If you are running any kind of business online, it is vital to build rapport with your customers and prospects if you are to achieve even a mocidum of success. Having a solid relationship with your prospects is important because at the end of the day it could mean the difference between making or losing a sale.

Think about it, if you were given the choice of having to dine at a friend's restaurant or at the restaurant of a total stranger, which would you choose? The obvious choice here would be the friend's place because you feel comfortable there and the people know you. The same goes for your prospects. If you and a competitor offer the same product or service, who you think they will choose? Once again the obvious answer here is the person that they feel most at home with.

One of the best ways to build a special relationship with your prospect is by using an autoresponder to send them regular mailings to them and keeping in touch with them that way. Don't overdo the mailings though or you will alienate your prospects. You should send them emails with valuable hints and tips on how they might do something better and not always just to push products for sale.

A good way to make a friend out of a prospect is to address their needs and concerns. Ask them what you can do to help make their lives better. You could also send them free gifts from time to time. We all like getting things for free espescially it is regarded as valuable.

Your emails should be personal. Address them by name and talk to them like you would talk to a friend. This will enable your prospects to relate to you on a more personal level.

Send them educational advice from time to time. You need to establish yourself as an authority on your subject. That way your prospect will trust you if you recommend a product.

Another good way to build a relationship with your prospect is to build an e-course around your product or service and to let them subscribe to it via an autoresponder. You could set it up to send messages out daily, weekly or two-weekly. Autoresponders are the lifeblood of any Internet Marketing business these days.

If you don't have an autoresponder, you should definitely look into using a professional autoresponder service. It will make your life so much easier to build your customer base on autopilot and will free up your time to do other things that are important to your business.