Using an Autoresponder to Publish an Ezine

There are many uses for an autoresponder. One 
such use is the publishing and distribution of an 
ezine or newsletter. Since autoresponder services
usually are set up to send automatic responses to 
the people on the list at certain intervals after they 
sign up, setting up an autoresponder to send out an 
ezine can be a little confusing.

Depending on the service or autoresponder that you 
are using, you will need a ‘broadcast’ feature. The 
broadcast feature works essentially the same as the 
autoresponse feature, with one big difference. The 
messages are not sent out at intervals. The 
messages can, however, be scheduled to go out on 
a certain day, which has no bearing on when the 
subscriber was actually added to the mailing list. 
Broadcast messages are ‘one time’ messages that 
are only sent to your current mailing list. People 
who sign up for your list after the broadcast has 
been sent do not receive it, unless the specifically
request it with an autoresponder address, which 
you must set up.

Using the broadcast feature of most autoresponder 
services, you can simply go and either type your 
newsletter, or copy and paste it into the editor, then 
choose to send the broadcast to your entire mailing 
list. More advanced autoresponder services will 
usually have broadcasting features. 

Using an autoresponder to maintain a mailing list 
and to distribute a newsletter is a wonderful idea. 
Your subscribers can easily opt-in, or opt-out, and 
all of the distribution is handled for you, based on 
the schedule that you set. List maintenance can 
become very difficult without the automation that 
autoresponders provide. You can write each issue 
of your ezine or newsletter well in advance, and 
have it delivered to your mailing list, no matter 
where you are or what you are doing. That is the 
beauty of automation!

Since all past broadcast and autoresponse 
messages are saved, you can easily refer back to 
old issues, or allow people to request past issues. 
You can also use the tracking feature throughout 
each issue of the newsletter to determine how
many clicks you are getting for the various products 
or websites that you promote in your ezine.

If you have not yet purchased an autoresponder or 
signed up with any autoresponder service, make 
sure that you inquire about the broadcast feature 
first. Not all autoresponders or autoresponder 
services have this feature, and as your marketing 
progresses, you will find that this is one of the most 
useful features of the service or program.

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