So you have started up your internet online business and you are getting some traffic. You're making a few sales and/or you're bringing in some revenue from AdSense or from some form of affiliate marketing. Now the question is: how can you build on this beginning and maximize your sites revenue producing power?

One way to do this is by using an email autoresponder. This allows you to keep in touch with your visitors and customers in a very powerful way. It ensures that each visitor to your website is not just a casual one off visitor who browses your pages and then disappears for ever, but will potentially be returning to your site again and again, perhaps to make a purchase on their second or third visit. And also a visitor who has made a purchase will be more likely to return to purchase from you again if you are using an autoresponder.

So how does it work?

There are different types of methodology depending on your personal choice, but essentially it involves putting into your site in a fairly prominent place, an invitation to the visitor or customer to provide their contact details. This would normally be only their name and email address, although in some cases, there is an argument for saying that more details are required.

You will probably get more people filling in the form if you keep the details you ask them to provide down to an absolute minimum. Many people have an issue about providing too much of their personal info to a website, and they have every right to feel that way.

Once they have filled in the form and have been made aware that this grants you permission to send emails to them, then you are free to send auto response emails to all the names on your list. Once you get going with this, you will very soon find that you have quite a long list. The beauty of an email autoresponder is that it is just as easy to email a thousand names as it is to email ten of them.

What you include in the emails you send is entirely up to you, it can be tailored to suit the requirements of your own particular business or website activity. It can take the form of a newsletter, or information about the latest products or services you are offering, or whatever you like.

In our experience, we have found that the most effective auto emails are those in which there is at least some element of a personal touch. Obviously in an email going out to potentially thousands of people, it is not possible to be completely personal, but that kind of feel can be achieved with a little bit of practice. Readers do not like to feel that they are being treated as though they are a robot! Another thing that people tend to shy away from is the hard sell approach. So it is best to just present your products or services.

This way, if you have a long list of subscribers, the numbers game will start to work in your favour. One time visitors will return and many of them will become regular customers.