Autoresponder

An autoresponder is a series of emails you write once and schedule to go out automatically after someone subscribes. Instead of manually emailing each new subscriber, you set up the sequence ahead of time and the software sends it on a timer: one email on day one, another on day three, and so on.

Subscriber joins the list
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Day 1: welcome email sends automatically
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Day 3: value email sends automatically
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Day 5: offer email sends automatically

This is what people mean when they talk about email working "on autopilot." Every new subscriber gets the same well-planned welcome, education, and offers without you touching a thing after setup. It scales cleanly: whether ten or ten thousand people join, the sequence runs the same way.

The word "automatic" can be misleading, though. The automation is only the sending. You still have to write emails worth reading, and the sequence only makes money if the subscribers are the right people and the offer actually fits them. A bad sequence sent automatically just fails automatically.

Autoresponders are a feature of your email service provider, not a separate product you usually buy on its own.

To see how these sequences generate revenue, read how autoresponders make money and how email marketing makes money.