August 11th "Autoresponders In Your World" Series, Part 24.

Using Autoresponders to Generate Invoices and Get Paid Fast!

Wow, you’ve made a sale! Congratulations, but before popping open the champagne don’t forget that you must complete a payment processing sequence to receive your money. Invoices are an integral part of the sales process, but as your business grows, they can become very time-consuming and impede overall productivity. Fortunately, many web hosting companies permit invoice automation thanks to autoresponders.

Simple and recurring invoices can be automatically sent to customers via a shopping cart (e.g. PayPal) or from your own autoresponder. Instead of guessing whether or not a customer has paid for a product or service, follow the merchant’s invoicing instructions to free you from administrative drudgery. Once completed, use your extra time to create more marketing campaigns and pursue other exciting ventures.

To get started, use pre-existing invoice templates offered by the leading shopping carts. Before long you will be able to:

- Promptly send customers goods and service invoices.
- Provide specifics about each purchase (i.e. item description, quantity, unit price, shipping details, tax, and currency)
- Automatically generate purchase dates and sales totals.

Once you are comfortable with the process, you should create your own templates to further personalize each transaction. Some shopping carts permit e-mail invoicing with Microsoft Office and Quicken, so that you can create forms with commonly used productivity software.

In addition to invoicing with autoresponders, consider offering your clients an e-mail payment option. This ‘one-click’ option lets you accept credit card, bank, and online merchant payments without the hassles of long paper trails. Be aware of any and all fees, especially set-up and recurring monthly fees that eat into your profits.

Another advantage of using automated invoicing messages is to inform customers about complimentary items in your sales catalog. Much like the marketing tactics used by telephone, cable and credit card companies, you can present special deals and discounts for people who regularly contribute to your monthly cashflow.

Presenting professional invoices to your customers will encourage them to move money into your bank account faster. Automated invoices and e-mail payments, with the help of autoresponders, put the power of blue-chip corporations into the hands of home-based, solo entrepreneurs. Use this amazing tool to boost your administrative efficiency and expand your business.

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Rahul Majumdar is an Information Marketer specializing in article marketing, list-building, and digital product creation. Sign up for more of his insights here