Autoresponder,
Why Is It Right For Your Business
.
An autoresponder is a software program that automatically
sends a prewritten reply to anyone who uses your autoresponder
address. It works 24/7 everyday of the year.
When you start an online business and your business
begins to grow, you may find that using an autoresponder
is essential.
Most successful online marketers look for ways to
save time with multiple marketing tasks. Like thank
you letters, newsletters, information on a product,
orders, training courses, etc.
To save countless hours with these tasks, they will
use an autoresponder to effectively handle all of
their email campaigns.
There are several types of autoresponders one can
use for their business. Choosing the right autoresponder
depends on your current need and the type of email
campaigns you will be implementing.
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Paid Autoresponder Services:
Using this type of autoresponder is done through
the Internet with a web-based company, which host
your mail list on their server. You simply upload
your prewritten mailings and choose the days you want
them sent out. It is simple to set up and for the
most part, they are considered very reliable.
There is a monthly fee, but you will find more features
using this type of service than you will with some
other autoresponders.
You will want to look for a web-based autoresponder
that has the features to fit your business needs.
Here are a few features to look for:
Unlimited Autoresonders: Lets you create as many
mailing campaigns as you want.
List Management: You want an autoresponder that captures
the name and email address and stores the contact
information for you.
Unlimited Follow Up: A good autoresponder will have
unlimited follow-ups you can use for your mailing
list.
Tracking Features: Lets you know which mailing campaign
gets the best response.
Unlimited Message Length: No limits on the length
of your mailings.
Time/Date Features: To be able to set specific days
for a multi promotion series/messages that you want
sent to your mailing list.
Broadcast: Enables you to send out a message instantly
to your entire mail list.
Personalize: This feature allows you to set your
autoresponder to put your recipients name in the body
of your email, as well as in the subject line.
Customer Support: Provides ongoing support by phone,
email or fax.
Unsubscribe Management: This feature will automatically
unsubscribe your viewer if they decide to be taken
off your mail list.
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Free Autoresponders Services:
Free autoresponder services work similar to a paid
service but have fewer features. It's important to
understand that most of these services will place
their advertisements in your messages.
Even though some companies may limit how many advertisements
are used in your mailings, you may want to consider
how professional your messages are going look.
Also consider that some free autoresponder services
are sending your replies with 3rd party advertisements
as well.
If you feel that this type of service would fit your
business needs, look for companies that limit the
amount of ads and do not allow 3rd party advertisements.
You can go to any major search engine to perform a
search for one that may work for you.
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Web Host Autoresponders:
If you are using a paid web host for your website,
you will most likely find that they offer you a free
autoresponder.
A web host autoresponder has limited features, as
they only provide the basic autoresponder function
of sending one reply to a message sent.
There are no follow-up messages that can be sent
and you do not have the option to capture the list
of names that replied to your autoresponder.
This is not to say that there are no benefits with
this type of mailing program. You can use it for people
who request information, a copy of an article, thank
you messages, etc.
If you have a mailing that only needs to go out once
without a follow-up, than using a web host autoresponder
may work for you.
Check with your current web host to see what options
they offer. If it doesn’t fit the business needs
you have, move on to an autoresponder that will.
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Software Autoresponders:
This form of an autoresponder is a software that
you purchase and install on your computer.
The software will give you more flexibility than
a web host autoresponder, but you need to understand
its advantages and disadvantages.
Set up is basically easy and there are no monthly
fees to pay.
With this software you will have many options to
make your business work on autopilot. From unlimited
follow up replies, time/date delay features, capturing
the list of names that replied to your autoresponder
and building a client database.
The drawbacks in using this type of software are;
you need to be connected to the Internet for it to
work. If one were to send an email to your autoresponder
address and you were not online, they would not receive
your autoresponder message until you were connected.
One solution to this problem is having a T1, DSL or
Cable line and leaving your system on.
Understand that it would be up to you to maintain
your list of addresses and back up your files on a
regular basis.
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CGI Script Autoresponders:
CGI script autoresponders can be extremely reliable
and effective providing you have total understanding
of a few basic principles of installing one.
This type of autoresponder is installed on your web
host server (rather than on your own computer) and
you need to know the ins and outs of installing the
script.
Before you buy a CGI Script, check to see that your
current web host server meets the requirements that
are needed to run the software. This step is a must
or you can be wasting your time and money.
Another possible drawback to using this type of autoresponder
is going to be the reliability of your current web
host server. Do they have little to no down time?
If your web host server is down, so is your autoresponder.
Some of the advantages of in using a CGI script is
there are no monthly fees and you don’t have
to worry about maintaining and backing up files. Your
web host server will take care of this task along
with your website files.
Most scripts have added features you can implement
to save you time. List management, date/time delay,
unlimited follow-ups, text recognition and many more.
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by - John Kovacs
Copyright 2003-2005
John Kovacs is the CEO and founder of “A Home
Business Opportunity”. His website mainly focuses
on supplying free marketing tips, resources and support
for home startup businesses and Internet marketing.
To get a step-by-step guide in building an online
business, visit http://www.ahomebusinessopportunity.net
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