Like many of you reading, one of the reasons why I started my online business was to improve my quality of life. My days were quietly slipping away while I was chained to a desk in an office job that I didn’t care about. Little did I know that I was about to work harder than I had ever before and have even less free time.

The harder I worked, the more importance I placed on leveraging my actions and automating processes wherever I could. I wasn’t willing to accept that owning my own business would leave me with a lower quality of life than when I started.

The single biggest impact on my business so far has been the implementation of email auto-responders. When I say ‘auto-responder’ you might think of those delightful ‘out of office’ automatic replies you can activate on your inbox when you’ve decided to take a break. That is correct, and that’s the extent that most people use them for, but beyond that simple task, auto-responder technology allows you to do so much more.

They have helped me automate my email marketing by ensuring that every new subscriber is introduced to the most relevant products and services in my range. When someone signs up to my mailing list, they enter a sequence of email campaigns that I have set up.

The first in the sequence is the welcome email delivered to their inbox minutes after their subscription is confirmed. I’ve designed my welcome email to not only greet my subscriber as a valued reader but also to offer ‘best of’ articles links. Each article that I include is either directly or indirectly related to my product and services range. The next email that they receive from me is my weekly newsletter. Subscribers receive two newsletters before they’re sent my first promotion.

It’s short, sweet and highly relevant – an email dedicated to introducing them to a product and how it will help them. The next email in my auto-responder sequence, delivered six weeks after sign up, is a ‘one-time only’ email offer of a discount on my flagship product. Fabulous right?

Here’s what you should do to enjoy the same benefits in your business.

First check that your email marketing provider offers such a service. Most do. Next, sketch out the auto-responder sequence you want to use. Think about which products or services are most profitable to you and start with those. Use one email to highlight one product or service only.

This type of strategy works best when you’re regularly providing free valuable content to your subscribers. In my case I use a weekly newsletter but you might use your auto-responders to deliver a free set of articles over a staggered period of time. Whichever you choose, remember that a good ratio to use is six pieces of free content to every one offer.

Every day I know that subscribers are receiving emails that I set up months ago designed to highlight my products and services and make them a compelling offer that they can’t refuse. If you start using email auto-responders in your email marketing strategy you can enjoy the same feeling.

Want to make your email marketing simpler and more effective? Netregistry’s Mailroom Pro comes with unlimited auto-responders. Test it out with a free trial, or sign up today and get a 30 day money back guarantee.

Clare Lancaster has been working online since 2001 and owns business consultancy firm dotmarketing.com.au