|
|
An Introduction To Autoresponders |
by Nick Tan |
by Nick Tan
http://www.free-article-info.com/
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 (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 to your
business for many different
reasons. Most importantly, these
invisible email voices
give you their feedback about your
website - for free!
However, if you spend all your
working hours answering
these emails, how are you supposed
to run your business?
The answer is simple: use
autoresponders. Autoresponders
are programs that automatically
respond to your emails
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, 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.
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 set
your autoresponder to
send out a new message every day for
as long a period as
you desire.
There are numerous companies who
offer autoresponders free
of charge. Your website hosting
company often provides
autoresponders as a free service. If
this is not the case
with your web hosting company, there
are numerous companies
who offer this service for a small
fee, or free of charge,
providing you attach an
advertisement for their company to
your emails.
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
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, or you can go
wild, and let every
staff member create their own
personal signature. Of
course, like everything in life,
there are some rules and
guidelines to creating a personal
signature.
Keep the length of your signature
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, 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.
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
http:/www.getresponse.com,
or
http://www.fastfacts.net. Or
go onto Google and you will find a
long list of free
autoresponder companies. Then
sign-up for your chosen
autoresponder. Once you do, you will
receive instructions
as to how to set it up and transfer
your text.
Email is an excellent 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. Essentially,
an autoresponser allows you to
automate part of your
marketing campaign.
|
|
|
This articl coutesy of
articl-dir.com
|
|
