When your starting to think about email marketing, or anything related to sending out email to your customers/subscribers, your going to need some kind of email service or autoresponder. In this article we’ll be looking at what an autoresponder is, and some things to keep in mind when choosing one.
What is an Autoresponder?
Before we begin, keep in mind that your autoresonder can be self-hosted, or you can pay a monthly fee to a service such as Aweber, iContact or Mail Chimp.
Whenever a user opts-in to your list an autoresponder will automatically send an email to the user containing whatever you like. This can be information in the email or an attached file. Usually it is some sort of welcome message. The great thing about autoresponders is that you can setup a schedule through your email service. For example, you could setup 7 emails to be sent out each day after a user is opted-in to your email list. This is definitely something you want to setup when you build your first list. This way you can create a mini-course over email that your users will enjoy to look out for every day.
When thinking about going down the self-hosted route, you need to think about such things as:
- Infrastructure: Does your current web hosting account allow you to install the email/autoresponder software to start with? Is your server powerful enough?
- Email Blacklist: Is your server IP/Address blacklisted by major email providers? Get blacklisted and your email messages won’t get delivered.
- Security / Updates: You’ll need to keep your server and software up to date as well as patching up any security holes.
On the other hand, when you sign up to a service such as Aweber, iContact or Mail Chimp as your paying for all of this. The only concession is that as the number of subscribers you have grows, you will end up paying more.
But this is something you must consider when you want to start building your first list or start to take email marketing seriously. It’s my personal recommendation that you start with a paid service such as the ones previously mentioned. In this way you can cancel at any moment and don’t have to worry about things on your end as mentioned above.
Setting up an Autoresponder:
Most internet marketers recommend to setup an autoresponder for 7 or 14 days after your user initially opts-in to your list. This way you can advertise that the visitor will receive an email course upon signing up and will be more likely to opt-in to your list. This could be a 7 day weight loss course where each day you give a different exercise targeted to lose belly fat. The great thing about this is that it will build trust in your users, which we will talk about in another article, which will make them want to open up your promotional emails more often (which means more money for you).
Email Services:
To build your first list you want to make sure you choose a good email service with a powerful autoresponder system. Here are my two favorite email services:
- Aweber – This is #1 in my opinion, there are a ton of features for setting up scheduling for autoresponders as well as broadcast emails and split testing different titles or email content. There are a ton of reporting options to track which emails are doing well and which links your users are clicking within the email. It is a paid only service but it is relatively cheap for the lowest package ($19/month) and it definitely gives you enough value for your money. If you are serious about getting into email marketing and building a list then you should choose Aweber.
- iContact – Another great player in the autoresponder field. One great benefit is that they offer a free 500 subscriber account so you can try the service out. There is a 2000 message limit on your account per month, but it’s a great way to get your foot in the email marketing door. They offer pretty much the same features as any other autoresponder service on the web.
- Mail Chimp – The great thing about Mail Chimp is that they have a free account option for people just starting with email marketing. If you are on a tight budget or just getting started and don’t want to commit to paying quite yet, then this is a great alternative to Aweber. There are not as many features as Aweber but there is still a lot and you have a ton of customization over how your emails will look. If you are willing to pay some money I would go with Aweber but if you want to start out for free then choose Mail Chimp.
When you build your first list setting up an autoresponder course for 7 or 14 days will really increase your revenue potential in the long run and should not be overlooked. Make sure you spend time on setting up quality emails because it will really pay off. Email marketing can be highly profitable especially for long term revenue.
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