What is the Value of an Autoresponder?

If you ask me, I think that autoresponders sometimes get a bit of a bad rap. Actually there is a really good reason for this, some people think if them as the purveyors of the 'spam' into their inbox.

The truth is, used correctly, an autoresponder is one of the most intelligent breakthroughs in online development... Well at least in my world.

Here is an email management thingamajig that, once a prospect has entered their email address (voluntarily I might add) into the appropriate box, they can be contacted (via email ofcourse) on preset dates, with preset emails all on a prespecified timeline.

In english that means that you can have 100 emails written and timed specifically for the best results, all before you have an email address to send them too.

I can hear your brain creaking around the smugness in the idea of me getting the best results out of my preset emails... most likely at your expense?

Well no actually,

I use autoresponders to help educate people (and admittedly sometimes to sell too) and base the intervals on how best I think the recipient will benefit.

How many times have you started a course of some nature and been given a door wedge of a 'text book' (it has no pretty pictures inside written all over it) and been demotivated as a consequence?

Is it possible to conceive that the workload be considered more manageable if it was drip fed to you over the term of the course daily, maybe weekly, maybe a mixture of the two?

Yes some people think that autoresponders are a great tool to regularly hammer people with spam, but there are also much more finesseful benefits.

I'm guessing for the most part that you're thinking that an autoresponder is never going to be on your Christmas wish list, but this is where I would really like to change many people's perception.

I am the kind of person that firmly believes that everyone has value to share, everyone has knowledge that can help another progress and to a certain extent it is one's duty to fulfill that obligation.

So, in short, obviously an autoresponder is highly advantageous for a corporate sales and marketing team, but it is also a tool for someone who is self employed and also the general hobbyist.

If you want to create yourself an email series for your local club, or to teach what it is that you do, the service that I use is Aweber. The truth is, I have only ever used Aweber so I don't know anything about the other services, such as GetResponse.

I have yet to be failed though :)

Either should cost you about $10 a month

Kinda hard to place a figure on that really...

Take a look at the video below of, quite possibly, the most famous and successful email marketer and make your own mind up.

For more about email marketing, and slightly more in depth marketing stuff, yet still for the masses, come and say hi at The4thMarketeer