“ Profit in business comes from repeat customers, customers that boast about your project or service, and that bring friends with them. ” – W. Edwards Deming
Your autoresponder is the heart of your business. It allows you to set up automatic sales funnels that will trickle in 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
In a way, your autoresponder is a “set-it-and-forget-it” part of your business. It’s designed to allow you to automatically deliver content to your subscribers, meaning you can build a relationship, promote products and gain new clients while you spend time doing other things.
If you do it right, you can use the same autoresponder for years, and just keep adding to it as time goes on.
That said, DON’T think that it needs to be perfect. You can always tweak it later if it seems a lot of people are unsubscribing, don’t like your content, you aren’t getting any sales, etc.
Getting Started
As far as setting up the autoresponder, the very first thing that you need to do is you create a list. Each service is a little different, so the best thing I can do is point you towards their training videos. They’ll show you how to create a list, opt-in forms, add the HTML code to your website, and more.
Or if you just don’t have the time to learn, you can choose to hire someone on Fiverr or Elance do it for you. But I recommend doing it a few times yourself, just so you know how it works.
As you set everything up, here are a few key things to keep in mind:
- Your “List Name” and details should make it easy for yourself and subscribers to know what niche, product, information, etc. it’s all about.
- Your “Thank You” page should be the download page you created for your free offer.
- There are two kinds of emails- broadcasts and follow-ups. Ignore broadcasts right now, because fol-low-ups are the automatic emails sent to your subscribers.
- Your very first follow-up should have a link to the free offer download page, in case they didn’t get to see it right away, want to see it again later, etc.
The next thing that you’re going to do is you’re going to add follow-up auto-responder emails that are going to go out automatically over time.
Constant Content
Not to sound like a broken record, but remember that the entire reason you’re building a list is to build a relationship. Just like getting to know a new friend offline, the best way to build a relationship is constant contact.
I recommend sending emails in 1-3 day intervals. If you want any longer than 3 days, people will start to forget you. But don’t send one every single day, because then they’ll see you as a spammer.
The most important thing is to keep adding value with every email. Give tips, tricks, free reports, links to great videos, etc. You want them to feel like they’re getting the better end of the deal here.
Just make sure you don’t forget to promote products and services at the same time. This is a business, after all. You’re in it to make money, not just out of the goodness of your heart. If there is a good product or service you can promote as an affiliate, do it! Don’t think of it as taking the person’s money. Think of it as you’re showing them a possible solution to fix the problem that they have.
If I’m 50 pounds overweight and REALLY struggling with it- and you know how to help me but don’t even give me the chance to check it out… you are wrong.
Help people solve their problems, and they’ll help you back.
Mastering the List
A lot of people will stop right there and call it good. But here’s the thing- since you really need to know your customers to offer them the best solutions, there are things you can do to learn more about what they need.
Here are a few ideas:
- Create surveys with tools like SurveyMonkey or Google Drive and send the links to your subscribers
- Include questions in emails like “What can I do to help you with (whatever their problem is)?”
- Offer a phone number- it could be your cell phone, a Google voice number, or whatever else you want. That way if people want to call you to ask questions, give you comments, etc. than they can reach you.
- Connect with other leaders in your industry. Ask them for guidance, and see what you can do to mu-tually help each other.
Unlike most offline industries, the online world isn’t all about competition. Just because someone buys your weight loss product doesn’t mean they won’t buy from someone else.
In fact, that’s why I generally recommend getting into the bigger, desperate markets. Not only do people really want help with their problem, but they’re also usually willing to spend money on multiple products or services.
Anyways- now that you’ve got your autoresponder set up, we’re almost done! It’s time to set up your squeeze page.
