Hire a Round-the-Clock Sales Staff for Pennies a Day!
| Category: Autoresponders | Date: 2001-09-13 |
If you're running an online business, you have to communicate with your customers when they want to communicate, not just 9 to 5 Monday through Friday. Many people, myself included, start out trying to do it all themselves--answer all the email personally, do all the work, find all the information and send it back to customers as soon as possible.
Wouldn't it be great if you could handle only the things that need your personal attention, and have an assistant do things like send out a sales letter in response to an ad, provide pricing information, provide a FAQ to someone with a question, and handle other mundane email chores? Of course it would, but hiring a full-time employee is very costly, and hiring a 24-hour staff would be outrageously expensive.
Fortunately, you can have a 24-hour "assistant" handling email inquiries for you, for practically nothing. How? Autoresponders! They're the greatest thing since...well, since the Internet.
An autoresponder is a system that will automatically send out a pre-loaded message to every person requesting information from your ad or web page. It will do it every time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and never get tired, call in sick or ask for a raise. In addition, a "smart" autoresponder system will capture the email address of the person requesting the information, and send follow-up letters.
The thing that must be understood about e-commerce is that people who browse the Internet are looking for information, and they have come to expect it immediately. They tend to have very little patience with something that they have to wait on, and may even forget that they have requested it.
Say that John is going through his email one evening and sees that his copy of XYZ Ezine has arrived, and so has ABC and DEF along with a few other items of interest and the usual daily serving of spam. He scans through them quickly, taking note of a few items of interest and deciding to look at it more closely after dinner. After dinner he sits back to enjoy his ezines and sees several ads of interest, including yours. "Wow!" he thinks, "that sounds pretty good." He sends a blank email to the autoresponder and within seconds, he is reading your sales letter. He is impressed with the business and follows the instructions you provide to request further information. John is now expecting your personal response and is looking forward to doing business with you.
Now let's take a look at another possible scenario. John sees your ad, thinks this is great, and sends a personal email to the address you provide in the ad. It is late in your time zone and you have gone to bed. John receives no information that evening. The next day you check your email and send John a nice letter with more information about your product or opportunity. John has gone fishing, as it is his day off. The next day he sees your email and, not remembering your name or business, he trashes it with the other junk. Or, he is simply not interested anymore. You failed to respond when his curiosity was peaked, and he lost interest.
Now let's say John sees your ad and requests information. He is still interested, but does not act because the car broke down, he caught the flu, the cat died, or any other number of reasons. Maybe he just needed time to think. An autoresponder will follow-up with him and let him know that you value him and have not forgotten him. The key to success in any business is following up with the customer. A single sales letter MAY get the order, but on average it takes seven contacts to make a sale. "Smart" autoresponders can provide that kind of follow-up, automatically. This saves you time and insures that the follow-up happens, and doesn't get shoved aside in favor of something more "urgent."
In addition to "smart" autoresponders, you probably have several simple autoresponders, or infobots, on your web host account. These are very useful if you need to send out information only once and aren't too concerned with following up repeatedly. Most of these also send you a copy of the original email so you know what the question was and who it came from, and you can follow up manually if need be. These responders are good for such items as FAQs, instructions on doing a certain procedure, affiliate program rules, and other information that's not sales-oriented.
There are several choices when you're looking for a smart autoresponder. As always, there is free and there is service for a fee. And again, as always, you get what you pay for, or you end up paying another way. If you're just trying out a set of messages, you might consider setting up with a free autoresponder just to test the waters, but if you're serious about making sales with your autoresponder, you're probably better off with a paid system. Free autoresponders insert an ad at the bottom of your mailings-so you've got someone competing with you, on your own sales materials! And since they are free, and some people don't mind the nonsense, the free autoresponders are often overloaded. It can take hours for these autoresponders to respond. Not good, from a marketing standpoint. If your ad has gotten someone's interest, you want to "strike while the iron is hot", as it were. Not hours later.
Quicktell < http://www.quicktell.com > offers the best deal I've ever seen on autoresponders--UNLIMITED autoresponders, with up to ten followups, for only $20 per month. On top of that, they offer a $5 commission on two levels. In other words, I'm referring you & will make $5 a month if you sign up. I'll also make $5 on the people you sign up--and so will you, of course! This is the best deal I've ever seen, and the service Quicktell offers is incredibly fast. Definitely check this out. Because it offers unlimited autoresponders, you can test as many ads and sales letters as you want, without the ads you'd have on free autoresponders.
As I said, you *could* test ad copy and messages with a free autoresponder. In fact, I used to recommend that to people just starting out. But now, since Quicktell is offering unlimited responders at such a great price, I suggest you not even bother with the freebies, and just invest the $20 per month in Quicktell.
Like I said, there's nothing wrong with "testing" with a free autoresponder, but once you're serious about using a set of messages, you really need to get a paid service. If you want to be seen as a professional, use professional services. Period.
Whatever service you choose, using an autoresponder to send out your sales letter and follow up with customers is the most effective way to get information to your prospects and keep it in front of them. Couple this with some really great classified advertising, and you've got a non-stop selling machine working round the clock for you!.
About the Author
Angie Dixon is the author of "MarketWrite: Harness the Power of Words to Boost Your Online Sales."
Receive a free excerpt from MarketWrite when you subscribe to the MarketWrite Report at http://www.marketwrite.com/subscribe.htm. Contact Angie by email or by phone at 501-421-0185, any time.
:To contact see details below.
angie@marketwrite.com
http://www.marketwrite.com
Wouldn't it be great if you could handle only the things that need your personal attention, and have an assistant do things like send out a sales letter in response to an ad, provide pricing information, provide a FAQ to someone with a question, and handle other mundane email chores? Of course it would, but hiring a full-time employee is very costly, and hiring a 24-hour staff would be outrageously expensive.
Fortunately, you can have a 24-hour "assistant" handling email inquiries for you, for practically nothing. How? Autoresponders! They're the greatest thing since...well, since the Internet.
An autoresponder is a system that will automatically send out a pre-loaded message to every person requesting information from your ad or web page. It will do it every time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and never get tired, call in sick or ask for a raise. In addition, a "smart" autoresponder system will capture the email address of the person requesting the information, and send follow-up letters.
The thing that must be understood about e-commerce is that people who browse the Internet are looking for information, and they have come to expect it immediately. They tend to have very little patience with something that they have to wait on, and may even forget that they have requested it.
Say that John is going through his email one evening and sees that his copy of XYZ Ezine has arrived, and so has ABC and DEF along with a few other items of interest and the usual daily serving of spam. He scans through them quickly, taking note of a few items of interest and deciding to look at it more closely after dinner. After dinner he sits back to enjoy his ezines and sees several ads of interest, including yours. "Wow!" he thinks, "that sounds pretty good." He sends a blank email to the autoresponder and within seconds, he is reading your sales letter. He is impressed with the business and follows the instructions you provide to request further information. John is now expecting your personal response and is looking forward to doing business with you.
Now let's take a look at another possible scenario. John sees your ad, thinks this is great, and sends a personal email to the address you provide in the ad. It is late in your time zone and you have gone to bed. John receives no information that evening. The next day you check your email and send John a nice letter with more information about your product or opportunity. John has gone fishing, as it is his day off. The next day he sees your email and, not remembering your name or business, he trashes it with the other junk. Or, he is simply not interested anymore. You failed to respond when his curiosity was peaked, and he lost interest.
Now let's say John sees your ad and requests information. He is still interested, but does not act because the car broke down, he caught the flu, the cat died, or any other number of reasons. Maybe he just needed time to think. An autoresponder will follow-up with him and let him know that you value him and have not forgotten him. The key to success in any business is following up with the customer. A single sales letter MAY get the order, but on average it takes seven contacts to make a sale. "Smart" autoresponders can provide that kind of follow-up, automatically. This saves you time and insures that the follow-up happens, and doesn't get shoved aside in favor of something more "urgent."
In addition to "smart" autoresponders, you probably have several simple autoresponders, or infobots, on your web host account. These are very useful if you need to send out information only once and aren't too concerned with following up repeatedly. Most of these also send you a copy of the original email so you know what the question was and who it came from, and you can follow up manually if need be. These responders are good for such items as FAQs, instructions on doing a certain procedure, affiliate program rules, and other information that's not sales-oriented.
There are several choices when you're looking for a smart autoresponder. As always, there is free and there is service for a fee. And again, as always, you get what you pay for, or you end up paying another way. If you're just trying out a set of messages, you might consider setting up with a free autoresponder just to test the waters, but if you're serious about making sales with your autoresponder, you're probably better off with a paid system. Free autoresponders insert an ad at the bottom of your mailings-so you've got someone competing with you, on your own sales materials! And since they are free, and some people don't mind the nonsense, the free autoresponders are often overloaded. It can take hours for these autoresponders to respond. Not good, from a marketing standpoint. If your ad has gotten someone's interest, you want to "strike while the iron is hot", as it were. Not hours later.
Quicktell < http://www.quicktell.com > offers the best deal I've ever seen on autoresponders--UNLIMITED autoresponders, with up to ten followups, for only $20 per month. On top of that, they offer a $5 commission on two levels. In other words, I'm referring you & will make $5 a month if you sign up. I'll also make $5 on the people you sign up--and so will you, of course! This is the best deal I've ever seen, and the service Quicktell offers is incredibly fast. Definitely check this out. Because it offers unlimited autoresponders, you can test as many ads and sales letters as you want, without the ads you'd have on free autoresponders.
As I said, you *could* test ad copy and messages with a free autoresponder. In fact, I used to recommend that to people just starting out. But now, since Quicktell is offering unlimited responders at such a great price, I suggest you not even bother with the freebies, and just invest the $20 per month in Quicktell.
Like I said, there's nothing wrong with "testing" with a free autoresponder, but once you're serious about using a set of messages, you really need to get a paid service. If you want to be seen as a professional, use professional services. Period.
Whatever service you choose, using an autoresponder to send out your sales letter and follow up with customers is the most effective way to get information to your prospects and keep it in front of them. Couple this with some really great classified advertising, and you've got a non-stop selling machine working round the clock for you!.
About the Author
Angie Dixon is the author of "MarketWrite: Harness the Power of Words to Boost Your Online Sales."
Receive a free excerpt from MarketWrite when you subscribe to the MarketWrite Report at http://www.marketwrite.com/subscribe.htm. Contact Angie by email or by phone at 501-421-0185, any time.
:To contact see details below.
angie@marketwrite.com
http://www.marketwrite.com
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