How To Use a Message Sequence to Increase Your Sales

By Michael Southon
Posted Thursday, February 3, 2005

If there's one thing I've learnt in over 3 years ofweb marketing, it is this: you *must* follow up withyour visitors.

The statistics are very clear about this: the 1stcontact produces 2% of sales, the 5th to12th contactsproduce 80% of sales.

I knew about this for years but didn't act on it.Then, about 8 months ago I wrote a 5 Day Email Courseabout my eBook (Ezine Writer) and offered it to myvisitors.

The response was amazing - my sales almost doubled.

This is how it works:

When visitors leave the index page of my website, apopup appears inviting them to join my newsletter.

When they join, they also receive a free subscriptionto my 5 Day Email Course, which is delivered bysequential autoresponder.

But there's an important detail here. You don't wantthe popup appearing when your visitors click on the'order' link - it distracts them and you could wellmiss a sale.

So the popup has to be designed so that it *doesn't*appear when the order link is clicked.

You do this by including an 'exit=false' tag withinthe order link. You can get the code for this - andfor the popup - at:(http://www.ezine-writer.com/popup-code.html)

The next thing to do is set up your Message Sequenceon sequential autoresponders.

There are two ways of doing it - you can use aweb-based service or you can install a script on yourserver.

I use a web-based service (aweber) - mainly because myweb host doesn't allow mailing scripts of any kind.

Here are two of the best-known web-based services:(http://www.aweber.com) (http://www.getresponse.com)

If you want to avoid monthly fees, there are sitesthat offer free sequential autoresponders (but theywill insert their own ads in your autoresponse):

(http://www.freeautobot.com/) (http://www.informationbyemail.com/) (http://www.autorespond-it.com/) (http://www.sendfree.com/)

The advantage of a web-based service is thateverything is done for you. The downside is monthlyfees and a limited number of follow-ups (you can getmore, but you have to pay for them).

The second method is to install a script on yourserver. Here are some scripts that give you unlimitedautoresponders:

(http://www.smithfam.com/follow-up.html) (http://www.ursoftware.com/autoresponder/) (http://www.constructorbooks.com/easysponder/)

The advantages of a script? You have no monthly fees(just a one-time payment for the script) and you getunlimited follow-ups.

So, those are the tools you need to deliver yourMessage Sequence.

Writing your Message Sequence is quite an art and youmay need some help. Here is an excellent shorttutorial:http://autorespondertools.com/autoresponder_follow-up_series.htm

That's it! All the info you need to double yourconversion rate.

About the Author
Michael Southon has been writing for the Internet for over 3 years. He has shown hundreds of webmasters how to use this simple technique to build a successful online business. Click here to find out more: (http://EzineWriter.com/)