Online Marketing Tools

Info and Tips 

• I have been writing a lot about the importance of using an autoresponder for internet marketers.  Finally, I've decided to write a more detailed review of the important features one needs to look for when deciding on an autoresponder.
  
  
  
• What is an autoresponder?
  Why is it so important to use an autoresponder?
  
  Autoresponder is a program, which allows you to build your personal list of subscribers by capturing them through either a web form, import or e-mail message sent to your autoresponder address; and then automatically send messages to your list. These messages can be scheduled to go out at certain intervals or can be sent as one-time broadcasts.
  
  Building your own personal list of subscribers is the key strategy to any internet business.  Using a reliable autoresponder service to build your own list and to send follow-up messages is the key to a successful follow-up campaign.
  
  
  
•  Features to look for  
  
  In this section, I am going to discuss the important features a good autoresponder has to have and provide examples using the three autoresponder services I currently use, which I carefully selected among the many available on the internet.  These autoresponder services are AWeber, GetResponse and TrafficWave.
  
  
  Capturing your subscribers
  
  A good autoresponder service allows you to capture new subscribers using the following methods:
  
  1) by e-mail -- each campaign is associated with an e-mail address, where potential subscribers can send a blank e-mail.  This triggers a subscription request to be sent to this person's e-mail address.
  
  2) by a web form -- an autoresponder provides a code for a lead-capture form for each of your campaigns.  This code can be inserted to any web page to collect subscribers.
  
  3) by manually adding individual subscribers or importing large lists
  
  All these methods trigger a verification/subscription confirmation request to be sent to the leads asking them to verify that they did indeed request to be on the mailing list.  Once they confirm by clicking on the confirmation link within the verification message, they are added to your list and begin to receive your messages.  AWeber and GetResponse have an advantage over TrafficWave that they allow you the option to receive e-mail notifications of new subscribers.
  
  All three autoresponders I use offer all three methods of capture.  I believe that a web form is the most important way to get new subscribers.  My personal preference is to use AWeber's easily customizable lead-capture forms.  
  
  
  The big advantage of TrafficWave -- lead-capture pages
  
  Both AWeber and GetResponse provide codes for subscription forms to be inserted into your web pages.  To use this feature one needs to have already made lead- capture pages.  Basically, you already need to own a domain name and pay for the hosting.  While this is the preferred way to run your business, many beginning marketers don't have a domain name or their own hosting and/or haven't learnt how to use them.  TrafficWave provides a very newbie-friendly service of offering ready-to-use lead-capture pages, which are hosted by TrafficWave.
  
  
  TIP !!!  TrafficTornado and TrafficExchangeList are free programs, where you can build a free lead-capture page hosted by the program. 
  
  
  There is a big difference among autoresponders in terms of importing leads.
  
  AWeber limits daily imports to 2,000.
  GetResponse limits daily imports to 2,500.
  TrafficWave has no daily limit (each individual import is limited to 1,000).
  
  
  The big advantage of TrafficWave -- importing leads
  
  TrafficWave is the least strict in terms of importing, however it has become a bit more strict recently.  All three autoresponders say that purchased lists are not allowed. With AWeber, each time you import leads you need to provide an explanation of where these leads come from.  Both AWeber and GetResponse are notorious for terminating accounts on the grounds of violating their policy with imports. TrafficWave is more flexible.  You may get into trouble with TrafficWave if your imported list contains a large number of bad/undeliverable e-mail addresses, which are usually present in purchased lists.  Also the older your list, the more undeliverable addresses it has.  
  
  TIP !!!  I use mainly TrafficWave for importing leads.  But before I do so, I check my lists for undelivable addresses and get rid of them using GroupMail software.  I believe you need the upgraded version to do so.  Once your list is clean, you can load it to your TrafficWave autoresponder. 
  
  
  The big advantage of GetResponse -- the best leads you can buy
  
  GetResponse offers a unique service -- Power Leads.  These leads are the most effective leads one can buy.  If you want to build your list quickly, you can do so by ordering Power Leads.  Power Leads are subscribers added to your campaign.  They are added in real time.  GetResponse promotes the title and the short description of your e-zine/newsletter and interested people subscribe.  Only those who confirm their subscription counted towards your purchase.  As a result you get targeted subscribers.  I know a number of successful affiliate marketers, who built their business almost exclusively through purchasing Power Leads.  This is definitely an option to consider for new marketers who have difficulty building their list using other methods.  
  
  
  The big advantage of AWeber -- thank you pages and subscription confirmation pages   
  
  Thank you pages and subscription cofirmation pages are extremely important tools for monetizing your list.  Read the previous issue of my newsletter on why it is important to use thank you pages and subscription confirmation pages and how to use them.
  
  All three autoresponders offer subscription confirmation pages.  Both AWeber and TrafficWave offer thank you pages.  However, a big disadvantage of TrafficWave is that new subscribers are redirected to your page after a certain time delay.  Many people don't wait to be redirected and close the page.  GetResponse doesn't offer customizable thank you pages because it uses them to promote members' e-zines as a part of the Power Lead service.
  
  Since AWeber offers both customizable thank you pages and subscription confirmation pages, which are shown without any delay, it is the best autoresponder to monetize your list during the subscription process.  
  
  
  
  Sending messages
  
  Probably the most important criterion of the quality of an autoresponder is it's deliverability.  This is the main reason why paying for a good quality autoresponder service is better than using an autoresponder software on your own server.  An autoresponder service takes care of constantly improving deliverability rates. 
  
  All three autoresponders offer excellent deliverability, however AWeber seems to be superior compared to the rest.  
  
  All three services allow both text and HTML messages.  AWeber and GetResponse offer advanced features with HTML templates.
  
  You can send both scheduled letters and broadcasts to your list.  TrafficWave is a bit more cumbersome to use when sending broadcasts to multiple campaigns/lists. If you want to send the same message to three different lists within your TrafficWave autoresponder, you need to do it three times.  AWeber allows you to select all the lists you want to send your broadcast to and send it just once. GetResponse allows you to merge these lists as one by copying subscribers and then send the broadcast to all of them at once.
  
  AWeber and GetResponse are better for personaizing your letters. TrafficWave allows you to include subscribers' full name.  AWeber even has a features, which allows to automatically capitalize first letters of names if they are entered without capitalization (a very cool tool! you don't need to go and capitalize them manually for the professional look).
  
  TIP FOR TRAFFICWAVE USERS!!! When you add/import subscribers to your autoresponder, import first names only if you want first names to appear in your messages rather than full names.
  
  
  Managing your subscribers
  
  TrafficWave allows an unlimited number of subscribers without extra charge. Both AWeber and GetResponse charge extra for lists over 10,000.  GetResponse charges $4.50 for each additional 5,000. AWeber charges $9.95 for each additional 10,000 subsribers.
  
  All three autoresponders automatically include an unsubscribe link in all outgoing messages, so that your subscribers can easily unsubscribe by clicking on the link. 
  
  
  The big advantage of GetResponse -- easily move subscribers between campaigns
  
  You can copy individual subcribers from one campaign to another or merge lists in GetResponse. This feature is not available in either AWeber or TrafficWave.  Why is this important?  Here is an example.  You promote your favorite affliate program with a series of letters sent to your list.  Once your subscribers join this program, you can easily copy them to a second campaign and delete them from the first, so that they no longer receive messages promoting this program, but instead receive another series of messages explaining the program and encouraging them to upgrade.  Once some of these free members upgrade, you move them to the third campaign, which targets upgraded members.  With GetResponse, you don't need to ask these people to subscribe again to another campaign.  With other autoresponder service, you do.
  
  
  Ad tracking
  
  AWeber and GetResponse allow you to track the clickthrough rates by selecting this feature for each individual message.  You can do so in TrafficWave but you need to create individual ad tracking URLs for each URL in your message.  THe advantage of using the ad tracker in TrafficWave is that you can use it for other purposes besides including ad trackers in your autoresponder letters.
  
  
  Customer support and training
  
  All three autoresponders have great customer support and training.  AWeber and GetResponse offer video and audio tutorials.
  
  
  Pricing
  
  AWeber is $19.95/month (discounts if you pay for the whole year -- the best option)
  
  GetResponse is $17.95/month (discounts if you pay for the whole year -- the best option)
  GetResponse also offers a free version with limited features.
  
  TrafficWave is $17.95/month and there is a 30-day free trial.
  
  TIP !!! Ask your TrafficWave sponsor to pay for your first month of upgrade.  Your sponsor will get this money back through the Matrix Buster system.
  
  
  Affiliate program
  
  AWeber pays 20% on the first level sales and 10% of the second level sales each month.
  
  GetResponse pays 30% commissions on the first level sales and 10% commissions in the second level sales each month.
  
  TrafficWave probably has the greatest income potential since affiliates get paid for multiple levels down, plus there is a 100% fast-track bonus, and there are matching bonuses depending on your affiliate level.  Read the details of the commission struction Here  
  
  
  Summary of the advantages of individual autoresponders
  
  AWeber -- feature-rich; highest deliverability; best for using thank you pages and subscription confirmation pages
  
  GetResponse -- feature-rich; esiest to copy subscribers from one campaign to another; the program can help you build your list by promoting your newletter campaign (Power Lead packages)
  
  TrafficWave -- most newbie-friendly; ready-to-use lead-capture templates; no domain name or hosting required; most flexible in terms of importing leads. TrafficWave is currently in the process of adding new features to the autoresponder, so expect even better service soon!
  
  

How profitable is your list building?

Discover The Secret By Clicking Here                       Buidling Your List                  List Dot Com             Click Here Target Ad Depot     Click Here Free Ad Depot          Click Here YourLuckyList          Click Here TripleYourList          Click Here DesktopLightning    Click Here These lists are in a completely different and much superior category than safelists. They don't work like safelists.  You either have to build your own list or upgrade or both.  But the reward is amazing!   Find out  How To Make Safelists Work For You! Click on the image below! Click Image To Open New Window                Article Writing  --         This Advertising Method Produces Long-Term Income   Article writing is a great way to generate income.  The biggest disadvantage of this method is that it takes time and some research.  The advantage is that it has no or low cost. And the benefits include establishing yourself as an expert, generating traffic to your site, and getting recurring long-term income.   There are many places on the Internet to submit/publish articles.  Here are some of the most popular ones: GoArticles.com  EzineArticles.com For more sites and other article-writing information, look up this site: http://www.marketingchick.com/howto/article-marketing.shtml Publishers of websites and blogs look for good published articles to add to their content.  If they like your article, it will be included together with your resource box and links to your website.  These publishers need articles to get profits from AdSense, to generate traffic and activity on their blogs. And search engines love articles!   As with other advertising methods, however, a good strategy is important here.  You want to maximize your profits and minimize your time and effort.   You can learn the best strategies behind successful article-writing campaigns from the expert, Dylan Loh.  He created a great course, which will shorten your learning by months. His course teaches the best places to submit articles, how to submit, how to create an article that would attract publishers, how to optimize your article for keywords, rank your article high for search engines, and much more ...  To learn more about this course Go Here Click Image To Open New Window         Must Have Resources ... Domain Name Get your own web address and another income stream with GDI (Global Domain International). It is one of the fastest growing companies in the US.  It offers a 7-day free trial. Hosting When you choose a hosting company, make sure it's a highly reliable business with an established reputation.  I recommend Kiosk, which offers a high-end hosting, excellent training, including live HTML lessons, and a 24-hour support.  Do you know that Mike Filsaime uses Kiosk to host his programs?  For example, his List Dot Com is hosted by Kiosk.    Previous issue about Advertising On Autopilot Using Your Autoresponder...   Read Here To your success!  Hope you found this useful.  As usual, all comments are welcome.  Please post them on my blog.  If you haven't done so already, please subscribe using the form at my blog to receive future issues of this newsletter. Copyright 2010 Marina G    The contents may not be reproduced without the author's permission