Infostructure Part 3 AUTORESPONDERS! (Part 2 of 2)

Why is an autoresponder is a 'must have' for any internet business?

Marketing studies have found that it often takes 5 or more contacts before a prospective customer will purchase a product or service from you, especially if you are not well known. This is why major corporations run continuous ads in numerous media, even if solely for name recognition.
The first time a person views your website, or ad for your product or service, they may not be ready at to make a purchase. You need to show them "what is in it for them." They are also likely to soon forget your name.

You must establish your expertise and show people that you and your products can make a positive difference for them.

An autoresponder is the needed solution to these problems to dramatically increase your sales and customer retention. Simply - an autoresponder keeps you name and product or service in your prospective customer, or existing customer's, mind.

The autoresponder enables you to keep in constant contact with your "list" and helps you to build your list , while continuously letting your existing and prospective customers learn more about you and what you can do for them.

Most web based autoresponders such as Aweber and Constant contact give you unlimited responders and messages per account. These are web based services and are totally different from an autoresponder that may be part of your web hosting package.

If you want more capability than the web host autoresponder can provide,you should consider purchasing autoresponder software. Such software is available from several sources, and is divided into two main types.

One type is installed on the web host server. The second is installed on the user's computer. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. Software installed on the server may complicated enough to require the services (and cost) of an installer, and may be limited to providing a single autoresponder address on that server. Server-based autoresponder software maintains the list of autoresponder addresses and is backed up with other web site files, taking that burden off the user. Also, the process of sending emails to a large list is handled by the server.

PC-based autoresponder software, on the other hand, is generally easy to install, but imposes extra burden on the user to back up the list. Sending broadcast emails to the list may strain the capabilities of the ISP, or may simply exceed the allowable limits of messages the ISP imposes. PC-based software can provide the feasibility of integrating the email list with other marketing functions on the PC which would be difficult or impossible with server-based software.

But no matter what type of autoresponder you utilize, you should always have a print copy of your entire list. Don't forget Murphy's law, won't allow for any "Mulligans" if you loose your list.

Leading software based autoresponders include:

ULTIMATE AUTORESPONDER PRO

This program enables you to send your messages in html, audio, text and video. This software is very reasonably priced at $97 and is very powerful.

FOLLOWUP AUTORESPONDER PRO

This program claims to deliver more than 92% of e-mail to your "list's in box", and is a full powered, feature rich program. This program is available for $99.

Next in our third part of Infostructure we will cover "opt-in" products.