Lately, I’ve been teaching. A lot. I’d recommend it to you if you get the chance (more on this in an upcoming post).
After all, you very quickly learn two things.
First, if done properly, the teacher always learns more than the students.
And second, you’re forced to realize how daunting today’s online technology can be to a small business owner – someone who’s running a whole business – not simply a marketing department.
I’m looking at ways to ease that particular pain for my students. So I’m turning to you for advice.
My email/enewsletter marketing class covers the idea of self-hosting your list (using software like PHPList), but recommends an email service provider.
Naturally, I’m looking for the best combination of ease-of-use, power, features and cost. And I can’t simply send them to Marketing Prof’s sizable list of vendors without guidance.
That’s why I’m turning to the Undergrounders. Currently, I’m considering four email vendors (remember, they must be suited for small businesses):
- Constant Contact (the leader, powerful, lots of features – but not necessarily easy)
- Vertical Response (similar to above)
- iContact (up and coming vendor with an intriguing mix of ease-of-use and power)
- The unfortunately named MailChimp (one of the simplest I could find)
If I were starting a small business email list today – and I didn’t have better than two decades in this business – I’d look hard at iContact.
Of course, the issue of blogs replacing e-newsletters is also rearing its head, but that’s a different discussion.
Any opinions, facts, recommendations or howls at the moon? Better choices for beginners? More power for users? Any options I’m overlooking?
Keep writing (and teaching), Tom Chandler.
Powered by ScribeFire.
A few others …
Emma – myemma.com
Aweber – aweber.com
Get Response – getresponse.com
I’ve used CC, VR, and IContact. I really didn’t like IContact and went back to VR. Nice thing about the latter is that you don’t have to do a monthly commitment. You can do mailings on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Roberta Rosenberg(Quote) (Reply)
I am a fan of both Sendloop.com and CampaignMonitor.com
They are both easy to use and have affordable pricing.
I’m an old CampaignMonitor.com customer, using them every month.
I met with Sendloop 5-6 months ago and they’re also really good and quite competitive with market leaders. Support is friendly and quick.
Frederic Jason(Quote) (Reply)
Some others to look at (a bit higher up in the ESP ecosystem)
Bronto
Listrak
Rob(Quote) (Reply)
Thanks for all the feedback (and quite a few sent emails, though I’m not sure why).
For most small businesses, easier is better, so after looking at the options, I’m probably going to add Myemma.com to the list.
The higher-end solutions aren’t an option, nor are they needed for most small business lists.
Thanks!
Tom Chandler(Quote) (Reply)
I really love the flexibility of constant contact. It seems to be very user friendly and a great benefit for those who are having difficulty adapting to email marketing. It is a relatively hard business to get into because you don’t want to end up in spam folders.
I’ve seen vertical response before, however I’ve never personally used it. I heard it was decent.
James Tanner(Quote) (Reply)
Thanks James. Constact Contact is clearly a leader in this segment for a reason, and my reticence is based on the fact that two clients are using it and not getting the greatest results from CC’s templates.
It’s a skills issue to be sure, but I’m still recommending CC as one of my five top vendors.
Tom Chandler(Quote) (Reply)
I have used CC off and on creating emails for various customers along with newsletters and invites for event for my non-profit Alumni Association, not ever using their email services but their templates, cutting and pasting into my email browser. I hadn’t actually sent any emails using their service and then when I did they deactivated my account for an old account that was unrelated to my new account, however they had been taking my money for the last 4 months. I had problems in the past with their services which was the reason for only using their templates and cutting and pasting into my email browser. Now this I am very displeased with their business practices. The most unfortant thing is there aren’t any other bulk email providers out there that seem to be as easily used. I’m stumped and unsure how I will create emails for my non-profit Alumni Association now?
Anna(Quote) (Reply)
Vertical Response is my preference. I tried iContact and had some problems getting confirmation emails; they kept telling me that I had email filters set up when in fact, I did not. After being told this 4 times, I just canceled. Their interface is very friendly as are most of these. Zookoda is great too … but they decided to call it quits on Feb 1st 09.
MJ DeMarco(Quote) (Reply)
Thanks! iContact is aggressively marketing right now (as is the LyrisHQ), but the templates I saw didn’t thrill (important consideration for less-techie users).
Tom Chandler(Quote) (Reply)
I use Mail Chimp and find its free account is useful for small campaigns. I would recommend giving them a try.
Dallas Wedding Photographer(Quote) (Reply)
For those with basic email needs (basic analytics and templates), TinyLetter is pretty good.
TC(Quote) (Reply)
I like the service of Contact and few more from my side
Web Mailing Lists : webmailinglists.com
Contact Consumers: contactconsumers.net
Pioneer Marketers: pioneermarketers.biz
I personally recommend Pioneer Marketers are providing very great service from past few years. i got very good feedback from my friends also.
Mark Lewis(Quote) (Reply)
I want to purchase targeted email lists for a crowd funding campaign. Do any of the above recommended companies provide that service? If so, how was the service? Worthwhile? Too expensive? A waste of time and money? I would be most appreciative of any suggestions or recommendations.
Thanks!
Elisa Brown(Quote) (Reply)
None of them will sell you email lists. In fact, they won’t even allow you to use them. For the most part, they’re a pretty bad idea.
Tom Chandler(Quote) (Reply)