Would you follow-up with someone 8 times if you knew you would get the sale?

Today, I am going to discuss what I believe is the most important sales tool you can use – and that’s an email autoresponder.

Once you've started to build a list to follow up with, and you have a Nerve Center to attract people to be on your list, it's time to communicate with your list by using an autoresponder.

If you don't have your Nerve Center up and running, and you don't have a clue what that even means, you can learn how to do this, step-by-step, by purchasing MLM Traffic Formula 2.

Once you've done this, it is time to create an Opt-in Form to get people to sign up for your list. Two of the most popular systems to use are iContact and Aweber.

I personally use iContact and am happy with it, but I know a lot of people use Aweber, as well.

The reason I say that an autoresponder is so important is because people will rarely buy what you are selling right away and -- it doesn’t matter what it is.

I know, I know, “But Derek, my product is revolutionizing the industry! It was discovered in the Himalayas and developed by Dr. Know-It-All. Indigenous people have been using these secrets to cure bunions for centuries – this stuff sells itself!”

But the complete, unvarnished truth is that NOTHING SELLS ITSELF!

That’s why your company is paying you to market it.

If your product truly sold itself, they wouldn’t need you – they could just dump it on street corners and watch the money roll in.

Did you know that it takes the average person 7 or 8 times to hear about your opportunity before they will sign up?

Most people don’t have the stamina and wherewithal to keep up with that kind of follow-up!

It takes a rare breed to be able to not only follow up this many times, but also to keep their prospect answering their phone calls.

That’s why email autoresponders are so important.

You can set up an autoresponder campaign that follows up with your prospects 24/7.

They all get the same messages, too.

You can customize them to automatically include their name and stuff like that, but my point is that the autoresponder never has a bad day. It never gets discouraged, never gets bored.

It will consistently deliver your message with the same enthusiasm and energy that it had the day you created it.

Just remember, it takes the average person 7 or 8 times to hear about your opportunity before they will sign up.

I’m not saying to totally do away with phone calls and cards, but emails are free to send and can be opened at your prospects leisure.

Don’t overlook this powerful tool.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, I’ll show you how to set one up.

I personally use iContact, so I am going to use them as an example.

• Go to iContact, sign up for their email service, and before you create a Sign-up Form, you need to create a List.
• Go to the “My Contacts” tab and click on “Create a List.” Fill in what you want the list to be called and a brief description to help you remember what it’s for. You can also choose whether or not to be contacted when people are added to or removed from the list.
• Click “Save” and you’re done!
• To create the Sign-up Form, go back to the “My Contacts” tab and click on “Sign-up Forms.”
• On the bottom right you will see “Create a New Sign-up Form.” Click it. You can then choose what colors to use for your form. Be sure to choose some colors that are compatible with the color-scheme of your Nerve Center, but also make sure that they stand out because this is the main purpose of your site.
• Click “Next” and type in the name of your sign-up form. (It could be the name of your site, for example. You can even make things easier and name it the same thing you named your List.)
• Then choose which list you want the people who opt-in to go to.
• After that, choose which field boxes you will require people to fill out, what order they will be in, and what kind of entry field it will be (I recommend the default, which is “Text-entry”).

Keep in mind that most people are extremely skeptical as it is on the internet, so don’t require a bunch of information from them on the first date!

I recommend you ask for no more than 2 to 3 fields from them: Name, Email Address, and Phone Number.

Any more than that is pushing it.

In fact, you will see a lot of opt-in forms out there that only ask for a first name and an email address. It’s up to you, but for Network Marketing purposes, you probably are going to want their phone number as well.

They will also ask you for a “Success URL.”

• This is where you want your prospect to be taken once they opt-in. For example, if you have something to sell, like an ebook or a CD, you can enter your Sales Page address in the box here.
• If you don’t have anything to sell, just leave it blank and they will be sent to a default “Thank-you Page.”

You also have the choice to put your own “Error URL.”

• This is where people will be sent if they fill out the wrong information or skip a box. I would just leave it blank so it will go to the default page (unless you already have your own).

Lastly, they will ask you if you want to “Require Confirmation.”

• They recommend you do this because it will save you from being accused of sending spam. Personally, I don't require confirmation. Here's an article I wrote on the subject: http://drivetheline.com/whats-better-single-or-double-opt-in/
• If you do decide to require confirmation, check the box and you will see a default email that requires people to confirm their subscription.
• You can customize this to look and say whatever you want it to. Even though I no longer do it, people will be more likely to actually open your emails if you require them to confirm their subscription to your email list.

After this is all done, click “Save.”

• They will take you to a page where you can preview what your form looks like.
• If you don’t like it, just go back and make the changes.
• If you do like it, you can copy the code they give you and paste it into a “Text Widget” in your sidebar.
• There is actually a free plugin you can use that will make sure the opt-in form looks just the way you want it to. It’s called iContact Widget and it allows you to add the iContact signup form to your sidebar and easily update the display settings and convert the form from Javascript to faster-loading HTML.

Make sure to place the opt-in form in a highly visible place on your site.

I recommend you place it on the top right position of your sidebar.

For the title, offer a “bribe” for their contact info. Something like, “Sign up for our emails series: ‘The Top 7 Things To Avoid When Creating an Adword Campaign.”

Also, place your opt-in form on every blog post, just after the “Read More” tag.

So when people are on your home page, they can click “Read More” and they will be taken to the actual address of the post, where it will display your opt-in form at the top of their page view.

You can say something like, “If you find this information helpful, be sure to sign up for my emails.”

Another great tool to use is a “pop-up” opt-in form.

You can set it up to pop up when someone is going to click away from your site, for example.

After trying some free ones and not liking them, I bought Robert Plank’s Action PopUp plugin and I am more than satisfied with it.

When I bought it, he bundled it with a plugin that can get people to opt-in when they leave comments on your site and another plugin that lets your form “disappear” after people have opted in.

You can get them here: http://drivetheline.com/tools/popup-window/

Now you need to create your email autoresponder series.

Remember, “The Top 7 Things To Avoid When Creating an Adword Campaign?”

• Go back to iContact and click on the “Create” tab.
• Then click on “Create an Autoresponder.” Give it a name and a description, choose your source list, and make sure to write your name in the “Autoresponder From Name” box. This is important, because people will be more likely to open the email if they recognize who it’s from.
• Also, the “Autoresponder From Email Address” should be something like yourname@yourwebsite.com. (You can create as many email addresses as you want at your HostGator Control Panel.) But, I think using yourname@yourwebsite.com is best because it shows your name and it shows your website’s name. It also looks more professional than, say, joeblow67@gmail.com and it is more personal than, say, contact@yourwebsite.com.

When creating email content, it is important to remember that people hate to be sold.

You need to become an invited and welcome guest in their email universe, because if they aren’t opening your emails, what’s the point?

A good way to do this is to make sure you provide them with plenty of value in every email.

My absolute favorite emails come from Mike Dillard and I suggest you sign up for his email list here:

http://drivetheline.com/free-training/magnetic-sponsoring/

Another email list that I have belonged to for quite a while is Mike Dooley’s “Notes From The Universe.”

Every weekday, he sends me an inspirational email that he wrote himself but signs it “The Universe.” You can sign up for that list here:

http://www.tut.com/theclub/?a_aid=derekalvarez

Study what they do because they are very good at it.

I never get an email from them and think, “Man, I wish they would stop sending me so many.”

On the contrary, I look forward to every email I get from them. This is where we all want to be.

It’s follow-up!

It took months for us to buy something from Mike Dooley, for example, but he includes links to products he sells in every email.

So does Mike Dillard. The way they write them, it is almost an afterthought – but the links to their products are always there.

It is a very passive way to sell things in your prospect’s eyes, which actually increases the chances that you will sell them something.

Go here to sign up for your own email autoresponder account:

• iContact
• Aweber

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