Autoresponders are the best method I know of to connect and communicate with your readers. It allows you to give instant feedback to people on any subject matter related to your business, and be able to do so 24/7/365.

One of the most magical things that I love is when I’m able to write such a personal autoresponder that the reader can’t tell it’s an autoresponder. Instead, they send me a personalized message back, answering my questions and giving me more information about them.

That doesn’t happen by accident. I don’t just throw together a message, or add so much content they get lost in the message. Instead of create a series of notes that make it exclusive for whoever is reading it.

For those of you new to the online world of marketing, an autoresponder is an email message that is sent out automatically by an email system depending on when a person signs up to receive your emails. You can send as few or as many messages as you desire, and set them up to be sent at a predetermined timeframe. These messages give you more credibility, and allow you to make that initial connection with someone new, helping them learn more about you through a variety of media sources.

Before you write your messages, grab some paper and spend some time analyzing these 5 questions.

1. Who will be reading my autoresponders?

2. What do they know about me and my company?

3. How are they connecting with me?

4. How much interaction have we had up until this point, and through what resources?

5. What do I want them to do next?

When you start asking yourself these questions, you can quickly see a theme developing, and how you would communicate with this type of person. I always think about one person when I’m writing – it helps me talk to them directly, as opposed to coming up with ideas for a variety of situations.

Once you know who you’re writing to and why, it’s easy to start building an email series around it.

Welcome them to your blog/site and tell them what to expect.

Invite them to stay active with you. Do you blog regularly? How about sign up for your RSS feed. Do you communicate on Facebook every day? Why not join your page? The key is to start building the relationship from the beginning.

Choose one product/service, and spend your time talking more about it and giving tips to how it can benefit the reader. Don’t make it the entire focus; use it as a way to get to know you better. Remember, you are in this to build a lifelong relationship, not to sell to immediately.

Give resources, tips and tricks you know by being the expert. Start proving you know what you are talking about, and are willing to share your expertise with those around you.

Avoid thinking in sales terms. “Limited Offer” and “Don’t miss the sale” and “It’s the last time we’ll be doing this” all show your reader you are in it for the sale. In the online world, relationships are key. The happier you can make your customer upfront, the more likely you will be to keep them for life.

Related posts:

1. The 5 Stages Of Writing The Perfect Blog Post
2. Are You Asking This Question Before You Hit Publish On Your Blog Post?
3. Creating A Social Strategy Within Your Business Plan

Not so fast. As tempting as it is to use your email to send out ads for new business, email is not your best choice. In fact it may be the quickest way to damage your brand, and cause you to lose more business than you’ll ever gain.

Here are 3 reasons to think about the email you are sending, and change your patterns for the future:

Quick Buck versus Lifetime Relationship
Think about your own email patterns. How many emails do you get in every day? This morning when I opened up my own email account, I had over 360 new emails waiting for me. Add in the non-stop email that comes in throughout the day, and I’m pretty sure I receive in excess of 500 emails per day.

Yes, I’m pretty good with the delete key. If you don’t make a great impression in your subject line, or I don’t recognize your name, I hit the delete button. I could easily spend all day with my email if I didn’t. So for me, nothing is more frustrating than opening up an email, only to find it’s a blatant sales pitch, trying to get me to buy something. Not only would I never do business with someone like this, I’m also more apt to tell about the experience as well.

Can you pick up business like this? Of course. But will it allow you to be in business five years from now?

SPAM
Depending on your email provider, its fairly easy to list an email as Spam – you simply click a button. If you send out dozens of email every day, and a good percentage of them tag your email as a Spam message, you’ll quickly find yourself without an account. They shut down first, and don’t ask questions. And if your hosting for your website is attached to the same server, your website might also be turned off, losing you hours or even days of being online while you move accounts.

Spamming the system simply isn’t worth it. There are easier ways to build a following, and have people come to you for information instead of trying to create an easy, quick sale.

Damage Your Brand
The Internet is fast. If you’re on Twitter or any of the other social sites, you know how fast one message can grow and penetrate an entire population.

If you use email to stay in touch with people that have requested information from you, you’ll create relationships. If you use email as your cold call method of choice, you’ll quickly anger people and cause them to lash back. With just a few clicks of the mouse, they have access to unlimited channels – and they know how to use them. The last thing you want to have to do is do more marketing to recover from bad publicity.

Related posts:

1. How Email Looks In 2010 And In 2020
2. 7 Reasons To Use A WordPress Website For Your Small Business
3. 5 Questions To Ask Before Creating An Autoresponder