Autoresponder

Making The Best Use Of An Autoresponder

If you do business online, then you know that one of the important marketing tools for this is the autoresponder. And once you start using the autoresponder, what becomes very, very important in the online business game is your opt-in list. Sure, you start off without a list but how well and how quickly it grows to include a huge number of names and email addresses is what the game is all about!

Now, how does that happen? Well, you have to make it happen. To grow your list, you need to entice people to be on that list. One way you could do that is to invite them to be on that list with freebies. A lot of people fall for that free stuff, never mind what some marketing people have to say. This is especially helpful in the initial stages when you still have a long way to go before you can say you have a decent-sized opt-in list.

What can you give away free? Just about anything. A free e-book or e-zine is a good idea, so is a free report or tutorial. You could even offer free access to a forum or site. Just make sure it is something that will get the reader to sign up to get emails from you. Of course, you can go one better and use that freebie to promote something you are selling. As long as the reader perceives it to be of value to him, you’re on!

Once you are inside the hallowed circle of a reader’s email ‘allowed’ list, you have to justify your existence there – do everything you can to make each email interesting to him. Handle this tool well with responsibility and you will gain unlimited rewards.

A few dos and don’ts. Do include a link so the person receiving the mail is given a choice to remove his name from your mailing list. Apart from going against the spam laws, you’ll also somehow be creating a better impression in his mind when you give him a choice.

Of course, the spam laws are pretty strict about this and you might risk having your emails as well as your site shut down. Also, don’t add people just to make up numbers. Yes, numbers are important but add them only if they agree to be added and have asked for information to be sent to them.

In this case, you can automatically add them to your opt-in list. In fact, what would be even safer would be to have a ‘double opt-in’ kind of method so that not only do they say Yes to receiving the information. But confirm it as well. This way, you would really be playing safe.

In the run-up to building up a huge opt-in list, while the prospect is very tempting, one must be very clear that it does not pay to just add all and sundry. This would be breaking the rules when you add names of people who do not want to get mail from you and would only prove detrimental in the long run. So, as an online marketer, the best way to go is to build your list responsibly. Quickly, yes, but responsibly too.