If you want to sell anything online successfully, you are going to need a follow-up autoresponder (or, as many email marketers more precisely call it, a sequential autoresponder).
If you are already selling on the web and still don’t have one, you are missing out big-time on one of the most profitable sources of income known to Internet marketers. This is where the saying “the money is in the list” comes from.
Email marketing costs nothing (other than fees you are already paying), is simple to do once you learn the basics and will always work regardless of Google updates or any other influences. You need to do it the right way though and choosing the right type of autoresponder is the essential first step.
ISP Email Autoresponders
A sequential autoresponder is not the same as the email autoresponders that most ISPs provide free of charge as part of their email service.
Those types of autoresponders can only respond to an email sent to a certain email address and the response itself is a sort of pre-written ‘reply’.
They can be extremely useful but they cannot store multiple messages, they cannot send messages out at pre-determined intervals and they cannot store email addresses in a database. Sequential autoresponders can.
Types of Sequential Autoresponders
There are two main types of sequential autoresponders:
- Type 1: An application or script that you install on your website server and administer and run from your desktop.
- Type 2: A commercially-run subscription service that is already installed and runs on an external server.
In the following paragraphs I will discuss the pros and cons of each type from the perspective of an Internet marketer.
Type One Sequential Autoresponders
Advantages
One of the major advantages of this type (that you install on your website server), is that you own it and can therefore exercise as much control over it as you wish. Also, most of these are available to buy at very low cost and quite a few even come as a free download, so you can say that these ones have a second advantage—a low, or even zero cost advantage.
Disadvantages
A disadvantage is that you have to install these programs, usually via FTP, and there is often a requirement for an SQL database. Installation and administration of these can sometimes be tricky for non-tech people. However, the greatest disadvantage, and the reason I would always choose a ‘type 2′ autoresponder over a ‘type 1′ is in the area of customer support. If anything goes wrong when you are running a program on your own server, the onus for fixing that problem lies very squarely on your shoulders. When you consider that by far the commonest recurring problem associated with autoresponders is spam complaints by email recipients, you get an inkling of just how thorny a problem it can be.
Consequences
Even if you can prove beyond doubt that the recipient opted-in to your list and it is obvious that they have just forgotten doing it, you are in a no-win situation. You would probably be amazed if you knew how many people simply refuse to believe the evidence that proves they did subscribe, or somebody using their email address did, and prefer to believe their own memory regardless. If more than one complaint comes in to your ISP or your hosting provider (depending which is running the email service that you use for your autoresponder) things can get really difficult. To put it bluntly, it is not uncommon for hosting services (and sometimes even Internet providers) to close you down, if only because that’s the easiest way out (for them!).
Type Two Sequential Autoresponders
Advantages
The second type (that is available by subscription), has the advantage that there is nothing to install, they do not use any of your email bandwidth and they usually have more features than the first type. Also, they can be updated and improved with little or no impact whatever on users. The greatest advantage though is that their customer service takes responsibility for ironing out any problems, including dealing with spam complaints, because the emails are sent out through their servers and you are paying them for the service (in other words you are the customer). It’s also their reputation that is on the line—not yours! (This is assuming, obviously, that you really have not been spamming. Any commercial autoresponder service will dump you very quickly if you do.)
Disadvantages
The main disadvantage of course, is their recurring monthy fees because they can really add up. The charges for these vary but, as at the time of writing this (February 2013), the basic version of most is around $20 (US) a month, give or take a dollar or two.
Summary
Armed with the information above, you should be able to choose an autoresponder service that suits your needs, provided you are careful in comparing features etc. All the usual warnings apply if you decide on a new service that doesn’t have a track record yet though, and there are many such services to choose from.
For your information, the two most popular services in common use are GetResponse and AWeber. They are both very well-known, have many satisfied subscribers and run feature-rich services.
This article will be followed by another soon that will help you to choose a sequential autoresponder service according to the features most preferred by the majority of email marketers. In other words, it will lay out the various specific things you should be looking for before making a final decision as to which you will use.