Rapid Fire Email with an Autoresponder

Email autoresponders (also sometimes known as mailbots, automatic email and email on demand) are powerful web marketing tools that you’ll find it difficult to manage without.  Email Autoresponders are the secret weapon of email marketing and are a fantastic way to attract new leads and start building trust with potential clients.

 These “mailbots” make things easier than ever, helping you to minimize your daily routine by handling email support for you. Best feature they are known for is allowing your email address to automatically respond to an inquiry with a specific message, anytime. This is an easy way to distribute information about your company to your potential clients.

Email autoresponders will distribute your messages to your audience on a time frame that you pick. These autoresponders will allow the creation of targeted sales due to the fact that it can also offer similar items or discounts without your intervention. 

Spam

Of course, speaking of email – it’s impossible not to bring SPAM into conversation. Everybody hates it but somehow we managed to live with it, just like a pesky rodent roaming around the house. Spam can cause serious financial damage which is why even the government got involved a few years back in order to combat and prevent it.

If you try and send out broadcast email messages to hundreds of people using your own computer you may be accused of spamming and your mail may be blocked. AOL SPAM blocking is very well known for this practice.

So how do steer clear from annoying your client with “unwanted email” if you are using an autoresponder.

Here’s a practical example on what you should do:
When a web visitor finds your website and submits their details (name, email, etc.), showing they are clearly requesting more information about your company, the autoresponder will send a confirmation email asking them to click a link to confirm their subscription (also called “double opt-in”).

Once you receive their confirmation – keep it in a safe place. This way, if they ever come back after you accusing of spam, you can always provide their confirmation email. Some people forget that they ever signed up for your autoresponder and will immediately report you as Spam.

If you do not receive a confirmation, wait at least 1 week and then follow up. If, by the second request you are still not receiving a confirmation – drop their name from your mailing list

You should also be aware that there are 4 new rules issued by the Federal Trade Commission that amend the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003:

1. The ability to opt-out of a mailing must be accomplished by one single action – either replying to the email, or clicking through to a single web page. Only.
2. The first new rule relates to the definition of “person” for the purpose of whether CAN-SPAM applies. This applies to everybody… Meaning, anyone, including non-companies, can be liable for sending commercial email.
3. The use of a post office box or private mailbox (“PMB”) as the physical address in commercial mailings satisfies CAN-SPAM.
4. For any mailing which contains advertisements from 3rd party advertisers, either the party who the email is “from” must have an advertisement in the email (in which case they become responsible for processing opt-out requests) or all of the advertisers with advertisements in the mailing are responsible for opt-out requests. This is known as the “Designated Sender” rule.

So – what’s the solution and how can you make sure you comply with the law of the land and still get your message out?

Solutions

Subscribe to enterprise solutions for automatic response email by using a paid autoresponder service. Email automatic response software or web-based subscription can improve your email marketing campaigns and save you time and money; not to mention the aggravation dealing with the FTC.

There are some open source software packages on the market that you could download and install but I would advise against that.  Usually – the more subscribers you have in your list, the sluggish the software becomes. Plus you will start getting picked up by the “spam police”. Also, you may run the risk of being flagged by your own hosting company and they will shut you down too. That is why I switched to AWeber services.

There are many other services out there, like GetResponse.com but today I’ll discuss AWeber.

Aweber

AWeber has been around for over 10 years and has the backing of hundreds of online businesses.  Aweber is possibly the most popular commercial solution for both autoresponders and email list management solutions generally. 

This software service helps small businesses automate email follow up and newsletter delivery for website visitors at a decent price. They also provide an integrated Web Form Generator, which helps a great deal when you want to launch a new campaign or change the existing form you already have.

Why AWeber and a few other similar services can do it better than you? Because they establish agreements with ISPs (Internet Service Provider) to make sure mail from their servers isn’t marked as SPAM; and that’s important – as we seen above.
Conclusion

Email autoresponders will save you time, so you can load up your marketing sequence and then focus on attracting more prospects.  Email autoresponders will save you effort, because you don’t have to keep track of who has received what message, or which one is due next.  You can use email autoresponders to handle newsletters, mailing lists and subscriptions. You also look professional and credible to your clients when you send custom, personalized email autoresponders.

 Claudiu Geanta is a serial entrepreneur and founder of Design by Satori Inc. & Satori CG Inc.. He helps businesses promote their presence on and off line. He is also an accomplished web designer, book writer and photographer. You can follow him on Twitter.
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