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Autoresponder Basics

For those who don't know, an autoresponder is an automatic e-mailing system. You import the names of your prospects, or they sign up from a form on your web site, and your autoresponder sends out a specific sequence of e-mails that you have pre-written, and programmed to be sent at specific intervals.

Having an autoresponder working for you is not unlike having an autopilot secretary who is available 24/7, and never calls in sick or takes a day off.

Needless to say, an autoresponder is an essential tool for recruiting prospects for your network marketing downline. While some of your hottest prospects may sign up for your opportunity on the very first contact, it's much more likely that most of them will require several followups before they will take action.

Studies show that only about 20% of people will buy a product online before the fifth followup, and it stands to reason that people signing up for MLMs may show the same initial resistance. Even if they aren't resistant to your program, they may simply be too busy when you contact them initially, but would be receptive if you contacted them a short time later. An autoresponder allows you to do just that.

E-mail marketing through autoresponders is extremely efficient and cost-effective, and should be the backbone of your MLM recruiting efforts, in my opinion. You can buy qualified leads from any number of sources (or recruit them from your own website or from PPC ads), import them into your autoresponder, and it will tirelessly continue to recruit for you. Unlike a one-time ad in an ezine or on a PPC search engine, your autoresponder gives you numerous shots at arousing the interest of your prospect. Especially if you paid for that lead, you want every opportunity to convert your prospect into a new recruit.

Here are a few tips to get the most out of your autoresponder series:

Invest in a paid system. Free autoresponders are OK, but they include ads that may distract your prospect, and/or cheapen the appearance of your message. The paid autoresponder gives you the professional look that will instill confidence in prospects.

Personalize your emails. Most systems allow you to do this by including variables such as [[name]] in your message, and the system automatically substitutes the prospects name and inserts it into your email. The more you can do to make your prospect feel that your email was written just for him or her, the better you'll do.

Utilize your Autoresponder to the fullest. Set up a sequence of messages that continues to go out to your prospects over a long time period (many providers allow unlimited messages). Set up several different sequences and test the results you get from your various series. Move prospects to another autoresponder series for new recruits after they have signed up for your opportunity. Doing so allows you to do some immediate followup and training with your new people during that vulnerable period when they may drop out before really giving your opportunity a chance.

After the first few days, vary the frequency of your messages, with longer time intervals between messages. People are less likely to delete themselves from your list if you don't overfill their inbox. Personally, I send messages on days 1, 2, and 3 and then start lengthening the time between messages, with a maximum of about 1 to 2 weeks between messages.

Always honor "unsubscribe" requests immediately. Most systems process them automatically through a link in your emails, but you may occasionally get some unsubscribe requests sent directly to you. Promptly delete those people from your system. As I understand it, the new "Can Spam" law makes it illegal not to do so.

Unless you're already an accomplished advertising copy writer, ask your upline sponsor if he or she has an autoresponder series you can modify and use, or consider buying one of the "instant sales letters" packages that are available. I'd much rather spend fifty bucks on some email templates than waste hundreds on leads I can't convert because my emails stink.

Remember that your Subject line can make or break you in terms of whether your email is even opened, and the headline and/or first sentence or two of your email is decisive in whether your prospect will read the whole thing. Invest some time in learning to write killer headlines and subject lines. It will pay off!