etips and receive a copy of the acclaimed ebook, "Killer Internet Marketing Strategies." http://www.web-source.net
You have permission to publish this article electronically, in print, in your ebook or on your web site, free of charge, as long as the author bylines are included.
How Autoresponders Help Create Automatic Internet Marketing Success
What if you could send out all the information that your potential customers have requested without checking your email or answering a phone? While this may seem impossible, it is becoming more and more popular among the most successful Internet marketing gurus. This is all due to what is called an autoresponder. An autoresponder is an automatic method of responding to emails sent by existing or potential customers and is a must for any Internet business. Time is money and answering emails personally take a lot of valuable time for both you and the customer. Not only do autorespnders allow you to spend the time elsewhere in your business, but it gives the customer access to the information almost immediately.
Since there are so many different uses for autoresponders, they can be of value to virtually any type of business. Some choose to use the autoresponders to answer frequently asked questions about a product or service. Others use them to provide information about pricing or product information. Autoresponders are also a nice way to welcome new members to a website or group as well as thank them after a visit.
One might ask what would be the advantage of using autoresponders as opposed to simply listing the information on the site. An important feature of autoresponders is that they send you an email notification each time a response is sent out. This allows you to track the success of your promotions as well as have the email addresses of potential customers at your fingertips so that you can easily send out updated and new information to them.
It is of the utmost importance to choose an effective autoresponder. An autoresponder should be as personal as possible and send out follow-ups to potential customers since it has been proven that persistence pays off. It could take up to seven contacts before a final sale is conducted. Generally speaking an advertisement should be short and to the point. However, in this case, the customer has asked to see this specific information and therefore an effective autoresponder should allow you to place as much text on the page as you desire. The autoresponder that you choose should provide automatic updates to customers free of charge.
The autoresponder is one Internet marketing tool that will not cost you an arm and a leg. You can get free autoresponders online from several sources. The automatic responses will be a welcome addition to your marketing strategy and will help to automatically increase traffic to your site all while you do nothing. Be sure that the one you choose includes all the extras that will send you site to the top and your profits through the roof.
Autoresponder Software
Autoresponder software primarily automates the task sending pre-written email messages in response incoming emails, but some let you send scheduled, follow-up email marketing messages and broadcast newsletters. Here are some popular autoresponder software programs and services, with more coming soon.
Last Update: Friday, February 25, 2005.
| Screenshot |
Description |
 |
AWeber is a remotely-hosted email autoresponder system that automates the task of sending autoresponders and broadcast email messages. |
| Format |
Free Trial |
Cost |
| Web-based application |
Yes |
$19.95/month-$179.40/year |
|
|
| Screenshot |
Description |
 |
GetResponse is a remotely-hosted email autoresponder system that automates the task of sending scheduled, follow-up email marketing messages. |
| Format |
Free Trial |
Cost |
| Web-based application |
Yes |
$17.95/month-$145.40/year |
|
|
| Screenshot |
Description |
 |
AutoResponse Plus is a self-hosted email autoresponder software program that automates the task of sending scheduled, follow-up email marketing messages and broadcast newsletters. |
| Format |
Free Trial |
Cost |
| Downloadable software |
Yes |
$97/yr-$249 |
|
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