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Here's some more resources you can use in your quest to make the ultimate autoresponder.

PDF Autoresponder Sequence Planner

Here's how I would plan out an auto-responder sequence. Download this PDF file: 

The tools we used in this Kourse:

The primary autoresponder tool uses was Aweber: Yup.....Aweber is what we've been using the entire time through this whole Kourse.  I like Aweber because they're the easiest autoresponder I've used, plus their web-form generator is far beyond any other service. If for some reason you totally hate Aweber, you can try some other autoresponders:

• iContact
• ConstantContact
• GetResponse
• MailChimp

I've seen successful businesses use Aweber well beyond 200,000 email subscribers and it still works great. Here's two actual autoresponders we've used for our courses that've done millions in sales: Copywriting Course AppSumo Sequence: This is the actual autoresponder sequence we originally used to sell the KopywritingKourse:

• WHEN THEY SIGN UP:This email will make you write better
• DAY 3:Here's how ya write SUBJECT LINES
• DAY 5:Why people ignore what you say (and how to solve it)
• DAY 7:use this subject line
• DAY 9:why shitty stuff sometimes works better
• DAY 11:oh Sugarman how I love you (not in a gay way)
• DAY 13:kopywriting success story (reserve 4 minutes to read)
• DAY 15:people buy more stuff when they hear from you often
• DAY 17:how Magical Slave Machines warm up people interested in your stuff
• DAY 19:watch how I take money....but without pressuring anyone to buy

Complete Sumo Business Blueprint Sequence: This is the full autoresponder we use for selling the SumoBusinessBlueprint SumoBusinessBlueprintLIVE Case Study Edition products:

• WHEN THEY SIGN UP:Fat Sumo vids - How to stop being a wantrepreneur
• DAY 2:quitting your job….the only way I've seen it done successfully
• DAY 3:[1/7] Why people end up as Wantrepreneurs
• DAY 4:[2/7] How to stop being a loser Wantrepreneu
• DAY 5:[3/7] How Mickey validated a stupid idea BEFORE dropping his entire savings on it
• DAY 6:[4/7] Four biz validation tests....in less than a month
• DAY 7:[5/7] The ghetto ad which can save you years of time.
• DAY 8:[6/7] You're retarded if you don't put your idea on Craigslist first
• DAY 9:[7/7] don't ask your friends if your business idea sucks
• DAY 10:[8/7] the video will tell you if you're a wantrepreneur
• DAY 11:rejected ads for the wantrepreneur course [SFW]
• DAY 13:Holy crap.....look at people's validations!
• DAY 15:wantrepreneur challenge winners announced! Winner is T.......

Autoresponder Q&A:

Q: Why create separate lists? Why can't I just put them all in one list? A: Sometimes people have different lists for different things. For example I'm someone's trying to sell an online course about "How to become fat as a Sumo": List 1: Will send out emails to people who are interested in the product, but haven't bought yet. List 2: People who've bought the product can be added to another list that sends them members-only content every week. .....however for the most part one list is fine. My blog for example has only one list. Only one is needed. If people are interested in my blog, they'll get some of my best blog posts if they signup. HOWEVER, if they go to my KopywritingKourse.com and signup, that's a totally different list which is all about copywriting.

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Q: What about sending irrelevant content? I know this is a no-no generally, but maybe worth mentioning? Making sure that if you're selling toilet plungers, you don't try to sell someone children's toys. Your list will get confused. A: If you have a list about "marathon running" and you send them a cool article on CNN about "The top marathon runner in the world wears no shoes" ....that's very relevant and interesting info to that crowd. But if you then send them, "MAKE MONEY ONLINE!! USE YOUR TWITTER ACCOUNT TO MAKE $30,000 A DAY!!!!" ....you're going to piss off a few people. Instead, here's a trick if you want to send people information that's not TOTALLY relevant, but will still HELP them. Merge the two topics, like this: "Hey runners! When I started my journey to run a marathon in every state, I could never travel because my job required me to be in-state at all times. I then started looking to make a little side-income from some small websites....and now that's my full time job (other than marathon running of course)! SO if you're curious about how I made that transition from job-to-entrepreneur, check this out. Now that we got that out of the way, lemme show you a new breathing technique that put an extra 2 miles on each of my runs....." See how we merged the two topics, so it actually helped them instead of just BOMBARDING them with random info?

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Q: A/B split testing? Do I need to use it? A: Aweber actually has a built-in A/B split testing tool for subject lines! Whenever you send out a broadcast message, you can select "Send A/B Broadcast" and it will let you enter different subject lines....then it will automatically send out different ones to your list to see which one performs the best.

Personally I don't use this feature much, but if you have a really large list, it might be worth it. After a while when your list looks FORWARD to hearing from you, your open rates will go up because people are (hopefully) excited to see your emails. "Hey runners! When I started my journey to run a marathon in every state, I could never travel because my job required me to be in-state at all times. I then started looking to make a little side-income from some small websites....and now that's my full time job (other than marathon running of course)! SO if you're curious about how I made that transition from job-to-entrepreneur, check this out. Now that we got that out of the way, lemme show you a new breathing technique that put an extra 2 miles on each of my runs....." See how we merged the two topics, so it actually helped them instead of just BOMBARDING them with random info?

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Q: Do you prefer to use names within emails or not? (Meaning, instead of saying "Hey Fatass Sumo" you say "Hey [firstname]" instead) Is one better than the other? Tweaking duration between emails... any better or worse time? A: I've heard A LOT of marketers talk about this, and it seems 50/50 whether to use the [firstname] tactic. I personally don't use it. I usually start off with stuff like:

• "Hey kopywriter"
• "Hey Young Sumo-ling"
• "How's it going today?"

The method I use is to address people as an INDIVIDUAL. Don't say "Hey my entire list of kopywriting people!" ....it doesn't sound personal. Instead try saying, "Hey there my favorite Kopywriter in the world...." ....it sounds like THEY are the only one on the list. I also don't use the first name tactic, because I personally signup to lists with fake first names all the time, and the emails I get lose credibility when they start with: "Hey there JKLSHFLJHFSLJH!"

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Q: What about delivery time each day? Does this matter? (again, some more advanced stuff, but just stuff I thought of)

A: The easy answer is: NO, it doesn't matter a huge amount...however that answer isn't good enough for most people :) We've put together some general guidelines we found through data analysis of several million email sends: I try not to pay too much attention to this stuff. Quality content usually reigns....."time of day" is just another tactic that IF it helps, will only help slightly.

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