Invoicing with Autoresponders

If you have recurring invoices that you send out, you

can easily automate this process with

autoresponders. Many business

owners find that they spend a good portion the day

sending out invoices, or trying to collect on unpaid

invoices! This can easily eat into the time that you

could be spending generating new business.



If the amounts invoiced are the same each month,

and due on the same day each week or month, you

can easily automate the invoicing process with the

use of an autoresponder. Many shopping carts that

have autoresponders built in work well for this.

Others may take a little time to set up, but in the

end, they will save a great deal of time overall.



Get extra usage out of the automated invoicing

process by adding small messages to the invoices

that alert these clients to new products or services

that you offer. Think about your phone bill – doesn’t

your phone company send out additional sales

material with each bill? There is no reason you

shouldn’t use this same marketing technique with

your autoresponder invoices!

Improper Uses of Autoresponders

Autoresponders are wonderful! They can be used for

a variety of things, but there are several ways that

autoresponders should not be used. Using

autoresponders in improper ways will make things

a bit more difficult for other people, and it could

make things really bad for you!



Having one autoresponder respond to another

autoresponder creates chaos, and in some cases, it

can overload servers. This happens when you sign

up for something, using your autoresponder email

address. You sign up, and a message is sent to

someone else’s autoresponder, which responds to

your autoresponder, which responds to that

autoresponder – and this continues on and on until

it is manually stopped and straightened out.



Some people use their autoresponder address on

purpose when they sign up for discussion lists. In

effect, this causes an their autoresponder message

to be sent to the entire list, or to one person on the

list, each time a person sends a real message to

the discussion list. Needless to say, discussion list

members and owners frown on this practice, and the

autoresponder owner gets banned.



Avoid these problems and use your autoresponder in

ways that it was meant to be used. Do not use the

autoresponder irresponsibly! Not only will you create

problems for others, but you may find that you get

How Important are Autoresponders to Internet

Marketing?



Internet Marketing and autoresponders essentially

go hand-in-hand. In today’s online business world,

you simply cannot succeed at Internet marketing

without the use of autoresponders. Autoresponders

are used to achieve many of the marketing tasks

that are essential to a successful online business.



Internet marketing can be very time consuming.

Whether you do affiliate marketing or market your

own products, an autoresponder is a big part of your

marketing arsenal. Autoresponders are used to keep

in contact with your past customers, and to develop

a relationship with potential customers.



An autoresponder can be used to deliver sales

messages to your opt-in customer list. It can be

used to deliver email courses, to send reminders,

and even to help you build an opt-in list if you don’t

already have one. There are many creative ways you

can use your autoresponder to make more sales and

to build customer relations.



Any successful marketer will tell you that there are

two tools that are vital to any type of online

marketing – an opt-in list and an autoresponder. In

fact, most marketers will agree that you could take

away all of their other marketing tools, but they

would fight to the death to keep the list and the

Email Courses and Autoresponders

Offering free things to your website visitors is one

marketing method that often results in a lot of sales.

Free courses that are delivered via email are very

popular, and people sign up for such courses on a

regular basis to learn more about a topic of interest

to them. These courses are best maintained and

delivered with the use of autoresponders.



An autoresponder can be set up to send out a

series of lessons for an email course. The lessons

can be set for distribution at specific intervals. You

determine how often the lessons for the course are

sent to the people who have signed up for it. Email

courses are very different from traditional courses,

web based courses, or any other type of course.



There is no student and instructor interaction. The

instructor writes the information out, puts each

lesson in an autoresponder series, sets the timing

for the lessons, and the rest is automated. You can

opt to have lessons delivered daily, every other day,

every three days, or any other time frame that you

think works best for your email students.



Email courses are commonly used to sell products

and services. For instance, if you sell widgets, you

might develop a course that teaches people how to

use widgets or how to care for their widget. Experts

agree that an email course can be written for

almost any product that you can imagine – if you

put enough thought into it.



Start by determining what your course will be about,

and how long it should be. If the course should be

delivered every other day for two weeks, you know

that you would need seven lessons. Write the

lessons, and load them in the autoresponder. Set

the interval for each lesson, which in this case would

be 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13.



This means that the first lesson would be delivered

one day after the person has requested the course,

and the second lesson would be delivered three days

after the person has requested the course, and so

on. The interval for each lesson is set for the

number of days after the person has signed up

Make sure that everything is spelled right, and that

your sentences are grammatically correct. You

want the lessons to look and sound as professional

as possible.



Next, simply advertise the email address that will

activate the autoresponder. Make sure that you run

a test first, sending each lesson to yourself. This will

allow you to see what your email students will see

Customer Service with Autoresponders

Ideally, when you perform customer service, it is

done on a one-on-one basis with each of your

customers. That works quite well in the offline world

– but on the Internet, that simply will not do. Your

customers are literally all over the world, and there is

no way that you can really deal with each one of

them personally. That is where an autoresponder

comes in.



Customer service with autoresponders is quite

simple. When an order is place, an autoresponder

can send out the receipt for the sale, the information

for accessing the product, and a ‘thank you’ email.

This happens whether you are logged in to your

computer or on vacation in an exotic location! But

customer service doesn’t always end right there, and

if you are away from your computer, you may be

letting your customers down!



For instance, an elderly gentleman sees your

product advertised and places an order. Everything

goes through just fine, and he receives the receipt,

the download information, and your ‘thank you’ email.

Your product is an ebook, compiled into a PDF file.

This particular gentleman doesn’t understand what

a PDF file is, and he has no idea what you mean by

‘right click to download.’ He needs additional

customer service for the product that he has

purchased, and there is nobody available to help

him – nobody but an autoresponder.



Set up an additional autoresponder that will send out

a list of frequently asked questions or problems that

deal with customer service or how to access the

product. Also set up a support autoresponder. If he

sends a message to support, he should get an

instant message back letting him know that his

message has been received, and how soon it will be

addressed. This will give him some measure of

comfort, and in most cases, he will wait that

specified period of time for assistance.



However, if he doesn’t know how to download the

product, and he sends a message to support, and

nothing happens, he will most likely become very

dissatisfied in a very short period of time. The

difference between a patient customer and an irate

customer is one simple autoresponder message

that can and should be set up in under five minutes.



Really think your ordering process through, and

consider the potential problems that may occur for

your customers. Get an autoresponder set up to

address those problems, and you will find that your

customers are more satisfied with your products,

and extremely satisfied with your customer service –

all because your autoresponders handle their

Business Automation with Autoresponders

Automation is important to all businesses. The less

time we have to spend doing small tasks, the more

time we have to make more money – or we could

spend that time doing something besides working.

Putting an online business on auto pilot isn’t difficult

at all – and it is all done with the use of

autoresponders!



Autoresponders can be used to get people to your

website, or to promote products and services.

Simply plug your sales message into the

autoresponder, along with some valuable

information that your potential may want or need,

and advertise that autoresponders address.



Once the person arrives at your site, and goes

through your ordering process, another

autoresponder kicks in. This autoresponder

should send out a receipt, as well as information

that will grant the customer access to whatever it

is that they have purchased. Another autoresponder

message should be sent out after this, thanking the

customer for their business, and letting them know

about similar or related products or services that they

may be interested in.



The beauty of this is that while all of this ordering is

going on, and these important customer service

emails are being sent, you can be off doing

something else! The more automation you can

integrate into your online business, the better off

Autoresponders –

The More You Know, The More Effective They Are



If you have signed up with an autoresponder service,

you need to take the time to read the instructions to

learn how to use the service – before you load the

first word of your first message! Not knowing how to

use the service will lead to many mistakes, and

your customers and potential customers will most

likely see every mistake you make!



As soon as you have complete the sign up process,

load one email address into the autoresponders

mailing list – yours. If there is a manual or help file

for your autoresponder, read every word of it, and

really learn how to use all of the features of the

autoresponder.



Work with it, sending messages to your own address,

until you know your autoresponder service inside and

out! This may take a little time, but after a few hours

or so, you should know all that there is to know, and

you will be able to set your autoresponders up much

more effectively in the future. Taking the time to learn

now, will not only save time in the future, it may also

help you tweak and tune your autoresponder

messages and tracking in a way that increases your

Autoresponders and Spam – What You Need To

Know



There are laws against sending spam. There are

even laws that you must adhere to when you send

out email that was requested. No matter what type

of email you are sending out, the chances are good

that the anti-spam laws apply to you in some way.



In order to be in compliance with the anti-spam laws

in various states in the US, each commercial email

that you send must include your name or business

name, your street address, city, state, zip code,

and phone number. You must also include

instructions that will allow the recipient to remove

themselves from your mailing list. If you fail to do

any of this, you are essentially breaking the law in

various states – no matter what state or country you

live in!



Protect yourself from spam complaints in any way

that you can. Make sure that when a customer

requests any type of information from you that an

email is sent requesting confirmation before any

other email is sent. If someone is placing an order

from you, include a check box on the order form,

asking for permission to send them periodic emails.

Never use your autoresponder to send unsolicited

Autoresponders and Shopping Cart Integration

When people place orders through your website, it

is always a good idea to immediately acknowledge

the purchase. One way to do this is with the use of

an autoresponder that can be integrated with your

shopping cart. In fact, many shopping carts that are

available today have their own autoresponders built

into the system.



When you set up your autoresponder to send a

message to someone that has placed an order,

there are several things that should be included in the

message. This is an opportunity to ‘speak’ to your

customer, and to let them know about other deals

that you have or special items that you have available.

You should not miss this opportunity.



Do not try to get your ‘thank you’ sales message on

the same autoresponder as the customers email

receipt. Putting the sales message on an email that

is automatically sent to grant the customer access

to their purchase is also a bad idea – that would go

better with the receipt. Make sure your ‘thank you’

sales message is a message that is sent out all by

itself, so your customer can focus solely on that!



Thank the customer for their recent purchase. Tell

them how much their purchase will help them, and

then tell them about other available products that

work well with the one that they just purchased, or

that are similar to the one that they just purchased

in some way. For instance hair conditioner works

with hair shampoo. Vacuum cleaner bags or carpet

powder works well with vacuum cleaners. Just let

them know about the various products that you offer

that will compliment their purchase in some way.



The important thing is to not let your customer get

away without further contact! Think about being in a

brick and mortar store. When you go up to the

counter to pay, there are many items there for sale.

These items are meant to be picked up as last

minute purchases, or impulsive purchases. Your

‘thank you’ sales letter serves the same purpose.



Don’t make the mistake of bombarding your

customer! You can usually send them periodic

information about your specials after they have made

a purchase through you, but emailing them on a

daily basis with your offers is not good business!

Use your autoresponder responsibly! Make sure that

your autoresponder is set up to handle automatic

remove requests, and make sure that the information

that you are sending your customers is of value to

Articles and Autoresponders

Writing articles to market a product or service is an

excellent way to build business. The articles should

be very informative, providing the reader with

information that is relevant to a specific topic. The

article usually includes a link to a webpage for more

information. The webpage, of course, is designed to

sell a product or service that relates to the topic of

the article.



These articles are commonly submitted to article

banks, websites, and ezine publishers. This is one

of the most effective ways to market a service or

product on the Internet, and it can become even more

effective when it is combined with the use of an

autoresponder.



Begin by setting each of your articles up in your

autoresponder. It is important that each article have

its very own autoresponder address, so you will

need an autoresponder service that will allow you to

do this. Next, make a master list of your articles, with

the autoresponder address for each article listed

beside the title. You can even add descriptions of the

articles on your master list if you want to.



Advertising your articles one at a time can take a

great deal of time…but advertising one autoresponder

address – the one for the master list – won’t take

very much time at all. Simply put it in your newsletter

and on your website. You can even allow other

ezine publishers to use this is a free resource for