If you are venturing into the fantastic world of using internet marketing to build or improve your business, welcome. It?s a great place to do so much business, BUT, there are things you need to know before you venture too far into the unknown.
I started using the internet for marketing my business about 3 years ago, and I have to tell you I learned a lot over the first year. And it wasn?t all good. I spent hours, days, weeks ? even months trawling the internet to find out what this was all about.
After reading hundreds, if not thousands of web pages and buying so many e-Books, Programs, TeleSeminars and Live seminars ? I dread to think how many tens of thousands of pounds I wasted. And I really mean tens of thousands.
Some people said you have to do it this way, and some people insisted you have to learn how to do everything yourself and learn their program and then there were the ?get millions of dollars in sales overnight? systems.
And yes, I have to admit it, I fell for so many of them, because the marketing was good and they got me hooked.
My journey through the jungle of internet marketing to becoming a solo entrepreneur was a tough expedition. I wanted to give up so many times because it was just too hard, I was exhausted working so many hours trying to learn so much ?stuff?
One day I said, that is enough. I have learned more about what NOT to do than most people can imagine so I set about using this valuable information to help other people. Making sure you don?t go down the same journey that can be shark infested, snake laden and densely overgrown with vines that can strangle you. I may sound harsh but it has been my experience, and that of my clients, that there are so many people out there selling you things and not all of them have your interest at heart.
There are also some wonderful helpful and knowledgeable people with great products to help you propel your business. Knowing what it is you want is a good starting point.
The internet is a great place to get more business and to build your presence and widen your geographical circle, but you have to do it wisely and do it step by step. Use it as an additional tool kit for your business, or evaluate it without too much investment whilst probably maintaining your day job, until the time is right.
Some people will tell you that you can make millions in a short space of time, and I don?t doubt that has been true, for a very small number of people. My experience is that you can make a really good income by using many of the internet strategies, but most of all you can gain freedom to work in a manner that suits the lifestyle you want.
I believe that ?we? are looking for more time with our families, loved ones, doing the things we enjoy doing.?Most people who set up their own business do think that there will be more flexibility. But if you use this flexibility to tie yourself down with a lot extra work, where is the benefit.
My main reason for using the internet for marketing my business?s (and I have several now) was because I was having more surgery which meant I would be laid up for a while.?I have been running my own Business Management Consultancy & Executive Coaching for over 15 years, and I travelled a great deal. This left me little time for my life and no opportunity to have a chunk of time away from it to recover from surgery.
We all have our own reasons for wanting to get off the hamster wheel and ?do things differently? but really the prime purpose is because we have a skill, a knowledge, an expertise that we want to share and add value to another person?s life. If you don?t have passion for what your business offers, you may not get very far.
I wrote a book called the A-Z of internet marketing terms and people said it made things a lot clearer for them. It covers I want so share some of that starting with A is for Autoresponder.
Start by getting a nice cuppa (tea, coffee, juice, water or even a nice glass of wine) and read about Autoresponders. I promise not to make it technical or mind boggling, I am here to help, not make it complicated.
Autoresponder?
What is an Autoresponder?
It?s an application ? a bit like many other applications you use to ?do a specific job for you? on your computer. It?s a very versatile piece of software that you can either buy from a supplier or use on a monthly basis from a service provider. It sends out emails to one, many, groups or whole lists. It takes the pain out of doing the task of sending scheduled emails or broadcasts.
There is a lot of products available to do this job, but the one I use, and many top marketers use is called AWeber. I have also used 1 Shopping Cart and Constant Contacts in the past ? more on these later.?Some of the providers will let you trial them for free to see the benefits and how easy they are to use before signing up with a small monthly fee. Don?t be put off by that, it?s a very small fee in comparison to what they offer.
When you sign up for an Autoresponder you get the facility to send out emails automatically at specific times and to selected people from your mailing list. There are strict rules and protection to stop the use of spam therefore your emails have to be sent to people who have given you permission to send to them.
That?s called permission marketing. You may have visited a website where you put your name and email address into the boxes on the opt-in form, and by doing so you gave permission to email you. Once you have given your information you will receive emails or newsletters (which is an expanded email with more information), updates and tips which should be of value to you. If the information is not of value and you no longer wish to receive it, you can click on the unsubscribe ?link that will be at the bottom of every autoresponder email. That is a strict rule that you allow people to unsubscribe easily.
Why do you need an Autoresponder?
Well try to imagine that you have a website that offers some great information which you would like to give or products you would like to sell. If someone comes onto your site and perhaps clicks on a contact link, sends you an email and asks you for more information, or even asks if they can buy something, you will only see that email when you next log on. You may be away for the weekend or on a two week vacation when that email arrives. If you are a Solo Preneur then you may not have anyone checking your in box. Which means the person who has raised their hand and said they are interested, will not get a reply until you are next at your computer. You will then have to type a reply and send it to them. Wow, what a lot of work that is, and how scary that you may lose so many interested people.
An Autoresponder, once its set up, will send an email to the person who has entered their details. It may be a welcome email from you telling them what will happen next or it may be a thank you for your order or even an email with a link to another webpage where they can download something that you offered free.
You can set up your autoresponder (and that?s usually very simple to do) to send emails to people on your list at different intervals. It may be that you send a Welcome Email and a free report or e-book or newsletter, then a few days later you may send a little note thanking them for signing up and offering more valuable information. Make sure you always offer something that has a value and is not just sales, sales, sales as people get tired of being bombarded by sales stuff.
A few days later you may send another email with more tips or snippets of information, and so on.?You can do what is called a ?sequence? of emails to go out at different intervals from when your person opted into your list.
You can have different emails to go to different people, for example people who have bought from you may get different information and offers to those who have only just signed up. There are so many ways to add value to your business by giving value and this is a fantastic way to get it out to people.
Autoresponder suppliers such as AWeber will let you choose the day and time you want them to send your automated emails. If you have a special announcement that you want everyone to get at the same time you can send a Broadcast which is an email or newsletter that will go to everyone on the list you select and they all get it at the same time. Great for special notices of one off offer or time specific information.
It may be that your product is a daily or weekly study program that you can send out on the scheduled dates. It can be the study program or it can be a link to a webpage where the study program is, or it can be a link to a page where a digital download can be obtained.?This means you are not working out who has received what on which dates and who is going to get more information today. It?s all done automatically. Also, if someone has decided they no longer want to receive your information and they click on the unsubscribe button, this is automatically removed from your list, you don?t have to do anything manually.
If you have a newsletter that you want to distribute each week, fortnight or month, this is simple to set up and schedule, then all you have to do is add the content.
And all the time your potential customers are getting emails and newsletters, you can be asleep, in the swimming pool, supermarket, beach or cutting the grass!! How is that for Freedom.
Most providers of autoresponders are in the USA but the cost is so low, starting at around $ 19 per month going to over $ 100 per month depending on what volumes you require and additional services.
When you use a good quality autoresponder you will get choices of sending your emails/newsletters/broadcasts using a template to make it look more professional, there are many to choose from which are simple to set up. You may have your webmaster or graphic designer create your own template incorporating your own branding, it is all so easy to do.
You will also get reports showing how many people open their emails and whether they ?bounce?, you can remove emails that continually bounce. You can check your email with a spam checker to see if it would get classed as spam for use of certain wording (if you put FREE in the subject line, it automatically collects a spam rating). Your reports will show you valuable information and you can also get tracking to see which webpage people have come from, where they opted in etc. This is very helpful information for future campaigns.
You can get very creative with the use of autoresponders and if you really don?t want to do anything with the setting up, there are people you can pay small amounts of money to do this for you, check out virtual assistants on Google.
I cannot imagine anyone who wants to promote their business, give value to their customers or follow up the sales process, not having an autoresponder.
Have a look around at different sites to see which ones have an opt in box where you put your name and email. The reason for collecting their first name is so that you can personalise your emails, it?s so much nicer to get an email that says Hi Linda, than?Dear Subscriber. And you can personalise the subject line and write your emails with your own passion and flair.
Remember when you are communicating in a way that gives value, you are building a relationship that will continue for a long time. ?You will find many ways to give value and now you know about autoresponders, you have the tools to deliver in so many ways, the quality information, products, advice and general communication, directly to your clients or potential clients/customers.
Check out some of the Autoresponder providers
AWeber.com
1ShoppingCart.com
ConstantContact.com
iContact.com
There are others which are more advanced and specialist such as InfusionSoft and ListMailPro ? go to Google and type in ?autoresponders? and you can learn about many types of providers.
The only thing I ask you to do is NOT subscribe to any until you are ready to do so and you feel familiar with what your requirements are. From my experience starting out, I took on board too much too soon. I was paying $ 99 per month for a service which I still haven?t used (and that was 2 years ago), because it had all the whistles and bells. I needed to have a merchant account, and then an internet gateway and all sorts of stuff that cost a great deal of time and money, which I learned to my cost that I didn?t need.
This is just a brief overview and it is for familiarisation. There is a step by step approach to your online marketing but Autoresponders is just the beginning, and like everything, you need to know what you will use it for or start with basic and move up when the time comes.
Bear in mind that whatever your business is, you need to be communicating with your customers, past, present and future. You want to be reminding them who you are and what you can offer them, so you don?t get overlooked when the time comes for them to purchase a product or service like yours. Offering great value, customer service and high quality products is essential, get that right and you will be sure to increase your bottom line.?
It is a very effective way to communicate and virtual cost free, in comparison to leaflets, mailshots or advertising. Don?t let the goose that lays the golden eggs fly away.?
Thank you so much for reading, I hope you have got some information that is of value and it has encouraged you to think and research more.
Source: http://www.1directory.net/internet-and-businesses-online/a-is-for-autoresponder-5951.html
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