Now let's think a little. Would it pay you to advertise sporting goods to people in a nursing home? How about advertising a local fence installation company on National TV?

Why is answer to both of above no? Simple - their ads don't match their potential clients. Your target market should consist of people who not only need your product or service, but also have wherewithal to pay for it.

Does Internet have this same requirement? Sure - while Internet is worldwide and covers most of globe, it is probably more important to find your target market there than anyplace else.

Most places you might advertise in don't have detailed demographics of their visitors or readers. Some companies are trying to get this information, but it is a long uphill battle as most people are unwilling to give out personal information on web.

This is one instance where you have to use some common sense. While you may not have detailed demographics available, there are some things you can do to sharpen focus a bit. If you were selling a health product geared toward older people, you can automatically rule out "kiddie sites" or ones that appeal to a young crowd such as sites where you swap music.

Auto responders work for us when we're not online, they provide instant information for readers, and can follow up with prospects automatically for us over time.

However, I still believe auto responders are often under utilized, and occasionally even used in an improper manner.

HOW TO USE AN AUTO RESPONDER

The most common uses for auto responders are information courses and follow up messages relating to business opportunities.

However, should that be limit of their use?

Auto responders can be used in a variety of ways, and each gives you opportunity to have further contact with potential customers or clients. Why not capture as many of those opportunities as possible?

Use them to provide further information on topic your site, ezine, or sales letter is discussing. Provide links to related articles, testimonials, recommendations, lists of resources or reference materials, detailed product information, or anything else that may be of value.

I used to get many subscribers to an auto responder on my site that simply asked if visitor was in a hurry and if he or she would rather get information about my program by email to view later on.

Auto responder links can even be used in advertising instead of links leading directly to your site.

Of course, you'll need to consider whether or not what you are promoting warrants use of an auto responder or would be better with a direct site link. For more thoughts on this subject, send for my article "When and When Not To Use an Auto Responder" at: mailto:whenauto@netplaynewsletters.com

One other thing to consider is that an auto responder link with information on demand can be valuable for others to use as well.

For instance, say you have an article in an auto responder. Besides direct person to person recommendation by people who've read article, ezine publishers or webmasters may use your auto responder link along with a short description of content in their ezines or on their sites -- even if there is not room to run your complete article.

In general, links are easier to pass around than complete content, and so it can be an advantage for you.

OFFER VALUABLE CONTENT

As with anything else, content of your auto responder needs to have value for reader or you will be wasting your time as it won't be read. This should be obvious.

However, there are a couple of other things many overlook in regards to content. I don't know how many times I've clicked on a link to an auto responder, expecting more information related to what I was viewing at time, only to get something either totally unrelated or that's just a repeat of what I'd already read.

This is not only disappointing to reader, but a waste of time. As you write content for your auto responder, make sure you remind your reader not only where email came from, but why it was he or she requested it in first place. In other words, rekindle their interest. This will give your auto responder emails a much better chance of being read in case it spends a few days in your reader's inbox before being opened.

From there, provide additional information on topic of interest, not just a regurgitation of what was already said. Reminding people of what they read previously is fine, of course, but put at least some variety into it.

WRITE WITH PERSONALITY