Automate Your Business Using Autoresponders
If you've reached the point of exhaustion trying to keep up
with answering the mountain of emails that threatens to
bury you alive every single day, you're ready to learn
about autoresponders.
The bad news is that people expect prompt replies to their
email inquiries. However, unless you can figure out how to
work continual twenty-four hour shifts, or hire enough
people to constantly monitor incoming emails , you have a
problem.
The good news is an autoresponder is an inexpensive
method of quickly responding to emails. These programs
automatically respond to incoming emails as soon as
they are received.
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, or if there are repeated questions asked across
large numbers of emails.
Maybe you want to offer your site visitors a special bonus
of some kind, such as advice or relevant articles. All of this
can be handled by an autoresponder. Additionally, you can
advertise your business and then build stable relationships
with your customers by using autoresponders.
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 intervals of time. For example, you can set your autoresponder to
send out a new message every day for as long a period as
you desire.
Website hosting companies often provide autoresponders as
a free service. Free web mail accounts, likeYahoo Mail, also have a built in autoresponder, though their options are pretty limited.
If your current email account doesn't offer an autoresponder,
or if you need more options, there are numerous companies
who offer this service for a monthly fee.
Here are a couple of good ones to check out:
http://www.quicksales.com/
http://www.aweber.com/
To personalize your autoresponder messages, you can attach
a signature. Signatures in this case are much like business
cards. You can include your name, company, all your contact
info, 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.
Another specialized use of autoresponders is to create
courses that you can then offer your site visitors for
free. You can 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.
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, you're ready to transfer your text to your
autoresponder.
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. Essentially,
an autoresponder allows you to automate part of your
marketing campaign.
© 2007 Emilie Nottle
Want to use this article in your website or ezine? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it:
Emilie Nottle of Zooop Design, publishes Grow Your Biz, a monthly eZine for entrepreneurs and small business owners. If you're ready to take your biz to the next level, using your website as an effective marketing tool and automating your marketing efforts, subscribe at http://www.zooop-design.com/subscribe_info.html.
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