Autoresponders are salespeople without a home, family, kids or mortgage. They work 24 hours a day! Why wouldn't you use them?

Tired of silly old email enquiries? Say hello to autoresponders!

If there’s one thing that drives us all crazy, it’s not having enough hours in the day. You need hours to work out your internet marketing, your sales, your budgets, follow up on invoices and god knows what else. What you’re reaching for is an aspirin. What you probably need is an auto-responder.

“You must be joking!” you laugh. “I’ve seen what autoresponders do!”

I’d actually be quite surprised if you haven’t. Here’s the scenario–
It’s 3.00 in the morning. You’re sitting at the computer sending out email. Suddenly, from out of the blue, someone (to whom you’ve just sent the mail) replies. You’re excited. Who could be up at 3am like you?

What you’ve just received is an, I’m out of the office autoreply and voila, here is the most basic use of an autoresponder. Autoresponders, are like fax on demand. You zap; they zap back.

I run a small wine company. How can autoresponders help my business?

First, you have to understand how an autoresponder works.

Let me make it really basic with a real life example. You hear a radio ad, where they promise you can make millions in the next 2 years. They promise to send you a tape and a brochure if you call in now.

The operator takes the call and your details. She then routes your information to someone else who packs your tape, your brochure, puts a stamp on it and sends it to your mailing address. In a series of very basic steps, you get the information you desire and are now more interested in what the company has to offer.

Once you hear the tape and read the brochure and find it interesting enough, you contact them and a sale is possible.

Autoresponders work just like that. You have a link on your website or someone else’s website. The link says that you are giving away free information on how to buy the best wine.

The person is interested in your offer and clicks on the link. At that precise moment, the website or the HTML code generates an email with a SUBJECT for the email such as Free Wine Info. This is sent to your email address and your computer recognises the subject headline Free Wine Info.

Automation does all the work for you from this moment on. It detects the subject line and puts the sender’s email address in your master email list of subscribers to contact. At the same time, it goes to the folder where you have stored the requested information in a file and sends that file to the person requesting the information.

All this is done, without you lifting a finger. And this is just the beginning…

That’s amazing! What other practical uses can I use autoresponders for?

Autoresponders have the following uses:

1) Information
Clients request information all the time. If you ran the wine company, you could have price lists, types of wine, even a brochure done in Acrobat Reader (pdf format) that gives tons of information about your products and company. Most people like this system because it doesn’t compel them to buy. This is a very non-threatening situation.

However, they are interested in your product, and by virtue of asking for the information, go into your database. You can then follow up and ask them if they want more information. It gives you a very valid reason to follow up and convert them into paying customers.

2) Subscription to Your Ezine
If you run an ezine, (you’re doing a disservice to yourself if you don’t) then this is a great way of getting people to get the first copy without you physically mailing it out to them. Within seconds of sending an email to you, they receive your ezine and get put on the mailing list.

These are live customers remember? All it takes for them to buy your product or service is for you to follow up.

3) Free Reports
The best way to get people to visit your website or test your service or product is to give them information. Information tells them that you know your business. They don’t know you from Adam or Eve. A comprehensive report (such as this), gives them the confidence that you know much, much more than what exists in this report and are in a very good position to advise them.

To get people to your website or to subscribe to your ezine, you need to circulate your report on as many websites, ezines, etc. as possible. If the persons reading your report find it dynamic, they will assume your abilities follow the same path.

This will lead them to your website, where they will sample more about your products and services. At the same time, because they have subscribed, you are following up with them. At some point, the value generated by your product or service will be worth the price you are asking and will convert those maybes into a big yes purchase.

The last thing you need is to have your email address on these reports. It sets you up for all the nuts on the internet. However, if you have an autoresponder email address, it automatically goes to that address and sends your message to them.

* When placing classified ads, instead of supplying your regular email address, use your autoresponder address.
* Appropriate News Groups
* Opt-in email discussion lists
* Guestbooks
* Business Cards
* Letter Head
* Your web site

Follow Up on Invoices

Hey, if the client’s a pest and you need to get paid do this.
Set up the autoresponder and let it go. After a couple of reminders, the client will get the message.

Your blood pressure will stay normal and his will go up. You don’t need non-paying clients anyway and you don’t want to waste time on follow ups, so this is a great tool. You could space it out so that a message goes out only once a week for say 5 weeks. If the client pays in that time, you can cancel the autoresponder.

High Powered Sales

One of the biggest secrets of sales is persistence. Most sales people give up after 3 tries. It takes at least 5 pitches before prospective customers throw in the towel and are willing to listen to you. Most of them are exactly like you. They have little time and resources. If you have a solution that will make them money or save time and resources, they will listen to you.

After 5 Calls!

Autoresponders help you do that. Many autoresponder services have a follow up sales routine. Which means, the autoresponder will follow up with a second, third, fourth, fifth and tenth (if you need that many) follow ups. Each follow up is based on the fact that the person hasn’t responded. If the person responds, the autoresponder doesn’t send them any more messages. If they don’t, it keeps sending them gentle reminders.

Of course, there’s always the thought,”What if it drives away potential customers?” It doesn’t if you’re smart. Most autoresponder messages can be quite informal and not overt sales messages.

People respond to messages that seem one on one. They always do. It’s scared to death business owners and marketing managers who don’t try it and pooh pooh the whole idea.

For example, when someone asks you for information, it means they’re interested. Now all you have to do is keep that interest up.

Here’s a Scenario–

Dear Bruce
Thanks for your email about our wine list.
Here is the wine list.

————

Dear Bruce
I see you asked for our wine list three days ago. We’ve got some good news for you. We send out an email not more than once a month giving customers like you a substantial discount. The email also gives you handy tips on how to choose the best wines for a very reasonable cost.

Would you be interested in receiving this money-saving email?

To subscribe:please email xyz@yxz.com

————

Dear Bruce
I guess you’ve been busy. For the month of July our specials are
1)dddddddddddd
2)eeeeeeeeeeee
3)ffffffffffff
You can have these specials by going to our website at

If you register for the Wine Tasters Ezine, you will get this money saving information on a regular basis plus a great selection of wines.

————

A couple of followups like this will make even the laziest customer finally click, get on your email list, and end up making one or several purchases, depending on your direct marketing skills.

This is one of the most powerful way to make your sales. So use it!

Tracking Your Autoresponder Responses

Tracking your ads’ response rate will be the key to your marketing success. Once you test your ads and determine which ad is pulling the most responses, you can easily test which classified ad sites are producing results as well. This will save you a lot of valuable time by only placing your ads at classified ad sites that produce results.

1. Make a list of the classified ad sites where you intend to post your ad.
2. Number the list of ad sites.
3. You can key your ad using the subject of your email. Many times, if you ask for a certain subject description, it may not be provided. To avoid this problem you can add a simple code to your email tag.

mailto:xyzinfo@yourautoresponderaddress.com?subject=cl1

This code should contain your autoresponder address and will automatically fill in the subject with your ad key when clicked on. The “cl1″ stands for the classified ad site number one. The second ad site you have listed should be coded as cl2 or classified ad site number two and so on. By coding your ads, you will know exactly where your leads are coming from.

4. Begin submitting your ad and replace your normal email address with your key coded autoresponder address.

Recommendations for Autoresponders

Some of the best tools are out there. Do your due diligence. Here are some you’d want to check out.
http://aweber.com/
http://www.1shoppingcart.com

You’ll also find free autoresponders on the net. Free anything is generally a waste of time, much like free internet and free email addresses. They don’t give you or your company a professional image and show you off as a freeloader — something you want to avoid at all costs!

Next Step: Get yourself onto autoresponders today. You’ll be wasting time if you don’t!

Next Step: Read more Internet Marketing and Website articles. Create your own internet marketing strategy using these tactics.

©2001-2009 Psychotactics Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Article written by Sean D’Souza.

Adding Renegade Marketing Strategies

Here at Simply Home Business, we have added more Internet marketing to our marketing and business promotion strategies. We are seeing the incredible potential of Web 2.0 tools and social marketing to build our list of prospective customers for products and services faster and deeper than ever before. And, because these strategies are dependent on newer technology, we are getting our help with this process by enrolling at Renegade University. We started with the free stuff, lots of detailed step-by-step guidance in return for our contact information. (See also Who Is Your Prospect? : Build Your List, posted in the Network Marketing section here at Simply Home Business.)

Web 2.0 Tools: Super Effective Marketing Through Connection and Collaboration

Web 2.0 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2)

“Web 2.0 is a trend in the use of World Wide Web technology and web design that aims to facilitate creativity, information sharing, and, most notably, collaboration among users. These concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based communities and hosted services, such as social-networking sites, wikis, blogs, and folksonomies.” (3/17/08)

We are building a “webby” Internet marketing system using blogs (e.g. this blog hosted by Squarespace.com), social networking (Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn), content-sharing (Digg, Squidoo, HubPages) and social bookmarking (Digg, deli.cio.us, stumbleupon).  The primary purpose of our new marketing strategies is to attract prospective customers and clients by providing the kind of content and information they are actively seeking on the Web.

We want them to find us, rather than spending our time going out to find them and engaging with a lot of people who don’t really want what we have to offer and weren’t looking for it. (Some of them were even upset with us because we tried to engage with them to sell our products or services or business opportunity–when they weren’t looking for it and didn’t want it and didn’t want to spend time listening or talking about it. Imagine that?)

Why Renegade Strategies?

It totally turned our business development process on its head when we stumbled across the work of Ann Sieg (Renegade Network Marketing) and Mike Klingler (Renegade University). Because:

• Ann Sieg offers us a viewpoint that includes a solution to our need for cashflow at the beginning of our business ventures through sale of an information product that is low cost and high value.
• Mike Klingler offers us a step-by-step guide to generating and moving traffic to and through our marketing web based on valuable content and social marketing principles.

What Will You Learn?

Ann Sieg and Mike Klingler offer you the opportunity to get a free beginner’s education about using the principles of Attraction Marketing and Web 2.0 tools to ramp up your marketing efforts. At Renegade University (and Renegade Pro) you get step by step help with the mechanics of setting yourself up to utilize the technologies and strategies needed to build an Attraction Marketing engine for your business.

No matter what your business is or what products or services you market, you can use the guidance at Renegade University to set up your system for attracting prospective customers, clients and/or team members.

And last but not least, you’ll learn how to make the most of your efforts to increase cash flow into your business from the beginning, rather than spending and spending more and more money to make money.

Make the most of your energy, time, enthusiasm and imagination. You will work hard and steady but you won’t add insult to injury by driving yourself to the poorhouse while working harder and harder for less and less. Your consistent work will pay off with an endless stream of prospects for your business.

Join us there–and let Dennis and Kate be your guides to a successful home business start up.

Best wishes for your success,

Kate Williams and Dennis George
Simply Home Business

NOT. No, not. Not, not, not a get rich quick method.

If you are looking for a way to get rich quick, stop reading now. Find another path to quick wealth (and when you’ve found it, let me in on your secret, ‘kay?).

You need some time–and some money to get started building an internet business. You can start with a little time, say 3 months working 6-20 hours a week at it–and a little money, for some basic tools to help you get started. If you are cash strapped and panicked about paying your bills (and a LOT of us are right now), find another way to get some quick cash. While you are doing that, reserve some time in your calendar each day and each week for 3 months.

Here’s what you’ll be doing with your time reserved for your internet business:

1. Decide what kind of internet business you will start.
2. Figure out the process you will use to get started and build your list of prospects and clients/customers.
3. Learn some basic internet marketing skills.
4. Learn some essential information and skills for your particular business.
5. Get ready–and LAUNCH into action.

If you feel like you are ready for this process, get started with some free and inexpensive advice and training. Then, set up your work schedule to include time to learn, time to talk to people and time to begin to set up your system. Put it into your day planner, just like you would schedule work on any other projects or appointments. This time is a series of appointments with yourself to build the business to support your future–your future with more freedom, more creativity, more satisfaction and more ownership.

If you’d like a free consultation about Getting Started, please give me a call to schedule an hour to talk and work with me on the telephone. (Or, click here to go to Home Business Start Up consultation sign up.) It’s an hour dedicated to your success in internet business building.

To your best foot forward,

Kate Williams
1-888-278-3506
kate@simply-home-business.com

Internet Business: How the Heck Do I Get Started?

The biggest hurdle most people have when they decide to build an Internet-based business–or use Internet marketing to grow a home-based business–is Getting Started. There’s so much to learn and so many suggestions and steps.

So, take a deep breath–and get started with List Building.

Anyone who has a business, needs a list. Your internet marketing list is the list of people who know, like and trust you–and want to hear from you. You communicate with people on your list frequently, sending them information they are interested in and would benefit from–including offers of products or services–yours or others.

You build your list by having a way that people can request information from you. They may sign up for your newsletter or an email course or a free report. You create content that will appeal to your target market and you give them the opportunity to “opt in” by filling out a web form or giving you a phone call or even, signing a guest book. Let’s take a look at some examples:

1. Joan rents a property to vacationers–and she markets environmentally friendly products via the Internet. There is a guest book in her rental with room for comments by guests. People who sign the guest book receive a Thank You card that is sent to them via a web-based card sending program.

Joan has a website that she directs people to if they are interested in the way she keeps her vacation rental free of toxic chemicals that are harmful to children and pets. The web address is featured in her cards, her email signatures, and her instructions and checklists for guests. Joan also has both physical–and Internet-based–ways to send people to her website and the page where they can sign up (opt in) for more information.

People find the website and the page where they sign up in a variety of ways. (In Internet Marketing lingo, this is traffic generation or driving traffic to your website.) Joan has written a couple of articles posted on the Web, sent out emails to former vacation renters, sent cards, enclosed business cards, posted information on her rental website, posted in online vacation rental communities about her experiences as a vacation renter, and a few other activities–all of which point to her website where people can sign up or opt in to her list.

As soon as someone signs up for her list, they start receiving high quality information from Joan that helps them make their homes safer and healthier. This creates opportunities for Joan to market the products and services she offers–and other products and services that the people on her list may be looking for since she knows they are interested in making their homes safer and healthier.

2. Mark has a health and wellness business. He is particularly interested in anti-aging (being a Boomer himself). He loves finding and reviewing current trends in this growing field of interest. He has built a list of others who are interested in staying current with anti-aging information. Mark has a website and a blog. He uses his website to present information that is relatively stable and he uses his blog to post information that is constantly changing in real time.

Mark has learned a number of ways to direct people to his web and blog pages. He relies on his recently acquired skill as a social marketer, interacting with people online in social networking sites and directly those who are interested to content he has created and posted in many places on the web. Mark spends a couple of hours every day passsing on high quality information about anti-aging and a couple of hours a day talking with people who have contacted him via his “opt in” forms, requesting more information or a consultation with him.

As he works each day, Mark becomes more of an expert on anti-aging and also grows his opportunities to market his health and wellness products and services.

Getting Started with Internet Marketing

It is key to your success with Internet Marketing to have a blueprint and a plan. This will save you hours, days, weeks, and months of effort and trial and error learning. A blueprint is a picture of how people will find you and your information, get to your web form, sign up for your list (or lists) and begin receiving more information from you that is helpful to them and eventually pre-sells them on your offers of products and services.

Your specific plan for getting started will depend on the nature of your business, products and services–and your target market (e.g. who will be interested and where you will find them). There are some key pieces:

• web pages that are full of great content for your audience. You can start with something free, or very inexpensive.
• a web form–a web page with an offer and a form where people give you their contact information in exchange for something of value (e.g. a newsletter, an email course, access to audio or video files)
• follow up information/content (e.g. a newsletter, an email course, access to audio or video files)

Technically speaking, there are a few simple things to learn about:

• blogs and how to post
• hot links–how to create links which when clicked send people to another web page
• content-sharing sites and social networking sites and how to set up a profile and post content
• affiliate marketing–how to become an “affiliate” if you want to start out marketing other people’s tools, products, services until you have some of your own–or as an additional income stream even if you already have your own
• autoresponders–how to use them to deliver newsletters, email series, and create sign up forms
• bookmarking–a little bit about key words and phrases and how to use them so Internet searchers find you

Ready to Get Started with Building a List?

1. Check out the Announcements section (top right menu) for some step by step training for new Internet Marketers, or link here to an announcement for How I Built My First List.
2. Take a look at my Squidoo and Hub Pages for examples of content created and shared at content sharing sites.

Steps for Growing Your Cash Flow in a Home Based Business–link here to my HubPage

Home Business Marketing–link here to my Squidoo Lens.

3.  Sign up for a No Cost consultation with me at my Home Business Start Up consultation sign up page (an example of a web form for sign up, or opt in).

Ethical marketing is the work of business people who believe that the trust and respect of their prospective customers and clients is more important than a sale.

Spamming is the practice of sending out electronic messages via email and other electronic channels (e.g. instant messaging) to large numbers of people/email accounts in one blast without the permission of the person receiving the message. Email spam is the electronic equivalent of junk mail that chokes our snail mail boxes and telephone sales calls that we try to avoid by joining the Do Not Call lists.

There is one simple rule for you to follow if you want to build trust with your prospective customers and new customers:

Don’t add anyone to your email list who hasn’t asked to be added and confirmed their interest in receiving information from you.