Why, What and How to use Autoresponders

Autoresponders are one of the most simple to use yet most effective
promotional tools created in recent times and are an essential requirement
for any online business. You may hear the terms, automatic emailer, email
responder, autobot or mailbot. Whatever the term, the important point is
that an autoresponder will automatically answer incoming email messages on
your behalf and once set up, will continue to do so indefinitely, without
further intervention from you.

No matter what task an autoresponder is performing, the biggest benefit it
offers is that of saving you time.
Autoresponders never take a break, they tirelessly work
24/7 all year round and for no extra pay, they very rarely get sick...(as
long as you have a reliable service provider), they never question your
decisions or the tasks you have set them and they follow your instructions
to the letter.

If you've noticed that I'm using the plural 'autoresponders' that is because
even though you will opt for one autoresponder service provider, every
campaign you run will need a separate autoresponder sequence, which is
simply a series of response messages concentrating on one specific issue.
For example; you may have an autoresponder set up to welcome new subscribers
to your newsletter and maybe follow through with a short series of related
messages. You will also need to set up another one to send out chapters of
your e-course over a predetermined time span. You will need yet another to
follow up with customers who have bought your ebook or special report and so
on.
Therefore you will be dealing with one autoresponder service provider
account with which you can run multiple campaigns, each one being known as
an "autoresponder".

We all realize that the Internet is growing day by day and will continue to
do so with thousands of new users coming online in a never-ending stream.
This means that you have an expanding international marketplace at your
disposal.
Naturally, competition is fierce...especially in certain markets (such as
internet marketing;-). There are many thousands of companies vying for
attention and business so you must do whatever it takes to get an "edge".
The last thing you want to happen is that you gain that edge, attract
hundreds of visitors to your site every day and then fail to capitalize on
the advantage you have worked hard to win.

Internet companies and marketers know full-well that bringing in visitors is
only the very first step in doing online business. What you must do next is
convert visitors into paying customers. They know from experience there is
no way they will convert every visitor, they also know that very few
visitors buy anything on their first visit. It's statistically proven that
it takes an average of five to seven visits before a person will pull out
the plastic and make a purchase online. Therefore it follows, to succeed on
the Internet you have to bring back those visitors time and time again until
they like and trust you enough to do business.

That is where autoresponders are indispensable. Successful online businesses
understand that to bring back potential paying customers they need to use
the autoresponder process to stay in touch with visitors. The most effective
technique is to offer visitors something as an incentive to return, which
could be something like additional information relating directly to the
site's theme (niche) in the form of an ebook or a free report.

If your website or blog already contains lots of useful information and/or
you produce a regular newsletter, your offer could be for free notifications
of new updates or a free subscription. Anything of quality will do as long
as it's about, or closely related to, the subject in which your visitors are
interested.

Your autoresponder will generate code for you to cut and paste into your
website or blog. This creates a subscription form that you can place just
below your offer for visitors to provide you with their name and email
address. You will then need to write a generic response to your subscribers'
requests and load it into your autoresponder for immediate response when
they submit the form.

Something like this may be appropriate: Hi (name), and thank you for
requesting more information about XYZ. You will receive the first part of
the mini-course as soon as you confirm your details by clicking this special
link http://www.1234abcd (not a real link) - Your details will never be
disclosed to anyone else and you can unsubscribe at any time "guaranteed"...
Regards, (your name).

This is what is known as double opt-in because your visitor has to confirm
their intention to be part of your subscriber list before then can receive
the first release of information. The information, in this case a
mini-course, would be a series of say, seven short reports about the subject
in which your subscriber is interested, each one pre-set to be released by
the autoresponder to your subscriber at specific intervals after their first
contact (e.g. Part 1 - released immediately, Part 2 - released on day 3,
Part 3 - released on day 5, Part 4 - released on day 7 etc.).

This high level response will show that you are serious about providing
quality information in a professional manner and will also cement your
relationship with subscribers who will feel increasingly more confident in
you as a person with which they can do business. The great advantage of
using this method of contact and delivery is that is provides a personal
service to individual clients on a scale that would otherwise be impossible
for a solo operator to achieve.

To most people, customer service ranks higher than price point and other
purchasing factors. Autoresponders help the individual business person to
provide that service in an easy and affordable way. Although your main
objective in business is to make sales, your first priority online should be
to offer top-flight information and thus capture as many names and email
addresses as possible. This is the absolute bedrock of any successful
Internet business.

Put your autoresponders to work and establish a sense of total trust within
your visitors...the sales will follow.
Your autoresponders will help to keep your customers and leads happy and up
to date with your information. Most of all, they will feel special because
you are sharing and taking good care of them.

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Dave Foster owns and operates the "Solo Profits" blog and podcast, helping
to guide individual entrepreneurs and home-based business owners to online
success. To draw upon the wealth of solo business information at the "Solo
Profits" blog and podcast - Click Here --> http://www.soloprofits.com