But the very thought of wading through these emails makes your head throb.

As every online business person knows, answering emails like the above can be somewhat tedious. Heck, sometimes it's downright agonizing!

This is where autoresponders can help.

Autoresponders are simply email addresses that automatically answer requests with a message that you create.

For example, if you had a website about pets, you could stick an autoresponder on your site saying, "Top 10 Considerations Before Choosing Your Pet" and ask for your visitor's email address so that you can mail them the information.

Your autoresponder would automatically answer the email with the message you previously created - and without any additional effort from you! Not only that, but your visitor also gets the information he or she wants right away - no waiting for you to answer your email.

Autoresponders also have the potential of generating more interest in your message. Put up an autoresponder on your website, add a catchy headline, and you'll attract more requests for information than you otherwise would have.

That said, choosing the right autoresponder can make a huge difference. Look for the following features:

• NO SIZE LIMIT

  There's nothing worse than coming up with a great sales letter, only to have to edit it down.

• QUICK RESPONSE

  Your autoresponder should reply to a request within a few minutes.

• INSTANT ACCESS TO YOUR MESSAGE

  You should be able to change your autoresponder message any time, and have it take effect immediately.

• NO CHARGE FOR CHANGES TO YOUR MESSAGE

  Success on the Internet depends in large part on experimentation, testing, testing, and more testing. That means you'll be continuously trying to improve your autoresponder message; you shouldn't have to pay for it.

• ABILITY TO SEND UNLIMITED FOLLOW-UP MESSAGES

  Ideally, you want an autoresponder that will let you send follow-up messages to your prospects. It usually takes 7 or more exposures to a message before you can close a sale. For example, your main message is sent out immediately. Three days later, a follow-up message could be mailed out automatically, and two days after that a third message could be mailed out.

• NO LIMIT ON THE NUMBER OF REQUESTS

  If someone requests a message from your autoresponder, then they should receive it. Period.

• IMMEDIATE NOTIFICATION

  It's best if you can receive immediate notification whenever someone requests your autoresponder message (instead of receiving a weekly or monthly summary report). That way you can place your autoresponder in various spots on your website, or promote your autoresponder using different methods and immediately know how well each is working.

• ABILITY FOR PEOPLE TO "OPT-OUT"

  *Every* autoresponder you use should give the recipient the option of removing himself or herself from your mailing list. If you don't provide for this, you could very well be accused of spamming and ending up with a whole lot of trouble!

  Your autoresponder should handle this automatically for you - the recipient of your mailing should be able to send an email to a specified address and your autoresponder immediately removes their address from your mailing list.

• NO SPECIAL SUBJECT REQUIRED

  When someone sends an email to your autoresponder, whether it's by filling out a form or by sending an email, they should get your message regardless of what's in the 'Subject' line of their email. Some autoresponders require that the sender put a specific 'code' in the subject line in order to receive certain information.

  *Don't* use these; people make typos or forget or don't follow instructions. Make it easy for your visitor to get the information he or she wants.

• NO LONG-TERM COMMITMENT

  This is usually only applicable to paid autoresponders. If you're paying for an autoresponder, you don't want to commit to any long-term contract; businesses come and go all the time on the Internet, and there's no guarantee that the autoresponder you've chosen will be around in the long term.

  Free autoresponders are a popular choice, but the vast majority of them have one big drawback: They're offered free because other advertisers pay to have their own message added to each message YOU send out. That means in addition to seeing YOUR sales message, the recipient also sees an advertisement for someone else's product or service.

Take the time to carefully choose the right autoresponder. If you end up changing autoresponders because you don't like the one you currently have, it will cost you in terms of additional effort to remove all of your old autoresponder links, setup your new autoresponder, and promote it.

You can find autoresponders simply by using the search engines. Ask other people's opinions about various autoresponders before you decide - after all, we can all learn from each other's experiences!

Angela Wu is a full-time, work-at-home online business owner. Her articles appear in numerous ezines, ebooks, and on websites. Angela's passion is helping eBusiness beginners understand the realities of doing business online - so that hopefully they too can experience the pleasures of working from home! Angela's websites include OnlineBusinessBasics.com and BuildYourHomeBiz.com.

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