There are many ways you can automate your website or your whole web business for that matter but since we’re creating a content site, i.e. no selling of our own products (unless you are selling the content on your site … but let’s not complicate stuffs), the most important automation that you should implement on your web site is a way to capture the details of your visitors and send them a series of messages so they can get to know you better and trust you.
Why would you want to do that? Well, say one day you decide to sell your own product or even to recommend other people’s products (and receive a commission for every sale) or even to gain some support for what you are doing, then you’d want a list of people you can contact and share your message with. I know that you can always buy a list of names off eBay but it’s different when you start your own list and build connections with the people on that list. The people will respect you more and trust you, your opinions and recommendations.
How do you automate building a list?
Okay, now that we’ve gotten that straightened out. How do we capture our visitors details and send them followup messages?
In the olden days, you would have to set up a form that will forward you the names and email of your visitor and then manually put them in a list and then send them a message and shift them to a second list to await the sending of the second message.
Thankfully, the olden days are long gone. We now have what we call a followup autoresponder software that will allow all the above to be done automatically. Thus, allowing us to build rapport with our subscribers (people who have opted to be on our list) without having to invest much of our time.
You can either sign up for a followup autoresponder service or you can buy your own script and install it on your servers. Personally, I prefer the service. I explain why in my “Autoresponder Email Service vs Software” post.
The idea behind a followup autoresponder service is for you to write your followup messages and save it in advance. So, anyone who subscribes to your list gets put into the beginning of the message sequence where they will then receive each message on the days you specify. You can set it up so that your subscriber will receive your first message immediately and then the next one a day after and the next one 3 days after and the next one a month after …
What should you send out to your list?
The last thing you should send out to your list are ads or irrelevant things. If your site is about cooking and you’ve build a list from that site, don’t send to your list tips about computer graphics. Stick to information that your subscribers will find useful and valuable. Give them tips on where they can get special ingredients at discounted prices, or send them free recipes etc. Anything that will make them want to open and read each message you send them.
And from time to time you could recommend them a cooking book that you find useful. You could use an affiliate link here and get a commission. But make sure that whatever you recommend IS indeed a good product or you’ll find your subscriber numbers dropping faster than you can build them.
You can put the tips and recommendations in your message series. Set it up once and each subscriber will receive each message at the appropriate time interval automatically without you having to lift a finger.
Which autoresponder should you use?
If you are using SBI, then SBI has it’s own followup autoresponder feature built into the system.
If you’re not using SBI, there are many autoresponder services out there today. Some are standalone services, such as:
And others are part of a bigger automation system, such as:
If you’re going to be selling your own products, you’re better off with the bigger automation system. Signing up for such a service will not only automate your mailing list but also your order taking, ad tracking, affiliate management and even customer care.
But if you’re planning on building a content site and making passive income then really all you need is to automate your mailing list and either Aweber.com or GetResponse.com should do the trick.
I’ve tried both services and am happy with both their services. I prefer Aweber.com though. I find their customer support to be much more helpful. Plus I’ve read reports that their delivery rate is higher than other services due to their reputation.
Anyway, the ultimate choice is yours but do invest in some sort of a followup autoresponder system.
