Internet marketers are just like any other skilled worker: they have their own set of tools. Autoresponders are just one of them.
If you have anything to do with internet marketing, you must have heard the saying “The money is in the list”. You must also have seen many pages on the internet where you are asked to enter your name and email address to get access to some offer.
Autoresponders collect the names and email addresses of people who visit those pages and put them in a database. Autoresponders are used to automatically communicate via email with all those who leave their names and email addresses on those sites.
If you have a database of the email addresses of your website visitors, you can regularly remind them about your products and services and can provide them with more information about you and your business, all with the use of an autoresponder.
There are different types of autoresponders and I’ll talk about them briefly here.
hosted scripts
These scripts, or software programs, are hosted on your website by your web host.
You’ll need a hosting account where you’ll host your website and then install, run and manage your autoresponder from your own website. You can install the script yourself or hire someone to do it for you. Some hosting providers may offer you free support for this, but it depends on the hosting package you have purchased.
You will have to manage all your campaigns yourself and you will be solely responsible for the spam complaints received. If too many spam emails are being sent through your account, then the mail servers may put your emails on a permanent blacklist! You have been warned.
subscription services
You can perform a Google search for available subscription services; there are a wide variety of providers. The service provider will charge a small monthly fee and professionally manage your autoresponder, making building your list much easier.
Some autoresponder services are free, but for less than $20 per month you can find some great deals.
If you opt for a professional autoresponder service, in my opinion, you will have numerous benefits. Perhaps the main benefit is that professional autoresponder service providers nearly eliminate spam complaints and ensure that virtually all of your email is delivered to your subscribers in a timely manner.
Imagine if you have a list of 1000 subscribers but only 60% of them receive your emails, that would be 400 people missing out on every email you feel and you can imagine the impact it would have on your profits.
Some good examples of autoresponder service providers are Aweber, Mailchimp, Get Response, and iContact. You will find many other options if you google them, but these are the most reliable service providers.
Your list should grow every day once you have your recruiting system in place. But, first make sure you master your autoresponder and learn its technicalities before promoting it to your subscribers, otherwise your effort to attract new subscribers will result in many of them clicking the ‘unsubscribe’ link.
Finally, and as an added bonus, most paid autoresponders also have affiliate programs attached that can be used to cover the cost of your monthly fee. In fact, with a little promotional work, you can not only cover your subscription costs, but also make a decent profit from your referrals.