Autoresponders Can Sell Like Water in the Desert
By Dave Ryan
©2005 All rights reserved
An interested visitor who has been strolling through your site has finally come to just what she is looking for and is
about to make a purchase. It's a sunny afternoon, and her cat, who happens to be sitting on the moss under the visitor's
large fifty-year-old snow-rose bonsai tree, suddenly jumps down, and the priceless tree topples over.
In the blink of an eye, your visitor exits your site, and your sale is dust - unless you have had the foresight to
utilize an autoresponder that has captured her email address. If you have installed an autoresponder, you can then follow-up
with her, and in all probability, make the sale when the poor woman has finished repotting her precious bonsai.
Autoresponders are remarkable, versatile programs that do so much more than just automatically answer your email. Here
are a few ideas that will help you to creatively and productively use your autoresponder to transform the casual visitor
into a profitable customer. Use your autoresponder to:
1. Publish a newsletter
Certain quality autoresponders will manage subscriptions and follow-up with interested prospects. Your newsletter can keep
your visitors informed about your services or products, while building your reputation as a credible expert in your
particular business.
2. Publish a newsletter only for your affiliates
Inform them of current sales you are running and of promotional material that your affiliates can use themselves to increase
their commissions. Include tips, advice, and techniques that your affiliates can use to successfully go out and promote
your business.
3. Write reviews
Cover books, software, music, e-books, movies, etc. and put each review in an autoresponder. Review your affiliate programs,
using a link to your affiliate's page in your autoresponder.
4. Distribute your articles
Writing and distributing targeted articles is a powerful tool to build your business credibility, bring traffic to your
site, and increase your sales potential. If your articles contain valuable information, many editors will print what is
known as a resource box for you. A resource box contains your bio and a brief description of your service or product. It
can also contain your autoresponder address. Let's say you've written fifty articles. Put them on separate autoresponder
accounts and create a master list that contains the titles of each article, the autoresponder address, and a brief abstract.
Then promote your master list. Additionally, include your publishing guidelines so your affiliates can add their articles
to your list, increasing the number of writers who are represented in your article list.
5. Create mailing lists
Inform subscribers to your articles when you've written new ones that they may want to publish in their own newsletter or
website.
6. Automate your sales process
Use an ad to insure repeated exposure of your message, which has been proven to
effectively increase sales. In your ad, put your autoresponder address where a visitor will be exposed to
numerous marketing materials. This multiplies the chances
of converting visitors into customers. For example, if
you're selling a particular product, put testimonials about
how spectacular it is on your autoresponder, and add a
detailed, enticing description of your product.
7. Distribute advertising
Let's say you sell advertising on your website or in your newsletter or ezine. Set your autoresponder to send the information
about rates and how to place an ad automatically to all prospects' email addresses. Then have your autoresponder follow-up.
It can also send notification of any special deals you are currently offering.
8. Distribute an email course
Each day, have your autoresponder send out another lesson. Just be sure that each lesson has quality content - not a sales
pitch. Your content will do the selling for you, and will do it much more effectively. You can include tips centered on a
different topic for each lesson, illustrating how your product will benefit the reader. Include the tangible benefits the
visitor will reap by purchasing your product. Make sure to include a paragraph or two at the end of each lesson enticing
your prospect to consider making a purchase.
9. Automate a reminder about your service or product after a visitor has completed your course
This will increase the possibility of sales from visitors who have taken your course but are dragging their feet about
actually making a purchase. You can also use these reminders to promote new products or services, and the products and
services of your affiliate programs.
10. Distribute free reports
This gives your visitor an idea of the type of information you can provide and the quality of your product or service.
Make sure these reports are not sales letters or you will more than likely lose a potential customer than gain a sale.
11. Create trivia quizzes on your site and place the answers in an autoresponder
Your visitor will then be motivated to request your autoresponder, and you will have a record of the visitors' email
addresses who took your quiz. Or create a contest and have any visitors that enter send their responses to your
autoresponder. Your autoresponder can be set-up to send them a confirmation of their entry.
12. Offer a trial version of your product
Give your prospects a sample of your e-book, course, software, membership, etc. People who are exposed to a little taste
often end up wanting the whole pie. You can also capture their email addresses when you offer them a free trial from your
website. Set up your autoresponder to give instructions on how to obtain their free trial, and then make sure to follow-up
to try and close the sale.
13. Link to hidden pages on your autoresponder
For example, a hidden page could be your affiliate page that contains graphics, promotional articles, and text links that
interested affiliates can make use of. Inform visitors that they may have free access to your affiliate page by simply
requesting your autoresponder. You will then gather a list of visitors who may be interested in becoming your affiliates.
14. Use an autoresponder on your order page
Post a request form for visitors to be notified of special offers or discounts in the future. This creates a very effective
mailing list that contains the names of people who are already your customers.
15. Put your links page on your autoresponder
It should contain up to fifty links that would be of particular interest to your visitors. Make sure to add your own
promotional copy at the top or bottom of this page.
Now that you have proof that autoresponders can be used creatively, see if you can come up with some brilliant
ideas of your own!
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