Autoresponders For Different Purpose - which one should you pick?

There are basically four categories for email autoresponders. They are:

1. Free Autoresponder
2. Self-hosted Autoresponder Service
3. Third-Party Autoresponder Service Provider
4. Integrated Ecommerce Package (includes autoresponder functions)

1. Free Autoresponder
(Not Recommended, For Inexperienced Only)

Benefit:

• Free (Nothing Beats Free?)

Disadvantages: 

• Free autoresponder contains advertising
• Your readers may get distracted and not get your messages. In essense, you are promoting someone else business in return to use the free autoresponder.

Suitable for:

• Someone is starting out in internet marketing. 

Additional Comments:

• I don't recommend any particular free autoresponder.  We have tried a few free autoresponders.
  We've obtained more emails than we intended to send by using those autoresponder services.
• If you are really new to internet marketing, google "free autoresponder" and get the related resources.
• Use a "secondary" email to sign up for these free services.
• Warning: You will get a lot of "SPAM" emails. This is how they earn money by giving you "free" services. 
• Unless you are really very new and don't treat your business seriously, then you should not consider free autoresponders.

2. Self-Hosted
(Low Cost Method For Beginners)

Benefit:

• One time investment
• No recurring fee

Disadvantages:

• You need to install the script yourself or pay someone to install it for you.
• After installation, you may need to spend some time in learning how to set up the cron job and manage the database.
• Support for autoresponder script may not be readily available whenever you need it.
• Your IP address could be banned by internet service providers when your subscribers report your emails as SPAM. 

Suitable for:

• Technical competent to install script yourself
• Small business who does not mind to get their hands dirty
• Low volume email senders

Recommended Resources:
I generally don't recommend self-hosted email autoresponders, as I have encountered problems with it. If you insist, I would recommend this Autoresponser Script.

3. Third Party Hosted Email Autoresponder Service
(Highly Recommended Solution - this is what I use!)

Benefits:

• Web-based, you may access and send email anywhere
• High deliverability
• Instant technical support
• Suitable for technical-challenged marketers

Disadvantages:

• Recurring monthly fee.

Suitable for: 

• Serious Internet Marketers/ Affiliate Marketers establishing online business 

Recommended Resources:
This method is the path I am using and I highly suggest this to you, even if you are starting out marketing online.  I use this Autoresponser to manage my email marketing.

4. Integrated Packages
(Experienced Marketers With Established Business Model):

Benefit:

• All in one package provides full-tracking analysis for your integrated business, customer and product delivery.

Disadvantages:

• Higher financial outlay
• Take time to learn how to implement the integration
• Not recommended for beginners

Suitable for:

• Merchant/ Business Owners who desire full-blown ecommerce and autoresponder functions.

Recommended Resources:
I recommend this integrated tool should you decide to make it big online. A few other internet "gurus" are using the same tool to manager their multi-million dollar online business.