An autoresponder enables you to create opt-in forms to place on your websites, collect subscriber details, and send out a series of emails to your subscribers at pre-determined times chosen by you, and is basically an email marketer's most valuable tool.

As with all products though, not all autoresponders are the same, so in this article I will discuss what you should look out for when choosing an autoresponder.

One of the most important things to look for is the deliverability rate, ie what percentage of emails sent actually reach your subscribers inboxes. There's no point having an autoresponder with lots of great features if a large number of subscribers never actually receive your emails, so this should be one of the first things you look for.

Secondly, you ideally want an autoresponder that will allow you to create and manage multiple lists under the one account, as having multiple lists really can dramatically boost your profits, and by only paying a single monthly charge you will save yourself a lot of money.

You should also look at any size restrictions. If you are ambitious and plan on building a very large list of email subscribers, then you will obviously want an autoresponder that can cope with such a large list.

Another factor to consider is the import / export facility. There may be times when you want to import a list of subscribers from another autoresponder into your new one (or vice versa), so you ideally want to select an autoresponder where this is possible, and easy to do.

You also want to decide whether you want an autoresponder that's hosted on a third-party server, or on your own server. Nowadays I personally think it's imperative that you go with an autoresponder hosted by a third-party simply because the odd spam complaint (even if unjustified or incorrect) can easily blacklist your domain, whereas the more reputable companies have excellent relationships with all the various email providers and therefore you are far less likely to be blacklisted provided you don't in any way spam your subscribers.

Finally there may be a few other factors to consider such as the level of technical support that the autoresponder company provides, and whether or not they have an affiliate program so you can promote it and recoup any of your own costs.

It's vitally important you choose a good autoresponder that will meet all your needs both now and in the future as your list grows, so take some time to choose one that's right for you as changing autoresponders later on can be a troublesome and tedious task.

About the Author

James Woolley is a full-time marketer who has built up responsive email lists in not only the internet marketing niche, but other niches as well. All of these lists are run from one autoresponder account. Click here to find out which autoresponder he uses and strongly recommends:

http://www.mytopautoresponder.com