One of the key tools for anyone wanting to do business on the World Wide Web is an autoresponder. It also is one of the most misunderstood tools among those new to the effort - and sometimes even for those who have been online for many years.

In its simplest form, autoresponders allow you to create a fixed message that will go back to anyone who e-mails a specific address. The most common use for this is the "I'm away from my office until 29 May and will not be checking my e-mail until I return" type of message. Messages of this type can be created within the control panel of most ISP e-mail servers.

Autoresponders are far more versatile, however. Even the basic autoresponder that comes with your e-mail account can be set up to send a document or photo, even an audio or video file to anyone contacting that address. This is the most basic form of using an autoresponder for delivering a product, but it is not recommended for products you are selling because of the lack of control. Basically, whatever you are selling will be delivered to anyone sending an e-mail to that address - whether they paid for it or not.

Third party autoresponders provide the kind of control needed for a marketing or sales application. The good news is there are a number of excellent autoresponders that can be used at no charge. Those that do have a fee - whether a one-time purchase fee for a system you set up on your own server or a monthly/yearly fee for one you access online - typically are well within the budgets of nearly anyone trying to do business online.

Perhaps even better news is that autoresponders are not difficult to set up, even those that offer several levels of capability across a broad range of possible applications. The largest and most popular autoresponders often come with tutorials - some of them video - that walk you through the set-up process step-by-step. Many also have user forums or support systems that will help you if you get stuck.

The possible uses for an autoresponder at this level are legion. For example, you can set one up to send out a newsletter to your mailing list on a regular basis, another to send e-mails advising your list of special sales, upgrades, new releases or other such information. Still another autoresponder can deliver your digital product, along with future patches or upgrades.

These different tasks actually can be set up using a single autoresponder, even a single account, depending on the capabilities of the system you have selected. Many of the free autoresponders allow you to upgrade to a fee-based version, with far more capabilities, without losing anything you already have created.

Anyone who thinks they may someday want to have a mailing list or sell any kind of product - especially digital, such as downloadable software or e-books - should make investigating autoresponders one of their first and most important tasks. The more you know about them in advance, the more prepared you will be to quickly and efficiently get your business online.

Are you aware of how vitally important and valuable CONTENT is to your online business? In fact, content can do more to build your business and profits than just about any other resource or service available.

Following is a list of 5 key ways that content can help build your traffic, subscribers, and customers starting today!…

1. Boost your search engine ranking and daily visitor count by posting keyword rich articles and content on your web-site. For example, if your business involves offering products and services related to fitness, posting fitness related articles and content will attract unlimited prospective customers on a regular basis!

2. Generate double or even triple the number of newsletter subscribers you do currently, simply by offering content in the form of "special reports" or manuals as bonuses for subscribing to your publication. People love freebies, so give them what they want and watch as your results increase!

3. Create an automated cashflow by using content to formulate multi-part email training courses with related web-site or affiliate links "sprinkled" throughout each course. Use an autoresponder service to automate the delivery of your training course (such as a 5 part training course delivered over a 5 day period).

Training courses can also serve as excellent bonus offers for your prospective newsletter subscribers.

4. One of the most important keys to a successful online business is not JUST having a list of mailing list or newsletter subscribers… It's about building a trusting relationship with your subscribers (ie, "cultivating" your list)…

By sending informative articles (content) to your list on a regular basis you will establish yourself as an expert on your topic of business, as well as gain the trust of your subscribers over time. As a result, your subscribers will be EAGER to take advantage of your "paid" product and service offers. (Just make sure that you NEVER take advantage of the relationship you develop with your list by offering products or services of poor quality just to make a quick buck!)

If there is one "constant" in Internet marketing, it's this: A cultivated list of subscribers is as good as money in the bank. Write that down and never forget it!

5. Another excellent way to generate no cost traffic is by submitting ready-made articles to "content hungry" web-site and newsletter publishers with your "resource box" attached. A resource box is nothing more than a little 3-6 line "bio" about you and/or your web-site - including a link to your site (or even instructions on how to subscribe to your newsletter)…

When submitting or offering your article(s) for reprint purposes, just make sure to specify that each article is to be reprinted "as is" with your resource box attached.

…Even one article can go a LONG way towards generating no cost traffic and visitors for you. Just imagine your article being sent out to a newsletter subscriber base of 100,000 individuals - many of whom will be reading YOUR included resource box and clicking on your URL to learn more about what you have to offer!

Well there you have it, 5 sure ways to build your online business exponentially with the help of articles and content…

With the declining effectiveness of many of the online advertising methods that we've relied on in past years, content is only strengthening its position as the ultimate KEY to generating unlimited traffic, subscribers, and customers!

Podcasts are short radio-style audio programs that users of online audio, mobile audio and iPods (or other portable digital audio players) can download and listen to whenever and wherever they like. The Podcast medium is still in its infancy as a marketing medium.

The most effective use in these early days of marketing with Podcasts involves subjects that appeal to tech-savvy listeners. Obviously, that includes topics in computing, multimedia, and high technology.

Another smart approach is to match Podcast marketing with the lifestyle of the target audience. For example: skiers. The target market for a typical ski resort includes young professionals in the 20s and 30s, with an adventure-loving attitude to recreation, and plenty of disposable income so that they can afford the sport. That's right on target for the core market that buys iPods and other high-tech gadgets.

Marketing Sherpa reports that New England ski area Killington Ski Resorts recently tapped into this useful convergence of market niches to create a Podcast-driven marketing campaign.

The challenge was to reach the ideal demographic of young urban professionals, who are typically hard to get at through traditional ski industry marketing media such as radio, TV and magazines. Their lives are cluttered with a blizzard of conflicting media, their attention fragmented and hard to hold.

Killington Resorts communications manager Tom Horrocks recognized that one unifying factor of this demographic is their almost cultish love of iPods and portable digital audio. He decided that Podcasts would be an ideal way to connect with them on their own terms.

Here's how he put the campaign together:

1) Bought software and digital microphones that his team could use right in the office to create Podcasts.

2) Hired a "snow reporter / media writer" to act as a personable and enthusiastic character, to become identified as the Podcast voice of the resort.

3) Developed and produced 3 separate Podcasts: a 3-minute "Snowcast" of daily weather and snow condition reports; a 12-minute weekly "Driftcast" that delivered interviews, tips and stories from the mountain; and a 3-hour weekly music production, more like and FM radio segment, with music appealing to the target demographic.

4) Delivered the Podcasts regularly, on schedule, through popular distribution services including Apple's iTunes online music service, Podcast Alley, and Yahoo!, as well as through the Resorts' own Web site.

The results were impressive. Over a period of 2 months at the beginning of 2006, the Podcasts were downloaded nearly 30,000 times. The downside of Podcast marketing is that it is hard to track results. Once the audio is downloaded, there's no built-in way to measure how the listener responds or takes action.

However, Tom Horrocks is sure the Podcasts delivered a good return on investment. He credits the campaign's success to the flair of the resort's Podcast personality, known as Anna of the Mountain. "She epitomizes Killington: young, passionate, crazy about skiing."

On the Internet, it is very possible to make money without selling any product. One way of doing so is through starting your own eZine, also known as an electronic newsletter.

In a nutshell, you send out your eZine issues on a periodical basis to your subscribers. The good part is that you have a flexible choice in automating the process of sending out your eZine issues for you or manually sending them on a periodical basis.

As an eZine publisher, not only can you easily achieve the benefits a conventional newsletter publisher enjoys without having to chop down several trees in the process, you can easily and conveniently spread your marketing influence and expertise to your base of subscribers from the shoes of an ordinary individual.

In other words, you do not have to invest in expensive printing equipment, brick and mortar business, and hiring staff just to run your own newsletter publication, resulting in a lot of time, money and effort saved.

Basically, all you need to start your own eZine are an auto responder and broadcast feature to go with, enabling you to reach out to your massive subscribers whom you can regard as your prospects, too.

All in all, if you do not have the commitments of creating your own product for sale, then publishing your own online newsletter can be one of the wisest decisions you will ever make, given the benefits of impressive marketing power and influence it can offer to you.

Aggressive Internet Marketing Made Possible

Aggressive internet marketing means full-blown marketing and promotions that exceed any businessman's expectations. A business needs fierce internet marketing. No more, no less. But to make it low cost? Is that even possible? How can something so aggressive be affordable?

Luckily, you can avail of inexpensive aggressive internet marketing if you just look hard and good enough. Be keen and alert and know what's going on in the online industry. The following questions will help you discern if your chosen internet site to do the marketing fits the bill.

1. Does the company offer free website design?

Even if you know your HTML, it is still more advisable if a professional team does it for you. Some internet marketing sites offer free web design to make sure that your site's needs are met. It's a must that marketing is integrated to the web design. If the company requires you to pay more than fifty bucks for the web design, then so much for straight-forward internet marketing! Look somewhere else!

2. How many keywords does your web site cater to?

Having too many keywords or key phrases to focus on will make your page ranking drop. Creating smaller web pages with content that emphasizes only a few keywords will serve Internet marketing endeavor better.

3. How search engine-compatible is your website?

Internet marketing is coined "aggressive" only if it is a hundred percent search engine-compatible. There are about 10 major search engines online and your site has to work accordingly with them. Find out if your internet marketing site is expert on search engine optimization.

4. Do you know your competitors?

Affordable aggressive internet marketing pushes your business forward by taking note of your competitors. Analysis and evaluation of the competition is mandatory to figure out your shortcomings and advantages over them. If this feature is excluded from your internet marketing plan, you're getting a mediocre deal.

5. How efficient is the monthly marketing plan?

Usually, you're asked to pay a monthly fee for the marketing plan. For a marketing plan to be efficient, it must zero in on the following things: webpage development, link exchanges, web content, updates and technical support. Of course, also included are the standard SEO, competition analysis and keyword density.

If you've procured the right answers for the previous questions, then you can finally say: "Now that's low cost aggressive internet marketing."