Email remains one of the most powerful (and inexpensive) marketing tools at your disposal. It’s a critical  component in building relationships with your target audience. The problem is that email can be a HUGE drain on your time, and busy mom entrepreneurs don’t have a lot of time to spare.

That’s why understanding and utilizing autoresponders is really important if you want to maximize the time and energy you spend on email. An autoresponder is basically a computer program that automatically answers e-mail sent to it. This process saves you countless hours because the email autoresponder message is always working for you.

I decided to invest my time and energy into understanding the ins-and-outs of autoresponders. I also interviewed Jennifer Haubein of Best Biz Website Solutions at the Metromom Online Success Telesummit to get even more ideas since she’s an expert at automation.

I want to share with you the three main benefits we have personally discovered when it comes to using autoresponders….

1. Help you utilize pull (instead of push) marketing – When you give your website visitors something of value such as a free irresistible offer, like a report or e-course, you’re using pull marketing. Once they sign-up for your offer and provide you with their email address, your goal is to not just give them your report but to use autoresponders to provide ongoing value.

2. Enhance your customer service – It’s hard to respond to each and every customer in a timely way. This is especially true on the internet because your website is working 24/7 when you can’t or don’t want to. Utilizing autoresponders allows you to communicate with your customers effortlessly, and on their schedule.

3. Allow for effortless and consistent follow-up – Studies repeatedly show that it takes 7-9 contacts on average before a person is willing to buy your product or service. That’s a considerable amount of follow-up and an autoresponder can do all of this for you.

Autoresponders can help you build relationships through targeted marketing and first-class customer service. Once you set it up, it runs on autopilot so you can focus on other aspects of growing your business (or spend more time on yourself and your family).

If you want more information on the best software options or how to set-up email campaigns, you can listen to my interview with Jennifer Haubein from the Telesummit – How to Build Relationships and Save Time Through Automated Email Campaigns (you’ll also get the transcript and my personal notes).