One of the things we have to do as marketers is gather subscribers names and email addresses. And many of us have an autoresponder service to help us with that.

But have you noticed how complicated it’s been getting?

Interface changes, setup wizards, convoluted CSS laden form code…

It’s enough to make you scream!

Especially if you have lots of little niche blogs, it just gets really tiresome to battle your way through all the settings and requirements. Page after page of the stuff.

To me it now seems like it’s a barrier to entry, and it shouldn’t be like that.

Setting up an autoresponder should be easy, but many of these large services seem to have lost their way and feel like they have to make things more and more complicated.

It’s a mistake that many companies make. They turn what was once a neat easy to use system into a bloated monster as they just don’t seem to be able to know when to stop developing.

Well, it’s time to bring back a bit of sanity and make your life easier again.

The WordPress AutoResponder is a plugin that makes it easy to add a full blown autoresponder and broadcast emailer to any WordPress blog.

While you can use this on any blog, where it really comes into its own is when you’re setting up niche blogs and you just want to get it done quickly without all the hassle of using a service.

OR, you might want to get a client’s site set up quickly to show them the benefits of gathering names and email addresses.

(You get a client-flipper licence included in this WSO.)

With this plugin you don’t have to be a hard core techy, and you don’t have to be a developer.

The WordPress AutoResponder allows you to gather names and email addresses, and then have automated emails go out at pre-defined intervals to your new subscribers. You can also send out a broadcast email at any time.

It’s perfect to promote a new product you’ve found or just send out a newsletter to your mailing list.

And if you have small business clients, imagine how easy it is to quickly set them up with the ability to start gathering subscribers without having to add them to your own service.

All you have to do is upload the plugin, activate it, and drop a widget in the sidebar or add a [short-code-tag] to a page.

It’s EASY.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve used some complicated software in my time, and I believe that it’s often because it just hasn’t been thought out properly. I’ve thought this out carefully so that YOU don’t have to think too hard.

In fact this is so easy to use it almost doesn’t need any kind of documentation. (I gave v1.0 of this to my wife and she set it up on one of her blogs without a word of help from me.)

Once installed, you just add your messages and the interval you want them to go out.

And you can turn off the widget heading in the sidebar too if you like. (It’s these little things that are important I always think.)

That’s it. You’re happy.

And if you REALLY want fine control over the appearance of the sign up form, you can just use plain old HTML – we supply some example form code to tweak to your personal preferences.

Any time you feel like sending a broadcast email out to your subscribers to promote a special offer for yourself or your client, you can do so by using the broadcast email page.

Apart from subscriber signing themselves up, you can also add subscribers manually one at a time. This is ideal for small niche businesses where your client’s customers have agreed to be added by phone.

I don’t think there are many services that let you do this are there, but with this plugin you run the whole show so there’s no-one to stop you.

You can import and export lists of subscribers to and from spreadsheets.

You can edit, delete, unsubscribe and resubscribe people.

It can take 30 minutes or more to set it all up, and then I often find I’ve made a mistake and have to go back and tweak things.

And I’m never sure if I’ve thought of everything the autoresponder service requires. It’s just been so complicated.

I often didn’t bother as it was such a hassle.

But that all changes because it’s now EASY.

You set up your niche blog, spend a couple of minutes uploading the plugin and activating it, and then you can immediately start gathering subscribers.

It cuts a HUGE chunk of time off the process, believe me, this is one of the best WordPress plugins you’ll ever use.

And because each installation is standalone it also allows you to keep your niches out of your main autoresponder set up, and keeps it all uncluttered and not a big mess. It’s happened to me and I guess I’m not the first.

If you later find the niche is a good one and you’re gathering LOTS of subscribers, THEN you can decide to use a service and spend the time setting that all up. For small blogs, for client’s sites and when you’re in a hurry, use this plugin.

BONUS #1 – Plugin – SMTP Throttle

(Update 21-11-2011: v1.0.3 of this plugin added to zip – small bugfix)

Just in case you didn’t realise (and why would you?) being able to send email from a script by SMTP (Simple Mail Transport Protocol) is very important.

SMTP is what’s used when you send email via your email client software (Outlook Express, Windows Mail, Thunderbird, etc).

Most PHP scripts and plugins, including some very large ones, have no SMTP support at all and send email by the default PHP email routines. A few years ago this didn’t matter, but now many ISPs and email providers have made an assumption that affects the delivery of scripted email.

The assumption is that if they come from a PHP script then it’s likely they’re spam. Spam is a HUGE expense for these businesses, and anything they can do to reduce the amount of spam they have to deal with and store, they will do.

So what they do is delete them via a network filter. Your subscriber never gets to see the email you sent.

A disaster eh?

However if your sent emails go via an SMTP server, some additional header information is added that means the ISPs are more likely to allow your email to get through their filter.

If you also enable SPF (Sender Policy Framework) in your cPanel account (or get your web host to do it for you) this is additional proof used in conjunction with SMTP to validate that the email is actually coming from a genuine source and not a spammer.

But if the script you’re using doesn’t have SMTP support anyway, you can kiss goodbye to both of these methods to get your email through.

One final word about SMTP and how useful it is to have support for it in a script.

You can also pay third parties to allow you to use their SMTP services rather than use your own. Usually these services work in conjunction with ISPs and other mail providers to ensure any emails that get sent will pass the network filters.

SMTP services are usually a fraction of the cost of an autoresponder service.

Coming with the WordPress AutoResponder plugin is a bonus plugin – SMTP Mail Throttle which has full support for SMTP.

The SMTP Mail Throttle plugin will also throttle emails and hold them in a queue so that you don’t go over your web host service agreement limits. Pretty damn cool eh?

Bonus #2 – Plugin – Subscribers Only

The Subscribers Only plugin works hand in hand with the WordPress Autoresponder. It performs a similar function to the Like+ plugin, but where it differs is it hides content from non-subscribers.

So instead of seeing the valuable content they want, your visitors instead see a padlock and a call to action to become a WP subscriber to your blog. Once they’re subscribed, the content reveals itself.

This kind of functionality is HOT as more and more people are beginning to catch onto "content locking" principles as a way of reserving certain content from casual visitors without turning the whole site into a membership.

The Subscribers Only plugin is FREE today with the WordPress AutoResponder.

Just to really sweeten up this deal, a full client / flipper licence is included. This allows you to install the WordPress AutoResponder plugin on your client’s sites and also on blogs you build with an intention to flip (sell) for a profit.

Bonus #4 – Free Upgrades To Version 2

This is just the first full release version (v1.4.2) of the WordPress Autoresponder plugin. Good as it is, I have loads of great ideas to add to this plugin to make it even better than the version you get today. (Why not make your own suggestions too in this thread too?)

Included with your purchase in this sale, you get all minor upgrades for free (1.5, 1.6, 1.7, etc). So as I make it better for my own personal use, then you’ll reap the rewards of those efforts.

P.P.S. Being able to quickly set up a blog with a sign up form is vitally important in your quest for blog monetisation, and if you don’t immediately set one up, there’s a good chance you’re losing money right away. The WordPress Autoresponder plugin will help you stop that money leak and start gathering subscribers.

P.P.P.S. With a 100% money back guarantee, 2 bonus plugins, free upgrades to v2, and a client-flipper (developer) licence you have nothing to lose, and everything to gain

If you have any questions about the plugin, please let me know here in this thread, or PM me. I’ll add more detail to this WSO if required.

You can get technical support direct from my developer(s) at Plugin Support – please leave your blog FTP and WP admin login panel details and someone will take a look directly at the problem for you.

Please be patient and please (pretty please) be polite to my staff – I will refund you if you’re unhappy with your purchase so the worst that can happen is you lose a little time and if that happens I apologise right here right now. Stuff happens sometimes…