Free Autoresponders

by: Albert Hoogendoorn

"Free Autoresponders!" It sounds to good to be true. But is this the right option for You and Your Home Business?

There are three sources of free Autoresponders that might be considered when you work at home :

[1] Autoresponders offered by your web host

[2] Services like Sendfree and FreeAutoBot

[3] The 'light' versions of Professional Autoresponder Services

[Ad. 1] If your Autoresponder needs are simple, such as merely sending a single message reassuring your customers that you'll get back to them, you can probably use the free Autoresponders that usually come as part of your web hosting package. The procedure to set up these Autoresponders vary from web host to web host, but it is usually trivial, involving a visit to your web host's control panel to activate it. I use these free to distribute back issues of Newsletters and to send my articles on demand. These Autoresponders do nothing more than 'respond', they do not capture email addresses and have no personalization features.

There is an even more important consideration. If you decide to change your web host, or should your host go out of business, you will lose your entire system! All of the Autoresponder links that you've worked so hard to set up on other websites, in newsletters, on classified ads sites, etc. will no longer work. You'll lose all the profits and traffic they were directing towards your website! Free Autoresponders can be very expensive in lost income and traffic.

If you need an Autoresponder to send more than one message, or if you need to schedule messages to be sent at certain intervals over a period of time, you will either need to program your mail system on your domain, or use one of the free (or commercial) Autoresponder systems around (some of which are listed below).

[Ad. 2] The free Autoresponder services listed below are third party services. In general, the services are provided free in exchange for advertising - that is, many of them place advertisements in your Autoresponders (usually at the beginning). Visit the sites listed below to find out more details.

I am sure you know by now that nothing is really "free" on the Internet, or anywhere else for that matter. However, if you are willing to have other companies advertise on your message with their logos and banners, then there is almost a limitless number of companies to choose from.

I suggest you not use any of them, unless your site is simply a hobby site or a site to keep in touch with friends and relatives. If you are in business, you want your customers focused on your message, not other links that can distract them and lead them right off your message. You also have no way of controlling what advertising messages will appear. Maybe even one from a competitor!

The second reason why you don't want to use these "free" Autoresponders is because your potential clients will instantly see that you are using a free service. This looks unprofessional and cheap. You could quickly lose the credibility you had carefully built up to that point.

The conclusion is that you must be careful with free Autoresponder Services. When you are serious with your home business, don't destroy your image as professional by using an Autoresponder that will add the statement "this is a free Autoresponder service" to all your messages.