Web SoaringProfits.com

by Charles Wee

Following up with your prospect & customers is a very important aspect of your online home business. For the part timer, following up with a prospect without using Autoresponders can be very time consuming. This article serves as a quick guide for part timers looking for a good Autoresponder. 

Essential Features of a good Autoresponder 

* Allow multiple follow up emails For your follow up marketing campaign to be effective, you need to have at least 7 follow up messages. When you choose an autoresponder, look for one that allow you to set at least 10 follow up messages. 

* Personalization Personalization is becoming more and more important these days. When your email messages is personalize with your customer or prospect's name, it will help to attract their attention and chances of them opening up your email is higher. Therefore, make sure the autoresponder you choose allows you to send personalize emails. 

* Delivery Interval Settings A good autoresponder will allow you to set the delivery interval of your follow up messages. This means you can then set the first message to be send immediately when someone subscribe to your opt in list. The second to be send 1 day later. The third message to be send 3 days later and so on. Most of the autoresponder support this feature but you should still take note when you are looking around for an autoresponder. 

* Capability to collect other information besides email address Most autoresponder available in the market right now allow you to collect first name, last name and email address of your subscriber. These information is enough for you to contact your subscriber and send them personalize emails. However if you want to build a closer relationship with your subscriber, then you need to know more about them than just their name and email address 

To build a better relationship with your subscriber, you need to know their needs. You need to know whether they have an online business and what their business is. You need to understand their business so that you can help them grow their business. The autoresponder you choose must allow you to collect more information like e.g.  - website address  - Company name  - Country of Residence 

If you are the owner of an affiliate program, then you ought to look out for an autoresponder that allows you to add custom fields to the subscriber signup form. If your autoresponder has the ability to add in a hidden field, you can then allow your affiliates to add in their affiliate id to this hidden field. Your affiliates can then offer your training course to their website visitors. Any subscribers from their website will give them credit and they will be more motivated. 

I have listed some Autoresponders to help you in your search. The list below is by no means complete and you should do your own search from any search engines. 

List of Free Sequential Autoresponders  
- http://www.autobots.net 
- http://www.automagical.net  
- http://www.biz-e-bot.com 
- http://www.followingup.com  
- http://www.freeautobot.com 
- http://www.informationbyemail.com

List of Paid Sequential Autoresponders  
- http://www.postmasteronline.com   - http://www.aweber.com  
- http://www.getresponse.com

List of Autoresponder Software 
- http://www.autoresponseplus.com  
- http://www.mailloop.com

As I said earlier in this article, following up with your prospect or customer is really critical to your business. Having a good autoresponder will give you a good start in your following up campaign. 

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Charles Wee is the publisher of The Internet Marketer, a weekly ezine that provides tips and articles that help small business owners setup and grow their business.  Subscribe to the Internet Marketer at http://www.e-infomall.com/cgi-bin/ls/c1.cgi/8765_ ad4 and receive 4 free eBooks
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The Part Timer's Guide to Choosing an Autoresponder  
© 2001 by Charles Wee