The Birth of a Successful Internet
Business Part eight of ten -- Automating Your Business
By Shelley Lowery
Running a successful Internet business can be a very time
consuming venture. Not only must you design and market
your website, but you must also develop your products,
fulfill your orders and answer customer support requests
-- the list goes on and on.
Although there will always be daily tasks that you must
handle personally, there are a number of your daily tasks
that you can automate or at least partially automate.
For example, if you're receiving the same basic support
requests or questions over and over again, there are two
different ways you can automate your answers:
1) Create a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page for your
website and/or products. Your page should include a list
of commonly asked questions and provide the answers for
each.
2) Create a text template for each of your frequently
asked questions that contain the answers. When you receive
a commonly asked question, simply open your text file and
copy and paste your pre written answer into your email
message. You can then customize your message for each
recipient.
The above example will assist you in partially automating
some of your daily tasks. However, there are some tasks
that can be completely automated simply by placing your
information within an autoresponder.
Autoresponders are one of the top promotional tools
available online today. They are also known as mailbots,
automatic email and email on demand. They were derived
from the very popular fax on demand and designed to
automatically respond to any email message sent to it with
an automatic response.
Autoresponder programs vary from software set up to run
with your desktop email program to a script that runs on
your server. The script may run a web-based autoresponder
system that utilizes a web page form, or it may run with
your pop email account on your server. It is programmed to
automatically send out a predetermined message when a
message is received to a specified script address or email
address.
Below is a list of tasks that you can completely automate:
=> Articles
If you're writing articles to promote your business, you
can place them within an autoresponder. This will enable
your visitors to quickly and easily retrieve your articles
on demand.
=> Ad Rates
If you're selling any type of advertising space, you can
place your ad rates within an autoresponder to enable your
visitors to request them at any time.
=> Business Opportunities
If you're promoting a business opportunity, you can
provide your potential customers with further information
via autoresponder.
=> Free Courses
In addition to the standard autoresponder systems, there
are also autoresponders that can send an unlimited amount
of follow-up messages. These follow-up messages can be set
up to automatically be sent out at predetermined
intervals. In other words, you can set up your
autoresponder to automatically send out a new message each
day for as many days as you would like.
Follow-up autoresponder systems will enable you to set up
a free course used to increase your sales. As you may
know, it may take up to seven contacts with a potential
customer before closing a sale. By setting up an
autoresponder and offering a free autoresponder course,
you can completely automate a portion of your marketing
efforts.
The examples above can be set up with any of the following
autoresponder services:
GetResponse
http://www.web-source.net/cgi-bin/t.cgi?l=gr
SendFree
http://www.web-source.net/cgi-bin/t.cgi?l=sf
AWeber
http://www.web-source.net/cgi-bin/t.cgi?l=aw
In addition to autoresponders automating some of your
daily tasks, there are also scripts that can be used to
automatically respond to form submissions. For example, if
you're processing your customers' orders yourself (with a
merchant account, secure server, etc.), you can use a form
processing script to not only process your customers'
information, but to also do all of the following:
• Send out an order confirmation message
• Add your customers' information to your database
• Send out download instructions
• Send you a copy of the order
If you're using a third-party credit card processing
company, there is a way you can automate your ordering
process as well.
Third-party processing companies require that you provide
a web address that is used to direct your customers to
once their payment has been processed. This page is
usually used to provide your customers with download
instructions. However, you can use this page to collect
your customers' information prior to directing them to
your download page. Simply use a script like the one
mentioned above.
Please keep in mind, there aren't many form processing
scripts that will send out an autoresponse file -- most
won't. However, the following form processing script will:
http://bignosebird.com/carchive/bnbform.shtml
In addition to using a form processing script to automate
your ordering process, you can also use a web based
mailing script.
Instead of setting up your "download" page with the above
form, place a subscription form within the page. This form
will be used to collect your customers' name and email
address. Once completed, your customers' information will
be added to your database and an autoresponse message will
be immediately sent out. This message should be used to
thank your customer for their purchase, and provide them
with download instructions.
The great thing about this technique is that you can
personalize your autoresponse message with your customers'
name. In addition, they are automatically added to a
database, which will enable you to send out product
updates or introduce new products.
Please keep in mind, not all web based mailing scripts
will send out an autoresponse message or enable you to
personalize your messages. However, the following scripts
will:
1-2-All Broadcast
http://www.12all.com
A complete list management system including HTML or plain
text newsletters, MySQL database, personalization
features, automatic removal links and more.
AutoResponse Plus:
http://www.web-source.net/cgi-bin/t.cgi?l=autoplus
Complete list management including unlimited lists, HTML
or plain text mailings, MySQL database, customizable
auto-personalization of messages, automatic removal links,
unlimited folow-up autoresponses and more.
Automating portions of your Internet business is an
essential part of your success. Not only will it lighten
your workload, but it will also free up your valuable
time.
Copyright © Shelley Lowery
About the Author:
Shelley Lowery is the author of the acclaimed web design
course, Web Design Mastery.
http://www.webdesignmastery.com And, Ebook Starter -
Give Your Ebooks the look and feel of a REAL book.
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