As I have said before in a previous article, one function of an autoresponder sequence is to maintain the customer's interest and anticipation, especially in the early stages of the relationship. You don't want to go on a hard sell from the word go - your customers will soon figure it out and opt out in droves.

There are several methods of building that interest and anticipation, the factors that makes your customers always open your messages rather than someone else's, because they know that there will be something of value in there.

If you are writing an eBook, for instance, tell your subscribers about it, what it's about, the stage you are at in writing it. Perhaps you could invite their input, ask them what they would like to see covered in your eBook. As a bonus, if you use this technique you probably have a guaranteed sale of your eBook when it is eventually finished and ready for publication. Tell them when it will be ready, and that they will get a special reduced price for being one of your subscribers.

Use your autoresponder to let them have a sneak preview of your product, leak snippets of information in a logical sequence. Model your plan on the ?teaser? ads you see for new products or for upcoming TV programs. Just about every commercial break you will see a promo, telling you about programs coming up, and showing short scenes from the program, all designed to make you want to see more. You should do the same.

If you are writing an eBook, publish part of a chapter on your website, and tell visitors that they can read more if they opt in, using the sign up box you have provided on the same page. Load these new opt ins into your autoresponder, and get them into your message sequence.

I've just finished reading ?The DaVinci Code?, albeit a bit later than most, and Dan Brown does a great job of finishing every chapter with a cliff hanging situation, leaving you reluctant to stop reading, especially if your lunch hour is over and you have to get back to work! Obviously your eBook won't be a thriller like that, but you can at least think about a suspenseful ending to your chapter snippet, thereby encouraging people to want more. One of the great maxims of stage comedians is to always leave them wanting more - a sports star should always retire at the peak of his powers, so that fans will say ?Why did you retire?? instead of ?Why didn't you?? Incidentally, that's a quote from (I think) Ian Chappell, one of the great Australian cricket captains.

At the end of your teaser sequence, you will have a solid core of loyal readers. People who are not really interested would have opted out of your list long ago, so the ones that are left must still be interested, and form a highly targeted market for what you have to offer. With a bit of luck, they are eagerly awaiting the release of the final product, and will snap it up as soon as it becomes available. I'm sure you've been on the end of just such a sequence from one or other of the super affiliates. This is how they get their phenomenal sales on the first day of a product's release. They have built up such eagerness and anticipation that their subscribers are waiting with their checkbook in their hand! This is where you want to be.

In summary, use your autoresponder in three ways:

? By seeing how many of your subscribers do not opt out, you will gauge the interest in your product

? You can build up great interest and anticipation before your product is even released

? Because of the above, you should have a huge amount of interest by launch day, and by the day after launch you should be checking your Paypal account and wondering what you are going to do with all that money!

? Peter Phillips