Auto-responders are a key must-have tool for any online business. For those who may not know, an auto-responder is software that sends out a series of messages to anyone who adds themselves to your mailing list. Building a mailing list is one of the single most important components of building your business. There are countless auto-responders available; anything from self-hosted responders, to desktop auto-responders and full-service auto-responders that are hosted for you. This section will have reviews of various auto-responders that are full-service companies who host your auto-responder for you. I thought at one point that I'd like to host my own through my web hosting account, but given the nature of opt-in list building and having to be careful of spam complaints I decided that just going with a company dedicated to auto-responder services would save me a lot of hassle and allow me the time to concentrate on other things. Most of the major e-mail service companies have good relations with ISP's and good measures in place to deter false spam complaints. It just makes good business sense to go this route as opposed to dealing with the hassle of self hosting an auto-responder script.

You should be list building and choosing a reliable auto-responder is a first step in that process.