Monday 10 October 2011

Introduction to Autoresponders

Introduction to Autoresponders


Introduction to Autoresponders


Today autoresponders are used by university and college lecturers, politicians and many diverse groups, but everyone who is in business today, and especially anyone who is in network marketing or have an online business, needs an autoresponder. Having an autoresponder makes the job of running your business a lot easier.


Autoresponders save you the exhaustion of trying to keep up with answering the mountain of emails from clients, referrals, fans and others that threatens to bury you alive every single day. So if you operate any of these types of businesses then you’re ready to learn about autoresponders.


Autoresponders ensure people get prompt replies to their email enquiries. It reduces long working hours, hiring additional staff, incurring additional overheads and unless you can figure out how to work continually twenty-four hour shifts, or hire enough people to constantly monitor incoming emails (while they’re eating up your revenue), you have a problem. The good news is an autoresponder is an inexpensive – or even free – method of quickly responding to emails. What these programs do is automatically respond to incoming emails as soon as they are received.


Emails are essential tools for any business especially an online business, for many different reasons. Most importantly, customers or prospective customers give you their feedback about your website, product or service, and all of this information is free. However, if you spend all your working hours answering these emails, how are you supposed to run your business efficiently? The answer is simple: use autoresponders. Autoresponders are programs that automatically respond to your emails. When you set up your, autoresponder all the information which you need to get to your customers can be sent without you so much as having to click on your mouse.


There are a number of good reasons why you need an autoresponder besides just answering your email. For example, autoresponders can be used if you need a way to send information about your services or products, price lists, new offers or if there are repeated questions asked across large numbers of emails. You may want to inform your site visitors of a special bonus of some kind, such as advice or relevant articles. This can be handled by an autoresponder. Additionally, you can advertise your business and then build stable relationships with your customers by using autoresponders.


Autoresponder programs vary from software that runs with your email program to a specialized script that runs on your web hosting company’s server. This kind of script may use a web page form or simply operate with your email account. This kind of script is programmed to send out a standardized message whenever an email is received. The message is sent to a particular script or email address.


Some autoresponders can do more than simply send out standardized messages. They can send out an unlimited number of follow-up messages sent at predetermined interval of time. For example, you can program your autoresponder to send out a new message every day or on specific days for as long a period as you desire.


There are numerous companies offering autoresponders free of charge. Most website hosting companies often provides autoresponders as a free service. If this is not the case with your web hosting company, there are numerous companies which offer this service for a small fee, or free of charge, some autoresponder company’s requirement is that you attach an advertisement for their company to your emails or website.


There are several ways in which you could personalize your autoresponder messages. You can attach certain script which would insert the name of the person you are sending the message to. Another method of personalizing autoresponders is to attach your signature at the bottom of each message. Signatures in this case are much like business cards. You can include your name, company name, email address, website address, all your contact numbers and addresses, and a brief message.


It’s a good idea to attach a signature to every email that is sent out. This works as a repeated reminder of your business identity every time a customer sees it. The more they look at your signature, the more likely your company will spring to mind when your particular service or product is needed.


You can create a standardized signature that every employee in your business uses. Alternatively, if the company is large and consist of several departments you could allow each department to include the name of their personnel and their own signatures. In the case of a large company you may need to set down some rules and guidelines for creating signatures.


As a guideline, keep the length of your signature to between four to six lines of text, with no more than 70 characters in a single line. Make sure that your email program does not cut off your text! The content should include your name, your company name, your email address, website address, fax number, and any other contact details, such as 800 numbers. Lastly, always include a short personal message about your company. It should be a subtle sell of your services or your products, and possibly your company’s reliability and longevity.


Another specialized use of autoresponders is to create courses that you can then offer your site visitors for free. You must choose a topic in which you are an expert and that precisely targets your potential customers.
Once you have carefully chosen your subject, divide it into a number of different sub-topics. Then offer your site visitor a free 10 or 15 day course, each day offering a different sub-topic. The first topic should always be a welcome message to your site visitor and an explanation about what is to follow. Your explanation should be enticing, getting the point across that you are offering free, quality information that your target audience will find of great value.


Space each lesson between two to three days. With every lesson, include the number of the lesson, the topic title, information about your company and its services or products. At the end, include a few blurbs about the next lesson to entice the subscriber to continue on.


Make sure each topic is packed with essential and valuable information, and leaves the visitor lusting to know more. Otherwise, you may lose them in the very beginning.


Of course, you have to write up your course before you can offer it. Once you have done this, and gone over the material carefully, employing a professional writer or editor if necessary, you must transfer your text to your autoresponder.


There are a number of free autoresponders you can use. Try FreeProSystem or QuicktellPro. Or go onto Google and you will find a long list of free autoresponder companies. Sign up for your chosen autoresponder. After you sign up check your email box for instructions as to how to set it up and transfer your text.
Email is an excellent and effective marketing tool; it is inexpensive and it is fast. Use it to advertise your business by choosing your email address carefully. Your website should contain different email addresses for different contact requests.


For example, use info@yourdomain.com for information requests, or sales@yourdomain.com for questions about sales. It’s a good idea to set up one for the owner, such as president@yourdomain.com. This presents your company in a personal, approachable light and insures that direct contact is provided.


Autoresponders are an effective and powerful marketing tool, allowing you to make contact with thousands of potential customers. This is an invaluable asset considering how many potential customers you usually have contact with before you make an actual sale, and bearing in mind that it usually take u-p to seven follow up emails to get a potential customer to take up your offer. Essentially, an autoresponder allows you to automate most, if not all of your marketing campaign.


For a full course on how to use autoresponders effectively for your business please fill in and submit the form below.















Recommended Reading
1. The Ultimate Autoresponder Info 
2Generate Profits From Autoresponders and Mailing Lists
3. Autoresponder Magic: The Ultimate Collection of Winning Autoresponder Messages to Put Your Website on Autopilot
4. Email and Autoresponders Unleashed (Special Report) (Business eBook Reports)
5. AutoResponder Secret Courses – Put Your Business On Autopilot!
6. Why You Should Be Using An Autoresponder Service

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