What Do You Know about Communication?

If you’ve ever asked for information online about a product or service, or signed up for an e-list or group membership on the Internet, and received a nearly instantaneous response in your e-mail inbox, an autoresponder program was responsible for delivering the reply.

Simply put, autoresponders are e-mail programs that send out a preset message in response to every incoming e-mail received. Some autoresponders, like sign-up services for e-groups and forums, are one-shot deals: a single response for every message received. Just about every Internet-based company uses autoresponders for a variety of purposes, from automating tasks that would otherwise take up hundreds of man-hours to building lists and tracking prospective leads.

Autoresponders are the most powerful Internet marketing tools available. They are easy to use, and once they’re set up the entire marketing process is automated and instant. When you use autoresponders, your Internet business runs itself 24 hours a day. Launching an effective autoresponder campaign can mean the difference between a struggling business and a wildly successful one.

Just about any online business can benefit by using autoresponders. In fact, with a properly arranged campaign, your as-yet-unfounded business can be built around an autoresponder program. All you need is a product and an effective series of autoresponder messages, and you can start carving your piece of the Internet pie.

In regarding to how to choose a topic? People who like their jobs are happier, their enthusiasm spills over into their work, and they often find themselves receiving promotions or raises and attracting customers without even trying.

If you’re comfortable talking about your product, and you are passionate about the subject, your confidence will permeate every area of your autoresponder program. You will receive unsolicited comments from your customers who are pleased with your service. You’ll be able to build consumer trust because people will know that you endorse your product 100 percent.

Answer the following questions as thoroughly as possible to discover the topic best suited to you that will help you succeed in your email and autoresponder campaign.

1. Who are you?

This sounds too simple to be useful, but you’d be surprised how seeing your personal demographics laid out in black-and-white can provide insight into what topics are best for you. Write down the following information about yourself:

• Your name, age, and gender
• Where you live: House or apartment? City or suburb? New or old neighborhood? What area of the country?
• The rest: Blue collar or white collar? Religious or not? Any other identifying statistics you can think of?

2. What have you done?

List every single job you’ve ever held. Leave some space between them, then go back and detail all of your job duties. Be creative—give yourself the best-sounding titles you can think of. For example: if you once worked at a fast food restaurant, you might have been a customer service specialist, a food service technician, or a sanitation facilitator. These might sound extreme or over-the-top, but no one will see them but you. This is just to help build your self-confidence.

3. What else have you done?

Brainstorm any hobbies you have been into, groups you’ve joined, topics you researched for school or work, or any subject you might have taken a personal interest in and acted on.

4. Where do you go?

Are you more likely to spend time at the park or the mall? Do you travel a lot, or do you prefer to stick close to home? Where have you gone on vacations, and where would you like to go?

5. Who do you hang out with?

Your choice of friends can tell you a lot about you and the way you relate to others. Are most of your friends the same gender as you, or opposite? Older, younger, or about the same age? Where do they live and work?

Think about the activities you and your friends enjoy together. You can even include online friends – people you might have met in chat rooms, groups, or forums with whom you exchange regular correspondence. Any common interests you share with your friends can help point you toward a topic you’ll be comfortable promoting.