Recommended Affiliate Programs
Autoresponders
By - John Kovacs
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.
For a list of sites that offer cgi scripts, you can go to www.ahomebusinessopportunity.net/cgiscript.htm
Copyright © by John Kovacs - www.ahomebusinessopportunity.net
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About The Author:
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. You can get step-by-step guidelines in building an online business at www.ahomebusinessopportunity.net/marketingtips.htm. John also has an Article Directory with articles worth reading at http://www.ahomebusinessopportunity.net/articles.htm
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