10 Tips for Writing an Autoresponse Email

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If you are using an Autoresponder service (eg. AWeber, GetResponse, MailChimp etc) then chances are that you will be writing auto-response emails that will get sent out to your subscribers once they subscribe. Every piece of communication that you send adds to the overall impression that a customer has of your product or service. Autoresponders can be used for simple acknowledgments, newsletters, or even series of newsletters. Here are ten tips about autoresponder use.

 

1. Acknowledge your customers
Send an email to thank your new users for signing up to read your newsletter. This reminds those users that you have received their opt-in request. It should also give your customers an idea of what they should expect in your writing as well as how frequently they should expect to receive it.

 

2. Make privacy policies crystal clear
Your readers want to know that their information is not going to be sold or given away to other users or companies. Place a link to your privacy policy within your newsletters.

 

3. Unsubscribing should be as easy as subscribing
People unsubscribe for a variety of reasons. Don’t feel offended or take it personally when someone doesn’t want to be subscribed to your newsletter. Immediately remove the subscriber when requested.  

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Bank Credit, Trade Credit or No Credit: Evidence from the Surveys of Small Business Finances

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Office of Advocacy, Small Business Administration [advocacy@SBA.GOV]

The research study, “Bank Credit, Trade Credit or No Credit: Evidence from the Surveys of Small Business Finances,” compares firms that use credit (leveraged firms) with those that do not (unleveraged firms), and examines which kind of credit the leveraged firms use—bank credit (loans or lines of credit), trade credit (from suppliers), or both. The study finds that three-fifths of the small firms that use credit, use trade credit.

A copy of the report is located at:

http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs365tot.pdf and the research summary can be found at: http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs365.pdf.

Research Contracting Opportunities – Office of Advocacy

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The Office of Advocacy’s mission includes providing research documenting the status of small businesses and the impact of important trends on them. Areas of continuing interest are listed below. In addition to increasing knowledge about small business in general, these areas are noteworthy because they may provide policymaking insight or serve as a foundation for further research.

These research opportunities are being offered through a broad agency announcement (BAA) with various research areas listed. Bidders will submit proposals in one or more of the following areas based on this one solicitation.

Bidders are not required to submit a proposal on each topic.

The deadline for submitting proposals is FRIDAY, JULY 23, 2010. The following issue areas are currently open:

SBAHQ-10-R-0023: Research on Equity Financing among Women- and Minority- Owned Firms

SBAHQ-09-Q-0024: Research on Small Businesses and the Macroeconomy The proposal solicitations and synopses are listed in FedBizOpps FedBizOpps.

(If this link is not active, go to http://www.fbo.gov and search for Small Business Administration listings, solicitation number SBAHQ10021202BAA.) Each of these research opportunities are small business set-asides.There will be a question-and-answer period for potential bidders through July 15, 2010; all questions must be submitted in writing to the contracting office.  

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Contest: Win a Free Press Release. How did your business pay it forward?

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This contest is short and sweet.  Tell me how your business truly helped someone without expecting anything in return.  Post your answer here.  I’ll pick the best response on July 30.  The winner gets highlighted on my site and my feed for the month of August 2010.  They’ll get a guest blog account.  And…I’m throwing in a free press release about what you did.  Tell me how you made the world a better place for someone, and I’ll make it a better place for you.