You've heard the experts say that a prospect
usually needs to be exposed to an offer at
least three, sometimes as many as seven, times
before a decision is made to buy a product or
service. To offline businesses, accomplishing
this through direct mail and telemarketing can be
both intimidating and expensive.

This is where online businesses have a distinct
advantage, through the use of autoresponder
technology. This technology forms the backbone
of many of today's
online fortunes.

The basic concept behind an autoresponder
series, sending a series of scheduled messages
to convince a customer to take action, is easy to
understand. But determining how to write one, or
WHAT to write, often isn't so clear.

First, the basics...every autoresponder series must
include:

*Useful Information
*Personalized Messages, Both in the Subject Line
and in the Body Copy
*Back-end, Upsell Offers

At:
http://www.idealmarketingcorp.com/autoresponder.html
you'll find samples of proven autoresponder series and
messages. But this article is about new applications,
which we'll now dive into:

1) Deliver a multi-part salesletter. Remember that
long piece of art you slaved over, aka your sales letter?
You could break it up, as an ongoing series of weekly
messages for an instant autoresponder series. You
could also offer links in each, pointing back to your
website to view the entire document.

Also, you could send a sequence of different letters
with each one promoting a different benefit of a
selected product or service. Finally, you could
send different variations of the original letter.
Think creatively!

Or, if you're really pressed for time, just put
'Second Notice' in the subject line, and
resend the original message.

Just remember to always focus your messages
to emphasize 'what's in it for them,' showing
what pain or problem your product/service solves.

2) Deliver a multi-part training or coaching course.
Yes, this can be done on autoresponder. Again,
the key is that the delivered information must be
perceived as being valuable.

3) Deliver evergreen information in the form of an
ezine or newsletter. By offering value, and keeping
you top-of-mind, this leads to a stronger customer
relationship. When you have to choose between
reading a message from someone you know and
trust, and one from someone you don't,
most will choose the friend, right?

Use autoresponders to help create that bond--
this could lead to more sales!

4) Make existing customers feel special by developing
a autoresponder series that offers a 'members only'
exclusive of product bundles, limited-time discounts,
holiday or seasonal promotions, etc.

5) Create a separate autoresponder series to 'upsell'
paying customers on increasingly expensive product
offerings. Never assume that they're automatically
done with just one purchase! Don't underestimate
a customer's ongoing desire for high-quality products
and services.

One last idea for a creative use of autoresponders -
timely customer relations. If you find that the same
questions are being asked over and over by your
visitors, assemble their answers and load them into
an autoresponder. Then add a place on your site to
click for 'Answers To Frequently Asked Questions.'
This will save a huge amount of time and energy, leaving
your time open to come up with new marketing ideas.

Always remember to provide a way for customers to
contact you directly, in the event that the FAQ's
didn't answer their question(s).

How many other autoresponder campaigns or
applications can you think of?



About the Author
Paula Morrow is president of Ideal Marketing Corporation.
She specializes in p. r., information marketing and creating
cashflow systems. Her newsletter, IDEALProfits, is read in
12 countries. Subscribe, and receive the co-brandable
'How To Start Your Own Traffic Virus' and 4 other ebooks FREE.
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