Introduction to Autoresponders

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Article by Charlie Yeoh from The Marketing Institute Online
If you've reached the point of exhaustion trying to keep up with answering the mountain of emails that threatens to bury you alive every single day, you're ready to learn about autoresponders.
The bad news is that people expect prompt replies to their email inquiries. However, unless you can figure out how to work continual twenty-four hour shifts, or hire enough people to constantly monitor incoming emails (while they're eating up your revenue), you have a problem. The good news is an autoresponder is an inexpensive - or even free - method of quickly responding to emails. What these programs do is automatically respond to incoming emails as soon as they are received.
Emails are essential to your business for many different reasons. Most importantly, these invisible email voices give you their feedback about your website - for free! However, if you spend all your working hours answering these emails, how are you supposed to run your business? The answer is simple: use autoresponders. Autoresponders are programs that automatically respond to your emails without you so much as having to click on your mouse.
There are a number of good reasons why you need an autoresponder besides just answering your email. For example, autoresponders can be used if you need a way to send information about your services or products, price lists, or if there are repeated questions asked across large numbers of emails. Maybe you want to offer your site visitors a special bonus of some kind, such as advice or
relevant articles. All of this can be handled by an autoresponder. Additionally, you can advertise your business and then build stable relationships with your customers by using autoresponders.
Autoresponder programs vary from software that runs with your email program to a specialized script that runs on your web hosting company's server. This kind of script may use a web page form or simply operate with your email account. This kind of script is programmed to send out a standardized message whenever an email is received. The message is sent to a particular script or email address.
Some autoresponders can do more than simply send out standardized messages. They can send out an unlimited number of follow-up messages sent at predetermined interval of time. For example, you can set your autoresponder to send out a new message every day for as long a period as you desire.
There are numerous companies who offer autoresponders free of charge. Your website hosting company often provides autoresponders as a free service. If this is not the case with your web hosting company, there are numerous companies who offer this service for a small fee, or free of charge, providing you attach an advertisement for their company to your emails.
To personalize your autoresponder messages, you can attach a signature. Signatures in this case are much like business cards. You can include your name, company, all your contact numbers and addresses, and a brief message.
It's a good idea to attach a signature to every email that is sent out. This works as a repeated reminder of your business identity every time a customer sees it. The more they look at your signature, the more likely your company will spring to mind when your particular service or product is needed.
You can create a standardized signature that every employee in your business uses, or you can go wild, and let every staff member create their own personal signature. Of course, like everything in life, there are some rules and guidelines to creating a personal signature.
Keep the length of your signature between four to six lines of text, with no more than 70 characters in a single line. Make sure that your email program does not cut off your text! The content should include your name, your company name, your email address, fax number, and any other contact details, such as 800 numbers. Lastly, always include a short personal message about your company. It should be a subtle sell of your services or your products, and possibly your company's reliability and longevity.
Another specialized use of autoresponders is to create courses that you can then offer your site visitors for free. You must choose a topic in which you are an expert and that precisely targets your potential customers.
Once you have carefully chosen your subject, divide it into a number of different sub-topics. Then offer your site visitor a free 10 or 15 day course, each day offering a different sub-topic. The first topic should always be a welcome message to your site visitor and an explanation about what is to follow. Your explanation should be enticing, getting the point across that you are offering free, quality information that your target audience will find of great value.
With every lesson, include the number of the lesson, the topic title, information about your company and its services or products. At the end, include a few blurbs about the next lesson to entice the subscriber to continue on.
Make sure each topic is packed with essential and valuable information, and leaves the visitor lusting to know more. Otherwise, you may lose them in the very beginning.
Of course, you have to write up your course before you can offer it. Once you have done this, and gone over the material carefully, employing a professional writer or editor if necessary, you must transfer your text to your autoresponder.
There are a number of free autoresponders you can use. Try GetResponse. Or go onto Google and you will find a long list of free autoresponder companies. Then sign-up for your chosen autoresponder. Once you do, you will receive instructions as to how to set it up and transfer your text.
Email is an excellent marketing tool; it is inexpensive and it is fast. Use it to advertise your business by choosing your email address carefully. Your website should contain different email addresses for different contact requests. For example, use info@yourdomain.com for information requests, or sales@yourdomain.com for questions about sales. It's a good idea to set up one for the owner, such as president@yourdomain.com. This presents your company in a personal, approachable light and insures that direct contact is provided.
Autoresponders are an effective and powerful marketing tool, allowing you to make contact with thousands of potential customers. This is an invaluable asset considering how many potential customers you usually have contact with before you make an actual sale. Essentially, an autoresponser allows you to automate part of your marketing campaign.
Charlie Yeoh is the owner of: The Marketing Institute Online. Learn the strategies of making money on the internet on: http://www.themarketinginstituteonline.com.
Check out our blog: http://www.themarketinginstituteonline.com/blog

Healthy Tips
Enjoying life to the fullest and aging gracefully without the burden of disease depends primarily on the healthy choices we make for our bodies TODAY.
Here are tips that will aid you lengthen your "good" years:
Eat Breakfast
Research suggests that eating breakfast early in the day may reduce the risk of weight gain and perhaps heart disease and diabetes.
Avoid fats and carbs from items like sugar, potatoes, and white bread. Choose foods that are heart-healthy and include fruits, whole-grain cereals, bread, reduced-fat cheese, and low fat or skim milk.
Beat the Sugar High
For those that have a sweet tooth, staying away from sugar is a constant struggle. On one hand it is just so much easier and faster to grab that doughnut on the way to the office! On the other hand, sugar becomes like an addiction that is very hard to break.
If you happen to like sugar a little more than you should and you need that sugar fix each day, an enormous way to get control and to curb the sugar craving is by using a natural substance called 5-HTP. You can find it in most any natural health food store. (5-hydroxytryptophan)
There are no magic pill for weight loss, but if appetite, and not willpower, is your downfall, then 5-HTP may do the trick.
5-HTP is a direct precursor to "serotonin". It causes feelings of fullness and eliminates cravings for carbohydrates and balances the serotonin levels in your brain. This safe, effective herbal compound can also lift your spirits, which makes it great for mood swings, anxiety and depression. The recommended dosage is 50-100 mgs per day.
Rotate Your Exercise Routine
Varying your exercise routine can help slow down the aging process. By changing routines you avoid boredom, and most importantly the danger of injury caused by overusing a particular muscle, bone, or joint.
Try rotating between aerobic exercises such as walking, dancing, jogging, swimming, cycling, and skating.
Add strength training exercises a couple of times a week and gently stretch your muscles at least two or three times a week to help prevent weakness, stiffness, bone loss, and falls.
Take Charge!
Taking charge of your own medical history and lifestyle is your right! You don't have to become Dr. Know-it-all, but researching specific areas of health that pertain to your own conditions is a smart move.
Researching the natural remedies in addition to what your doctor advises giving you more choices, as well as natural healing options. Getting a second opinion from additional health care professionals is important as well.
You have the right to all your medical records and eyeglass or contact lens prescriptions. You are entitled to all copies of lab results, immunization records, and imaging studies. Keep them filed at home in an organized manner. Keep a record of up-to-date medications and doses for your files as well as carrying this list with you at all times.
By feeding your body and mind the best foods and nutrients possible not only will you have more energy, your body will be stronger and your mind sharper. The tips in this report are the first steps on the route toward a healthier life.

7 Things You Can Do Today to Double Your Energy
Admit it, there are times when you wish you could just feel more energetic and get more done. Don't you just hate it when you feel like hiding under your bedsheets, and yet more and more things come up that you have to deal with?
Though mastering the energy game is a complex topic, I'd like to give you 7 things you can do anytime you need an extra boost.
1. Breathe
Breathing is one of the best ways not only to calm yourself but also to energize your body. Whenever you start feeling overwhelmed, take one minute to do a simple deep-breathing exercise.
Here goes: Sit in a comfortable position, then breathe in for 5 counts, hold your breath for 5 counts, and breathe out for 5 counts.
Repeat for approximately 1-2 minutes, or longer.
2. Yoga
One of the best ways to feel more energetic is to combine stretching, movement and breathing with yoga. It works like a charm every time, but you probably think you have to spend an hour doing it.
Not so! Just 15 minutes of yoga give tremendous benefits. Practicing a few "sun salutations," along with a back bend and a few more postures will really make a difference in your day.
Another possibility, which is just as powerful or even more so, is to spend ten minutes practicing the five Tibetans, a simple series of exercises that anyone can do and that give tremendous benefits. (For more information, go to this link ).
3. Wait for True Hunger ... Or Eat!
Depending on how you feel, you can either eat to gain more energy, or wait.
Why the two diverse options? The reason is that tiredness can either be caused by your body trying to "detox" the previous meal, or simply due to the fact that you haven't eaten enough.
If you're in "detox," you might feel a little depressed or irritable. Your stomach might make all sorts of noises.
In that case, I find that when I fast a few hours until I feel "truly hungry" - I will gradually feel more energetic as my body is restored to homeostasis.
But if you have eaten well lately, then try the following drink for quick energy. The water, the electrolytes (like sodium in the celery) and the natural sugar will help recharge your batteries.
- 1-3 bananas
- 1 cup of blueberries (fresh or frozen)
- 2-3 stalks of celery
- 1 to 2 cups of water
Blend and enjoy!
4. Drink
One of the main reasons people feel tired is that they are dehydrated. It happens very often in hot weather. You can easily forget to drink. If you feel tired for no apparent reason, it's warm outside and you haven't been to the bathroom in the last 2 hours, then you should drink a liter of water and watch what happens.
If you were dehydrated, you will immediately feel more energetic.
5. Dump Your Brain
Often you may feel overwhelmed by everything on your schedule, especially if you don't know exactly where to start to get things done. This is a major energy-drainer.
Trying to keep things in our brain becomes extremely draining when there are more things than we can keep in mind at one time.
Here's one quick solution: Take out a bunch of sticky notes. Write down as many things as you know you have to do. Write one item per sticky note.
Literally dump out your brain. Then organize the stickies by category, and identify your top 3 priorities.
For each of those 3 priorities, identify the very next action you have to take to get it done. Then schedule a time to do this.
When you do this, you will immediately feel yourself coming back to life, and your energy will instantly double.
6. Clean Up Your Space
Untidy or messy surroundings are a major drain of energy. Especially when getting through the mess seems overwhelming.
My suggesting is to spend 15 minutes to clean up, and see what happens.
What I recommend is actually timing yourself. I personally use a countdown timer. I set it to 15 minutes and then get as much done as possible in those 15 minutes, like a race!
Try this and you'll find that so much can be done to clean up your environment in just 15 minutes. You'll feel your mood instantly change and your energy double.
7. Find a Program That Works
The best thing you can do to keep your energy up is to pay attention to the factors that influence your health.
Those factors include: eating a good diet based on fruits and vegetables, getting sufficient nutrients, training your body in the 5 areas of fitness, mastering your sleep, and more (there are more than 21 in total).
Your health program should focus on mastering these different factors of health - not just diet - and show you how to become a high-energy person!

About The Author:
Frederic Patenaude, is the author of the book "The Raw Secrets". Sign up for his weekly "Raw Vegan Tips," and as a bonus, get your free "raw recipe of the week". Visit http://www.rawvegan.com while this bonus is still offered.