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Archive for June, 2009

Why you have to use autoresponders

June 18th, 2009 | By Simon In Building Your Business, List Building, Useful Software or Tools | No Comments »

My previous blog entry explained the advantage and necessity of having an autoresponder on your business website.

You’ll now know that they are a means of collecting names and email addresses in order to create a list or lists that you can then keep in contact with, and market to.

What I am going to go through today is what you can do with the names that you have collected, in order to make your business even more profitable than it currently is.

There are basically two ways of sending emails to your prospects and customers using an autoresponder; and these are called ‘broadcast’ and ‘follow-up’.

The broadcast option is a bit like sending a normal email. You write the email that you want to send – it may be about an upcoming event regarding your business, perhaps a sale or a promotion that you are looking to run.

You only have to write the message once and then it can be sent once to all the people subscribed to your list.You can then relax as the autoresponder sends the email as per your instructions. This is often the preferred method of sending email messages when you have to send time sensitive information like current promotions and upcoming events.

Send personalized messages

In the case of follow-up emails, you have to create one or a series of messages as a sequence within your autoresponder. You could have the messages programmed to be sent every day, every other day or once a week – its entirely up to you.

To make the message look more personal, you can include a few tags or variables in the autoresponder. One tag can be programmed to include the actual name of the person, and you could also use a tag for your signature too.

So the difference with a follow up message is that it is often pre-written, and more commonly it entails a series of emails rather than just one or two. This is designed to gain rapport with the people on your list so that they begin to see you as a trusted figure, and therefore they’ll be more inclined to do business with you.

How to use an autoresponder in your business

June 12th, 2009 | By Simon In Building Your Business, Traffic Generation, Useful Software or Tools | No Comments »

One of the perhaps the most important tools used in an internet-based business, whether it’s for a pure internet-only business, brick and mortar business or e-commerce site, is what is called an autoresponder.

An autoresponder is basically a piece of software that collects the contact details of prospects and website visitors for you. It also enables you to preload emails, newsletters and other communications so that you can keep in contact with the contacts that you have in your database.And if you have a special launch planned, a promotion on a particular product or a sale planned, then you can send an email to your entire list of prospects quickly and easily by using an autoresponder on your site.

There are several products on the market that are considered the best by many experts, names such as Aweber, Autoresponse Plus, Get Response and Email Aces to name but a few.

My personal favourite is Aweber, and you can visit their site here for more details. I use them because their service is easy to use, effective and renowned in the industry plus, you can track who opens the emails that you send and a host of other crucial data that is so very useful as a business owner.

Collecting names is SO important

To use an autoresponder to help you with your business, you need to have a little form on your home page that will help you capture names and email addresses from visitors. This is both very easy to do and extremely effective as a marketing tool.

The data that is collected in this form is automatically sent to the autoresponder, and so there is very little work for you to do, which is the beauty of this software.

The autoresponder then sends out a confirmation message (that you will have already pre-written) to visitors, welcoming them to your site and perhaps explaining a little bit about the business and how it could benefit your customers.

It is better to write your own message as it is more personal, and makes it more friendly and easier to be related to your website.

Although this sounds like quiet a basic thing to do (capturing the email addresses of prospective customers), do not underestimate how powerful this is, as most businesses I see do not even think of doing this.

Now that you have learned a little bit about the advantages of using an autoresponder in your online business, my next blog post will give you more details and elaborate a little more with some juicy tactics that you start using immediately.

Tips for getting started in your business

June 5th, 2009 | By Simon In Building Your Business, Getting Started | No Comments »

To many people, starting and running a business is something that they’ve always dreamed of doing, and so proves to be far more productive and satisfying than working under another person.

So if you are one of these people, you may find the following advice will help you with getting started with your business.

One of the most important things to try and do is to do the things that you love doing and get someone else (outsource) to do the things that you’re not so keen on.

As you will be spending lots of time and energy on your business, it has to be something you are really interested in doing. Now, I realize that in the beginning, it is not always easy to be able to outsource, and naturally you do end up doing a lot of the work yourself.

If this is the case, then you need to try and get to a point, as quickly as possible, where you can concentrate on the areas of your business that you enjoy, and have someone else do the rest.

Another piece of advice is that if you can, you may want to start a business while you are still earning from your ‘day job’. This is because you never know when your business will be earning money for you and it takes a little financial pressure of you.

If you are employed while getting started on your business, you are sure of having money in your pocket when you are in the start-up stage of your business.

Have a support system when you start a business

Though you may venture into starting a business on your own, it is always advised to start a business with a support system, and not to do it alone. Have a family member or friend as a partner for getting ideas and for listening to your ideas and views on the business.

Alternatively, a better option is to find someone who can be your mentor, as experienced, impartial guidance is always better for a business.

Before you actually start up a business, it may also be an idea to create a network. You will need clients and customers for your business to flourish; and it is through networking that you manage to make contacts to sell or give away your products and services.

These contacts may be through friends and family, as this a powerful way to get trusted clients, as they will have been recommended by people. This always carries more weight than someone off the street who does not know you.

Writing a business plan can also help to ensure that your business heads in the right direction. Without a business plan, you may end up spending your time and money on starting a business that will in no way at all end up as a success.