An autoresponder gives you the ability to send messages effortlessly for months on end. So if you captured an email address six months ago, your autoresponder can repeatedly contact that person to offer your product or service.

=> WASH-RINSE-REPEAT

Repeat contact is a concept that top marketers first used effectively in the offline world. When you conduct a direct mail campaign, you send out message after message until it`s no longer cost-effective. This strategy yields a much higher response rate than with a one-shot mailing (typically just 1% or less).

-From the Research Labs: Research shows that, on average, A PROSPECT MUST BE CONTACTED SEVEN TIMES before you have any real chance at closing a sale.

=> BE IN THE TOP 10

If you apply this strategy to your Internet marketing campaigns, you`ll have a real edge over the competition. Remember: 90% of businesses do not follow-up with prospects!

AUTORESPONDER SUCCESS TECHNIQUES

=> TECHIQUE #1 - THE "KILL OVERKILL" TECHNIQUE

You don`t want an email-inbox crammed with ads and sales letters, and neither does anyone else. Don`t send out sales letter after sales letter. Your messages will become an annoyance and the recipient will either unsubscribe or just delete the messages whenever they arrive.

By sending a series of sales letters SPACED APART BY 2-4 DAYS, you`ll keep your prospect aware of your business and develop credibility over time without being a pest.

=> TECHNIQUE #2 - THE "MY GIFT TO YOU" TECHNIQUE

Send freebies such as ebooks, info reports, newsletters, software, or even product samples. Many marketers use this approach by offering a newsletter.

-Sneaky Salesmanship: Within the newsletter you have an excellent opportunity to plug your product with a few lines of irresistible copy.

With the soft sell approach, you can contact your prospect once or even twice a week with "valuable information" -- which coincidentally mentions your product or service -- without seeming like you`re over-selling. If you`re a vacuum cleaner distributor, for example, send a newsletter on allergies and dust mites, for example.

=> TECHNIQUE #3 - THEY`LL LEARN/YOU`LL EARN TECHNIQUE

Give away a valuable training course via email that has special appeal to your recipients! You can create a simple 3-day, 5-day, 7 day, or even longer course. And at the end of some of the course lessons you can add a few lines of copy plugging your product or service.

This, too, is a soft sell approach.

=> TECHNIQUE #4 - COMBO PLATTER TECHNIQUE

Use a variation of the hard sell, soft sell approach. Simply alternate your messages. A balance of 40% hard-sell and 60% soft-sell is generally about right.