Communication with customers and subscribers is vital if you want to successfully build an Internet business. Trying to keep up with the constant stream of business-related emails in your inbox can make you feel a bit like the Dutch kid with his toe in the dyke trying to stop the flooding. Unfortunately, people (unsurprisingly) expect quick responses to their emails. Unless you can find a way to work 24/7 for 52 weeks a year, you’ll find yourself overwhelmed and sunk for the third time. An automatic response may be your lifeboat, appearing on the horizon in response to your distress call.

Emails are an essential part of a modern Internet business for a wide range of reasons. Emails provide a vital reciprocal link to your customer database. It’s simply not possible to maintain a hands-on approach to all your email communications or you’ll never have the time to run your business properly. There is always the option of hiring someone to deal solely with emails, but that would be a very expensive solution.

An email autoresponder is the answer. That answer immediately raises the question: “What is an automatic response?” As the name suggests, autoresponders are set to automatically reply with messages, reports, eBooks, etc. that you have programmed into them. They will, for all intents and purposes, run part of your business for you on autopilot. There are many great examples of autoresponder software available, most are inexpensive, some even free. This software will instantly respond to incoming mail by sending pre-prepared messages or even digital products. They can send a follow-up email sequence to new customers to build that all-important relationship, as well as come up with a back-end offer at the right time.

So let’s see exactly how to use the autoresponder capabilities. Autoresponders give you very easy access to your customer database. If you want to send a special offer or bonus to all of your customers, an autoresponder can do it for you, regardless of the size of your list. By keeping your subscribers updated with newsletters, new offers, etc., autoresponders can help build a close relationship with your customers. In fact, modern autoresponders can be programmed to do many, many different tasks, both to collect information and to disseminate it.

Autoresponders are a powerful, highly effective, and indispensable marketing tool used by almost every Internet marketer today. They allow us to make and maintain contact with thousands of customers and potential customers. By constructively using an autoresponder we can automate a significant part of our business. Given the sheer number of people Internet marketers need to communicate with on a regular basis, an autoresponder can be seen as a personal assistant; – no need for sleep, no lunch breaks, no trips to the bathroom, and no vacation. They don’t have ‘bad days’ or report to work worse after sitting in a traffic jam for 3 hours. They are not hampered by the effects of a cold or a hangover. They are essential in the successful running of any online business. Autoresponders are, in fact, the perfect business partners.