Small Business Promotion Coach

There is an old saying from back in the early direct marketing days. “The money is in the list.” It’s as true online as it was offline. The ability to communicate with your customers is your businesses most important asset.

The tool we use online to create and maintain a “list” is the autoresponder.

Let’s start right from the beginning and define an autoresponder. An autoresponder is simply a program that automates the process of sending out email to a list of people. They range from simple programs that run on your computer to online services that handle all of the dirty work.

Autoresponders are used in two different ways:

Sequential Autoresponders

With a sequential autoresponder you create a series of emails and load them into your autoresponder. When someone signs up to your list, they will begin to receive these emails in sequential order. You decide when they are to be delivered. Typically you will set which day (as measured from the day they sign up) the message should be delivered. You might have an email delivered every other day for two weeks.  Or you might create a newsletter that goes out once a week.

Broadcast Autoresponders

The other way to use than autoresponder is in the “broadcast” mode. When you do a broadcast, you are simply sending out your email to the entire list of subscribers. Nothing new here. It’s just like sending an email to everybody in your address book. Except that the list could be huge.

Both methods are typically used to communicate to your customers and clients. One common model is to load up your autoresponder with a series of instructional emails. Then use the so called “e-course” as an “ethical bribe” to encourage people to sign up to your mailing list. Once you have this set up, it runs completely on autopilot, building your list 24/7.

Once people have signed up, then you can use the broadcast mode to communicate with your customers in real time. You could send out an email broadcast to announce a sale. For instance, you could announce a Thursday sale. You explain that Thursdays are your slow day and that the next “X’ number of people who stop in you will receive a discount.

I recommend signing up to the “Revenue Scout Newsletter” for an excellent example of a newsletter (Of course I’m biased because it’s my newsletter ) that is sent out by an autoresponder. If you are on my blog right now, you will find a place to sign up somewhere on this page. If you are reading this somewhere else then drop by http://www.SmallBusinessPromotionCoach.com and sign up right now. Each issue of the “Revenue Scout Newsletter”  is jam-packed with tips and ideas to help you get the most revenue out of your small business. And it is completely FREE.

Choosing An Autoresponder

There are a number of reasons you should choose an online service over a stand-alone program.
1. Many Internet providers put a limit on the number of emails you can send out within a certain period. This may not be a problem at first, but as your list grows it will become more and more of a problem.

2. Online autoresponders will not allow you to simply import the names of the people already on your list. You will be required to have everyone sign up again when you finally have to go to an online service. This WILL cost you a significant number of subscribers.

3. You will get SPAM complaints. AOL’s email client has a SPAM button. People often hit the SPAM button when they no longer wish to get your emails. The problem is that you Internet provider will receive an email claiming that you are sending out SPAM. If you get enough of these, your entire website will be shut down. Ouch!

4. Finally we come to the issue of deliverability. Over the years it has become harder and harder to get email delivered. SPAM blockers and IP blacklists have made it difficult to just get your email into your subscriber’s inbox. (This doesn’t even include the difficulty of getting it noticed and opened.) A good autoresponder service such as Aweber has people on staff who do nothing but work to improve the deliverability of your emails.

The service that I use and recommend is Aweber. They have been around a long time. (At least in Internet years.) And have developed a terrific reputation in the online world for great service and deliverability.

They handle the job of sending out all of the emails so that you don’t have to worry about your Internet provider account being shut down. In addition, they have a full time staff that works hard to make sure that your email are getting into you subscribers inbox. (Please Note: Aweber will shut you down if you are a SPAMMER and they get an unusually large number of complaints.)

You are leaving a lot of money on the table if you cannot communicate effectively with your customers and clients. The autoresponder is the easiest and cheapest way to keep in touch with a large number of people. Visit Aweber and get signed up today.