Friday, April 30, 2010

Locally Hosted Email Responders

Locally hosted autoresponders are autoresponders that you host through your own web server.  Normally, they are either scripts or programs that you need to have installed on your web server.  They often require you to have a database, such as SQL 2000 or mySQL.  They will also require you to purchase or lease programs or scripts that were written in ASP, Perl, or PHP.

Once the installation has been completed, you’ll need a web browser to start using these programs, to set them up, and run your subscriber list.  You don’t need to be an expert with these programs, although you will need a working knowledge so you can operate them effectively.  There are several autoresponders out there, many of which are flexible and offer you powerful features.  If you are a webmaster with your own site, a locally hosted email autoresponder is a great investment.

If you are in the internet marketing business and have a large subscriber base, locally hosted email autoresponders are a great choice - especially when you compare them to autoresponders that are remotely hosted.  Locally hosted programs will also provide you true flexibility, involving no third parties.  You don’t have to worry about any company hosting your autoresponder – simply because you will be doing everything yourself.

One of the best things about locally hosted email autoresponders is the fact that you own the program.  Once you have purchased the software, you own it for the rest of your life.  This way, you don’t have to worry about any other charges.  You won’t have to pay a company to run it, which will save you a lot of money in the long run.  There are no monthly charges involved either, which makes locally hosted email responders that much better than remote hosted responders.

Providing the licensing condition allows it, you might be able to run the email responder on multiple sites.  Some will let you run multiple copies on several different websites, while others require that you pay a small fee to upgrade first.  If you are planning to run multiple copies, you should first find out how many copies or how many websites you are able to use the software with, before you make a purchase.  This way you’ll be able to determine the true cost of the software and whether or not it is right for you.

Considering the fact that you’ll be running locally hosted email responders yourself, you’ll have more control than you would with a remote email responder.  Locally hosted email responders give you more control over the database, and a better range of customization features.  This way, you can set things up to your liking and rest assured that you are in total control.

Some locally hosted email responder programs will allow you to further customize the script to fit your needs.  You can do this yourself if you know enough about scripting languages, or simply pay someone to do it for you.  If you the program you are using or plan to use allow customization, you can pretty much fine tune it to your liking.

All across the Internet, there are several locally hosted email responders that you can get.  Some of the best include Post Master, Send Studio, and Intellisponder Pro.  There are other great programs out there, although they will cost you money to use.  Once you buy them though, they are yours for as long as you use them.  When you consider what’s best for your online business – you can’t rule out the power and features that a locally hosted email responder will provide you with.

Email Courses and Autoresponders

Offering free things to your website visitors is one
marketing method that often results in a lot of sales.
Free courses that are delivered via email are very
popular, and people sign up for such courses on a
regular basis to learn more about a topic of interest
to them. These courses are best maintained and
delivered with the use of autoresponders.

An autoresponder can be set up to send out a
series of lessons for an email course. The lessons
can be set for distribution at specific intervals. You
determine how often the lessons for the course are
sent to the people who have signed up for it. Email
courses are very different from traditional courses,
web based courses, or any other type of course.

There is no student and instructor interaction. The
instructor writes the information out, puts each
lesson in an autoresponder series, sets the timing
for the lessons, and the rest is automated. You can
opt to have lessons delivered daily, every other day,
every three days, or any other time frame that you
think works best for your email students.

Email courses are commonly used to sell products
and services. For instance, if you sell widgets, you
might develop a course that teaches people how to
use widgets or how to care for their widget. Experts
agree that an email course can be written for
almost any product that you can imagine – if you
put enough thought into it.

Start by determining what your course will be about,
and how long it should be. If the course should be
delivered every other day for two weeks, you know
that you would need seven lessons. Write the
lessons, and load them in the autoresponder. Set
the interval for each lesson, which in this case would
be 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13.

This means that the first lesson would be delivered
one day after the person has requested the course,
and the second lesson would be delivered three days
 after the person has requested the course, and so
on. The interval for each lesson is set for the
number of days after the person has signed up
Make sure that everything is spelled right, and that
your sentences are grammatically correct. You
want the lessons to look and sound as professional
as possible.

Next, simply advertise the email address that will
activate the autoresponder. Make sure that you run
a test first, sending each lesson to yourself. This will
allow you to see what your email students will see
when they sign up!