How to Digitally Deliver Files via Outlook Express Email:
Another option for delivering your digital items is via email. Of course, the whole purpose of learning how to use digital delivery is so you won’t have to manually email your digital items. However, there is a way you can use emailing without actually doing it manually. You can set up an auto-responder command with email software such as Outlook Express® (or any other email provider that allows you to provide specific auto-responder commands or rules such as Thunderbird). The only downside to doing this is that it will not work unless your computer is turned on and you are connected to the internet 24 hours a day (or if you have a dedicated server & you can install & operate it with your email account). So unless your online email service allows an auto-respond command without using Outlook Express®, you would have to have your computer on & connected to the web 24/7 to ensure the emails are sent immediately. The process of using this method to deliver items is outlined below.
Since most computers come with a Microsoft Windows® program, Microsoft Outlook Express® will be used for this example. To set up a digital delivery by email, open Microsoft Outlook Express®. If you do not currently use Outlook Express®, it is usually compatible with most online email accounts & you can quickly set up Outlook Express® with your current email system by going to “Add Email Account” on the first page and following the steps to use it with your current email account.
Once your email account is setup with Outlook Express®, you can make “rules” that will automatically send replies to emails with certain subjects. Your automatic reply message can contain the email as an attachment, or you can simply send a thank you email with the URL link. To do this, start by opening Outlook Express® by turning on your computer and then by going to the Start MenuàAll Programs. Once Outlook Express® is open, go to the Tools menu, and then click “Message Rules” & “Mail”. Then click the “Mail Rules” tab on the box and then “New.”
Now you will select the conditions for your rules. Basically, you will be commanding your email account to perform a specific action when an email with a certain subject is sent to your account. The easiest way to do this is to select the “Where the subject contains specific words” box. Next, you will need to select the Actions. For this section, select “Reply with Message.” Next, you will click the links at the bottom & give specific commands for both the conditions & actions as pictured below.
Digital Delivery
When you click on the hyperlinks (such as “contains specific words” as pictured above) a box will open that will allow you to type in a command. Here, type in the specific words that an email subject will contain in order for Outlook to automatically send a response. For example, if you use Paypal® or eBay®, then you will be notified through Paypal® and/or eBay® via email every time you sell an item with the buyer’s email as the “reply to” email address. (Note: If you do not receive emails when you sell items through these sites then you can change that by logging into your account and clicking “preferences” or “profile”).
So for the “email subject” command, you can use the title of your e-Book/Digital item that you use with eBay® or the item number. For instance, let’s say every time you sell your item on eBay® you receive an email and the subject reads: eBay item sold: How to Design Websites eBook- then you can use that exact phrase for the subject command. That way Outlook Express® will only automatically reply to the email if you have sold the e-Book. Of course, you can use any title you want as long as it will be consistent so you can use it with your command.
After you set up the command for the subject, you can write the reply message that you want sent after you receive an email with that particular subject. For your reply message, you can write a “thank you” email message with the e-Book/digital item attached, or simply include the URL link (or both). Before you do this, you need to write the email first & save it to your computer. Then click on the second “Message” link as pictured above. You will then be able to select the email saved on your computer. Click “Open” when you find the email.
After you select the email and click “open” then you can name the rule (For instance “Website e-Book”) and press “Ok” when you are finished. This will complete the rule and every time you receive an email that you sold the digital item, Outlook Express® should automatically reply to the buyer’s email address with your digital item or link.
So to quickly recap using emails to delivery digital items:
1. You will set-up Outlook Express® to work with your online email account (or use your online email account if it allows you to enter “rules” & autorespond messages).
2. You will enter the subject commands and use an automatic reply message when you receive an email with the subject you command. Since eBay and Paypal will send an email every time you make a sale (with the buyer’s email address as the “reply-to” address), Outlook Express® will automatically forward your pre-typed email message to the buyer instantly. You can set-up this process to work with as many digital items as you wish by creating different “rules” for each item. Again, the only downside is that you will have to have your computer on & connected to the internet 24/7 (unless your online email account will do the auto-respond/rules without using Outlook Express®). Also remember that you don’t necessarily have to
use Outlook Express®. If you have any online email service that allows you to send an auto-responder replies in response to a certain command, then that will work just the same as Outlook Express®.
Also, remember that if you have your own website, your hosting package may come with a free email package that can send an auto-responder. You may want to consider using this because it will be hosted online 24/7 and you would not have to keep your computer on. So if you plan on creating a site just to promote 1 or 2 digital items, you can set up an email account with your hosting provider, pre-write a thank you message including the download link, and add that email account to your Paypal account. By using both the email autoresponder & Paypal’s buy it now button, you can have a more reliable download system.
For Example: A customer purchases a digital item on your website. They will automatically be redirected to your “thank you/download” page via Paypal’s button after they pay (as described earlier). Then, a Paypal
payment notification email will be sent to your email account (that you used with your hosting company). Your hosting email account will reply to the email notification Paypal sent (which will automatically contain the buyer’s email address as the reply-to address) by auto-responding with your typed message & link to download the product. Thus, the customer will be redirected to a page where they can download the product after paying & in addition they will automatically receive an email with the download link included from your email account on your website (in case they had trouble downloading the item).
Paying for Digital Delivery Services
If you are a true “do-it-yourself” entrepreneur (like me) then you will definitely want to handle the digital delivery by yourself using one of the methods already described. However, if you ever get overwhelmed, you always have the option of using one of the many companies that provide digital delivery service on the web.
Since this guide is all about digital delivery, I thought it would be worthwhile to at least briefly mention a few companies that do charge money to handle your digital goods for you. This way if you decide to you don’t want to handle your own delivery, or your business expands & you need something to help you out, you can use one of the options below. Below is a list of the most popular companies that deal with digital delivery:
www.e-junkie.com
www.Payloadz.com
www.digitalgoodsdelivery.com
www.tradebit.com
www.clickbank.net
The companies mentioned above charge money to either sell your digital products for you, or to provide an emailing/download service for your digital products when a sale is made. Prices vary with each company from a small monthly charge to a small commission for each item sold, etc. Also, many of the services will work with both Paypal® & eBay®. If you decide that you do not want to deal with setting up your own digital delivery, you may want to consider one of these companies. Again, check each website for their fee structure to see which package would best suit your own personal situation.
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