Marketing Articles - Autoresponders by Kim Skinner
Autoresponders. You've most
likely heard the term, and maybe even requested a few of them. But today
we're going to talk about the power of the autoresponder and the best ways
to use them to increase your online profits.
One thing you're going to
discover in the process of building your online business is that 'automation'
is one of the main keys to success on the web.
By automation I mean setting
up certain aspects of your business so that they run with no further work
on your part. An autoresponder is usually the first type of automation
that most new online marketers experience.
Your autoresponder has two
main objectives. One, to make your life easier by delivering your info
to those who request it with no delay. It allows you to 'strike while the
iron is hot,' as it were. If a prospect is interested in your product right
now, you want to get the info into his hands as soon as possible.
Two, it allows you to capture
the e-mail addresses of those who show interest in your products. This
way you can build your own targeted "in-house mailing list." We'll
talk about this more in a later lesson, but one thing to remember is, if
the autoresponder you're thinking of using doesn't send you a copy of the
requesters e-mail, so that you can collect the e-mail addresses, OR it
doesn't automatically add each e-mail address to a list for you, don't
use it. You're wasting your time because with every lost e-mail address,
you've lost a potential sale.
An autoresponder is a program
that will send a pre-set message, written by YOU, to any e-mail address
that sends an e-mail to the autoresponder.
So, say you have an autoresponder
and the address is
< autoresponder@yourdomain.com
>. If I sent an e-mail message to that address, the message that you had
placed in the autoresponder would immediately be sent back to my e-mail
address.
Can you see the power of
this? Your sales letter can be sent to anyone, anywhere in a matter of
seconds with no work on your part. You can be sleeping, swimming, watching
TV, anything. You can sell your products 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
with the help of an autoresponder.
A sales letter is just one
use for your autoresponder. There are numerous ways you can use them. You
can offer your all of your new subscribers a free article, via autoresponder,
that pertains to the subject of the e-zine.
I've put some of my autoresponders
to good use by using them in a way that encourages my web site visitors
to request them. I collect many e-mail addresses that I would, otherwise,
not have gotten.
On one of my sites, I offer
many free marketing articles. You can find them at
< http://www.advertisingtips.net/tips.htm
>. Each article on that page is available via autoresponder.
But, this is just the beginning.
An autoresponder will also allow you to follow up with your prospects.
It's a proven fact, most prospects will see your product 5 - 7 times before
ordering. By using an autoresponder and retaining your prospects e-mail
address, you can put your product in front of him as many times as it takes.
You see, there are a million
and one reasons why someone may not respond to your ad the first time.
Imagine this scenario. Say
a woman is surfing the net. She happens upon your ad that contains your
autoresponder offer. She clicks on it and sends her request.
Right about then, her youngest
child runs into the room, yelling that the dog got loose again. Just as
she's heading out the door after the dog, the oven timer dings. Dinner
is done.
She takes the chicken out
of the oven, and runs out the door at the urging of the screaming child,
to retrieve the dog.
Hours later, when she finally
gets back to the computer after the kids, and the dog, have been put to
bed, she checks her e-mail. Among other things, she comes across your autoresponder
message, skims it, and deletes it, having forgotten why she requested it
in the first place.
That's why following up is
so very important. Even though they were too busy today, maybe they won't
be in two days.
There are two ways to follow
up with your prospects. Manually and automatically.
Manually:
I debated on whether to even
include this technique. It's really not necessary anymore to use this method,
but you may find your-self in the position where you have no choice, so....
95%, or more, of autoresponder
programs will send you a copy of the requestors e-mail message. This allows
you to capture the e-mail address and follow up.
You may want to send 5 or
6 messages, at intervals of 2 or 3 days reminding the prospect of your
product.
This method, however, requires
you to manually retrieve each e-mail address and keep it in a file for
later follow up.
Automatically:
Here is where our fist lesson
in automation comes in. A while back the autoresponder program was perfected.
'Follow up' messages are now available. This program not only sends that
first message out to the requester, but it has the capacity to send out
multiple follow up messages, at pre-determined intervals.
There are many places that
will give you a free follow up autoresponder.
The only drawbacks to these
free services are;
1. They will include one
or more ads in your messages.
2. They aren't always the
most reliable.
But, you can't knock FREE,
right, even though you will get what you
pay for.
Here are a couple of free
autoresponder resources:
GetResponse
< http://www.getresponse.com >
Fast Facts
< http://www.fastfacts.net >
For some info on a couple
of good fee resources:
Aweber
< http://www.advertisingtips.net/aw.htm >
They charge about $20 a
month for a follow-up autoresponder with 6 follow ups.
ZipResponse E-Mail Marketing
Center
< http://www.zipresponse.com >
Unlimited follow-up autoresponders,
each with 10 follow ups, with each lifetime membership.
At the ZipResponse E-Mail
Marketing Center, each member receives an unlimited amount of autoresponders,
each with 10 automatic follow ups. Each autoresponder will add every requesting
e-mail address to your list, automatically, that you can send a message
to at any time. < http://www.zipresponse.com >.
This is a great tool to use
for an e-zine. Simply tell prospective subscribers to send an e-mail to
your ZipResponse autoresponder, and their name is automatically added to
the subscriber list. And, every message offers a way for each subscriber
to remove himself. Look at the bottom of this message for a sample.
But, regardless of the route
you take, it is imperative that you begin using autoresponders right away.
If not, you're losing sales and that means lost profits.
