Effective use of e-mail and autoresponders can help you boost your profits.

Webmaster Tools - Email and Autoresponders

The heavy hitters in internet marketing will ALL tell you that maintaining email contact with your customers and prospects lies at the heart of a successful internet business. Some say that it takes an average of 5 to 7 contacts and/or repeat visits to your web site before a potential customer will actually buy something, and we've seen it said that over 60% of visitors will NOT buy on their very first visit to your site, no matter what. Many experts believe you MUST develop and use a mailing list to succeed in a significant way.

NOTE: "Spam", which is bulk mailing to people with whom you have no previous relationship is increasingly not tolerated, and is not at all recommended. Neither is buying so-called "safe lists". On the other hand, collecting addresses from your visitors or customers who "opt-in" by giving you their e-mail address is what most legitimate e-mail experts recommend.

Several email programs are available, but the one we use and have most often seen suggested is Eudora, provided by Qualcomm in either a free or low-cost professional version.

Pegasus is another widely used stand alone email program, which the author claims is the oldest of the stand alone emailers. We have no personal experience with it, and cannot comment on it further, but plenty of people use it, and it's free.

As your list grows, you'll find yourself needing more and more features that will automate the e-mail process for you. Mailloop is a fantastic tool that resides on your computer, but does the work of an autoresponder, as well as doing database management and bulk e-mail, as well as newsletters. This is a feature-rich piece of software that you owe it to yourself to look into.

Check out Mailloop here!

Autoresponders

What if there was a product or service that would allow you to develop a mailing list and send personalized "thank you" notes to everyone who signed up or bought a product from your site? What if you could do "broadcast" email to everyone on your mailing list at the click of a button? (NOT spam, but mailing ONLY to people who have "opted-in" to your list ). How about if you could automatically send out "reminders" at regular intervals to people who have yet to buy from you? An autoresponder is a "virtual secretary" that can do all of that.

As your business grows, you can quickly find yourself overwhelmed just by answering e-mail. At that point, you really should consider an autoresponder, but even "new startups" can take advantage of them to quickly grow a client list or "opt-in" mailing list.

This Online E-Mail Manager from internet marketing legend Corey Rudl offers an "all-in-one" solution. You'll have to check it out to learn all of the features, which include sophisticated autoresponders, database management, security checks, "opt-outs" and MUCH more. The system provides you with everything you need to set up, manage,and send email promotions, and includes tools and features (like newsletter and promotional mailing templates) designed to help even "newbies" become experts at email marketing.

If you plan to sell products from your site, now or in the future, you might want to consider this integrated sytem that not only gives you the autoresponders and data base (client list) management, but also integrates a shopping system into your website, and does all the credit card processing and product delivery for you, with or without your own merchant account.

AutoresponsePlus puts you in control and sells you an annual license to their software that brings the monthly price down to rock bottom. You install their software on your web site, and manage everything from there. This is the autoresponder of choice for many of the web's top email marketing experts.

Get Response is a very popular monthly service that offers a free account, and also has a feature-packed "pro" account. This is probably the most highly regarded of the web-based "hosted" autoresponders (i.e., not installed on your site.)