Follow up with an autoresponder!

Getting your message out to people once is like dropping a leaf in a river. The moment it is dropped it starts to float away. It is visible for only a moment, and unless it is very clever and demonstrates value within a 2 second window, your ad is lost. Survey's have been done that show that the most effective way to advertise your products and services is by putting your ad in front of the same person at least 7 times before it is memorable. The key here is repetition. This is where an autoresponder shines.

What is an autoresponder?

An autoresponder is merely a scheduled email service. When someone "subscribes" to your autoresponder, they are agreeing to receive further emails from you automatically. This not only allows you to demonstrate the value of your products or services over and over, but also gives you the opportunity to give people different perspectives on the same concept. Further, as your list of subscribers grow, so does your list of future leads for new products and services you might want to bring to market. Even better, this is all done automatically. A potential customer merely subscribes to your email run, and they start receiving your emails at a schedule you have defined them. Effective use of an autoresponder will optimise your marketing efforts substantially. They usually cost around $20 dollars a month, but beleive me, are worth every penny. If you don't mind having an autoresponder service provider put their own ads in your messages, you can even use it for free (see ISO Register below).

Choose from the following services to setup your autoresponder

	AWeber Sign up to get the world's best autoresponder. Launch your professional email campaign, for newsletters, autoresponders, and RSS to email!
	Get Response Turn-key email marketing service, autoresponders, conversion tracking and top-notch email deliverability. Unlimited email marketing campaigns, autoresponders, follow ups, lists and broadcasts. 150+ professional HTML templates.
	Response 2.0 Sign up for for this inexpensive autoresponder, only $12.97 per month. This is a great tool, and has all the necessary features needed in an autoresponder.
	ISO Register Sign up for for free to get an autoresponder, Ad and Link tracker, URL rotator, lead capture web page creator, search engine submission, online conference system, plus much more!

Setting up your autoresponder

Once your autoresponder messages are setup, you will be able to link your autoresponder to your website. Remember, the point of your site is merely to get your visitors to register their name and email address, and start receiving a few messages from you. This builds trust with them and provides information that they have requested. This also acts as a reminder for them to continue to look at you, your products and your services to help convert them from interested leads to buying customers. For this step, we will merely be creating the messages they will recieve after they have registered with your site. We will link this autoresponder to your website in the next step.

Here is our suggestion for your messages. Remember, people online usually only give 2 seconds to you before deciding to move away, so you want your messages brief, and to the point. In the early stages, it is best to give them the highlights of what you are selling, but, more to the point get them to your profiles. In a few of the follow up autoresponder setup:

Messages:

Immediate Message #1: Introduce yourself, and put in your blog and facebook account. Invite them to become friends with you on facebook, and start your dialog with them. You can also put in your IM account (GoogleTalk, AIM, Skype, Yahoo Messenger, or MSN) inviting them to add you as a contact, and to chat with you to get more information. Once you have identified yourself, told them a bit about yourself, now you can add a little bit of information about what you are in to, and what you are selling. Keep this quite light. Remember you are trying to get them to talk to you, and become friends first, so just put in enough information so they will know about you and what you are selling when they contact you.

Message #2, Day 1: Tell them more about yourself, what you are interested in, and what you do for fun. Again, invite them to add you as a friend in facebook, and provide your IM account. Tell them a little more about your product and service, and how great it is. Make sure you focus on what it will do for THEM.

Message #3, Day 2: Tell them about the price of what you are selling. More selling here is a good thing restating how good your product or service is and why THEY should buy into it. At this point, ask them if they have any questions about the product or service, and invite them to facebook or your IM so you can answer their questions. Ensure your link to the web page that details your product or service is in this email, along with a link to your FAQ page (Frequently Asked questions).

Message #4, Day 4: Skip a day here, you don't want to turn them off at this point. If they haven't signed up yet, stay in their face just enough to keep them from hitting the delete button. Tell them that you really aren't interested in them buying anything from you, but more about having a new contact. Ask them about themselves, what they do, what THEY are selling. Who knows it might be something you might value!

Message #5, Day 5: Skip a day here, you don't want to turn them off at this point. If they haven't signed up yet, stay in their face just enough to keep them from hitting the delete button. Tell them that you really aren't interested in them buying anything from you, but more about having a new contact. Ask them about themselves, what they do, what THEY are selling. Who knows it might be something you might value!

Once you have created your messages, you are now able to put the autoresponder capture form onto your website.

Need Help?

If you need any help in understanding your business, or setting it up for an online presence, let us know. We have a range of services available and are happy to help. Contact Us Today!