Get Your Head Out of Your A.R.S.
June 12, 2009 by Lisa Hanfileti
Filed under Attraction Marketing
Your A.R.S. subscribers are self-selected raving fans!
Too many online marketers waste precious time thinking, pondering, and ruminating about their A.R.S. Of course, by A.R.S. I am referring to your Auto-Responder System and it is one of the most important (and confusing) components for baby boomer online marketers.
At EmpoweredBusinessEntrepreneurs.com we receive a ton of daily emails asking us which is the best Auto-Responder System and why. To help you get over the hump of trying to figure this out on your own, here are a few tips to help you make a decision and get into action.
Your A.R.S. is one of the most important parts of your marketing system and without one you are severely handicapping your business. It allows you to:
- Communicate with the people who visit your website
- Send emails to your subscribers
- Automate the emails so they go out in a specific sequence
- Leverage your time
- Deepen your relationship with your web visitors
- Build your list of targeted traffic
- Presell your product, service, or opportunity
- Develop your marketing pipeline
Simply stated, your A.R.S. gives your web traffic the ability to stay connected to you by subscribing to your periodic emails or newsletters.
Your A.R.S. subscribers are self-selected raving fans of your materials,
and they are therefore very qualified to consume even more
of your information, offers, products, and opportunities.
As an “attraction marketer”, you are in the business of building relationships and educating visitors through quality content. Without an Auto-Responder System you do not have a mechanism in place to further pre-sell your raving fans. In effect, your attraction marketing goes to waste if you do not have a method to “capture’ the people who are most interested in you and the content that you are posting on the web.
An auto-responder gives you the ability to:
- Collect the names and email addresses of your web visitors
- Legally communicate with them via an automated system
Please notice we said “legally communicate”. This is very important because a good A.R.S. has a “double opt-in” feature that meets the requirements of the FTC’s CAN-SPAM Act of 2008 which prohibits marketers from soliciting people who have not specifically requested information. So if you are emailing people to tell them about your product, business, opportunity, or service and they have not subscribed or opted-in to receive this information, stop doing it right now!
Instead set up your Auto-Responder System by choosing the one that best meets your needs. We have used the following auto-responders and can personally ‘vouch’ for each one of them. There are others that we have used and intentionally left off of this list. And there are many other auto-responders and contact management systems that we have never used. So feel free to do your own research, and let us know what you discover.
Also please understand that as your marketing needs change, you may need to invest in a more sophisticated Auto-Responder System. It is never fun to have to change your auto-responder but it happens as your business (and list) grows — and that’s a good thing! If you already know that you are going to be doing some significant relationship building and online marketing in the future, then choose an auto-responder now that you can ‘grow into’. We can personally recommend Aweber as a good choice for beginners who need an A.R.S. that can also fulfill the needs of a professional online marketer.
Our favorite Auto-Responder Systems:
Aweber – http://www.empoweredbusinessentrepreneurs.com/aweber
Excellent. Our favorite. Gives emails a “SPAM” rating, tells you if you have broken links, allows you to parse email lists, sophisticated tracking data, integration with 3rd party systems (1Shoppingcart, Facebook, Twitter, etc.), and it is used by some of the biggest, baddest, most successful online marketers in the industry.
1ShoppingCart – http://www.empoweredbusinessentrepreneurs.com/1shoppingcart
Excellent but only for those doing or planning on doing significant sales and marketing. Excellent live phone support. Reliable and very powerful.
Oprius – http://www.empoweredbusinessentrepreneurs.com/oprius
Good for a beginner using a contact management system for the first time. 30-day trial, lots of support, integrated scheduler and calendar. Opt-in boxes are not customizable (at the time of this writing.)
Site Build It! – http://spamcheck.sitesell.com/ebe.html
Look if you have Site Build It and you are on a budget, start with their auto-responder program. It’s completely integrated with newsletters and it’s included in the total cost of SBI so you do not have to add an extra expense.
Now that you have this information, get you’re A.R.S. in gear and set up your email marketing system today! Sign up for one of the free trial periods and learn how to use an auto-responder effectively. Write a minimum of 7 short emails that go out automatically every 3 to 4 days and over deliver quality content to your subscribers.
If you want to see an excellent A.R.S. in action, go ahead and opt-in to our Empowered Business Entrepreneurs A.R.S. (below) and you will see firsthand how an effective Auto-Responder System works. Just fill in your name and email address in the form below:
Check Out Our A.R.S.!
And guess what else? Not only do we go to great lengths to protect your email privacy, but we also provide you with an opt-out link with every email. So that if you get tired or bored with us — which is highly unlikely 
— you can unsubscribe to our series of life-changing emails at any time.
So go ahead … check out our A.R.S! We don’t mind a bit!
Warm Regards,
Lisa and Alicia
Hi Lisa and Alicia,
I had my head in my A.R.S too. That was one of my biggest mistakes also – I neglected to set up an autoresponder system for too long – I’m embarrassed to admit.
I always suggest that the first 3 most important things any internet marketer can work on is their main central hub i.e. a blog, or website, or it could even be a master Squidoo Lens – just a main place to bring people back to.
The other thing is a capture page, a way to capture leads and offer something of value in return. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but it’s very necessary.
And finally, the autoresponder system to connect and build a relationship with those people that have requested more information from you.
Nice work here,
Eric Walker
Thanks Lisa & Alicia.
This is exactly what I was looking for!
I was confused which one to choose for my auto responder.
Now that you have discussed all options..I can choose confidently.
You both are highly inspiring ..
Keep it up!
Hi Eric,
Thanks for your comments and for sharing “the first 3 most important things any internet marketer can work on”. Isn’t great that we can teach our team members to learn from our mistakes!
Peace,
Lisa
Very Nice!
Hi Sanjida,
We are so glad we could help you find what you were looking for! Auto-responder Systems are confusing. The first step is to ask yourself how you plan on using it and then you can determine which one meets your needs, budget, and style. Let us know when you have your A.R.S. in gear so we can check it out!
Cheers,
Lisa
To be perfectly honest, I’ve been dragging my feet, and my A.R.S., on an auto responder system! But it’s time to look the concept square in the eye and become a conqueror! It’s a mandatory component in your marketing system, if you want to be successful so, despite my head feeling like it’s about to explode. it’s time to get busy!!!
Thanks and best of luck to everyone!
Rudy
Hi Rudy,
There is a process, a system that is clearly spelled out in online marketing. We get to tweak it and move it around based on our own imagination, but the foundation of attracting prospects is through a series of messages, communicating and solving a problem for our prospect. Looking forward to seeing you on my Small Group Coaching call on Tuesday – where I’ll be showing you the exact process of setting up your auto-responder system.
Cheers!
Alicia
Okay, I’m there. Having never used an A.R.S., I’m ready to traverse that learning curve, no matter where my head may currently reside.
Having been a recipient of many drip email campaigns, I’ve had a lot of examples come my way. So I know what the horse looks like, and what it can do. I just need to learn to ride it.
And I must say that the entertainment value of your blog posts gets higher and higher! Not only are we getting quality information, but it’s a blast to read through it. And as I always say, I learn best when I’m smiling.
Saddling up with AWeber.
happy trails,
Jan
Hi Jan!
Being a horse enthusiast (and owning some spectacular black and white paints), I’d say that getting on the horse is the hard part! Getting off (and I’ve been bucked, broken, and bruised), is the easy part. One move and the ground comes up quickly!
I am completely confident that you are up to the saddling task and taking this A.R.S. horse for a ride!
Happy Trails Back At Ya!
Alicia
I really like the great headline! Keep up the humor- it makes this business even more fun! I have been confused on which system to use. When I was first introduced to the concept of auto-responders, I tried AWeber and still have an account there, but it was quite difficult to understand for a brand newbie.
I joined Oprius, but feel it is somewhat limiting, albeit a great tool for contact management and ongoing relationship with my warm market and existing network marketing customers. I just signed up for a free trial with iContact while taking the email marketing tutorials with Mike Klingler, and am following his advice not to use Renegade University in the subject line (don’t know what the problem is with that.) I DO like the fact I don’t have to have a double opt-in feature and it is less than half the expense of Aweber. However, since I already paid for a year of Aweber, I will probably use it after my iContact trial runs out. AHHHH! So many choices!
Hello Lisa and Alicia,
I am new to internet marketing and in the process of building a SBI website. My question is, at what point should I get an A.R.S.? I am extremely confused and fearful of doing something too soon or too late!!!
Lisa – I saw your SBI presentation in the RPro. Great job! You sold me on SBI and I’m really excited about it.
Regards,
Migdalia
Hi Migdalia,
Thanks for your kind words about my SBI presentations in Ren Pro. I will be adding more soon.
Congratulations on investing in Site Build It. I believe it is one of the very best marketing tools there is, even though it is challenging. So keep up the good work! Stay focused and follow the Action Guide.
As far as setting up your Auto-Responder System (A.R.S.) the time to do it is when you are incorporating the “elements of inviting interaction” with your visitors. So if you need to set up your A.R.S if you have a:
(1) Newsletter
(2) Free report or ebook to download
(3) Product for sale
(4) any kind of opt-in
All of these invite your visitor to interact with you by accessing more of your information. It is important to follow up with them through an automated system of personalized messages.
I am not sure how far along you are but you certainly need to get through the first 6 Days of the Action Guide before you set up your A.R.S. The fact that you are thinking about it is good!
Hope that helps!
Lisa
Hi Lori,
Remember how we said that there were auto-responders that we used and INTENTIONALLY left off our list of recommended auto-responders? Well, suffice it to say that we HIGHLY recommend Aweber over other auto-responders with very good reason.
Also believe us when we tell you that you do NOT want to override the double opt-in feature. Aweber also allows you not to use a double opt-in, but we only recommend that for Contact Me forms. Otherwise play it safe and use the double opt-in.
If it makes you feel any better, Aweber has improved their user-friendliness in the past few months and they have a great support system. Also the price is comparable (and in some cases better) because the monthly prices of all auto-responders go up as you get more subscribers.
And one last thing… there are a couple of tutorials on Aweber in Renegade Professional. So that should also help your learning curve.
Keep up the good work!
Lisa
LOL! I’m not shy to admit…I think this title fits me perfectly and thats not just with auto responders. It should more appropriately be titled…”Get Your Head Out Of Your A.R.S., Tom!”. And that goes with getting a solid footing of where I’m headed with this business.
Eric, Alicia or Lisa -
when Eric was talking about the three most important things somebody starting out can do – can our $10K sales better be the capture page or should we create our own? I plan on having a few capture pages linked from my main hub my website but was wondering if I need to have one just for me or if I can use some that are already created?
Eric – that is fantastic advice! I think when people first start with attraction marketing they all say – THERE IS SO MUCH – where do I even begin to start?
My advice – make sure you market yourself and NOT your company and start with getting a home everything can lead back to – like a website or a blog. THEN – go on to other things you can link to it.
Thanks everybody! EBE gots my ARS in gear big time!!
-Patti Royster
Hi Patti,
My recommendation is to create your own lead capture page and lead them to the $10,000 sales letter. We’ll be talking about lead capture pages on some upcoming live coaching calls. Oprius, by the way, has templates to create a lead capture page. And I believe within Ann’s Team site there is a video showing how to do it.
Warm regards,
Alicia