Do you pitch your products or services on your first autoresponder followup message?

No way. I Would give it at least 10-14 days before a sales pitch. Even then it should be a low barrier entry product for a low price. Yeah people can make sales with a pitch on message one but thats no good for the long run as no relationship building is happening, especially if people unsubscribe.

You shouldn't pitch on the first message. Ben, above me, gives some pretty good advice.

I am quite new to affiliate marketing but i wouldn't state upfront in my initial email that I do send out offers that I think will help them in there business, but I would make sure I send out VALUE then maybe on my 4 -6 email have a promotional link. I hope that make some sense.

Rachel

I use my AR to keep my subs updated on new developments or updates. I send 1 offer only about once every quarter, and that offer most likely has relevancy with my educational course.

My 1st message up to the 5th which are sent during a 120 day period are to just get them more familiar with my Course. No Selling whatsoever, so my retention is quite high.

Sure, one can pitch on 1st message, but you need a pretty Hot List for that and Tons of subs, but that method has been on a downward trend for many years now.

Bernard St-Pierre

I guess that, at least in part, it depends on how you define the word "pitch."

If you mean a hard sell, take no prisoners fastball, most of my lists never see such an animal. If an offer carries a time limit, I'll probably send a few reminders about the deadline, but that's as hard core as it gets.

If you mean a soft-sell, "here's the info you requested, look for more from me on how to get the best from it, if you want to check this out before the next message, here's a link..." Defined that way, yes I do, in many instances.

Even then, the referral has to be tightly related to the info. And, at least in the early stages, the info has to be able to stand on its own.

Every message will have some type of link to follow, though. It might be to a blog post, a video, a tutorial, something - whether it's mine or not. I want the people on my list to form the habit of following the links I send, and the habit of expecting to find value at the other end of that link. Sometimes, that value is contained in a product or service for sale...

I'd recommend against pitching hard, especially if you're in the IM niche. Most people in general do not like it at all (I'd say most hate it with a passion), so use the 'soft-sell' approach, and try to weave in what you're promoting so that it's relevant to the value-packed content that you're delivering in your emails.

Those are the kinds of emails which tend to get received the best - if you pitch too hard you're almost certainly going to get a lot of unsubscribes and hate mail. Try to be genuinely helpful in your emails, and don't just go for the sale without any regard for your subscribers.

Paul

I feel like the people who really cares about what I have to say will reply to my emails, and I have noticed that most of the people who respond are buyers.

Also, while email marketing is great, I have also took it a step further by talking to these people over the phone. This breaks me out of my comfort zone as I am not a very social person.

I am improving my social skills while making money. That is a win-win situation for me lol.