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Follow up Email Sequence

Automatic Responder – Mass Email Marketing Manager

by SteveLorenzo on January 15, 2010

Automatic Responders working for you all around the clock

The Atomatic Responder – as the name shows – was in the beginning just a piece of software or a server script that was automatically sending ‘Reply To’ messages whenever someone was trying to contact you while on holidays…  It was also called a Vacation Responder.  They are still available, even as features of other software like email clients – the most commonly used email clients being Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, Thunderbird, etc… – or as features of your webmail accounts like Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, AOL, to name only a few.

But while the feature is still available, all that is by now ancient history.  In the early days of heavier than air flight, the canvas-wooden made planes were having big wings, even two or three of them, to help getting the high air buoyancy they needed.

Nowadays, the fighter jets have very tiny wings…as a matter of fact, sometimes the large wings do them more harm than good, hence the variable geometry wing technology of the latest military fighter planes.

So, what’s the difference between them?

Speed and power, I’d say.

The modern state-of-the-art Automatic Responder needs the same:

  • speed – to be able to send many emails per second, hence the nickname bulk email blast mailer
  • power – to be able to deal with large lists of customers and email prospects it gathers in its database

The Automatic Responder evolved… Meet the new generation of Autoresponders.

Autoresponders come now in two ‘flavors’

Autoresponders – software or service?

This a debate for at least two different posts, I guess.  But suffice it to say that both email marketing solutions have strengths and weaknesses, pros and cons – all depending rather on the user than the technology itself…

Very briefly, as I cover this topic in depth elsewhere: How to choose an autoresponder – service or self hosted script?

The third party service would take care of all the technical burden.  If you are technically challenged, it is the best way to go.

Just be what you are, John – the owner of “John Smith & Son Bakery” – who better knows to make bread, not deal with software…

The self hosted autoresponder script however, gives you a better grasp at all the data you are gathering.  It is all in your yard, no worries about the flops of any other business than yours.  Now, if I recall correctly the “John Smith & Son Bakery” has a little ‘Son’ in there, meaning that there might be, after all, a younger geek somewhere?  If so, you should carefully consider the second option too.

BUT, being given this background, let us see John… what exactly can an autoresponder (be it a software/script on your own hosting account or a rented third party email management service) do for you and your business.

Benefits of using an Autoresponder to automate your online business

Here is a list I compiled for you, John:

  1. free up your time
  2. make more sales
  3. follow-up with prospective customers
  4. keep in contact with past customers
  5. automate your business

Do not be mistaken… all that automation comes for a price, though.  BUT it’s worth every penny!

You will have more time to take care of what you do best and you are an expert at:  your own business.  While there will be always ‘someone’ to reply-to your customers’ email requests, send them follow-up email sequence messages to keep reminding them of your business and maybe… yes, maybe… but rather certainly at some point, convert prospective customers into buyers…

..and all this time you were baking bread, John!

Isn’t that wonderful?

Just imagine having even a modest 1-2% rate of success.  Could you afford to employ a salesman with the same results?  I bet you can’t!

But the AR (as the autoresponder is usually referred to) doesn’t need to eat, to drink, to sleep, to play, to ****, to take a break and make a vacation trip somewhere…  even when YOU have to do so yourself, John!

Work on your follow up e mail sequence only once – then enjoy all the benefits.

Build a targeted email list of prospects and have an always fresh pool of new leads for your business.

Seems to precious of a word (leads) for a bakery?  It might be John, but no matter if you call them so or any other way, they will still add more to your bottomline in the end…and that is what counts, after all.

Ok, I’m a bit tired now and this tends to become too long, so I will add more thoughts about mass email marketing employing automatic auto responders on some future articles.  Happy email blast (or blasts?) to you all!

Steve Lorenzo, SEOVirtuoso
Email Marketing Specialist

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Opt In eMail Marketing – Strategic Internet Marketing Objectives – open letter to John

by SteveLorenzo on January 10, 2010

Opt In eMail Marketing

Opt In eMail Marketing is – in a few words – the art of using current email technology to replace old snail mail obsolete ways on the quest to convert your casual visitors into recurring customers.

Do not be mistaken… although it is mostly used on the Internet, in fact can be also used to transform offline prospects into online readers of your weekly or monthly email newsletter and thus into future to be buying customers.

Picture this in your mind please… would you rather joggle your motorcycle’s gas throttle to climb up the hill with no effort, or sweat pumping your heart out pedaling your bicycle up the slope to reach the same spot?

I know where I would like to be… dunno about YOU, though.

Anyway, back to the point: opt in e mail marketing is the easier way to go IF you know what to do and how to do it properly.  It is a strategic decision you need to make at the very beginning of your adventure when plunging into the world of Internet Marketing.

Bringing your business online is a logical step nowadays, but do you really know what to do to succeed at building a profitable Internet business?

It takes more than an HTML web page plastered on a pride domain name that bears no SEO value in itself and unless you’re a world known brand already (but then you wouldn’t read my rants here, would you?) having no future and bringing no real value to your financial wealth.  Nothing more than another visit card, maybe this time more evolved (electronic visit card, that is.)

Assuming your business is “John Smith & Son Bakery” (hey, John Smith… if YOU are reading this, pardon me, I was not thinking of you in particular, man! …But all John’s and Jane’s out there, ok?  We’re cool, right?) – a web page bearing that name would definitely look great for your ego… but would bring you no more clients than you already have.

The same old same old, isn’t it?  Auntie Marge from down the street and Big Joe from the corner.  After all, they witnessed your birth, how could they buy from another baker?

However, back to square one now, presuming you would know all about building a prominent web presence (I’m not going to detail that here, because it is another topic) and you see a steady traffic to your website aka visitors/surfers maybe buyers from time to time… do you think they will come back soon?  Do you think they will be like Auntie Marge and Big Joe?  No, No, No, Sir!  They won’t!

Here comes the beauty of the email marketing solution.

YOU, my dear John, will be soon able to summon them back to your bakery with one click of the mouse.  Powerful, isn’t it?

This is what we call recycled traffic.

You write an email promotion to your targeted email list, you send an email blast from your autoresponder service and voila!  They all rush back to your website.  I leave the issues of delivering all those hot breads ordered online by your customers on your expert hands – after all, you can hardly wait, I’m sure!

The people who saw it yesterday, but the ones who saw it the day before yesterday too… and before that… since the day you’ve finally decided to favor the e-mail marketing automation… till the time you may decide to sell your business for a million and retire happily to your dream island.  Ditto!

Now, if you ask me how to do that, then obviously you need a complete Internet Marketing Plan, setup by an Internet Marketing Specialist (Would you consider me?  Would you?!!  WOW!) – but make sure that it will include the mighty email marketing solution.  I rest my case.

I will teach you all you need to know about Internet Marketing and Email Marketing and Search Engine Optimization and Traffic Generation and Affiliate Marketing and…

…But stop!

On this blog here I will only focus on the Permission Based eMail Marketing, Opt In eMail List Building and List Management and all the tools you need to run an effective email marketing campaign – see you on the follow up email sequence…

Welcome to my email newsletter!

Steve Lorenzo, SEOVirtuoso
Email Marketing Specialist

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