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:

* Sample E-zine Copy for potential subscribers

* Articles For Publication - A great way for writers to distribute their articles

* Offer Free Powerful Reports on various subjects and use your signature file at the end to promote your site or business

* Offer Free Resources with information about your site, product or business

* Information about your Business Opportunity

* Product listings

* 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 ads performance. You should be instantly informed each time someone requests your information.

Advertising Tips:

* Include your autoresponder address in your signature file.

* When placing classified ads, instead of supplying your regular email address, use your autoresponder address.

* Appropriate News Groups

* Opt in email discussion lists

* Guestbooks

* Business Cards 

* Letter Head

* Your web site

Key Coding Your Ads:

Tracking your ads response rate will be the key to your marketing success. Once you test your ads and determine which ad is pulling the most responses, you can easily test which classified ad sites are producing results as well. This will save you a lot of valuable time by only placing your ads at classified ad sites that produce results.

1. Make a list of the classified ad sites you intend to post your ad.

2. Number the list of ad sites.

3. You can key your ad using the subject of your email.  Many times, if you ask for a certain "subject" description, it may not be provided. To avoid this problem you can add a simple code to your email tag. 

mailto:freeinfo@yourautoadd.com?subject=cl1

This code should contain your autoresponder address and will automatically fill in the subject with your ad key when clicked on. The "cl1" stands for the classified ad site number one. The second ad site you have listed should be coded as cl2 or classified ad site number two and so on. By coding your ads you will know exactly where your leads are coming from. 

4. Begin submitting your ad and replace your normal email address with your key coded autoresponder address.

You can obtain free autoresponders with all the amenities I mentioned above from any of the following sites:

http://www.getresponse.com/

http://www.fastfacts.net/

http://www.myreply.com/

http://www.smartbot.net/

Autoresponders can completely change the way you do business and enable you to put your business on autopilot.

About the Author

Shelley Lowery is the Webmaster of Web-Source.net - A complete resource portal for the Internet entrepreneur.  The site assists the entrepreneur in developing a serious Web presence by providing a wealth of free information, resources, tools and content. 
http://www.web-source.net