Build Your List Using An Autoresponder

email autoresponder They say that cliches are cliches for a reason…they started out based in truth. In internet marketing there is no greater cliche (truth?) then the statement that "the money is in the list."

Nearly everyone who has ever done any kind of marketing on the internet knows and understands this statement and yet so many marketers continue to ignore it. Why is that? It could be that they don’t believe. It could be that they are scared of change and are happy to do business as business sees fit; constantly at the mercy of Google and the traffic it decides to grace the marketers website with. It could even be that they don’t feel that they have the technical proficiency to set up and operate an email autoresponder for themselves.

For those that fall into the first category all I have to say is open your eyes…look around. If you have been marketing online for ANY amount of time you have been out on someone’s list. You stumbled upon some free eBook requiring you to trade your email address for the free information, or some video series or some free software that was going to change your life as an interent marketer. We gladly trade our email address hoping beyond hop that we were finally going to be delivered that one missing link…the key to our internet marketing salvation and once we do the emails start rolling in. "Get in on this super duper secret opportunity right now - only 12 hours left…$197.00 please!" "Learn how I made $193,867.15 with one product in one month - 15 spots left….$267.00 please!" These people are using the power of their list to ensure that they do not have to solely rely on traffic from the search engines to ensure future profits.

As far as the second group goes…those that are afraid of change…there is really nothing that I can do for you and internet marketing, a field that is constantly growing and changing and morphing is probably not the best field for you to try to conquor.

The main target for todays post is the third group of people…those who feel they don’t have the technical proficiency to set up an email autoresponder. I am not going to go into step by step detail with regards to HOW a specific email autoresponder works…that will be for another post on another day. That being said, what I AM going to do is explain the basics you need to think about as you plan your workflow.

The first thing you need to think about is why would people want to give you their email address…they know that by doing so they will start getting emails from you. Therefore you generally need to give them something that they want in exchange for that email. Say you are running a weight loss website, you might want to offer them a free eBook called something like "Learn How You Can Eat More AND Lose 10 Lbs in 2 Weeks!". Now as people are searching for weight loss principles, programs, tips or whatever and they find your site you will be in a perfect position to capitalize on their desire by providing them the FREE eBook for the low low cost of their email address. The reason that this is so powerful is that not many people will make a purchase their first time to your site. Not only that, how many times have you yourself stumbled upon a site, not found exactly what you were looking for at that time and never gone back. By building a list you can send out a constant trickle of reminders inviting prospects back to your site.

One mistake a lot of people make when starting out is that they immediately send their prospect from the submission form to the product or service they promised. The problem with this is that many savy surfers will give a fake email address to get access. Generally what you want to do is two-fold.

Redirect the customer to a "Thank You" page explaining to them that the link to the information they are seeking is being emailed to them and that they should check their email to confirm their request. You may also want to provide a link back to the page with the original submission form along with a reminder explaining to the prospect that if they don’t have access to the email they provided they may want to go back and use an email address they do have access to.
Send an email to the prospect confiming thier request for information and linking to a "Congratulations" page that has the information they requested.

Doing these steps insures that the email addresses that are being added to your list are valid.

Upcoming articles will cover some of the specific email autoresponder options available as well as how to set them up.