Autoresponders -- A Must-Have for a Successful Website
An autoresponder is a tool
for sending out mass emailings to your "list" – the people
who fill out your opt-in form. Why send out mass mailings to your list? There are two main reasons: Reason 1. The simple fact is that most visitors to your website will forget all about you after they leave your site. They may even want to return, but won't remember your URL or how they found you in the first place. Sending them regular follow-up messages will keep them connected. At some point in time, when they discover a need for your site, they'll be back. Reason 2. By sending messages containing additional valuable information to the members of your list, you will be building an even greater relationship of trust and respect with them. When you then tell them about a new product or service you like, they will listen. Is this spam? It would be if the people on
your list didn't give you permission to contact them. This is
what your opt-in form is all about. By filling it out, your
visitors are saying, yes, please send me more information. What are the features of an
autoresponder?
What are
the benefits of an autoresponder? Suppose
you have 500 people on your list, and you want to send them all an
announcement
that you have a new article on your site. Without an
autoresponder, you
would have to either do each message by hand, which would be totally
impractical, or you would have to place all the addresses in your BCC
address
line. This would probably trigger everyone's spam filters,
and your
letter would never get through. One
message, one time is great, but where
an
autoresponder really shines is when you are sending out multiple
mailings,
such as a newsletter, an ezine, a mini-course, or a drip campaign. You can set up the timing
interval to send
your newsletter or ezine at the same time every week or month, or you
can
choose to have your pre-written mini-course lessons or drip campaign
messages
delivered in a set sequence of days, starting when the person signs up. If
you are using SiteBuildIt! as your web host, you already have an
autoresponder. It's
built right into the
package, along with all those other valuable tools.
You can send out a monthly newsletter or
ezine, and up to seven sequential lessons in a mini-course or drip
campaign. However,
if you are already using another web host, or your newsletter comes out
more
often than once a month, or you expect to send out more than seven
sequential
messages to the individuals on your list, you will probably need to
purchase an
autoresponder from another company. I am using Aweber's autoresponder service and have
been consistently
impressed with the user-friendliness of their system. Creating
a
form to build a list for your autoresponder is a very simple process,
and their video tutorials make it even
easier. Their email
help desk always
responds very quickly and intelligently to my questions. And… I can send
out as many messages as I
want. Another Aweber autoresponder
feature that
I especially like is their split-testing tool.
What
is split-testing? Suppose
you
have two headlines in mind for your opt-in form.
Which one would get the most sign-ups?
With split-testing, you can alternate both
headlines, and Aweber will keep track of the number of sign-ups each one gets. Then you can take it a
step further– drop the
loser and try a third headline to run against the winner. Keep doing this, and you
will eventually end
up with a REALLY effective headline. It sounds as though Aweber's autoresponder ought
to cost
an arm and a leg with all the features and benefits it provides. However,
a monthly
subscription is only $20.
And if you wish to pay by the quarter, half-year, or year,
you can get discounts of up to $60.
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