Owning your own online business is a lot of work. Don't let anyone tell you that it's not.

Daily tasks can include reading emails, handling orders, advertising, promotion and the list goes on. Very often at the end of the day you could have just as many projects as you started out with and quite possibly the list grew in the process.

Typically, on a day to day basis, many business owners end up putting most of their time and efforts into performing these mundane, every day tasks leaving little or no time for the things that can help them grow their business such as marketing or promotion.

Of course, growing your business is a big part of how you acquire customers and make sales; but how can you focus on marketing and sales if you're constantly tied up with the daily tasks that consume so much of your time?

The key is automation. Particularly if you promote electronic products, however automation is important for any type of products you market. It automates such routine tasks of responding to emails and customer orders allowing you to focus on the things that help bring in customers and make sales.

Here are just a few of the benefits :

- Customer questions can be instantly responded to creating satisfied customers who will be impressed with your fast, professional service.

- Automated follow-up e-mails will allow you to keep in contact with our customers allowing you to notify them of other products you sell which can boost your revenue.

- Automating your ordering process will allow you to sell your products or services at any time of the day or night allowing for more sales, and more profits.

- Instantly confirming orders and fulfilling your customers' orders for electronic products like software and e-Books can produce happier customers who are more likely to buy from you again and again.

The two biggest time consumers for online businesses are customer response and order fulfillment. Think for a moment how much more time you would have to promote your business if these daily tasks could be automated.

What's the best and easiest way to automate this process? By using Autoresponders.

Autoresponders are automated e-mails that are pre-written to respond to incoming emails that you receive from customers or visitors to your site. The beauty of autoresponders is that you can use them to respond to a variety of questions or information that your customers or viewers may have. They can assist you with most any email needs you have simply by setting up different email response addresses.

Here are two of the best ways to utilize autoresponders:

1. Automate your customer emails

Customers can generate a lot of email on a daily basis and many of the questions and information needed can be the same. Email autoresponders can help because you can develop a comprehensive email, write it once and your process is automated.

For example, autoresponders can help you set up a 'frequently asked questions' email by creating an email address such as 'faq@mysite.com'. Here you can invite viewers to ask questions about your products. You can then automate a response email that contains answers to the most common questions you're likely to receive about your products, services or ordering process. You can save yourself countless hours of responding to questions and at the same time, increase the chances of a sale immediately.

Autoresponders can also help you gather email addresses for your weekly news or sales letter. Simply set up another email address such as 'newsletter@mysite.com' that will capture email addresses through a form on your website. Now you have email addresses that you can sell to each and every week.

You can set up endless email addresses for whatever information you want your viewers to receive and their responses will all be automated.

2. Automate your customer service

Autoresponders can also help with order fulfillment. This is where you can find yourself spending lots of your time because, after all, orders are the bread and butter of your business It's also a very critical part of your business so automating it can help reduce the amount of error and confusion, particularly if your business is growing at a rapid pace.

Depending on your products, order fulfillment systems are an excellent idea but autoresponders can also help out particularly if you sell electronic products such as e-books, software or online services.

- Confirming Orders
When a purchase is made online, buyers need confirmation. They want to know that their order was successful and that payment was received. Autoresponders can reply automatically to all orders and can include all the pertinent order information that you wish to send.

- Provide shipping information
If you are shipping your products to your customers autoresponders can notify buyers that their products have shipped, how they were shipped and when they might expect it.

- Follow-up
This is your opportunity to provide that bit of extra good will. A follow-up message is a great promotion gesture. It's a way for you to provide a little extra customer care by following up on how your customers enjoyed their products and, most importantly, thanking them for shopping It's also an excellent way for you to announce new products or information so they'll think of you again next time they're shopping.

Once you've implemented autoresponders into your online business, you'll never look back. Emails can be written once and sent automatically. It's the easiest and most efficient way to help grow your business, allowing you to spend your time more efficiently and make more sales.

Elizabeth McGee has spent 20 years in the service and support industry. She has moved her expertise to the world wide web helping businesses find trusted tools, enhance customer service, build confidence and increase sales. Visit Elizabeth's websites at: http://www.pro-marketing-online.com; http://www.homenotion.com