This screencast will cover how to create targeted autoresponder newsletters for your subscribers via Mailchimp. I love mailchimp because you can start out at a free level while building up your newsletter subscribers. I only wish that I had set up a newsletter for my websites much (MUCH!) sooner. Do not make my mistake – go to Mailchimp and get an account for your blog immediately.
Why Use Autoresponder Newsletters For Your Readers?
In the screencast video you’ll see step-by-step one way I might set up an autoresponder for the niche topic newsletters I’m just creating for Untrained Housewife – in this case, Menu Planning, Recipes and Meal Prep. It’s a good way to include affiliate links while providing GREAT content for your subscribers: I’ll be highlighting archived articles that might otherwise be overlooked and be able to group similarly themed articles written by multiple contributors (in this case when I finished polishing I pointed readers to three pizza-related articles on Untrained Housewife). I will also be including lots of newsletter-only content.
Steps to Creating An Autoresponder in Mailchimp
1. Log in and click on the Autoresponder tab in your Mailchimp dashboard.
2. Click “Add Autoresponder” and Title your autoresponder. This is the title YOU will see, not any of the people on your list.
3. Once you’ve created your autoresponder, create the email (use the quick links under your newly created title)
4. Select the group or list segment you want the autoresponder to go to. In this case, I’m selecting specific list segments based on who signed up for the additional resources group on the Untrained Housewife newsletter subscription page.
5. Select the template or create your email and enter your specific copy. In this case I found a couple other articles about pizza and made the content section bigger so it’s balanced with the sidebar ad.
6. (not shown on the video) Click NEXT just above the editing screen. Click Copy from HTML. This creates a plain text version of the newsletter or autoresponder so that people who request plain text emails will still get the mailing.
7. Keep clicking next and double check that everything is how you want it. Watch your reply to email in case you want a different email than the one you signed up with. Click START AUTORESPONDER (see orange button in image) and your autoresponder will “turn on” and be ready to mail out as soon as the selected parameters are met. In this case – as soon as a subscriber reaches their 60th day, viola (!) this email will appear in their inbox!
Affiliate Programs I’ve Used
Linkshare is the affiliate program I demonstrated in this screencast. It’s easy to use and has a wide variety of advertisers involved. This and Share-A-Sale are the two I’m now using most frequently.
Commision Junction is another one I’ve used with fair success.
Share-A-Sale is something I’ve recently joined when I joined the Headway Themes affiliate program (the theme I have on Untrained Housewife) and I’ve had very good success through them so far. Better than any of the other programs I’ve tried, although the Share-A-Sale site is a bit harder to navigate than Linkshare.
ClickBank has a lot of digital products, but didn’t work as well in my own experiences.
Note that some links in this post may be affiliate links.
Very good contribution, is essential to implement an autoresponder service, as this helps to keep in touch with your customers 24 hours, so you save the tiresome task of doing it yourself, time is money, automation is vanguard.