Agile Business Navigator

I spotted an online free class that looked interesting. Registration info below it told me. Search, search, search. Oh, there's the link. Register for the class , with the click on the here. It launches my mail client with just the email address I'm sending to loaded. Oh, well, its free, how much trouble can I get into.

Wait patiently for an email back. Two days go by. Class is scheduled - where do I go? Last minute email arrives. Sorry for the delay - here's your class info. This isn't unusual, is it? It can't be anymore fun for the class giver, trying to hunt down the info and send it out.

If you give free classes, get the signup process automated. How?

1. Get an autoresponder account. Lots of them abound. Free to expensive. I like my shopping cart autoresponder system - after all, I'm already paying for it. I use Professional Cart Solutions. Why use a service rather than your own email system? You can send out announcements and reminders in bulk without having to worry about getting slammed as a spammer. They have the tools. They make it work.

2. The lousy thing about using someone else's service to handle your autoresponders is your email looks something like bozo-123@serviceprovider.com. No thanks. My hosting provider gives me hundreds of email accounts. I create one just to catch requests for my classes. I let it come to me and I forward a copy to the email subscribe address for my autoresponder.

3. Back to the free teleclass autoresponder. I put in a generic welcome message, letting them know I'll be sending something specific about the class later.

4. I create an additional teleclass mailing list autoresponder to hold all the alumni from the free teleclasses. I setup this autoresponder to unsubscribe anyone from the free teleclass autoresponder once they subscribe here.

4. When I'm ready to give my participants the info on the class - I use the free teleclass autoresponder to send them a broadcast about the scheduled class and how they participate. I ask them to confirm their slot in the class by replying to the email. The email reply address is setup to be the alumni autoresponder.

5. The final outcome? A person registers for a free class by sending an email to the free teleclass autoresponder. I get a list of all the email addresses of the participants in the class. They get a thank you confirmation and when the class is scheduled an email from me telling them what they need to know for class. They respond to the email in order to confirm their participation. They automatically move into my alumni list for safe keeping and are removed from the free teleclass list. Anyone who didn't confirm stays in the free autoresponder and gets another opportunity to be in the next class.

Like more information on how you can systemize your business? Signup for a the next free teleclass by sending an email to free [at] kimberlyblack.com.

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